Netbook Twist!

Last spotted at Computex Taipei 2008, the touch screen Vista-based Gigabyte M912V finally makes its way down into our labs for a review. Strangely enough, the M912V crosses a barrier by being both a netbook - and a UMPC due to its form factor and touch screen capabilities. While we wouldn't actually classify the M912V as a UMPC, it's probably pretty close to the original intent of the UMPC makers, especially when you take into consideration that netbooks in general tend to be much cheaper and closer to the price target of US$500 that was originally intended to be for UMPCs.

But let's set the record straight folks, the M912V is a netbook with a touchscreen and slightly more. It's the first Intel Atom-based netbook we've seen running Vista and it's also the first netbook we've encountered that doesn't use a 1024 x 600 resolution that's found in almost all Atom-based netbooks so far. The Gigabyte M912V's native screen resolution of 1280 x 768 does give it a slight edge over the current models, though how all this translates to real world experience, well, that's what we'll find out with our review.

It may look like an ordinary netbook, but the single hinge is a giveaway to the true nature of the Gigabyte M912 touch screen tablet-type netbook.

The M912 as seen from the front. While there's really nothing to look at, you can probably see the two speakers that the M912 has located at the bottom half.

The right side feels pretty packed with the power button, two USB 2.0 ports, the audio and microphone jacks, the D-SUB video out and the power socket.

The left side however, feels roomier even though it's packing a RJ-45 LAN port, another USB 2.0 port, the SD card reader and an ExpressCard slot.