Back before the CTL 2Go PC convertible tablet or the Asus Eee PC T91 were even a twinkle in our eyes, Gigabyte release the M912 convertible tablet. While the machine’s a bit expensive to be considered a netbook, with a price tag around $799, the Gigabyte M912 has an 8.9 inch 1280 x 768 or 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, and a swivel that lets you use the computer in tablet or laptop mode.

What it doesn’t have is stellar battery life, since the computer comes with a 3 cell battery. But now you can pick up a 6 cell battery which should double your run time for about 60 Euros. The Gigabyte M912 isn’t available in the US unless you go through an importer, but just in case you’re curious, 60 Euros is about $77 US.

via jkkmobile

You know that browser-centric operating system that Good OS introduced yesterday? While it’s not available for consumers yet, Good OS did show off gOS Cloud at the Netbook World Summit in Paris, and Sascha from Eee PC News was there to speak with Good OS CEO David Liu. You can read Sascha’s thoughts at his blog (English translation), or you can check out the slideshow from Liu’s presentation after the break.

In a nutshell, gOS Cloud is designed around a web browser which looks an awful lot like Google Chrome. When you load the operating system, you’re presented with a browser and a program dock that will launch desktop or web-based applications. And the company is working with Gigabyte to preload the operating system on a Gigabyte touchscreen netbook which will be available during the first quarter of 2009.

The Gigabyte netbook will dual boot gOS Cloud and Windows XP. No word on how much the computer will cost, or whether Gigabyte plans to make it available in the US. The company’s current line of M912 netbooks are not available in North America.

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Good OS, the makers of the gOS, Ubuntu Linux-based operating system are showcasing a new version of their product called gOS Cloud. I’ve written more about it at Download Squad. But in a nutshell, the idea is that the operating system is designed around the web browser. In fact, you can load the web browser within a few seconds of pressing the power button, which lets you get online right away.

Good OS has been trying to position their operating system as a good fit for netbooks for ages. Or for what passes for ages in a market that’s barely over a year old. While gOS can run pretty much any application that runs on Ubuntu, the operating system’s claim to fame is its integration with web-based services like Gmail, Google Docs, and YouTube. In other words, applications that are hosted online in the “cloud” and which don’t run natively on your computer.

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With a starting price of around $700, the Gigabyte M912 is already one of the most expensive mini-laptops I’d be willing to call a netbook. But if you’re looking for something a bit more extravagent looking, why not pick up a Gigabyte M912x Goldenrod edition?

As the name would suggest, this version of Gigabyte’s mini-tablet notebook is painted a gold color. I’m guessing it’s not actual gold, but I’m having a difficult time figuring out the currency exchange rate on this one, so if anyone can figure out how much the Goldenrod netbook would cost in US dollars, let us know in the comments.

Other than the paint job, this computer seems to be identical to your typical Gigabyte M912x model, which means it has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, an 8.9 inch, 1280 x 768 pixel touchscreen display, and a 160GB hard drive.

via UMPC Portal

Gigabyte isn’t exactly new to the netbook game. The company released a mini-laptop with an 8.9 inch screen this summer that happens to be one of the only netbooks with a tablet-style touchscreen. The Gigabyte M912 also happens to be one of the most expensive netbooks, with a starting price around $700. 

Now it looks like Gigabyte is planning to expand its netbook lineup. DigiTimes reports that the company will launch 3 mini-laptops with internal 3.5G modems in early 2009. No word on how much they’ll cost, weigh, or what size they’ll be. It would be nice to see Gigabyte release a touchscreen model like the M912 with a wireless broadband modem. It’s even possible that wireless carriers could help subsidize the cost of the machine for customers who sign up for a long term service contract. 

via All About Eee PC

We’ve seen plenty of people install OS X on netbooks by now. There’s the Dell Mini Mac, the Lenovo IdeaMac S10, the Asus Mac PC, and of course, the MSI Windbook. But consider the game officially upped. Because one YouTube users has managed to successfully load OS X on a Gigabyte M912X.

