My Gigabeat: My S30 Review: First look with Photos

Monday, June 05, 2006

My S30 Review: First look with Photos

Instead of doing a complete review and keep you guys waiting my goal is to release one piece everyday this week. Obviously I'll finish as quickly as possible. I would also like say that this is more of loose form of review. Not the one you would expect over at dapreview.net (They are really good at it and I know they will have a complete review soon). I will simply try to put in words what my experience is for the first couple of days with the S30.

As soon as I got of work I hurried home to get some shots of the S30 while there is still daylight. Today's post will contain some photos and my initial response to the player.

I charged the player at work today. It took no more than 2hrs.

Connecting the player to my PC was a breeze as well. I used my old USB cable that connects to the F40 doc (Yes, there is a new USB cable included in the box). Windows XP recognized the player and asked me what software I liked to sync/open with. I selected WMP 11.

It took a couple of seconds to start WMP 11. Once it was started it recognized the S30. For an initial test I decided to sync my latest play list. A dance/trance mix from Urge music store called Ultra Urge I (of course...). The 15 songs synced instantly. Roughly 20-30 seconds.

Time to listen to the player. I hooked up the stock headphones which are suprisingly light, but fit well in my ears. After selecting to play the complete play list I select Electronic from the EQ settings.

The player sounds great even on the stock headphones. These stock headphones are much better then the ones that came with the F Series. Not only do they sound better, but they also actually fit! Enough of the stock headphones though. No one would expect to get excellent sound with stock. I plugged in my Shure E3c and the sound is great. Comparing to my F40 with firmware 3.0 the S30 sounds 10-20% better. More base, and details. This is just an initial test, but it really sounds good!

Navigating the S30 with Portable Media Center is very easy and intuitive. I miss some of the shortcuts with my F40. You know the "slide your finger up/down/right or left" for quick access to menus etc, but PMC really makes it easy for someone with hardly any experience. The tactile cross is also quite comfortable to use. It took me a couple of times to get used to that you have to click the center in order to select something. On the F40 you tap the right side of the cross. Besides that initial awkwardness I had no problems with the cross.

Tomorrow I will follow up with more details.
Things to come:

Video
FM
Pictures
PMC (Never easy to get good shots of UI)
Xbox 360 integration
Performance
Verdict

The box... isn't beautiful!

The content... sparse but I got what I need.

The player... finally!

Connectors... of course we got a standard mini usb!

Controls... nice touch.

Audio out... standard stuff, right?

Beauty and the Beast? I still like my F40, but the S30 sure looks better and I really like the smaller size!

Slim and Bulky... yeah I tried the old F40 dock... no luck although the connector is identical, but I'm not about to apply brute force to my new toy.

Ok, this is it for tonight. I will continued to test (enjoy) my S30 all night long... Look for a new post tomorrow night.

Please post comments with any questions you might have.

Created a forum post for questions and discussions regarding my S30 review.

posted by Tomas @ 8:06 PM

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14 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Thanks for keeping us updated, Tomas. Cheers. Looking forward to the next post.; Mon Jun 05, 11:34:00 PM 2006
psychobabbler said...: Very nice pictures Tomas! I really think this site is great and I appreciate all your work. I was around since you first started and though I never got around to getting the F-series I have helped others get it and they are quite happy.

-Michael
DAPreview.net
Co-Admin; Tue Jun 06, 12:42:00 AM 2006
Anonymous said...: Great!
Been looking forward to this one. Very interested in the picture abilities. Could you plug in a card reader and check download tim e for 1GB from a memorycard and also check if it takes RAW and show the included JPEG-file. How large pictures...10.2 Mpixel possible...? Zoom-capabilities?
Thank you for a great review so far!

/Magnus; Tue Jun 06, 08:19:00 AM 2006
Tippah said...: Are you in Canada? I noticed the french on the box.; Tue Jun 06, 12:23:00 PM 2006
Tomas said...: Thanks Michael! You really need to get your hands on the S Series.

I will defenitly test the picture capabilities. I do not have any RAW format pics though. I would think that there are no problems storing it, but most likely not a preview. Send me one if you want me to test. There is one level of zoom.

Not in Canada, I guess they made a box for North America.; Tue Jun 06, 12:40:00 PM 2006
qbix said...: So when is the new firmware coming out? Kidding :) Good job on the pix. I just got mine today and am loving it. Mine is the s60 but I also ordered an s30 (arriving next week). I'll take pictures to compare the slight difference in size.; Tue Jun 06, 01:57:00 PM 2006
Tomas said...: qbix: Feel free to send me the pics and I will post them here on the blog. :); Tue Jun 06, 04:12:00 PM 2006
qbix said...: Sure, I'll send you the pictures as soon as I take them. Speaking of pictures, I'm also going to test for RAW format support. I didn't see anything on the manual but I guess we'll find out. I can see how that would be useful as the Gigabeat would be a great way to store photos from an SLR camera.

Note, however, that I can only test Nikon's RAW format (NEF) since I don't have a Canon or a Kodak. I'd be happy to help test those as well if you provide the file (just make sure it's nothing nasty). If there's no support, I'll just tell you how to batch convert them to Jpgs using Photoshop, Picasa, XN-View or FastStone ;); Tue Jun 06, 05:03:00 PM 2006
CheerleaderChic said...: Hey, does it come with a case like some places list? Also, if i had a tangible DVD, how do i convert it to put on the GigabeatS? That could make or break my purchase of it.; Tue Jun 06, 06:17:00 PM 2006
Tomas said...: No case included, but there are some cases available, and more to come.

There are several ways of doing it... do a google search on ripping dvd's :); Tue Jun 06, 06:34:00 PM 2006
asombershade said...: Great review so far Tomas!

One thing I didn't see is whether there's a WMP11 cd among the contents of that box? Or any other software, for that matter?; Tue Jun 06, 11:04:00 PM 2006
Tomas said...: There is one CD included. Windows Media Player 10 and the owners manual.

There is also a one month free trial to Napster.; Tue Jun 06, 11:18:00 PM 2006
Peter said...: Hey! You said you would update tonight! Heh, just kidding... but I'm sure its because you are having so much fun with your new Gigabeat.; Wed Jun 07, 03:03:00 AM 2006
Tomas said...: Ooops! :)

Testing the photo options while ripping, I mean backing up a DVD to DivX.

Will try to post an update before I go to sleep.; Wed Jun 07, 03:11:00 AM 2006