A tablet transformation
Cracking the M912 open reveals what at first looks like a standard netbook.
However, closer examination exposes the first hint that this isn't your average Eee PC knockoff. Rather than anchoring the screen with two hinges—one on the left and another on the right—Gigabyte opts for a single hinge in the middle. This hinge was apparently the hardest part of the entire design, and not because there's just one.
In addition to tilting, the hinge also rotates. With the flexible grace of an under-aged Chinese Olympic gymnast, the M912's screen effortlessly swings up, twists 180 degrees, and folds back flat, transforming what was once a mere netbook into, well, a nettablet. This might seem like a simple mechanical contortion, but keep in mind that the system's display interface must be run through this hinge to get to the screen. Gigabyte also has to route a connection for the M912's 1.3-megapixel webcam through the hinge, making it considerably more complicated than simple mechanics.
When in tablet mode, the screen rests on small tabs that rise up from the system's palm rests. These tabs keep the screen from rotating when it's folded flat, and they work pretty well. However, there are no tabs to hold the screen in place when you're running in netbook mode, and that can be a problem. The first few degrees of the screen's rotation are pretty loose, which makes the screen a little prone to wobble when it's standing up straight. Fortunately, the rest of the rotation range and the hinge's fore-aft tilt are reasonably stiff.
True to its tablet aspirations, the M912 comes with a small stylus that can be tucked away inside the screen itself. The screen is touch-sensitive, and the stylus is considerably more accurate than clicking with your finger. However, the stylus is also quite thin; those who intend to make the most of the M912's pen-based input capabilities may want to substitute something with a more comfortable pen-like grip.
Bend-over-backwards sensitivity isn't the only thing that makes the M912's screen unique. With a 1280x768 display resolution, this 8.9" panel offers considerably more pixels than any other netbook short of HP's Via C7-crippledpowered Mini-Note 2133. 1024x600 has become the standard for netbook displays, and while this resolution is just barely adequate for basic computing, a 1280x768 display offers a whopping 60% more pixels. The difference in desktop real estate is really quite dramatic, although given the M912's relatively small 8.9" panel size, the M912's DPI may be too high for those with poor eyesight. My contact-lens-corrected vision is decent, at least out of one eye, and I didn't have any problems with the M912's screen.
I tend to be distracted by the reflectivity inherent to most glossy displays, so I'm pleased to report that the M912's panel has a matte finish. The screen itself is CCFL-backlit, and while it's not as bright as those of some netbooks I've used, it's certainly bright enough. In day-to-day usage, I found myself most often running the screen at around 50% brightness, which is more than adequate for indoor lighting. It's monsoon season up here in Vancouver, so it'll probably be months before I can expose the M912's screen to direct sunlight.
In tablet mode, the screen can easily be used in a landscape or portrait format. Depending on which you prefer, and how the M912 is oriented, you may need to rotate the system's desktop to compensate. Fortunately, this is easily done through a handy system tray shortcut provided by Intel's GMA 950 graphics driver.
If you're running the M912 as a tablet, the system's keyboard is effectively useless because it's tucked away behind the screen. The keyboard is accessible in netbook mode, but it has its share of issues. By far the biggest problem I have with the keyboard is its relatively small size. I find the most useful measure of keyboard size to be the horizontal span between the outer boundaries of the A-to-L keys and the vertical span between the respective upper and lower boundaries of the T-to-B keys. The M912's horizontal span is just 84% of full size, and the vertical span is only 79% of the real deal. Netbook keyboards are smaller than most, of course, but that's pretty cramped even by Eee PC standards. The Eee PC 1000 series, for example, has horizontal and vertical spans of 91% and 86%, respectively.
Of course, I have large hands with short, stumpy fingers, so I'm particularly flummoxed by diminutive keyboards. Those with smaller hands and slender fingers should have an easier time typing at full speed, but they'll have to contend with other problems, such as the awkward placement of the right shift key, whose rightful place has been taken by the directional pad's up arrow. The feel of the keyboard itself is also a little mushy; even hitting a single key on the M912 deforms the keyboard membrane enough that you can see the surrounding keys moving. If you hit a single key on an Eee PC 1000-series netbook, there's no flex at all, and surrounding keys remain stationary.
Moving south from the keyboard, we encounter the M912's touchpad, which is a little on the small side. The touchpad's surface is nice and smooth, and you get dedicated horizontal and vertical scrolling zones. Multi-touch support isn't available in the drivers Gigabyte ships with the system, though.
