Core i3, i5 to appear in 10 and 11.6″ Gigabyte Laptops at Computex

Posted on 04 March 2011, Last updated on 04 March 2011 by

After I had tested the N570-based S1080 tablet yesterday I had a great discussion with Gigabyte about mobile video editing. Gigabyte have always explored new features and pushed the boundaries in some way another so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when the representative told me I should wait for Computex to see the T20xx range of devices that will come with the latest, Sandy Bridge versions of Intel’s Core i3 or i5 CPUs. I understood that they would be convertible too.

That’s going to be something to test as soon as possible because if they manage it, we could have another low-cost power-option on our hands. If they manage to get some decent battery life out of it and keep it under 1.5KG too, it’s going to be very interesting indeed. I sincerely hope that the rep knew what he was talking about and can’t wait to hear more.

Computex starts on May 31st and we’re planning to be there.

17 Comments For This Post

  1. UMPCPortal says:

    Core i3, i5 to appear in 10 and 11.6" Gigabyte Laptops at Computex http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=23326

  2. Anuj Purohit says:

    Core i3, i5 to appear in 10 and 11.6″ Gigabyte Laptops at Computex: After I had tested the… http://goo.gl/fb/0KM6P

  3. Josh's Tech Items says:

    Core i3, i5 to appear in 10 and 11.6″ Gigabyte Laptops at Computex: After I had tested the… http://goo.gl/fb/eMt3D

  4. DavidC1 says:

    YES!! Awesome job Gigabyte! Been dreaming of a powerful laptop/tablet device based on Sandy Bridge. Make it ULV, and big battery for 7+ battery life.

  5. Chippy says:

    What do you think the chances of 7hr / sub 1.5KG are? Gigabyte tend towards lower cost which means battery life has to give-way to other priorities.
    It will be a good reference point for low-cost designs though and i’m looking forward to seeing it.

  6. DavidC1 says:

    Not impossible as you are suggesting.

    Take a look at Gigabyte T1125N. With a 11.6-inch screen and 1.73kg weight, they stuck a discrete graphics chip in there, and a 6-cell battery.

    4 core Sandy Bridge chip can achieve 7 hours on internet usage with a 71WHr on a big 17.3 inch screen. Dual core ULV chip with 11.6-inch screen and 48-56WHr should be able to do the same.

  7. Chippy says:

    I neatly took a very close look at that one after Gigabyte recommended it but saw the 1.75kg weight. Woah!

  8. DavidC1 says:

    I think the ULV Sandy Bridge chips have a chance to reach first generation Netbook Atom level battery life.

  9. tsog says:

    Somehow I doubt that. Of all the laptops in the world, the only ones that can consistently deliver 7 hr of batter life from “48-56WHr” batteries are netbooks/UMPCs with the underpowered CPUs.

    As for 10″ laptops around that weigh range with core i CPUS, panasonic and fujitsu both have models around 1.5kg or less (the T580 and J9/10), albeit much more expensive than netbooks.

  10. DavidC1 says:

    Ehh, Maybe I was being too general. It has a chance to do that in vast majority of uses, like idle/internet browsing/video playback.

    Again: 4 core Sandy Bridge chip can achieve 7 hours on internet usage with a 71WHr on a big 17.3 inch screen. Dual core ULV chip with 11.6-inch screen and 48-56WHr should be able to do the same.

  11. tsog says:

    I know. But those are mac books. And we all know that windows and mac has very different power consumptions.

  12. Chippy says:

    In my opinion its not the OS that makes the difference there, its actually the quality control on the engineering and parts.

  13. tsog says:

    I would love it if a laptop with core i ULV chip gets 7 hr real world battery life with 48-56 whr battery, but I just don’t see it happening with sandy bridge CPUs. It didn’t happen with last gen core i ULVs (like the T580 that gets ~5 hrs with core i5 560UM here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Fujitsu-LifeBook-T580-Convertible.43102.0.html), and I doubt Intel drastically improved the power consumption on sandy bridge.

    Also, while quad and dual core CPUs have drastically different TDPs, the differences get smaller as CPU utilization decreases. Like chippy said, the engineering and quality of other parts does matter in this case.

  14. DavidC1 says:

    No it isn’t:

    http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/327?vs=266

    Relative battery life(Core i7 2820QM/Core i3 350M):

    Idle: 6.63/7
    Internet: 5.83/5.6
    H.264: 3.66/3.02

    45W Core i7 Sandy Bridge achieves similar battery life with a 17.3 inch screen compared to 35W Core i3 with 35W TDP and 13.3 inch screen. Sandy Bridge is a substantial improvement.

    What about 45W Sandy Bridge compared to 45W Clarksfield?:
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/4207/asus-g73sw-third-times-the-charm/4

    Idle: +17%
    Internet: +27%
    H.264: +39%

  15. tsog says:

    Do they have any comparisons with the exact same laptop, just different CPUs?

  16. DavidC1 says:

    I can’t see it, but the closest generational comparison is Lenovo’s X201 vs. X220 from Notebookreview.

  17. DavidC1 says:

    http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6056&p=4

    “8 hours and 47 minutes of battery life with the 6-cell battery(63WHr).”

    12.5-inch Sandy Bridge Core i5 2520M(35W TDP)
    http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6036&review=hp+mini+1103

    10.1-inch Pine Trail Atom N455

    “8 hours and 23 minutes(55WHr)”

    Now tell me that the 17W TDP Sandy Bridge chips won’t reach Pine Trail’s battery life.

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