It looks like Engadget had a slow news day on Sunday as they highlighted the full-fat video presentation I’d prepared for the visitors here. “Gigabyte M704 unboxing video excites reviewer, may put you to sleep” was the title. The cheeky monkeys! Fortunately, people that are actually interested in UMPC’s appear to have got something out of it and see that it’s quite an interesting UMPC. The refresh over the U60 has turned this tiny 7″er into a rather useful and good-value device. Where the 1st-gen Gigabyte U60 had an 800×480 screen, this one has a far more useful and much brighter 1024×600 screen and where the mouse pointer on the U60 was difficult to use, this one is far more useable. Add the noticeable performance improvements that the 1.2Ghz CPU brings over the former 1Ghz version and the device has turned from borderline option to serious top-5 ultra mobile computing choice.

I’ve been using the M704 non-stop for the last 3-days and can’t really find any show-stopping problems with it. The fan could be quieter, the keyboard could do with a backlight, a little more styling would help and a weight reduction down to sub-600gm would help with the long-term two-handed use that is often the case due to the nice split-keyboard but that’s about it. The XP-based system (it’s a special Gigabyte build optimised with larger font sizes and pre-installed software which, as I understand it, means it can be sold until Jan 2009) is swift enough for all browser-based work and most media files. I was surprised to see a 6mbps WMV file playing with very few frame drops in the Nero8 demo software. Battery life is a true, working, 3 hours. The slider mechanism seems to be tighter than the one I tested on the Medion ultra mobile PC (version) the WiFi is strong and with the docking station, it turns it into quite a nice low-end home PC. I’d even argue that the M704 is more suited to netbook-style operations than netbooks themselves as it’s half the size, 75% of the weight and is far, far more fun although that really depends on how much typing you want to do.

Old and new. Gigabyte U60 and Gigabyte M704. Note the control key changes.

In Europe, the pricing seems to be very competitive. Certainly in Germany, if you buy an M705, you’re getting a device that’s more useful than a Q1 Ultra for about 75% of the cost but it’s double the cost of most netbooks here Sure, you get the touchscreen, 60GB disk, XP, Bluetooth and ability to add the GPS and DVB-T modules and docking station, but you’re still paying a few hundred Euros for the extra portability and niche nature of this device. As for U.S. pricing, we’ll have to wait and see what the local pricing is.

I’m continuing to add my testing notes and thoughts to this forum thread but the video, while long, probably gives you a better overview. [Click through to full article]

Its Friday, I have some cool beers n the fridge and a new ultra mobile PC to unbox. If you fancy joining me, asking questions or just watching the live video and chat from the sidelines I’m happy to host a live session.

As I mentioned, I have the new Gigabyte M704 UMPC which has just arrived in Europe at Mobilx (aff.) and I also have Ubuntu Mobile Running on the Q1 Ultra UMPC. As usual, i’ll try and answer all your ultra mobile PC questions, just don’t leave it too long otherwise the fridge will be empty and i’ll be in bed!

Camera is on now at UMPCPortal.com/live where i’m just going to run off an unboxing and intro video then we can chat a bit later.

One of the most popular MIDs on UMPCPortal, the Gigabyte M528, looks like it might be one of the first to launch and at a far more attractive price than we’d previously heard.

Official information at Computex and sent directly to us from Gigabyte today was that the specifications remain unchanged. We’re still looking at an impressive, pocketable combination of 800×480 touchscreen, 3mp auto-focus cam and 4GB SSD on 800Mhz Silverthorne/Poulsbo (Menlow) with integrated GPS and 3G modules all controlled from the Moblin-based software with it’s ‘Merry-go-round’ user interface. A full suite of applications includes a browser based on the Firefox 3 engine, Skype, Pidgin IM, OpenOffice 2.4 and many others. [more after the pic…]

Read the full story

The 912 surfaced a few days ago on the Gigabyte website without an image but the official image is up now. [Gigabyte product page]

With an 8.9" screen at 1280×768 in a case that’s not a few mm bigger than the Eee PC 900, it looks like it could be a real VyeS37 killer. Assuming the device is based on Diamondville, it will have similar performance and with its 32wh battery its likely to have a much better battery life than the Vye which was never the efficient device that it could have been.  3-4 hours is a possibility on the standard battery with this.

