Gigabyte shows off notebooks aplenty

GIGABYTE HAD THREE new netbooks at CeBIT, all of which were very nice. On top of that, they upgraded some notebooks, PSUs and had some slick cases too.

Gigabyte Thin Note 1024

The prettiest one by far was the Thin Note 1024 with a 10.1-inch screen, the new black in netbooks. That screen is LED backlit, has a 1024 * 600 rez, and the whole netbook is less than 2cm thick. The weight is a claimed 890g, but it felt closer to 900 to me. Before you write in, that is sarcasm people. It has a 1.6GHz Atom with a 945GSE chipset, 1G of memory, and a 1.8-inch HD, 60 or 80G depending on the model. This one is hot.

Booktop docked

The next two are somewhat related, the mainstream line is called the Booktop, and the is more or less the same, but thicker. It has options for a higher rez screen (1366 * 768), a faster CPU, and a 160G drive. What makes this one special is a docking station, drop it in, and you have a real monitor, keyboard, mouse and ports.

The tablet version, the second gen for Gigabyte, is called the Touch Note M1028. It has a swiveling touch screen, but basically is the same chassis as the Booktop. Instead of the docking station, the Touch Note has a button on the side that does two things. If the machine is on, it brings up a touch interface called Hot Key that lets you control a bunch of things with the poke of a finger.

If the computer is off, the key will turn the HD, power and other LEDs into a battery life indicator. Cute and handy.

Next up, there are two new Odin power supplies, the GT and the Odin+. The GT is a 1200W gamer-oriented model that will be getting an 80+ certificate as soon as the paperwork arrives. It is the same as the older Pro model, but this one adds software control to the PSU.

The Odin+ is a greener PSU, but it is 'only' 700W. It is greener because it will be getting an 80+ Bronze (82% efficient) stamp soon. Both of the new PSUs use all Japanese caps, but the plus uses solid state ones. This is a rarity in the PSU world, but given the efficiency gains, you will probably see many more in the near future.

Gigabyte Sumo 4112 case

Setto 1024, Sumo 4112 and Sumo 5195 are the new cases at Gigabyte this year, the first two are production, the third will likely be in the near future. The 4112 has some really nice touches, a CD caddy inside the front door (barely visible above), changeable LED colours and a mercifully clean look. It almost borders on classy.

Best of all, there is a 2.5-inch HD docking port in the top 5.25-inch bay, and the case comes with a HD enclosure.

Camera off switch

Last up is the newest notebook in the Gigabyte lineup, the W376M. It is a pretty standard 13-inch Montevina notebook, smaller brother to the W476M and W576M. It is a business class notebook, so it trades shiny for battery life and build quality, has a fingerprint reader, and two neat bits. The first one is an airplane mode button, it basically turns transmitters off, but is also good for battery life.

The best one is by far the little silver button by the camera. It is actually a slider, and closes a door in front of the camera. Hard camera off switches are quite a rarity, and if you are paranoid, the W376M is the notebook for you. It may not help with the CIA satellite microwave lasers, but that is what the tin foil hat is for.

Overall, Gigabyte had products for most of the important niches. The netbook upgrades were all solid, the notebooks built not to offend, and the cases simply looked good. In a trade show dominated by blinky LEDs, this is a very good thing. µ