Gigabyte T1028 netbook / tablet gets the hands-on treatment
By Donald Melanson 
posted Apr 11th 2009 8:07AM
posted Apr 11th 2009 8:07AM
We've already seen Gigabyte's T1028 netbook / tablet up close, and even gotten a glimpse of the user manual, but the folks at UMPC Portal have now finally come though with a proper hands-on of the device, which looks to confirm that it does indeed deliver the goods, if not quite justify its $600+ price tag. What's more, as welcome as that swiveling touchscreen is, it looks like it's the little touches that really push this one over the edge, including an all too often omitted ExpressCard slot, built-in 3G, 802.11n WiFi, some actually accessible upgrade options, and an apparently faster than usual 2.5-inch hard drive. Hit up the link below for the complete rundown (including some benchmarks) and, of course, plenty of pics.
Uhhhhh first? but on a serious note, 600 bucks kinda defeats the purpose doesnt it?
How so? Are there a lot of tablets at this price range or something? Or are you one of those idiots who expect way too much for your dollar?
Lenovo is clearing out their stock of X61 tablets around the T1028's price range. You can't even compare the two computers.
Your comment about the X61 is useless without any sort of link to pricing.
The Lenovo X61 wouldn't suit anyone like me who would want to use it for video playback though. The review I saw on NotebookReview (only looked at one) said the display was poor, low viewing angles and poor contrast.
No active digitizer = giant toy
No real application aside from 'oooh, I can touch it!'
Pass.
In Tablet form, it could be more comfortably used as an ereader than in laptop form, swipes allow for page turning. This particular device's battery life however, makes it pretty undesirable for even that application.
No thanks.
"which looks to confirm that it does indeed deliver the goods, if not quite justify its $600+ price tag."
And then you list all its highlights ;)
I'd say it was quite worth it, if you were looking for a convertible in that size.
Why do you jagoffs freak at the price? And why do you expect an active digitizer? Study the history of tablet PC's, then the curve of netbook pricing, then return to this thread and edit your moronic input.
You can't blame people for looking for a breakthrough. And it's not that much of a leap to expect one manufacturer to recognize the pent up demand for a low cost convertible tablet and come through in a big way (in design, volume pricing, etc). So stop being so mean.
Personally I think that this looks really cool :)
So if it doesn't have a digitizer then how can you use it as a tablet? Is it a touch screen?
...yes. As it says in the post.
They are the same people who will "pass" if the next ipod doesn't have 1080 resolution.
i agree. it's like they're making reasons not to get it, but if it had that one extra feature, it would be no question.
my excuse is that i already have an acer aspire one. but the specs are perfect, especially with that higher res screen option. everything that i had made a checklist for about a year and a 1/2 ago.
now if only the microscopic UMID mbook had specs like those....
It is kind of ironic that when tablet PCs were first produced, one of the big reasons they weren't widely accepted was because of the cost. Now that low cost tablet PCs are possible, because they are being compared to even cheaper netbooks, people still think they're too expensive.
the problem is the screen costs a lot of money (especially if it's a really active digitizer screen). so for the same amount of money, you will get more power in your notebook compared to a tablet (because of that screen cost). that's why tablets will always be underpowered for the same dollar amount.
but if you're willing to sacrifice not being at the top of the performance totem pole, or if you have a huge budget, tablets are great.
There's a huge difference between a capacitive touch screen and an active digitizer. A capacitive screen is OK for clicking on icons and buttons, scrolling, etc. So if you're just going to use the computer as a media player and web-browsing tablet, it should work fine. It works fine for on-screen keyboard as well (like the iPhone). Basically it has the same limitations as a mouse, plus one more: you can't see where the cursor is before you click on something. You don't move the cursor then click, you just tap on the screen and hope it hits the correct link.
An active digitizer is a whole different animal. You can write on it the same way you write on a paper. The writing is smooth enough for efficient handwriting recognition, or you can just save the handwritten note. I like to use my tablet PC for reading research papers and other documents because I can easily add handwritten annotations. It's also great for artists, as it works the same as any Wacom tablet.
I currently have both types, a Fujitsu P1620 and a Lenovo X61t. The P1620 is somewhat similar to the Gigabyte T1028 (except it cost a lot more) - capacitive touch screen, very compact and lightweight. It's great for browsing the web and as a portable media player. The X61t is much better for doing real work.
Precisely my point.
