How to Encode Video for a Toshiba Gigabeat S

The Toshiba Gigabeat S is a fantastic personal media player. It has plenty of features as well as a large hard drive and a vivid screen. In order to take advantage of the player's abilities, you might need to encode your own video to meet the Gigabeat's specifications.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Review the Gigabeat's specifications. The video file needs to be in Windows Media Video (WMV) format. This format is common. Nearly all protected video content is encoded this way. In addition, the combined audio and video bitrate cannot exceed 800kbps.
2. Find programs that you're comfortable working with. Xilisoft's DVD Ripper can encode files from DVDs and the Video Converter Pro from Smartsoft can encode downloaded. They're both easy to set up and, once set up, remember all of your settings so you only need to do it once.
3. Encode your file using the specifications above. Don't use your computer during this time as video conversion uses a lot of system resources.
4. Test your file by syncing it to your Gigabeat using Windows Media Player. If Media Player has to convert your file, return to your program and review its settings. If there doesn't seem to be any problems, look at your file. It isn't uncommon for the combined audio and video bitrates to be different than what is expected. Take a look at your file's properties to make sure that is less than 800kbps.

Tips & Warnings

• The newest Gigabeat, the Gigabeat T, uses the same specifications for its video playback.