JVC KW-AVX800 7-inch In-dash Multimedia System

Toshiba MEV30K Gigabeat V 30 GB Portable Media Player

It seems that every electronics company has its own version of a portable media player on the market these days. If it's not a video iPod it has to fight for whatever piece of turf is not already ruled by Apple. The Toshiba Gigabeat is a worthy contender in this category. Its high-tech look and features, portabililty, and ease of use make it a great choice for all lovers of Windows Media Player looking to go mobile with their music, photos, and video.

Crisp video in the palm of your hand.

What It Does
The Gigabeat MEV30 synchronizes with Windows Media Player on your PC via USB cable to its 30 Gigabyte hard drive, allowing you to bring your photos, video, and music with you wherever you go. Depending on the type of camera you have, it is also possible to connect directly to you digital camera when you out and about, so you can view, share, and store your photos without having to hook your camera up to your PC first. With the included audio/AV cable you can also watch video or slide shows on your TV.

Design
With its shiny silver and black finish, and small and sleek design (4.9 x 3.0 x 0.7 inches (W x H x D)) the MEV30 looks both high-tech and sophisticated. It's a little too big for the pocket of your jeans, but fits nicely into a jacket pocket or purse. The front of the device is dominated by its 3.5-inch diagonal LCD screen, which supports 320 x 240 resolution and up to 65,000 colors. While a a 640 x 480 with support for millions of colors would be better, the display is still bright and crisp. The widescreen format is also very welcome and gives it an edge over the square screen of the video iPod. To the right of the screen you'll find the buttons that let you interface with the device.

Logical controls and a user-friendly interface.

Chief among these is the small joystick that lets you quickly navigate lists in four directions, and make selections by simply pressing down. Just beneath, there's a Home button displaying the Windows symbol, and a return button. Volume controls and a small speaker round out the main controls. Along the top are buttons to control the video player, as well as a sliding lock and power button. The left side is responsible for input/output and charging. This includes USB, a single jack for audio and video, and the AC power adapter. On the bottom are two tiny holes that allow you to reset the device or switch off the battery for storage.

Setup
Aficianados of Windows Media Player will find it a snap to the get the MEV30 up and running. The device itself is powered by Microsoft Portable Media Center Version 2.0. It comes formatted and ready to go right out of the box, and no additional software is needed for your PC beyond the free Windows Media Player. We had no trouble all using WMP 11 to load photos, video, and music onto the device. To move photos onto the device,

The joystick is all you'll need for most tasks.

simply drag and drop them into the synce window within Media Player. For video and music it's important to remember that since the MEV30 runs only with Windows Media Player you can only add content allowed by Windows. Try to sync an album you bought on the iTunes Store, for example, and all you'll get is an error message. If you can create playlists, organize video and photos, and generally get Widows Media Player to do what you want it to do, you will have no trouble at all using the MEV30. If Media Player is new to you, however, you will need to spend some time working with it before attempting to go mobile with your media.

Operation
Once you are synced up, the intuitive interface makes it easy to find what you're looking for. The main menu lists media by type: tv, music, pictures, and videos. You'll also find a "settings" feature that lets you adjust functions for all media types. Moving through these menus is a snap with the four-way joystick; simply point and click. The photo viewer plays slide shows and also allows you to zoom in on a picture and pan and scan to see exactly what you want up close. The video player is simple to use and does everything you want--one click on the joystick pauses, a push to the right lets you fastforward, and a push to the left rewinds. The music player likewise contains most functions you would expect from a serious media player: shuffle, equalizer, support for playlists, repeat, and time display. Here it would be nice to have a few other options, such as alarm and sleep timer functions, but as a basic music player it is functional and easy to use. One click on the menu button returns you directly to the main menu.

To sum up, the Gigabeat MEV30 faces stiff competition both from the iPod, as well as from Microsoft's new Zune media player. If you are looking for a fully-functional and sleek portable media player that uses Windows Media Player, however, you won't go wrong with this device.

