We’ve seen it done to several other netbooks in the past and now it is the Dell Mini 9’s turn. Jkk points us to a video of a Dell Mini 9 [Portal page] that has been modded with a touchscreen. He says that any of the common 8.9" touchscreen kits can be used with the mod, but connecting the necessary components could be tricky. Check out a short video below:

Laptop Magazine, Hardware Canucks and Hardware Zone have all now published full reviews of the Gigabyte M912V, the 1280×768 version of the Gigabyte Netbook.

Nothing surprises me in any of the reviews. Laptop Mag, who published their review last month) highlights the battery life and the screen resolution as problem points along with small keyboard and lack of touch software. Hardware Canucks picks up on the same issues. Hardware Zone who, like LaptopMag, had a Vista version, highlights some exceptionally high battery drain figures.

I agree with most of the issues and documented the lowlights in my article after we did the live session with it in July. At least we all agree on the same things!

It really is a shame that the keyboard is the standard EeePC style keyboard as there’s definitely room for a better one. The styling could also do with some pep but some of those other issues might be cleared with the arrival of the M912M which is scheduled to be available next week.

Many of you that have been following the M912 screen saga will know that the M version, with it’s lower resolution 1024×600 screen, is said by Gigabyte to have the LED backlighting which should help on three counts. 1) Battery life. The 1280×768 CCFL-backlit screen seemed to suck exceptional amounts of power when I tested it so the LED-backlighting should help a huge amount. 10% less drain overall is the minimum I’m expecting but it could be up to 20% in some scenarios. This should take the device over the magic 3-hour battery life. 2) The brightness and contrast should be far better on the LED-backlit model.  3) There should be a reduction in heat both under normal use and in tablet mode.  I’m quite sure that Windows XP is going to help too.

The M912M also comes with a smaller disk, lower price and, in some cases (check with your reseller) there won’t be a Bluetooth module. Maybe this fits with your requirements, maybe not, but for me its turning out to be an attractive package that I’m looking forward to testing. The Medion Akoya Mini is good (very good actually) but I need Bluetooth and with the ability to reach 3hrs of online battery life (30 minutes more than the Akoya Mini/Wind) the possibility of an internal 3G upgrade (Note: Some reports are coming in that the PCI Express Mini slot is not working) an easy 2GB memory upgrade, easy access to the hard drive and a fun, convertible touchscreen, has me really interested in the 912M as a better alternative. We’ll see next week when we put the Everun Note, the Akoya Mini and the M912M side-by-side.

More info and links on the M912M product page.

In the Gigabyte M912X unboxing last week, the second thing I mentioned was the washed-out screen. The following morning, in my tests,  it was clear that the screen was taking too much power. Ding! Of course, it was a CCFL-backlit screen.

I sent an email to Gigabyte who have confirmed that the (production) 1280×768 screen is CCFL backlit. They also told me that the 1024×600 screened version is LED-backlit. The 1024×600 screen will be installed in the M912M version.

For those not familiar with the terms, CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) is the old, power-hungry and often low-brightness backlighting method. LED (Light Emitting Diode) is the newer, much more power efficient and higher-brightness (mostly) method. In this case, it means that if you take a lower resolution screen, you get more battery life (it could be a significant amount, taking the standard 4-cell battery up to 3.5hrs browsing time) and, potentially a much brighter screen. All the LED 1024×600 screens I’ve seen so far have had great colour balance too.

I’ll happily drop that 1280×768 screen to 1024×600 to get the extra brightness and longer battery life offered by a LED-backlit model but there’s a catch if you’re thinking the same way. The 1024×600 screen is only in the M912M model. For that you have to sacrifice the Bluetooth (not a big deal) take Windows XP (which is likely to be faster and run better in 1GB) take an 80Gb hard drive instead of 160GB and wait 2 weeks longer until the end of September for delivery. Personally, I think it’s worth it and I don’t think anything else is going to come along that has the same features for the same price.

In summary then, there are now two models. The high-end version and the low-end version. The high-end version is available with XP and Vista. (M912X, M912V) The low-end version only with XP (M912M) There will be no Linux version.

Read the highlights and lowlights and watch the live Q&A session here. See the unboxing here.

