Gigabyte M912 UMPC

SLATYE · 1st June 2008, 10:30 AM

[Last update: 26/06/2008]

There's some additional information turning up about Gigabyte's entry to the UMPC market now. For a long time it looked like they'd cancelled it, but there's now a page about it on Gigabyte's website.

Links:
Basic info + pictures
Official specifications

The important bits:
CPU: Intel Atom 1.6GHz
RAM: 1GB
LCD: 8.9" LED backlit, 1280x768 resolution, touch-screen, and can be rotated 180°.
Battery: 4500mAh, 3.5 hours
HDD: 2.5" SATA 160GB
Weight: 1.3kg
Misc: 1.3MP camera, 3x USB, Bluetooth
OS: XP, Vista Home Basic, or Linux

It looks great. However, I have serious doubts about the price (at least with Windows). MS said that they weren't going to offer cheap copies of XP for touchscreen UMPCs. That said, if they keep the specifications the same between Linux and Windows versions, the price of the Windows one doesn't matter. Everyone will just buy the Linux one and put Windows on it some other way (take the license from one of their old PCs).

Hopefully we'll hear more about it soon.

cyrax83 · 1st June 2008, 10:49 AM

that things gonna cost a shitload

SLATYE · 1st June 2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyrax83

that things gonna cost a shitload

Gigabyte have apparently said that they want it to be a "low-cost UMPC" - but what that means is debatable. It might just mean that it's not $4000 like the 'high-end' UMPCs.

schmuckrat · 1st June 2008, 1:31 PM

As long as the price is within a sane limit, which it should be given the market space they are competing for, I will grab one. I have been waiting for a convertible tablet version of something like the eeePC ever since the eeePC came out, largely for reading ebooks. Obviously products like it do exist, but they cost a relative fortune. I couldn't care less whether it even had touchscreen really, although obviously it's a bonus, I just want that flat-folding screen dammit, and I'm willing to pay for it!

theFish · 1st June 2008, 3:30 PM

This looks awesome. They've got just the right ingredients, I think.

[TommyT] · 1st June 2008, 5:28 PM

touchscreen isn't an issue for me, but the extra desktop real estate of 1280x768 alone would almost warrant me paying an extra ~$100 over an eeepc or wind. its probably likely it will be even more than that over though

SLATYE · 1st June 2008, 5:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [TommyT]

touchscreen isn't an issue for me, but the extra desktop real estate of 1280x768 alone would almost warrant me paying an extra ~$100 over an eeepc or wind. its probably likely it will be even more than that over though

That's pretty much what I've been thinking. If Gigabyte could sell it at ~$550US (as the Windows version of the Wind is likely to be) I'd love to get one - but I doubt they can actually achieve that.

MR CHILLED · 1st June 2008, 5:34 PM

I do like the idea of swivel screen so you could hook up a regular keyboard/mouse and not have the rest of the laptop in front of you, just the screen.

SLATYE · 1st June 2008, 6:02 PM

More info here (IE6 doesn't seem to like that link). It sounds like there's an ExpressCard slot too.

This page says the RRP is NT 19,900 yuan, which is around $650US - although I'm not at all confident that the information is correct. Confirmation would be good.

schmuckrat · 1st June 2008, 8:13 PM

If that's the price, then fuck yes. There will always be a premium on the tablet format, but that is reasonable as far as I'm concerned. I agree that the resolution is just right, too - I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of 1024x600 on the Wind.

thebranded · 1st June 2008, 9:14 PM

the 1gig ram is a bit disapointing, but apart from that its everything i want. Now just waitingonthe confirmationon the price....

SLATYE · 1st June 2008, 9:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmuckrat

I agree that the resolution is just right, too - I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of 1024x600 on the Wind.

I'm almost the opposite. 1024x600 on the Wind sounds good to me - but for ~$100 extra a tablet PC sounds even better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebranded

the 1gig ram is a bit disapointing, but apart from that its everything i want. Now just waitingonthe confirmationon the price....

1GB should be okay. I'm guessing that it's arranged like the Wind - 1GB soldered to the mainboard, plus a SODIMM slot.

Last time I checked the i945GSE technical specifications, the chipset could only support 2GB in total anyway.

Regarding the OS: from Gigabyte's website it sounds like it'll be Linux-based in the default configuration (which may be part of the reason why the RRP mentioned above is only ~$100US above the Wind). The relevant quote:

Quote:

Microsoft Windows XP compliance / Linux

That'd make sense. MS won't want to sell XP to Gigabyte for use on a touch-screen UMPC, and Gigabyte won't want to put Vista on this system by default (too expensive, and too slow). By selling it with Linux but ensuring Windows XP compliance, everyone's happy.

McbLt · 2nd June 2008, 1:59 PM

hmm nice. UMPC tablet would be awesome if they can kep the prices down. Hope news on this doesn't get lost in all the Dell/MSI/Asus/JustAboutEveryoneElse talk

SLATYE · 2nd June 2008, 8:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McbLt

hmm nice. UMPC tablet would be awesome if they can kep the prices down. Hope news on this doesn't get lost in all the Dell/MSI/Asus/JustAboutEveryoneElse talk

I'll try to keep this thread updated. Over the next few days we should get a huge amount of info on all the new PCs (Dell and Acer entries, MSI Wind, EeePC 901 and 1000, and of course the Gigabyte M912) because Computex starts tomorrow.

