Wow, pretty much out of the blue for us, this new GigaBeat from Toshiba. Let's see what they've got to offer this time.

1.8" HDD with 10, 20 or 60GB capacity (F10/20/60) Supports MP3, WMA & WAV (+DRM WMP) 2.2 Type QVGA color TFT lcd (240×320 resolution, 32,768 colors max) USB2.0 Built-in lithium ion battery, 11 hours of playback time per charge 29 Equalizer settings, including user equalizer 106 x 63 x 16mm (F10/F20) 106 x 63 x 19mm (F60) Comes with gigabeatRoom + RipRec application for transferring music 160 grams (F10/20) 170 grams (F60) Available in white, blue, pink (argh) and silver (F60: silver-only) F60 comes with cradle, which is optional for the F10 & 20

Ok, so what we have here is another attempt by Toshiba to outsmart the iPod. The F-series is compact (106 x 63 x 19 mm for the F60 vs 104 x 61 x 18 mm for the Apple iPod v4, 40GB), actually weighs a tad less than the 40GB pod, comes with a 2.2" color screen and has 20GB of additional space to offer.

Here's the catch: the suggested retail prices are completely insane. The F10/20 will cost about $350-$450, which is kind of steep for those capacities. The F60 comes with a price tag that's mentioning a staggering $575 or more! Now, that's *not* the way to get our attention.

The F-series will go on sale as of late November (F10/20) / early December (F60) and there's no indication on whether it'll make it to the outside-Japan-world this time, or not.

SOURCE    LINK (to spec sheet)