Side-by-side specification comparison here.

Update: It’s the I1 (i1) not the L1. My mistake. Sorry Wibrain!
Detailed specifications and links are now in the database.

This, just in from Wibrain.

We had news from UMPCfever that Wibrain were working on an Atom-based UMPC and I can now bring you some details in English. The L1 i1 will be based on the B1 design, will have an updated casing design and will include variants of the Silverthorne Atom processor and an HSDPA module.

It’s planned to be launched running on Menlow (Silverthorne/Poulsbo) in two versions, one with a 1.1Ghz CPU and one with a 1.3Ghz version. The usual 30Gb or 60Gb drive options are available and you’ll also have SSD options up to, wait for it, 64GB! It is planned to be built with Windows XP or Linux (version unknown.) Target weight and dimensions are as per the B1 model. 500gm. One specification that many will be happy to see is an SD card slot. Simple but very useful and missing from the previous, B1 model.

As for battery life, we have a document here that says 6-hours browsing. I’m not sure if that’s with the 30Wh battery or the double-capacity battery. Were checking. It is possible that, with an SSD and the 1.1Ghz CPU that they can reach this figure with the standard battery and a low-level backlight but it’s going to be tough. We know that already! (Update: Wibrain tell us it’s 6-hours with the standard battery - Wow. Even if it’s 5, i’m interested!) Availability is planned for October through global channels. (Yes, U.S. is included in the target territory list.)

For those that haven’t read much about the Wibrain UMPCs, they’re good value and easy to use. The touchpad works exceptionally well and the split keyboard is one of the quickest for URL and password entry. If Wibrain reach 6-hour browsing time on the standard battery I’m sure it will sell extremely well. Links and information about the B1, here. I’ll add the i1 to the database ASAP.

Source: Wibrain.

The next generation XO Laptop will be a smaller, dual-touchscreen device consuming just 1W of power and is scheduled for launch by 2010 says Nick Negroponte of the OLPC project.

Laptop Mag were at the launch event today and report that the device will take on a dual-format design that can be used in book or notebook PC modes.

Its an interesting concept although at 1W, which I assume is without Wifi, you’d have to build this on an extremely low power platform. Moorestown or ARM would be the only contenders which means XP or Vista is out of the question. [Vista won't run on Moorestown due to architectural limitations around the lack of a PCI bus] Which leaves either the Moblin distribution or something new from Microsoft.

Laptop Magazine. First Look: OLPC XO Generation 2.0

• Fact: Vista is not the right choice for a Ultra Mobile PCs unless you need handwriting recognition.
• Fact: Linux is not an option for pro-mobile users.
• Fact: Ultra Low Cost PC’s focus on cost and not mobility features.
• Fact: XP is the best choice of operating system for a pro-mobile device.

So when Microsoft prevents OEM’s from shipping a standard build of XP with a UMPC and then makes an exception for ULCPC’s it kind of stinks. When they then offer discounts to ULCPC OEMs and specifically block-out mobile devices that use touchscreens (every single X86-based mobile device I have tested, except one, had a touchscreen) it gets offensive.

Pro-mobile users don’t number in the millions like ULCPC customers but they do exist. This website is proof of that. Should these customers be forced into a position where they have to buy a Windows Vista Business based device and then run around to try and find drivers so that they can then spend hours doing the upgrade to Windows XP? Should OEMs in the pro-mobile market be forced to design around notebook processors that are capable of running Vista and thus being hit with design limitations and cost issues?

Not at all.

The answer might lie in developments going on inside Microsoft. Windows Mobile for X86 for example. Componentised Vista or even a re-badged Windows XP ‘mobile’ but right now it looks like the Ghz-class touchscreen UMPCs will suffer a big blow. VIA’s 1Ghz C7, the Celeron 900, the Intel A100 and A110, the Geode LX800 and LX900 and most of the new Intel Atom range are processors that give acceptable and in some cases, surprisingly good real-world performance characteristics under XP but are rendered near-useless under standard Vista builds.

2 years ago, Microsoft created the Origami device specification that included exactly these processors and included the very touchscreens that are now being blocked by them from using the best operating system choice that existed. I wonder how Otto Berkes, the father of Origami, feels about that?