The Gigabyte M912 series of computers have the same basic specs as many netbooks, including a 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 8.9 inch display. But there are two things that set the M912 apart from most other netbooks. First, it has a touchscreen display that can be folded down on top of the keyboard for using the PC in tablet mode. And second, the higher end models feature high resolution 1280 x 768 pixel displays which are much crisper than the 1024 x 600 pixel screens that you usually find on netbooks.

In other words, what this YouTube video shows is a tiny tablet PC running OS X. And running it pretty well. There’s an on-screen keyboard for entering text, and it looks like you can use a finger or stylus at least as well as a mouse for most tasks. This particulare Gigabyte M912X also apparently has an internal 3G wireless mod and dual boots OS X and Vista. Unfortunately the user who uploaded the vided hasn’t posted any instructions. But it’s probably just a matter of time before he or someone else posts all the gory details online.

You can check out the video after the break. And you can read more about the Gigabyte M912X and M912M in the Liliputing Product Database.

via SlashGear

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The Gigabyte M912 has an ExpressCard slot, making it incredibly easy to slide a 3G modem or other peripheral into the netbook. But most ExpressCard wireless modems stick out pretty far from the case, making an ugly spectacle of themselves. Fortunately, jkkmobile is on the case. He’s posted a tutorial for adding an internal 3G card to a Gigabyte M912 netbook, complete with a bunch of photos.

Gigabyte actually left a slot in the computer for a 3G modem, but the functionality has been disabled. It’s likely Gigabyte will enable this feature if and when it strikes a deal with mobile carriers to distribute the netbook with a wireless service plan.

According to jkkmobile, it’s actually pretty easy to re-enable support for a 3G modem by throwing a piece of tape over one of the modem’s pins. Make sure to check out his full tutorial for all the details.

As I mentioned yesterday, UMPC Portal’s Steve Paine recently got his hands on a Gigabyte M912M tablet style netbook. And today he’s posted the video to prove it.

Overall, he says the device is quite responsive thanks to a decent hard drive, the 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, and a decent touchscreen display. Unlike virtually every other netbook on the market, the Gigabyte M912 series includes a swiveling display that lets you fold down the screen over the keyboard to use the laptop in tablet mode.

At 1.3kg or almost 3 pounds, the Gigabyte M912M is a bit heavy to hold in one hand and use in tablet mode. But the computer’s low price (for a tablet PC) of about $700 to $800 makes up for that. Ultimately, Steve decided to purchase his review unit.

You can check out the full video after the break. And you can read more about the Gigabyte M912M in the Liliputing Product Database.

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The Gigabyte M912M and M912X tablet style netbooks are now shipping in Europe. The M912 series of laptops stretches the generally accepted definition of a netbook in two ways. First, they’re a bit on the pricy side, at about $700 to $800 US. And second, it has a touchscreen display that you can swivel and fold down over the keyboard to use the computer in tablet mode.

But the Gigabyte M912 sports an Intel atom CPU and an 8.9 inch display, which helps keep it within the realm of netbookdom. The M912 series comes in several flavors. The M912X has a high resolution 1280 x 768 display, while the M912M has a lower resolution 1024 x 600 display. But as UMPC Portal’s Steve Paine points out, the M912M might actually be a better bargain. It sells for about 50 Euros ($70) less, and gets better battery life.   

Paine does say the fan seems to run more frequently on the M912M than on the M912X, which makes it a noisier computer. But he says it also keeeps the PC from getting as hot to the touch as its more expensive sibling. 

The Gigabyte M912 is available from Mobilex in the EU. If you’re in the US, you can place an order through importer Dynamism. It’s not available from other US based retailers yet.

Some folks like to take electronics apart and put them back together again for fun. Lucky for us, the folks at Mobile01 also like to take photos. Because they’ve just posted the most detailed article you can imagine about the disassembling a Gigabyte M912V ultraportable tablet. The article is in Chinese, but the pictures are worth an awful lot of words.

The Gigabyte M912V is a netbook with an 8.9  inch display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, and a touchscreen. The question is, now that you know how to take it apart, what would you want to put inside? The PC already includes 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, and a touchscreen display. Those are probably the top three things hackers tend to put in these tiny laptops. I suppose it could use an SSD upgrade, 802.11n, or GPS. There’s always something.

[via UMPC Portal]