According to Crave, Taiwan [Translation] some pricing info has been given out too. RR Pricing is said to be a very competitive 20,000 Taiwanese Dollars which is about 660 US. Dollars. They also reveal that the device has a web-cam, 2.5" SATA drive and an ExpressCard slot. No details on whether it’s a hard or soft touchscreen yet.

I’ve updated the M912 details in the database.

Thanks Bamei

The M704 is the smallest 7″ 1024×600 ultra mobile PC you can buy. It’s got a 3hr+ battery life, 1.2Ghz VIA C7 CPU, slide-out keyboard, has a good set of accessories available, weighs under 800gm and comes in at a good value price. Why is it that I’m not getting excited? Because of images like this? [see full article…]

Read the full story

The M700 I previewed earlier looks like a normal 7″ slate ultra mobile PC but it’s got quite a few unique features that set it apart  from the average UMPC.  It’s aimed at mobile media usage and includes the VIA 1.2Ghz processor with the new VX800 chipset which has Chrome 9 graphics and video decoding hardware in it. The main feature though is the docking station which is ‘IPTV’ capable. That is, it has a digital TV decoder in it (the type will obviously depend on  the territory that the device is being sold in) and is said to be able to convert and relay video back out via an IP connection. The outstanding question is, does the dock act as a standalone ‘head-end’ streaming device or does it require the M700 to be in the dock. It would be a bit silly to have to leave the M700 ‘Mobile’ PC in the dock when you go mobile but maybe Gigabyte are counting on you buying two M700’s! Methinks not. There’s an IR receiver on the dock as well as an optical drive slot and an SD card slot. On the back you’ll find TV signal inputs (the device I saw at CeBIT had digital cable inputs) and a plethora of audio and video connectors. I wish I had an image of the back of the dock but I’m afraid that’s a photo that I didn’t take.

The ultra mobile PC itself looks quite slick. Its very light and has an optical mouse, capacitive scrollbar, GPS and a 1024×600 screen. Gigabyte has included an on-screen keyboard and there appears to be some TV control software included too. Details of this aren’t clear at the moment. The other thing that isn’t clear is the price and the sales package. Is the dock included or do you have to buy it separately. Gigabyte are aiming to get this one out in Q3 so expect more details and a full review towards the end of summer.

In the video below I’ve put together some clips that JKK and myself took at CeBIT and an interview session we had Gigabyte. You can also find  some images detailing the ports and features of the device in the M700 gallery.

Read the full story

Last week I highlighted some reseller pricing that was appearing for variants of the Gigabyte M704, the ultra mobile PC with the 1.2Ghz CPU and 7" 1024×600 screen in a casing that’s smaller than even the HTC Shift.

The M704 is now expected to be in stock at the beginning of July and the confirmed Euro-price, based on real Gigabyte retailer prices is just Euro 745. If you’re looking for a slider or 7" 1024×600 UMPC, this is very competitive compared to the 1200 Euro Shift and 1100 Euro Samsung Q1, especially as you can get a real docking station for just 60 Euros. DVB-T and GPS snap-on modules also exist as the M704 is built on almost the same hardware as the U60/Medion ultra mobile PC that I tested out last year.

It’s currently showing as a Windows XP-based device which is strange considering it falls into a device category that Microsoft won’t sell XP licenses for after June 30th. If it gets forced to run Vista, it won’t be a pleasant user experience and will kill the device in review scenarios so I hope Gigabyte have bought up a stack of licenses they can use in the future. As it is, with its nice accessory range and useable processing power, its quite the Euro-deal for a UMPC.

M704 details and specifications

Pricing Via Mobilx. (aff.)

Gigabyte are getting a good slice of the news cake this week! Tucked inside a marketing PDF received the other day were more details about the new Gigabyte M700.

This one is going to take a little explaining because the M700 isn’t just a slate UMPC, it’s part of a mobile media system that Gigabyte have created by building a special IPTV-capable docking station. Think of it as a souped-up Slingbox with client player included.

I have a presentation video from CeBIT that I’ll put together with a more detailed article later today. In the meantime, take a look at the specs. It’s expected to launch at end of Q3. Pricing unknown but Mobilx are taking pre-orders so if you want to queue up, I’ve added an affiliate link to Mobilx in the product page.