Mobilx have kindly run off a set of images of the Gigabyte M912 for us and, even more kindly, have sent us a demo device to review. We’re expecting that in our hands tomorrow or on Friday.
Just as a recap, the M912 is a netbook with a few special features. 1280×800 convertible 8.9" touchscreen. ExpressCard slot and disk options up to 160GB. It also ships with Vista OS options. The large-capacity 3-cell, 32wh battery means there’s a possibility of 4-hour working or 8 hours on an extended battery but we’ll wait to see what happens in our tests before promising you anything though! Gigabyte have managed to keep the whole package in the netbook pricing range which makes it an interesting option.
Oh, one more thing. A delay. It looks like the first M912 device are not going to be available until early September. We’re hearing whispers of Atom shortages which doesn’t surprise me at all.
Take a peek at the images. Apologies for the reduced color on the large versions.
Full gallery here. For more info on the M912, see the product page.
netbook pricing range is very large.
According to Mobilx M912 comes with Vista Home Basic, as I understand, Home basic doesn’t support “inking”. Steve, elaborate on this, please. Handwriting is important to me more than a keyboard. Thank you
This is true. Home basic has no tablet features.
The touchscreen still works of course!
There is a version of the 912 that is sold to resellers with no OS. REsellers are then able to install what the want so i’m sure you will see versions with HOme Premium.
Steve.
Could you please take some pictures, where we can see the size of the Keyboard.
I’m really interested in the size of the keys, because the M912 is bigger than the Eee PC, so the Keyboard could be bigger, but – as we can see at the fotos – the keyboard is smaller than the length of the M912…
so please, take a picture for me, and perhaps one where we could compare it with the Eee PC keyboard…thanks a lot
I’ll do some comparisons when I get it, yes.
Steve.
I thought it will be shipped with an 4-cell 4500 mAh?
Mmm did I get the cell number wrong…..
I think I did. Its must be a 4-cell if its 4400mah.
2P2S
7.2v, 4400mah, = 31.7wh
Sorry.
Dear Chippy,
Please can you confirm the video screen resolution and backlight specification,
your review mentions 1280*800 however I understood the Gigabyte may be available with two different resolutions dependent on spec, Is that your understanding ? ( possibly 1280*768 and 1024*600 ?)
many thanks and good luck with the demo unit.
Max
Hi, yes. There are two resolutions planned as you mentioned.
Steve.
this is up for preorder on expansys now at £375-£400.
im looking forwards to your review, i have very high hopes for this machine and hope to double it up as a touchscreen based media/sat nav centre for my car as well as a normal netbook.
just a shame they didn’t manage to squeeze a 54g expresscard slot in there as i wanted to use it with a mogomouse. But i guess you cant have everything can you!
i cant believe this seems to be the only tablet netbook… they are missing a trick here i think as it would probably double up as a good ebook reader too, and could be marketed that way too…
I like the look of this one. depending on the review, I may well cancel my preorder of an ePC 901 from Amazon (due 12/8) and go for this instead. Especially since I’ve heard Asus are removing the Zif port from later runs of the 901, as I was banking on being able to upgrade it with more storage! :/
The M912 arrived.
I’ll be doing a live session tonight. Unboxing video will be up later today.
Q&A in this forum and on the live channel this afternoon.
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=3452&start=0#forumpost19053
I’m also planning a live session with JKK and Sascha on Sunday evening.
Steve
I wonder about comparison of performance between M912 and SC3 – especially in video and 3D. I feel torn apart between M912X and SX3 – better performance of M912 would be an important feature to balance DVDRW advantage…
I personally still am very much confused which device to buy. I have my own criteria but they are very mundane. I thought that the SC3 will be the winner but your review and second thoughts about a 7″ device will probably push me to choose between an Acer Aspire One, Eee 901 (or the 900A that Sascha hinted about in your streaming) or this M912.
I am for a Windows based OS with 20+ GB HD, and good battery life and weight as secondary issues. It will be my mini desktop used for an array of applications. I just want to take my office with me on the go and into bed or around the house more conveniently.
Aaarrgghhh!
I had preordered a m912x two weeks ago and was hoping that it would arrive within the next two weeks (that`s also what they told me when I ordered).
Now it`s gonna be september :-(
I really don`t get this. Delays everywhere! This really is getting on my nerves.
Is really Intel to blame, or is it, as some rumors claim, due to a shortage of batterys?
I agree with Harry I think this machine will make a great in-car pc for sat-nav and media playing. The price at the moment is amazing considering this is the top of the range version for £400. Its gonna be interesting when they release the lower spec
versions later in the year as we could be looking at £300!! at that price it could give the other netbooks a real good kicking.
Its gonna be interesting to see how this compares with the SC3 and the EEE901/MSI Wind as these are probably its main rivals.
Why are they using 4-cell (not 3-cell) instead of 6 cell like the competition?