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.
Amazing! Thanks to the 600+ people that came through the live session last night. It was a pleasure to see so many people involved and an honour to have JKK, Sascha and Joanna on the line from various parts of the world. Thanks! We’ll be doing it again soon although I can’t promise to do another 6-hour marathon!
The recorded sessions are available (if you have a few hours free!!) and the first, overview session (62mins), is embedded below. [Article continues below the video]
Mobilx, the well-connected resellers in Hungary, got hold of a demo M912 netbook from Gigabyte yesterday and this morning at about 10am, it was at my home office. Thanks for sending it over guys. Much appreciated.
So here’s the unboxing video and overview. As usual, i’ll be putting my testing notes in the forum (see this thread) and I guess i’ll have some first impressions to post up tomorrow. Tonight though, its testing time – LIVE! Yes, I’ll be bearing all on camera again so that you can check that I’m not cheating with my CrystalMark tests! Join me on the live channel at UMPCPortal.com/livefrom about 6pm GMT [Update: Live session is over. Recordings are available here.] and feel free to ask questions. JKK will probably drop in with his touchscreen 901 and I’ll also have the SC3 and MSI Wind along with a stack of UMPCs if you have related questions.
For the HQ WMV version, see my Blip.tv page. For more information on the M912, see both the M912S and M912X details side-by-side on the comaprison page. The model i’m testing here is the M912X.
Mobilx have kindly run off a set of images of the Gigabyte M912 for us and, even more kindly, have sent us a demo device to review. We’re expecting that in our hands tomorrow or on Friday.
Just as a recap, the M912 is a netbook with a few special features. 1280×800 convertible 8.9" touchscreen. ExpressCard slot and disk options up to 160GB. It also ships with Vista OS options. The large-capacity 3-cell, 32wh battery means there’s a possibility of 4-hour working or 8 hours on an extended battery but we’ll wait to see what happens in our tests before promising you anything though! Gigabyte have managed to keep the whole package in the netbook pricing range which makes it an interesting option.
Oh, one more thing. A delay. It looks like the first M912 device are not going to be available until early September. We’re hearing whispers of Atom shortages which doesn’t surprise me at all.
Take a peek at the images. Apologies for the reduced color on the large versions.
At CeBIT 2007, Intel revealed their ‘Menlow’ plans and told a room full of reporters that we’d be seeing sub 4W PCs in 2008. In March 2008 I asked Intel if they were on target and they told me that I’d be surprised. I am!
I’m lucky enough to be testing a Menlow-based Gigabyte M528 (sample) this weekend and this evening I’ve been doing a battery life test. I’m listening to MP3’s streaming over Wifi through a java applet on the Firefox 3-based browser with the CPU averaging about 30% utilisation (yes, this java app isn’t the most efficient at playing MP3’s!) It’s been going for over 2.5hours on its 10wh battery. (backlight off)
For those that don’t know, the Gigabyte M528 is one of the first MIDs and it’s based on Intel’s Menlow platform; A PC platform. This baby can run Windows XP!
The test is still going. Check back to see how long the test goes for….
Updates:
I’ve just passed the 3hrs mark. I hope the battery dies soon as its 00:20 here and I need to go to bed!!
It’s 12:30 now. 3hrs 10 mins…still going…
I estimate that with no backlight, the device is running about 0.5W less than with the screen backlight on at 50%. When the test finishes I can estimate a backlight-on time.
3hrs 20 mins. That’s an average drain of 3W. Its getting into smartphone territory at this point.
3hrs 30 mins….
Battery light flashing at 3hrs 35 mins… not long to go now.
And there she goes. Test completed at 3hrs 35 mins.
Average battery drain (assuming the battery really is empty now.) 2.8W
I estimate that with the screen on, it would be about 3.3W which would give a run time of 3hrs.
Expansys sent over their demo M528 for me to take a look at. Thanks guys!
As you can see, it looks fantastic. Unfortunately it’s running a very early software build so I can’t make any valid comments about its UI, software suite and performance and so I won’t be putting that part of if under the microscope. Disappointing, I know, but i’m just happy to have it in my hands and not have to battle with exhibition crowds at the same time. More after the pics…
While speaking with our friends at Mobilx this morning I managed to get hold of detailed information on the full M912 range of devices that are launching in Europe. Just a few minutes ago, they also finalised their pricing. It’s good! But first the details.
There are 4 versions, two of which will be available in July. One will be a barebones version which will be left to the reseller to configure with their own memory, storage and OS options. The other will be the high-end M912X.
[This pre-prepared and auto-posted as I’m on holiday – Back soon. Chippy.]
The Gigabyte M704 has really surprised me. I wasn’t really expecting anything too exciting due to having tested the older version of the hardware last year but the vastly improved screen, the better mouse layout and the 1.2Ghz processor have made an impressive difference. So much so that I consider it to be up there with the great all-rounder, the Q1 Ultra. But cheaper! It should definitely be on your shortlist if you’re looking at the Q1 Ultra.
The video below goes through most of the differences with the device and the only thing I can really add is that both devices perform as well as each other. The Q1 Ultra has the edge on video playback and on battery life but the M704 is a much nice machine to input text into. Where might only write a very brief ‘i’ll get back to you later’ email on the Q1 Ultra you’ll find that you can make a detailed response in comfort on the M704.
Anyway, take a look at the video and let me know if you have any questions. The M704 has gone back to Mobilx now but I’ll still be able to answer questions when I get back from holiday on Monday.
