Over the last 48hrs I’ve been focusing on the Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M that has been sent over by Mobilx. 48hrs isn’t a long time but having done the unboxing, a full 3hr live test (recording) with viewer feedback (thanks to the 500+ people that dropped in during the live session) and Q&A along with a full 2-day use as my main PC, I feel that I’m a position to be able to give you the highs and lows.

The Touchnote is a device that falls between, or rather overlaps, the netbook, tabletPC and notebook categories and I have to say, I’m quite impressed with it. It’s a very unique and enjoyable device with some excellent features and very few issues.

The images above sum up some of the features that make it unique. Convertible screen, touch layer and 3G-ready. The Touchnote follows in the steps of the M912M, the 8.9 inch convertible and in my opinion, fixes all the problems that existed with that device.

Let me quickly run down the main points of note.

• Intel Atom 1.6Ghz ‘netbook’ platform with 1GB RAM and Windows XP Home.
• Large, relatively fast 2.5 inch SATA drive. (61 / 57 MB/s read/write) split into two (80/65GB) partitions with an additional recovery partition.
• Quite and cool operation (an important improvement over the M912M)
• Average 3.25hrs online, active battery life. (about 30 minutes improvement over the M912)
• Minimum 2.5hrs online batter life with high screen brightness and 3G connectivity.
• Maximum 4hrs battery life (50% screen brightness, radios off)
• Solid screen hinge (better than the M912)
• BT 2.1 and Draft-N wireless support
• Good quality on-screen control panel
• Device-off battery indicator
• Expresscard/34 slot
• Easy access to Wifi and spare PCI-Express-MINI slots, RAM and disk.
• Pre-wired antenna (good quality) and SIM card slot.
• Multi-touch mouse pad (Elantech)
• 3xUSB, VGA, 4-in-one memory card slot, Ethernet, mic and headphone ports
• Bright LED backlit screen with soft touch layer (great for finger operation, not great for handwriting input)
• Touch driver has basic built-in swipe-gesture support for Pg-Up, Pg-Down forward and back.
• Speakers loud. Reasonable (WRT netbooks) quality
• Glossy screen will be an annoyance for outdoor use. (see image below)
• Overall build quality good (no creaking plastic. finishing good.)
• Uses lightweight power supply unit at 12VDC
• A two-pocket neoprene ‘hand’bag’ is included.
• Spare batteries are well-priced. 6-cell battery (150% capacity) is available.

Medion Akoya (same as MSI Wind) next to Gigabyte Touchnote showing slightly larger form factor and glossy screen.

Full Gigabyte Touchnote Gallery available in the gallery.

The Touchnote has been loaned to UMPCPortal by Mobilx who are also taking advantage of the built-in SIM slot, easy PCI-Express Mini slot access and, unique for any device I know of, pre-wired antenna. I’ve done 3G upgrades in the past but antenna reception has always been an issue. With the Touchnote, Gigabyte take all the worry away. The reception on the antenna is excellent. For the first time ever on any device, including a smartphone, that I have owned, I was able to get UMTS connectivity in my cellar studio!

CrystalMark performance test.

In order to highlight the disk performance I’ve run through the CrystalMark 2003 performance test. The result of over 28000 is one of the best I’ve seen for a stock netbook and is attributable to the disk which really does make a noticeable difference in operation.

Summary.

The Touchnote offers a lot more than the average netbook and offers significant improvements over the groundbreaking M912M that came before it. Convertible touchscreen, draft-n WiFi, BT2.1, fast 2.5 inch drive, easy upgrade possibilities, Expresscard/34 and the well-prepared SIM card and 3G Antenna are a a feature set you won’t find on any other device. The glossy screen and average battery life are really the only two points I could highlight as issues. Oh, and perhaps the fact that an advanced N280-based model is coming soon! Currently Gigabyte stands alone in offering a 10 inch touchscreen notebook at this price point but they may not have the playground to themselves for long. The ASUS T101H is an obvious competitor and many will be laboring over the choice between the two. Until we get hands-on with the T101H we won’t be able to make a decision but until then, we can certainly say that the Gigabyte Touchnote T1028M is a unique, good value and well thought-out choice in both the prosumer end of the netbook market and the budget notebook market.

Price approx 480 Euro (export price. European price including tax, approx 580 Euros)
More information, specs, links and images in the Touchnote product page. Compare similar, popular devices here.

As planned, the Gigabyte T1028M Touchnote turned up from Mobilx today and the unboxing is already done and dusted. I had done quite a lot of homework before unboxing so I’ve not had any surprises or major let-downs yet although I really do like to see more than 3hrs on the working clock with battery life and so far, the T1028M is steady at about 2.5hrs working time. [Update: I’m seeing a regular 3.25hrs now in normal wifi usage and the Gigabyte ‘Normal’ battery mode] The SATA disk is fast (61/56 MB/s R/W max) and the touch is working nicely. The pre-installed 3G (a Mobilx option using the built-in SIM card and antenna) is working really nicely.  Noise and heat is definitely improved over the M912 although some fan noise remains. Keyboard is slightly wider than an MSI Wind U100 / Akoya Mini.

