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NOVEMBER 2004

Product Review:
Gigabyte Technology’s N512 Notebook
By Mitchell Levine

Multimedia laptops these days have an awful lot of bells and whistles, but not everyone that needs a notebook is a power user. Unfortunately, schools have needs that run the gamut of functionality: graphics for educational games; performance for specialty classes in graphic design and animation; high powered networking and 802.11b capabilities for in-class groups and tutorials; and plain vanilla usage like word processing. Because even in a well-heeled system like New York, cost is a very real issue, the trick has been finding a single unit that offer the most flexibility for the lowest total dollar cost.

To be practical, in the districts that have deployed laptops direct to students and teachers for transport from home to school, they have to be light enough to be easily carried and slender enough to fit on a desktop. For advanced students learning design packages like Illustrator and Quark, the learning environment can be adjusted to accommodate a 17” screen, but machines in that class are far too pricey to be considered for large-scale deployment. The most basic entry-level machines like the $800 TigerDirect models or the Compaq Armada 110 are exceptional useful as well as affordable, but won’t even come close to being powerful enough for general classroom use.

The Taiwan-based GigaByte Technology’s thin and light N512 provides a rare balance of features and economy that should make it a popular item in the education vertical market. Weighing in at only just over five pounds, the inexpensive portable offers a diversity of excellent features unusual in the U.S. The wireless feature, crucial in education, as most enterprise systems are only practical if they can be configured for LAN use in-class, picked up a Linksys wireless broadband router’s signal just about instantly. At the price point of the unit, about $1800, according to the website, it’s remarkable that an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 is a standard feature.

However, not everything is perfect: the sound system, based on a AC’97 3D Surround Sound chipset, seems to be rather tinny and distant, and is not helped out much by the tiny but well placed stereo speakers. The performance of the 855PM chipset was very respectable, but not all of the benchmarks were ideal for operating in the classroom. One very sharp point in its favor, though, is the very bright 15” TFT screen, which although not ideal for design use, will be a real plus for schools with poor light conditions.

All in all, it’s pretty rare to seem this kind of ratio between bang and buck, and for tech procurers in New York City, it should be a serious consideration for purchase as education workhorse laptop. For more information, dial the American division of the manufacturer at 626-854-9338, or online at www.giga-byte.com.

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