Review #1 submitted by Joe O.
Introduction
Yeah, I know this last point is not valid but being a bit of a gadget lover I
like having new toys that others have not managed to get hold of yet.
So while on a business trip to Tokyo recently I decided to have a look and see
if there was anything that would be a bit more pocket friendly while still
offering a large storage capacity - I still planned to take my iPOD on long
trips but for everyday use I figured something else was called for. While
strolling around Bicc Camera (a must for anyone that visits Japan - if only to
see what is coming up in electronics) the Gigobeat caught my eye. After a quick
trawl on the Internet to find out more info (I don't read Japanese) I found a
couple of review of the G20 and it seemed worth looking at. It was on returning
to the store that I realised that the model I had seen was the newer G21.
Credit Card at the ready...
Initial impressions
Notably no carrying case is included in the package.
Setup, connecting and transfer
One area where I did come unstuck was that I presumed that as the software that
came with the G20 was able to install and run in English I presumed the same
would be true of the software for the G21 - not so! To get music onto the G21
you need to use Toshiba's Audio Application (TAA) or install a driver (Windows
Media Driver - WMD) that allows you to transfer WMA files directly using
Windows Media Player.
Note that unlike Musimatch or Itunes which ship with the iPOD, TAA does not rip
to MP3 so you will need another piece of software to do this if you are
planning to convert your own CDs.
So once I had some suitable data (in correct order) on the device it was time
to play.
In use
Soundwise I used to think that all MP3 players sounded alike but the G21 are
like chalk and cheese - using the same headphones on both I find that I prefer
the sound of the G21 (slightly) as it seems (to my ears) to have a warmer
slightly more open sound (but this is purely my view).
One thing that deserves a special mention is the neck chord remote which is a
great gimmick that is actually practical. In case you don't know what this is
it consists of a neck strap which allows you to wear the G21 round your neck
either dangling like some oversized pendant or, more likely, tucked into a
shirt pocket. Built into the neck strap are the controls for piloting the
device i.e. Volume +/-, Rew/Fwd (as well as skip back skip forward),
Play/Pause/Stop. This works really well and is very convenient. My only worry
is how much flexing the neck strap will cope with before it starts to
malfunction - time will tell.
So what else?
Summary
Overall I would give the G21: 8.5/10
Things to like
Things to dislike:
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Thanks a lot for this review Joe!
[Notes by Alcahest in this color]
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I've owned a 30GB iPOD for close to a year now and there is certainly lots to
love about it - as someone with a large music collection (around 5000 CDs) that
travels a lot the appeal of being able to take a large selection of music with
me everywhere was too great to miss - however there are also a few things I
hate:
It has suit pocket ruining dimensions (and weight)
The supplied headphones are terrible (I use a pair of Sony EX-71Ls, white of
course).
The remote control looks great but is impractical - it doesn't reliably clip
onto anything and the connection is unreliable too!
The PC connectivity can be a bit hit and miss - and slow. Once PC and iPOD are
talking things tend to be fairly smooth but I could never be sure that the
things were going to establish a link correctly.
They are likely navels and opinions - everyone has one!
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The device is a minimal, slim and square (I have the black model which looks
even more minimal because the screen blends into the body colour when the
backlight is off). It feels solid and well constructed (although on mine the
Hold key rattles slightly which is annoying).
Overall the design reminds me of a later model MD player and is probably close
to these in size.
The box contains:
- Various manuals (discarded straight away - I don't read Japanese)
- Software CD
- Power supply (although this has a Japanese style plug it is multi-voltage so
should work anywhere in the world given the right adaptor)
- Charging cradle (terrible terrible terrible - really nasty plastic
construction)
- Standard clip style remote control (no screen unfortunately)
- Neck chord remote control (will talk more about this later)
- USB connecting cable
- The device itself
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The G21 takes about three hours to charge and can either be charged via the
cradle or alternatively the power supply can be plugged directly into the
device itself. The USB cable can only be plugged directly into the device.
There are two full sized USB sockets on the cradle but I have no idea what
these are for (have I mentioned that I don't read Japanese).
I did try
connecting the cradle to the USB port on my Laptop (using a USB to USB cable)
but nothing happened - if anyone knows what these USB sockets on the cradle are
for then please let me know - I presume it is something to do with the LAN
access capabilities but as I have not used those at all...
[Absolutely, the 2 USB ports on the cradle can only used in case of a LAN
connection.]
However with the G21 both of these pieces of software
have been written to install and run only on Japanese versions of Windows.
