If you visit www.gigabeat.com, you’ll find an upbeat, hip site devoted to the “gigabeat community”. This site, developed by Toshiba America Consumer Products, has constructed this website in order to market the latest in their video/audio player products. The site has something more to shout about with the latest from Toshiba, the MEV30K V Series Portable Media Player.

This device features at 3.5 inch (320 x 420 resolution) LCD display. Its rechargeable Lithium ion battery can store up to 8 hours of continual video on its 30GB hard disk drive. It is designed to support Windows Media Video, which allows video to be transferred from a PC or laptop directly into the player itself. In addition to video, the device can store 25 hours worth audio files in MP3, WMA, or WAV formats. The device is also capable of holding JPEG picture files, so you can use it to share your photos with your friends.

This is the first of the V Series, a new line from Toshiba that promises more features than the popular S Series. For example, the V Player has a bigger screen and longer lasting battery.

The Toshiba MEV30K Player also allows you to download movies from Vongo, a popular movie downloading site. You can also download audio files from the subscription-based Napster. The device is controlled by Microsoft’s user-friendly Mobile-based Portable Media Center software which will enable you easy access to all files loaded onto the device.

The Toshiba MEV30K device comes with an A/V output cable so you can share your video via your friend’s television set or other video player. It also has a powerful internal speaker so that you can watch and listen even without headphones.

The Toshiba MEV30K V Series Portable Media Player is available through pre-orders at about $399.99 USD. It should then be available at major retailers sometime in October 2006.