Gigabyte M912V: Europe and Asia Only
July 8, 2008
If you are located in the US or Canada and were looking forward to the Gigabyte M912V, you may have to go through an importer like Dynamism.
Why, you ask, would we need to import it?
In trying to obtain more information about the maximum memory, operating system options (i.e. whether or not anything approaching Tablet PC functionality would be included on the Windows side) as well as availability, we received an email from Gigabyte that contained the following information:
“I am sorry, but this product will not be released in the US/Canada Market. It will only be available in Asia and Europe.”
The email goes on to state that if we want additional information, we are to talk to a regional representative (namely Asia/Taiwan) through Gigabyte’s Technical Service Zone.
GottaBeMobile.com received the same canned response, which leads me to believe that Gigabyte has fielded a number of requests about availability in North America.
Either they don’t realize the interest that those of us in North America have for such a device (high resolution 8.9″ touchscreen display, around $700, etc.)., or it’s going to be released in North America through a different company (i.e. rebadged). I’m leaning towards not realizing the interest.
Gigabyte Netbook M912V Press Release
July 5, 2008
In a follow-up to yesterday’s story about the M912V, Tim sent in a link to the official Gigabyte press release:
Gigabyte.com.tw - Press Release
They are calling it the “Netbook-M912V”. They have it weighing in at 1.3kg (just under 2.9 pounds),
They also mention that it is latchless.
I have my doubts about the 1GB of memory limitation that I’ve seen around, but without Aero, Vista should be okay. At that price point (around $706 USD), with that storage (160GB), high resolutation display, and a fully convertible system (converting from laptop to Tablet PC back to laptop), along with an ExpressCard slot to boot, I hope Gigabyte pulls it off.
For one, it would force some of the other manufacturers to go back and re-evaluate their pricing scheme, as it the prices have been creeping north of the $550 mark on some of these.
Update: Khanj pointed out that Windows Vista Home does not have full Tablet PC functionality.
Gigabyte M912V - Availability, Pricing
July 4, 2008
Akihabara News is reporting that Gigabyte announced today that the Gigabyte M912, wait, make that the Intel-Atom powered Gigabyte M912V, is now available (at least in Taiwan).
This has been an eagerly anticipated entry in the numerous netbooks or sub-notebooks, mainly because it’s one of the first to offer an 8.9-inch touchscreen display (with a nice resolution of 1280×768) and because it comes with a higher capacity hard drive than most other devices in this range. It also has an ExpressCard slot.
The price is actually better than I expected - 450€ (about $706 USD). This could definitely put some pressure on Fujitsu in regards to the 8.9-inch Fujitsu LifeBook P1620, as that’s around half the price of the P1620. The P1620 does have a much beefier CPU and battery life, but when you are talking half the price…
Other M912V Specs:
- 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU
- 2.5″ SATA 160GB HDD
- 1 GB of Memory (which maybe the maximum)
- Optional HSDPA capability
- 1.3MP Camera
If it runs Windows Vista Home (which is what’s being said), and only has 1GB maximum memory (it was reported earlier to have only one memory slot, and wasn’t upgradeable), I have my doubts about the performance.
Read: Akihabara News
Gigabyte M912 Netbook at Computex
June 1, 2008
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:
Read more
Gigabyte M912 Information
April 28, 2008
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
April 22, 2008
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:
Read more