Pros

• Easy to setup and operate.
• Multi-functional: video, photos, music. A/V out lets you watch on tv.
• Sleek and stylish design.
• 30 GB hard drive lets you store lots of pictures, music, and video.

Cons

• Only works via Windows Media Player. Knowledge of WMA required.
• Higher resolution would be nice.

What's in the Box
MEV30K portable video player, A/V cable, USB cable (A-miniB), USB conversion cable (miniA-A), headphones, AC adapter, CD-ROM (software, owner's manual), and quick start guide.

Product Description

The Toshiba MEV30K Portable Video Player puts all of your entertainment needs in the palm of your hand. With a big, bright 3.5" diagonal LCD screen, the MEV30K lets you enjoy full, feature length movies! And getting videos is really easy! Whether you subscribe to movie services like or record videos on your PC, the newest member of the gigabeat family lets you take your entertainment with you.If you never seem to find the time to print all of your digital still images from your camera, the MEV30K is your answer. Simply connect your digital camera via the USB input and all of your images will download onto your gigabeat - no need to connect to your PC either! Of course you are not always going to watch movies, there will be those short commutes to work when you might just want to sit back, relax and enjoy your favorite music. That's why the MEV30K also lets you download your favorite music from subscription sites and even rip your favorite CDs. It even has a built-in speaker so that you can share your music with your friends.

Toshiba Gigabeat MEG-F40S 40 GB Digital Audio Player

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The new Toshiba gigabeat S series utilize 1.8" hard disk drives for storing audio, video, photos and even recorded television programs. With an easy-to-use interface, superb multimedia capabilities and a large, vivid 2.4" LCD display, you can now effortlessly select, download, manage and enjoy multimedia content from anywhere at anytime. Content management is made easy through the use of Microsoft Windows Mobile based Portable Media Center software which lets you download and transfers your favorite videos, music, photos and even TV Shows and movies. It's capable of holding an incredible 60GB of digital media: MP3 and WMA compressed audio and even uncompressed, full-resolution WAV files. That's about 15,000 songs at 128 kbps MP3, or 30,000 songs at 64 kbps WMA. Its bright, crystal-clear, 2.4-inch LCD screen offers 320 x 240 resolution and the ability to render over 65,000 colors to ensure elite video and picture quality of your videos, photos and even movies come to life! Windows Mobile Portable Media Center software lets you connect to Microsoft Xbox 360 Compatible with PlaysForSure Audio and Video - get music from some of the largest content providers like Napster, Rhapsody and eMusic Compatible with Vongo for video content downloads Tivo to Go software lets you simply record your favorite TV shows and transfer them onto your gigabeat Works with Windows Media Player 10 and 11 (beta) Supports WMA Lossless, WMA, MP3, WAV Audio File compatibility and JPEG Photo Viewer Min. system requirements - Windows XP OS and Media Player 10, 300 MHz CPU, 128MB RAM, 100MB HDD,

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Toshiba Gigabeat U-Series 2 GB Portable Media Player (Silver)

Toshiba's Gigabeat U-Series Portable Media Player is light enough to keep you moving with more than enough to keep you listening. Up to 20 hours of audio and large storage area, supporting up to 2GB of flash memory media, makes the Gigabeat U-Series the stylish and fun alternative media player for your favorite music and photo enjoyment. The Gigabeat U-Series Portable Media Player makes it easy with the use of the plus touch function for simple, easy functionality. In one or two clicks, you can enjoy your favorite music for hours. View photos in color and get a better user visual experience with a nicely designed 1.1" OLED display on the Gigabeat U-Series Portable Media Player. You can listen to the Gigabeat U-Series Portable Media Player for hours on end with up to 20 hours of battery life. Up to 20 hours Battery Life 32-192kbps Mono MP3 Bit Rate 32-320kbps MP3 Stereo 32kbps WMA Mono 32-192kbps WMA Stereo 16-bit WAV Mono&Stereo FM Frequency Band - 76-108MHz Frequency Response - 22.05/44.1/48kHz Compatibility - Windows XP SP2 or higher Dimensions - 3.02 x 1.43 x. 45 Weight - 1.48 ounces