McbLt · 2nd June 2008, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SLATYE

Computex starts tomorrow.

Yes! Pretty excited to see what's coming out. It'll probably be UMPC city there.

1st June 2008, 10:30 AM	#1
SLATYE SLATYE, not SLAYTE Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Canberra Posts: 21,040	Gigabyte M912 UMPC [Last update: 26/06/2008] There's some additional information turning up about Gigabyte's entry to the UMPC market now. For a long time it looked like they'd cancelled it, but there's now a page about it on Gigabyte's website. Links: Basic info + pictures Official specifications The important bits: CPU: Intel Atom 1.6GHz RAM: 1GB LCD: 8.9" LED backlit, 1280x768 resolution, touch-screen, and can be rotated 180°. Battery: 4500mAh, 3.5 hours HDD: 2.5" SATA 160GB Weight: 1.3kg Misc: 1.3MP camera, 3x USB, Bluetooth OS: XP, Vista Home Basic, or Linux It looks great. However, I have serious doubts about the price (at least with Windows). MS said that they weren't going to offer cheap copies of XP for touchscreen UMPCs. That said, if they keep the specifications the same between Linux and Windows versions, the price of the Windows one doesn't matter. Everyone will just buy the Linux one and put Windows on it some other way (take the license from one of their old PCs). Hopefully we'll hear more about it soon. __________________ Main system: Pentium-D 805 \| 1GB (2x 512MB) PQI DDR400 \| Gigabyte 8I865GMK-775 \| Xtreama Radeon 9800Pro with Zalman ZM-80HP-D \| 320GB WD SATA HDD \| Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w Laptop: Compal EL80 \| C2D T7200 \| 320GB Fujistu HDD \| 2GB DDR2-667 \| GF Go 7600 Last edited by SLATYE; 26th June 2008 at 9:17 PM.

1st June 2008, 3:30 PM	#5
theFish Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brisbane, QLD Posts: 227	This looks awesome. They've got just the right ingredients, I think. __________________ Successful Trades: curlygal, jughead13, CrippledKilla, acraig, schmoove, Lukey, kogi PC: C2D E6300 @ 3GHz \| GA-965P-S3 \| Albatron 8800GT \| 2x2GB A-Data DDR2-800 \| Samsung 226BW \| Logitech Z-2300 \| Sennheiser HD201

1st June 2008, 5:34 PM	#8
MR CHILLED D'oh! Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Awesome Adelaide! Posts: 58,185	I do like the idea of swivel screen so you could hook up a regular keyboard/mouse and not have the rest of the laptop in front of you, just the screen. __________________ PCDB (Chilled) \| PCDB (Chiller) Last edited by MR CHILLED; 1st June 2008 at 6:04 PM. Reason: grammar

1st June 2008, 6:02 PM	#9
SLATYE SLATYE, not SLAYTE Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Canberra Posts: 21,040	More info here (IE6 doesn't seem to like that link). It sounds like there's an ExpressCard slot too. This page says the RRP is NT 19,900 yuan, which is around $650US - although I'm not at all confident that the information is correct. Confirmation would be good. __________________ Main system: Pentium-D 805 \| 1GB (2x 512MB) PQI DDR400 \| Gigabyte 8I865GMK-775 \| Xtreama Radeon 9800Pro with Zalman ZM-80HP-D \| 320GB WD SATA HDD \| Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w Laptop: Compal EL80 \| C2D T7200 \| 320GB Fujistu HDD \| 2GB DDR2-667 \| GF Go 7600

1st June 2008, 9:14 PM	#11
thebranded Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 1,129	the 1gig ram is a bit disapointing, but apart from that its everything i want. Now just waitingonthe confirmationon the price.... __________________ Windows XP Pro, AMDx2 4800+, K8NF-9, 2GB RAM (4x512) 1x1.5tb+3x500gb (data), 160gb (os)

1st June 2008, 1:31 PM	#4
schmuckrat Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Sydney Posts: 78	As long as the price is within a sane limit, which it should be given the market space they are competing for, I will grab one. I have been waiting for a convertible tablet version of something like the eeePC ever since the eeePC came out, largely for reading ebooks. Obviously products like it do exist, but they cost a relative fortune. I couldn't care less whether it even had touchscreen really, although obviously it's a bonus, I just want that flat-folding screen dammit, and I'm willing to pay for it!

1st June 2008, 5:28 PM	#6
[TommyT] Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Fitzroy - Melbourne Posts: 110	touchscreen isn't an issue for me, but the extra desktop real estate of 1280x768 alone would almost warrant me paying an extra ~$100 over an eeepc or wind. its probably likely it will be even more than that over though

1st June 2008, 8:13 PM	#10
schmuckrat Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Sydney Posts: 78	If that's the price, then fuck yes. There will always be a premium on the tablet format, but that is reasonable as far as I'm concerned. I agree that the resolution is just right, too - I was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of 1024x600 on the Wind.

2nd June 2008, 1:59 PM	#13
McbLt Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Adelaide, SA 5000 Posts: 1,102	hmm nice. UMPC tablet would be awesome if they can kep the prices down. Hope news on this doesn't get lost in all the Dell/MSI/Asus/JustAboutEveryoneElse talk