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Gigabyte's CES 2012 lineup: tablets, laptops and netvertibles, oh my!
Gigabyte's CES suite is something of an alternate universe. It's a place where Ultrabooks and ICS tablets don't exist, and Windows 7 slates, netvertibles and dockable systems are the norm. On display, of course, you'll find the S1081 Windows 7 tablet ($649), a refresh of the S1080 that steps up to a Cedar Trail CPU and adds an HDMI port in the process, but otherwise has the same specs and design. That'll land sometime this quarter. That netvertible of the nostalgic '90s variety would be the 10-inch T1006M ($559), which has Cedar Trail innards, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB or 500GB HDD and is "3.5G-ready." Availability details are hazy, as Gigabyte can't specify timing until Intel reveals when Cedar Trail will ship. Suffice to say, Gigabyte expects it to hit the US this quarter. Other than that, the fare on display includes previously announced models just making their way to the states. These include the Booktop M2432 ($1,049 and up), a 14-inch, Core i5-powered laptop that can be plugged into a dock loaded with NVIDIA's desktop-grade GT 440 GPU. The M2432, meanwhile, is a more imposing sort of machine, with a 15.6-inch, 1080p display, Blu-ray drive, 750GB 7,200RPM HDD and Core i7 CPU paired with a 2GB GeForce GT555M card. Lastly, there's the dockable T1132N tablet ($1,169), which looks awfully familiar. All told, we found ourselves primarily gravitating toward the Booktop, whose GPU-in-a-dock reminds us of the Sony VAIO Z, only with desktop-caliber graphics, and without the skinny laptop to go with it. We also looked twice at the T1132N, just because convertibles seem to be having their moment, though if you've seen the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga's 1600 x 900 IPS display, Gigabyte's entry seems common. Other than that, we were too busy taking photos of all the gear. Obviously.
Gigabyte updates its netvertible range with the 11.6-inch Booktop T1132
With Gigabyte's gaming motherboards doing so well, it's nice to be reminded that the company makes whole PCs too. The latest in its Booktop line of swiveling tablet hybrids is the T1132, which trumps the T1125 with a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M processor and a GeForce GT520M GPU with 1GB and NVIDIA Optimus switching technology. You get one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, eSATA and HDMI on the 1.76kg (3.9-pound) lappie itself, but you can add more ports and an optical drive with the optional docking station. There's no indication as to availability or whether it'll cost more or less than the T1125's original $1300 asking price, but you could always try to snag a free one via Gigabyte's wanton Facebook bribery competition detailed after the break.