To all the idiots discussing tablet markets and 'history' and the necessity of an active digitizer, it is literally what makes or breaks a tablet pc, at least in my opinion.
Its what differentiates a 'useful' device from another toy. Now instead of learning to combine the two, we've moved ahead to multitouch, which is another fancy gimmick, at least for the next few years.
How I wish netbooks hadn't become popular. Its like taking all the overstocked parts from older generation computers, packing them into a smaller, useless screens, and selling them for being 'small' and 'portable'. Profitable, surely, but for who?
*into smaller chassis with useless tiny screens
Your P1620 doesn't have a capacitive touchscreen like and iPod, it has a resistive touchscreen like a UMPC or a WinMo phone. On top of that it has some clever palm rejection software to prevent registering unwanted touches.
Although I agree that an active digitizer is better, a cheap tablet with a resistive touchscreen (like the P1620 or this T1028) is still capable of working as a decent tablet PC.
yeah, you need the active digitizer to make a tablet really work well.
that's why hp didn't market their old tx1000 line as tablets even though they looked like tablets and were equipped like tablets.
i have no clue how this netbook/tablet has enough horses to do anything well. and for that price, you can get a great lenovo or hp tablet (refurbished of course) that has a lot more horses to work with.
like it, but ima wait for that Eee tablet coming later this year!!
If they really do come out with an Eee tablet, especially one with NVIDIA Ion... As long as the display is good, and if the battery life is anywhere near the 1000HE, it will be amazingly good.
Oh wow, they really are working on one. Thank you for informing of this good sir!
Hopefully they'll offer something with a 10-12 inch display. =D
If it had an Ubuntu option, I'd buy it. Without that, not interested.
(and, I'm still hoping that the Eee tablet will have Xandros or Eeebuntu support)
Still waiting for a (relatively) cheap netbook/notebook with an active digitizer, low weight, spacious SSD and long battery life.
People talking about active digitizers old hardware are FREAKING MORONS. Let me put it to you straight. My netbook is AWESOME. It is the most awesome thing since sliced bread. I take it with me everywhere and it even plays my favorite 3D game fine! Computers have long since become way more powerful than the average person needs and now finally they are turning into a form factor where your LIFE doesn't revolve around the dang thing. If I drop my netbook guess what! I'll buy a new one. Some day computer will become a part of people's lives and not the whole darn thing. Especially to that virgin nerd loser Venom16 -- Get a life!
My perfect netbook would have 2 touch screens and no keyboard. Also my netbook is my main computer as well from which I do REAL work OMG. Real work includes writing code. You can also dock a netbook.
Now I'm starting to calm down. I'll point out one more thing. People who complain about something so arcane as Active Digitizers are the same people who buy every bloody new thing that comes out. I've never had ANY tablet so it all just sounds like bragging to me.
Thanks
-Nick
I also wanted to say while I'm on my soap box that netbooks do well because they are what notebooks always wanted to be, but we could never build them because they cost too much or it was too complicated. Notebooks always wanted to be small, but the were too expensive and that made them even more valuable and less likely to come with you. I had a Sony Vaio 9999 and it was so expensive it never left my room. When I did take my Vaio with me I felt like I was carrying the Ark of the Covenant. Hell I didn't even like the idea that I had it in my apartment. Expensive notebooks are a liability. Owning one is like adopting cat except worse because if someone steels the notebook you are out 2,000 bucks. People who don't get netbooks are the same kind of people who think having a better tool will get the job done. Like that extra Gigahert is going to get you off your lazy ass. Your average netbook is more powerful than a gaming console. If most of what you do is through the internet and you think about computers like satellites to a mainframe then netbooks are such an awesome development. Imagine if netbooks were even more disposable like $200 or even $100! If netbooks become cheap enough I might even buy a desktop again because I wouldn't feel chained to it.
Didn't realize just how much of the tech groupie scene were tools. Can some of you guys just make some comments without running someone else down ?
These tablets will come down with economies of scale. You can't really compare a release price to a price that it will be in 6 months when there is developed competition.
True there were X61's being cleared out in the 600's but that was a one time event, and there aren't really any other tablets selling at that price outside of refurbs.
The market these should do well in, if Microsoft ever figures out how to market to students is, post secondary school use. They will require a fairly accurate digetizer. I'm still not sold on the need for multi-touch. I think Dell found that out the hard way.
I use a c140x(gateway), and it is perfect, except for the weight.