Gigabyte M912 Netbook at Computex

The details about the Gigabyte M912, aka the Gigabyte M912 Netbook, have finally started to come out, complete with an official product page (it had been a few months since we had heard anything significant). Of note, Gigabyte referred to it as a Netbook (I’m just pointing that out, as someday we may resolve the whole netbook / sub-notebook debate). More details will be released this week at Computex.

This 8.9-inch Intel Atom-powered convertible is going to turn a lot of heads and is going to shake up a small segment of the ultraportable laptop market.

I’m not talking about the netbook / sub-notebook segment of the ultraportable market - I’m talking about the segment that Fujitsu has pretty much had to itself - the under 10-inch “convertible” segment (aka the display rotates and lays flat and allows you to use it either as a notebook or as a Tablet PC). The Gigabyte M912 has a 1280×800 touchscreen display with LED backlighting. Folks, this is pretty close to the Fujitsu LifeBook P1620. This could pass for a low-cost P1620 aimed at the netbook market, but the P1620 is quite a bit more expensive (expensive enought to price itself out of the netbook market).

In addition to the other specifications we knew about, here is some additional information:
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Gigabyte M912 Information

DigiTimes has news of the Gigabyte M912, which will be Gigabyte’s entry into the low-cost netbook/sub-notebook category that’s becoming popular these days.

They are reporting that it could be available sometime in June of 2008 (makes sense given that’s when the launch of Intel’s Atom is scheduled for).

Specifications:
- 8.9-inch display (probably widescreen)
- Intel Atom platform
- Runs Linux or Microsoft Windows XP
- Possibly Has Bluetooth

Article: DigiTimes

Asus Eee PC 900 - Batteries, Intel Atom

DigiTimes has a couple of articles up about the Asus Eee PC 900 battery life and a bit more information about when the Intel Atom-based devices will be available.

First up - Hong Kong customers of the Eee PC 900s are finding that they are getting 4-cell 4400mAh batteries instead of the 4-cell 5800mAh batteries available with some sample Eee PC 900s issued to reviewers. Asustek said it would be introducing the 5800mAh battery in later devices and that it was a mistake that review samples had the higher capacity batteries, however it is investigating replacing the 4400mAh batteries.

DigiTimes also reported that Asustek has ordered a substantial number of Intel Atom CPUs, along with Acer and Dell (which could end up in Dell’s netbook/ultraportable) and that HP has ordered a smaller number of VIA C7-M for its Mini-Note:
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Several Ultramobile PC CPUs Benchmarked

Over at ULTRA MOBILE PC TIPS, several UMPC CPUs were reviewed:

- 1GHz Intel Pentium M (baseline CPU)
- 900MHz Intel Celeron
- 800MHz Intel A110
- 1GHz Via C7-M

Of note, the above CPUs are found in the following machines:
- 800MHz Intel A110: Fujitsu’s U1010
- 1GHz Via C7-M: ASUS T83, Gigabyte U60, and the OQO Model 02.

Of note, all ran slower than the baseline Pentium M, however, in theory, they should have a longer battery life (and considering the size of the devices I mentioned above, you aren’t exactly buying these to be multimedia laptops.

Source: jkOnTheRun

Gigabyte W251 G5 Launched

AVING USA has news of Gigabyte’s latest model in their Gigabyte W251 series, the Gigabyte W251 G5. The W251 G5 is geared towards the Korean market, and won the ‘2006 G-Mark Award’.

The W251 is a 12.1″ widescreen laptop, with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5300 (1.73GHz) with a battery life of somewhere around four hours. It does contain an internal optical drive (dual-layer DVD writer), a 1.3MP webcam built into the display, and a dual-array microphone. It’s still based on Intel’s 945GM Mobile chipset.

It weighs in at just under 4.2 pounds (around 1.85kg) and retails for around 900,000 - 940,000 KRW (around $1025 USD depending on exchange rates). No word on whether or not this will be sold outside of Asia.

Full article at AVING.net (with photos)

GIGABYTE W251U - Release/Availibility

It now appears that the GIGABYTE W251U (or W251) is starting to become available outside of Japan/Taiwan. It’s now available in Korea as the W251 G (through their G-Style.co.kr site), and it looks like it is selling for around $1010 USD and on up (depending on currency exchange rates).

For some reason, there isn’t much information on their official page as far as CPU specifications, but they have upgraded the hard drive options, allowing up to 160GB Serial ATA

Some information has been found regarding CPU options, which is of course, subject to change:
- Intel®Core 2 Duo T5300 (1.73GHz, 2M L2 Cache), T5500 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2), T5600 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2), T7200 (2GHz, 4MB L2), T7400 (2.16GHz, 4MB L2)
- Intel Core Duo T2400 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2)
- Intel Celeron M520 (1.6GHz)

As far as availability elsewhere, you’ll have to look through their Where to buy site.

Thanks to Tim for the information.

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