At this point I decided to contact Alcahest who was very very helpful and
pointed out where I could go to download the TAA version that ships with the
G20. I installed this and everything connected perfectly.
When I ripped my first CD and then transferred it across to the G21 the first
thing I noticed was that the tracks were stored in alphabetical order rather
than in track order. This is something that the MusicMatch/ITunes +iPOD
combination handles automatically so I have never had to think about it before.
Again thanks to go to Alcahest for explaining a workaround involving using a
suitable program to add a track number prefix to the title tag (less
complicated than it sounds).
[But really, creating a "Playlist" where the tracks are sorted and placing
this playlist in the corresponding album folder is SO much faster! (well,
imho)]
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I won't go into detail about the buttons etc as I think Alex is planning a full
review at some stage. Instead I will concentrate on the playing experience.
The first I noticed was that, although as with any hard disk system it takes a
while to start up the G21, the actual startup time seemed shorter than my iPOD.
The next thing I noticed was the quality of the headphones. Usually I discard
supplied headphones straight away (as I did with the awful iPOD headphones) but
the ones supplied with the G21 are good enough to use.
Navigation is fairly easy and can be made easier or harder according to how you
organise your contents - I have each CD in a separate folder under the main
directory. The TAA automatically creates a playlist for each album and creates
an artist entry so that you can search for tracks by album or artist. The TAA
software makes directories and directory structure fairly obvious (i.e. you are
made very aware of how and where tracks are stored). At first I found this odd
coming from an iPOD where all this is hidden however I now find it actually
makes certain aspects easier to manage.
Well not having the manual means that there are a few functions which I am not
too clear on (Alcahest has been very helpful sorting some things out) but in
general the interface is clear and easy to use. There are some things I miss on
the iPOD though - it would be very difficult to come up with a simpler, more
intuitive user interface and the G21 certainly does not manage it, there are
some areas where it can be a bit confusing as to how to access certain
functions (particularly when the device is playing). However the controls are
well laid out and can be operated one-handed (pretty much).
The screen has the option to be blue on black or reversed out black on blue. In
both cases the screen is easy to read - with the backlight off the screen is
not quite so clear unless it is a really bright day. It is possible to alter
the amount of time the backlight stays on for. As an illustration of Toshiba's
thougtfullness - if you use the remote control to operate the device the
backlight does not come on thus saving on battery drain - the assumption being
that you are not likely to be looking at the screen if you are using one of the
remote controls to pilot the device.
One thing that is odd is that the extensions of tracks get shown on the display
so for example the track "Yacht Dance" appears as "Yacht Dance.MP3.SAT". It
would have been much more user friendly to supress the extensions.
[Joe, there is an option to hide extensions! Press "Menu" > "Setting" > "Navi Setting" > "Tag Information" and no more extensions.]
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Although almost a spur of the moment purchase the G21 has certainly justified
my impulsiveness - it delivers on all the points I mentioned in the
introduction (yes, even the last point - at least for the time being) and so
far has proved to be reliable, easy to use and fun.
Is it an iPOD killer? In short 'No', but that's nothing to do with any
shortcomings of the G21 itself. The iPOD has momentum as a design/style icon
which it will be virtually impossible for any other device to overtake. the
iPOD design is innovative featuring a great blend of colours and materials the
G21 although not bad is certainly not an innovative design - the fact that it
looks like an MD player kind of illustrates this. But it does feel good, solid
and exudes quality.
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1: The design: slim not too heavy and good quality
2: Two remote controls both of which work very well (the neck chord remote is a
particularly nice innovation).
3: Easy connectivity - since the G21 appears simply as a USB storage device it
connects quickly and reliably and the Toshiba Audio Aplication gives you a
Windows Explorer type view of the device contents.
4: Great headphones - would you believe a pair of supplied headphones that are
actually useable!
5: Battery life seems to be pretty good so far.
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1: Not maintaining track ordering - the workaround is tedious when you are
transferring a large amount of CDs.
[Playlists!]
2: Showing track extensions is just bizarre
[There's an option!]
3: Charging cradle looks , feels and probably is, cheap!
4: Volume could be a touch louder - on older CDs which tend to be mastered at a
much lower level there sometimes is not quite enough volume.
5: Playback is not gapless - this would have been a definte advntage over an
iPOD
6: Even when using the cradle the G21 still has to be connected seperately to
the PC
[Yes, when not using the LAN feature that is.]
If, like Joe, you want to become a star, submit your G20/G21 reviews! ^_^
I'll post them on the site asap.
As always, please posts your feedback/comments/questions in the guestbook.