Update: We’ve tested this device now. It’s got some great features. Check out a video and some notes here.
Looking good with some potentially unique features for the netbook market and further blurring the lines between UMPC and netbook is th M912 convertible touchscreen netbook. Or should we call it a convertible tabetPC?
Gigabyte previously told me that this one wasn’t to be released but it looks like they changed their mind as its on their website.
Intel CPU 1.6GHz with 1GB RAM
Chipset Intel ® 945GSE
8.9”LCD panel/WXGA 1280×768, w/Touch screen, LED Backlight
HDD 2.5” ,9.5mm S-ATA HDD 120/160/250GB
USB X 3,Mic in/Earphone out/D-SUB RJ45 /SD card
Wifi and BlueTooth 2.0 built-in
1.3M pixel CMOS camera
Battery Li-ion 4400mAh, Battery life 4 hrs
Dimensions: 235 x 180 x 28~42mm
Weight 1.2kg
OS: XP or Linux
All the details are now in the database here. Information will be added as it becomes available.
This will go into the database as soon as i get to a desk. Right now im sitting in a bus. Gotta love UMPCs! Via Jkkmobile
May 31st, 2008 at 11:59 am
Of note because this device and others run LINUX these days…
There is a new video about this, that is titled:
State of Linux Mobile Panel: Why It’s Happening and What It Means http://www.linuxfoundation.org/events/node/39
“At the Spring 2008 Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, Dan Kohn led a panel discussion consisting of leaders in the Linux Mobile arena including Sean Moss-Pultz of OpenMoko, Derek Speed of Intel’s Moblin project, Andrew Shikiar of the Limo Foundation, David “Lefty” Schlesinger of ACCESS and Eric Chu from Google/Open Handset Alliance to discuss the current happenings in Linux Mobile and what it means for the future”.
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May 31st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Awesome!
Is this a CHEAP p1620?? Any idea about the price?
Thx!
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May 31st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I am looking forward to real live pictures of this Umpc. When will it be available in germany/europe and at what price ?
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May 31st, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Cheap?? Hardly most things with tablets will run the price of this well out of the majority of the EEE types of PCs and it will probably hit the $1500 range
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May 31st, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I updated my post from a pick from their press release
“The 2008 Computex event scheduled for June is the next major tradeshow that GIGABYTE will take part in, and the company plans to launch its latest INTEL mobile computing platform 8.9” low cost NB”
so we should see nice pricing…
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June 1st, 2008 at 3:28 am
Not exactly a UMPC but a beautifull device. Keeping the proportions, a 7 inches one would be just a little bigger than a Fujitsu U 1010. Would we see a device like this in the next years?
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June 1st, 2008 at 3:42 am
this does look very interesting, though I didn’t get the CPU… what kind of 1.6GHz is it going to be…
sounds very interesting and if there is a chance for a bigger battery and palm-rejection the other features might just make this sth very worthwhile (webcam, big HDD, and, possibily, price). This could make the P1620’s life a little harder… would love to see this with embedded 3G.
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June 1st, 2008 at 4:47 am
price would be nice ro know, yes. but even more so the number of variants and their differences. now if i can get this with bluetooth and linux, im sold!
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June 1st, 2008 at 7:49 pm
isn’t it a little big for a touchscreen? a digitizer may be?
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June 1st, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I have HP tx2120us tablet pc with 12,1 inch touchscreen, active, amd 2.2ghz 64bit,nvidia graphics, 4 GB ram, 250 gig hard drive and all great features. with vista that runs faster than most other laptops and desktops! bought in the states for 1300 usd INCL taxes. if this one here is gonna cost more, i have no idea why not buying the HP tablet which is just slightly bigger
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June 1st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
linux makes better use of the available hardware then vista, thats why
but yes, that hp is one sweet device. and the least expensive tablet pc to date with a dual mode digitizer screen iirc.
but if gigabyte stays close to eeepc with this package, the price difference between the hp and the m912 will be huge…
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June 2nd, 2008 at 7:53 pm
sto ancora cercando un qualcosa che possa essere letto
in pozzetto della mia barca in plain soleil
ma arriverà (transreflective)
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June 2nd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Awesome. If it will cost 300/350 pounds than I know my next love…
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June 6th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Man this is the hit thingy!!
i saw the machine at computex 2008 in tapei yesterday
tested the machine was awsome but won;t release til mid july however the retail price was shocking its going to be around 17000-19000 NT which is a really decent price comparing to other tablet pcs…
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June 18th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
How much money in $ does that translate to? If this is released at about 500$ I think they’d kills the market and steal it from Asus, Acer, Hp, and MSI since this is a umpc TABLET.
TOO COOL.
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June 22nd, 2008 at 2:35 am
After watching the Computex video, I am interested in this netbook because on the video the Taiwanese CNet reporter stated most of the specs and more importantly demostrated that it will run UBUNTU which is one of the most popular linux distrobutions. This is a very important development because I have an Eee PC 900 and have been somewhat unimpressed with Xandros distrobution that came with it. It boots quickly and is fairly robust but the software available in its repositories is limited. Although both Ubuntu and Xandros are based on debian, the UBUNTU repositories contain a lot more software that is current. UBUNTU also provides updates more regularly. Basically, you have access to more frequent and recent updates for linux software. I am still waiting for Xandros to update Openoffice to 2.4.1. and the latest firefox releases. An important thing to consider when buying linux based netbooks is how often their operating system components and software repositories are updated. You don’t want to get stuck with a poorly supported distrobution which may limit your use of the machine. What the computing public needs is a popular linux distrobution that works flawlessly with their netbooks but still provides access to lots of great linux software.
P.S. I know I can run UBUNTU on my Eee PC but some of the features like suspend don’t work properly. In addition, other functionality can be lost when you download updates.
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June 25th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Well I think if Gigabyte market this right they could be a real winner! They just need to get the price right if they can get around $700 or £350 I think it will sell big time. If Gigabyte can also ship a decent car mounting and power kit they could have
a perfect in-car pc (with a bluetooth GPS reciever). Given that the M912 can also be used as a conventional umpc it has a distinct advantages over the eee pc 901 The drives for me at 120 and 250 huge for a umpc. There are a couple of area’s where I think it may fall down, battery life (it only has a 4 rather than 6 cell battery), at 40mm+ it is quite thick for a umpc but i guess that is because of the touch screen and the large capacity hard drives. Lastly because of Microsoft’s lack of the support the M912 might have to ship with Windows Vista which will means it run much slower than XP. An option of a 20GB SSD and XP for the same price would make it a killer umpc.
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June 25th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Does anyone know a UK release date for this?
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