The M912M is so easy to make a nice demo with. This video was done with factory settings (I used the built-in recovery program) plus Firefox3, Grab and Drag and a few files and bookmarks. A near out-of-the-box experience. Its fast and fun and even though I’ve just boxed it up and paid for the return post for it to go back to Mobilx, I just cant bring myself to send it back. The keyboard isn’t as good as the Medion Akoya I have but the touch capability, the convertible screen, the fast and big HDD, the ExpressCard/34 slot, the Bluetooth and the possibility of a 6-cell battery it is too much for me to resist. It feels like so much more than a netbook. Take a look at the video and see if it does the same for you as it just did for me!
Thanks to Mobilx for emptying my pockets. This almost impulse purchase (I’ve been looking at buying a Q1 Ultra HSDPA for the last 2 weeks) means I’m now officially going for the two-device strategy of mini notebook and MID! I’ll be waiting for a few months before that happens though.
While the M912V had an impressive high resolution display, the M912M, with its 1024×600 display seems to be more suitable for the average user. It’s a much brighter screen with great contrast and even brings better battery life. For 50 Euro less than the high resolution model, this seems to be a better choice.
We received the retail-boxed M912M from Mobilx.EU yesterday with the sole intention of checking out the differences between it and the M912X. After 3 hours of live testing, we’ve got the answers. I think the simplest way to summarise is to highlight the changes in the ‘lowlights’ and ‘highlights’ from our M912X testing.
Screen. M912M has LED backlighting. Brighter, better contrast. Not the best I’ve seen but certainly very good. If you don’t need the high resolution of the M912X, this is a better choice for all-round use.
Battery life. M912M averages 1-2Watts less (even more at high brightness settings.) 3hrs with the wifi on still requires careful setup but in general there’s a noticeable improvement over the M912X in all situations. An extended battery has been confirmed and will be available in October. (Details not 100% clear yet but the 6-cell battery is expected to be 150% capacity and not much bigger in size.)
Keyboard. No flex at all. Very good quality. Same keyboard as Eee PC 700,900 etc.
Heat build-up seems top have been reduced. This could be a result of faster fan.
Same, very fast 160gb 2.5″ SATA drive. (50MB/s+ read and write speed) This is a surprise highlight (I was expecting an 80GB drive) and makes a noticeable difference when starting up applications when compared to other netbooks and UMPCs.
Bluetooth is included. (Was previously announced without Bluetooth)
Fan appears top be on more of the time than with the M912X we tested. Slightly annoying but seems have a noticeable effect on reducing heat build up.
Optimised windows configuration. Gigabyte have taken the time to optimise window controls. Wider scrollbar, bigger close button. Very useful for users that might not know how to do this themselves.
Price. At under 500 Euros, which isn’t much more than many netbooks in Europe, you really are getting something different. 160GB of fast drive storage makes this very interesting as a media device. Touchscreen makes this fun as a low-end tablet. PCI-Express make 3G connectivity easy.
Some play/looseness in the screen pivot is an indication that the build quality may not be as high as on other convertibles.
Synaptics pointer with scroll area is high quality but the single-bar mouse buttons arent. ‘Squashy’ is the only word I can find that describes them. No worse than on the Medion Akoya though.
Screen has a matte finish.
Piano black screen casing looks really great when clean. Has a slight sparkle, not the patterned finish of the M912X that we tested before.
Crystalmark score: 26500. Impressive. I’m not sure anyone could really squeeze much more out of the Intel netbook platform.
One issue that we have found out about since testing the M912X is that the PCI-Express Mini slot, accessible under the removable panel, is locked by default and its not possible to unlock it through BIOS or software for use with a 3G card. I suspect this will be hacked before long but it makes it difficult for people wanting to upgrade with internal 3G. Using the ExpressCard/34 slot is obviously an easy alternative though.
Overall, the Gigabyte M912M is a nice, no, very nice, mini convertible offering a couple of unique features that are really worth thinking about. Media fans looking to carry around their complete library and use a netbook as a high quality media player should take a very close look at this one. Overall, I find it has better features and a better price than the M912X for the average user.
A quick note to all of you waiting for the low-down on the M912M (LED-backlit version of the M912X.) A retail version has arrived here from Mobilx and I’ll be testing it out this evening.
We need to find out.
1) If the screen is brighter and has better contrast. (Likely)
2) How much more battery life we get compared to the M912X (Estimated 10-20%)
3) If it’s cooler than the M912X (probably will be in tablet mode.)
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.
It didn’t take long for the people over at Mobile01 to strip down the newly-available M912V! If this is your bag, then take a look. Its an easy device to take apart but for most things, you only need to remove the access panel on the back. At least the keyboard should be easy to change as I believe its the same as an Eee PC keyboard. (Country-specific keyboard mods should be possible.)
I know there are quite a few of you out there waiting for the M912 so rather than post this update in the forum, I thought I’d air the info here . If you’re waiting to push the button on an M912 but can’t decide what information is correct about the screens, here’s the latest word from Gigabyte.
For M912V/X which is 1280×768, the LCD back light is using “Inverter technology inch.
For M912M which is 1024×600, the LCD back light is using “LED back light technology inch
The info comes direct from Gigabyte and is the same as I heard before. The reports of LED-backlighting on the 1280×768 X/V models look to be incorrect so if you want the best battery life and, potentially, a cooler running system, wait for the M model. I havent confirmed if the T model (DVB included) comes with 1024 or 1280 screen yet.
Latest information on the X/V models is here. And on the M model here.
Now that I have your attention, take note that the M912V and M912X are now shipping. Mobilx have a quantity on 912V’s awaiting customs clearance and the X versions will leave Taiwan in a few days. Go get em!
The pic comes direct from Nvision where The Tech Report got some hands on. They seem to be impressed but question the battery life. Commenters there also question the price but when you consider the fast disk, hi-res screen, PCI-Express, easy access to card slot, disk and memory and the convertible touch feature, I cant see that there’s really much to moan about. This is a netbook that reaches into the pro-mo (sorry, prosumer-mobile) sector.
In the article you’ll see a reference to a new digital TV-enabled version which is probably why they’re at the Nvision show. We’ve just had news of that too from Mobilx. It will be a M912M with DVB-T module know as the M912T. Availability is planned for Oct but frinal price in unknown. Budget for something like a $70-$100 premium. This will be the first time we’ve seen a ultra mobile PC or netbook with integrated DVB module in Europe and with that fast S-ATA drive and the good media capabilities, raw MPEG-2 recording in direct digital from the DVB stream is going to be easy, making a great multimedia recording and playback system. SageTV should work a treat on this so fingers crossed for a built-in IR receiver, TV-out and remote control. Or will they ship with Vista for the media center? I hope not. I was going to get the M912M but if the 912T is running XP, I’m definitely going to wait for it. Stay tuned for more details.
You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment. A reseller with a real price on the Gigabyte M528. The pricing we had from Aigo in Taiwan was spot on because Expansys have just listed the M528 with 3G, GPS, 3mp cam for just 429 UK pounds (549 Euros in Germany.) Sounds expensive? Its not. This is a….well you’ve heard me talk about it before so I won’t give you the full ‘FIE’ talk now. Take a look at the product page for the full spec list and links to our hands-on reports. It’s available on the U.S. site for $689. (more after the pic…)
While the M912V had an impressive high resolution display, the 