Don’t forget the live overview and Q&A session tonight on the LIVE page. JKK and Sascha will be joining for a podcast at 2030 and then we’ll get into a bit of Touchnote testing at about 2130 (CEST, Berlin time) I’ll have a full hands-on first impressions write up on the 9th April (tomorrow as I write this)

The YouTube version of the unboxing is shown below but if the HQ version isn’t available, the original (and MPEG-4, both downloadable) versions are at Blip.tv.

For more information and links for the Gigabyte Touchnote, see the product information page.

The Gigabyte Touchnote has been provided by Mobilx.eu

Tonight, 07 April, 2130 CEST:

JKK just announced on twitter that he’ll be going live with the DELL Inspiron MINI 10 this evening (2130 Berlin time /CEST) I’ll be there too, as will our podcasting buddy and netbook king, Sascha. Go to http://www.jkkmobile.com/live and you’ll find video, live chat between JKK, Sascha and myself and a live text-chat session for everyone to ask questions in. Naturally JKK will be recording the session too. For a sneak preview, check out his unboxing video that’s just gone up.

Tomorrow, 08th April, 2100 CEST (approx):

We’re aiming for a live MeetMobility podcast recording which will be followed by an exclusive live look at the Gigabyte T1028M touchscreen convertible tablet that’s on it’s way over from Mobilx. That session will also appear on https://www.umpcportal.com/live.

Stay tuned to twitter for late announcements: Check or follow: JKKMobile and Chippy

The Gigabyte T1028M Touchnote is likely to be here on Wednesday this week (thanks Mobilx) which means the live session, as stipulated in the bloggers lawbook, will have to be on Wednesday evening rather than Thursday or Friday as I mentioned before. Keep watching though as I’ll be updating on the delivery status. In preparation, I’ve been checking out detailed specifications, updating the product page and looking at some downloads which include the manual [PDF Link. Other links have been added to the link-list.]

Stand-out specs for me are the fast, 160GB SATA disk (power drain may be high on it though,) Draft-N Wifi support, Bluetooth 2.1 support, 4 or 6-cell battery options and pre-wired 3G antenna (according to Mobilx.) It’s almost a bonus that it’s got a swivel touchscreen! I also note that it’s got an ElanTech SmartPad which should have multi-touch support. I’ve been trying to find another netbook with draft-N, Bluetooth 2, multi-touch pad, battery options and a SATA drive but I can’t find one yet.

The unit comes with handwriting recognition software called ‘Pen Power’ although this appears to be focused towards Chinese input. There’s also a smart manager UI:

Note the inclusion of easy screen rotation and an on-screen keyboard. (Likely to be the XP built-in OSK)

…and there a nice battery check feature that you can use when the device is off.

Overall it looks like there are some very interesting features on the T1028M so I’m looking forward to checking it out and taking it to Amsterdam with me next week. I’ve updated the specifications and added a couple of videos to the product info page so check it out for the latest.

Don’t get too excited yet as the T1028M needs a good testing session (planned for Wed or Thursday. Keep watching.) before we mark it up on the shortlist but these early CrystalMark results, just in from Mobilx, indicate a very fast hard drive. It’s a 160G SATA drive.

We saw an impressive 26500 on the Gigabyte M912M so to reach nearly 28000 with the same CPU/GPU platform means the disk is even faster under this test condition.

Full specifications in the product page.

I had a nice update call from Mobilx this morning where we talked about a number of things. MBook, Aigo and Mifi were discussed (more about those later in the week) but top of the list was the Gigabyte Touchnote shipment which has almost reached Mobilx HQ.

Mobilx have already confirmed easy 3G upgrade possibilities and appear to be impressed with the improvement in quality over the M912. Price is set at around 560 Euros.

As soon as the Touchbook hits the ground at Mobilx HQ it’s being forwarded to us for testing so i’ve reserved Thursday and Friday (European) evenings for a live session. Stay tuned to twitter to keep up with the latest info about the live session. I’ll also post an article here with the final announcement.

Keep up to date with specs and links in the Touchnote product page.

P.S. If you’re at TheNextWeb conference in Amsterdam next week, i’ll have the Touchnote with me and will be happy to let you check it over.

When I think back to the M912, Gigabyte’s first touchscreen netbook, I think about fast hard drive speed, a fun form factor and easy upgrade capability. Unfortuinately I also think about the noise and heat. [M912 Video]

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Mobilx have just informed us that they’ve got a sample Gigabyte T1028M TouchNote in and have already upgraded with 3G because the antenna is pre-wired. There’s also a pre-enabled SIM card slot.

They also have prices. The T1028M will come in at 573 Euro (inclusive tax) and is expected to ship out in about 5 weeks.

mobilx webshop – Gigabyte T1028M TouchNote.

Prices are also up for the S1024 Thinnote, the 890g lightweight 10″ netbook. 528 Euro inclusive European taxes.

For more info, check out Mobilx. We’ll get these devices in the database ASAP

All three 10″ Gigabyte Netbooks are now in the database. T1028M S1024 Thinnote M1022 Booknote Thanks Brett.