Gigabyte company earlier this year released a 11.6-inch ultra-extreme X11. Win 8 Win 8 yet to be introduced, this device is biased in favor of Win 7 instead of emphasizing the touch function. X11 equipped with Ivy Bridge based Core i5 processor, 4GB memory and 128GB SSD is one of the world's thinnest ultra-extreme. It is fast, strong performance and speed. However, in order to maintain a slim figure, X11 do what sacrifice? Look at engadget. Evaluation summary:
Exterior
The Gigabyte X11's shape is clean and simple, we've seen one of the most elegant design. Its clean lines with MacBook Air not far from the shell is made of carbon fiber material.
We tested this X11 is not the finished product from the production line down, but handmade sample. It weighs 983 grams (2.16 pounds), is said to only 975 grams (2.14 pounds) in the finished product. Gigabyte company claimed that the X11 over most of this is currently the lightest on the market (along with the constant introduction of new models, this title can not sustain long). From their appearance, the only difference between the samples with finished, is finished the Win 8 style keyboard and Microsoft new logo (with photo).
The X11 body is wedge-shaped, the thickest 13mm (0.5 inches), the thinnest at only 6 mm (0.23 in.). The minimalist design and carbon fiber preparation pattern, X11 with high-end equipment look good - from the appearance, or, we think that the X11 enough to enter the top department stores, placed in luxury mobile phones Vertu Armani suit next. Is so high-end!
The left side of the fuselage power USB 3.0 interface as well as Mini DisplayPort slot, the right of the USB 2.0 interface, 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro SD slot. Outside the 128GB SSD, the user can also use the extended memory card.
11.6 inches 1366 × 768 pixels LED-backlit display is 2 cm border surrounded - which makes the screen itself was relatively small, so that the otherwise elegant design is a little cheapening. The top of the screen has a 1.3 megapixel camera, you can shoot 620 × 480 photos. Of course, it beat out the photos will hide some blemishes and wrinkles on your face is very good, used to make Skype calls.
Although X11 has the shape of the exciting, but when you really get the hands, will find it a headache. First, although the weight of the carbon fiber is very light, but the lack of rigidity. Can easily top cover finished song 5 degrees (Next, we dare not exert oneself).
And the smooth surface of the X11 easily fingerprints, even if our hands sweat easily like, but in fact we have been very careful to dry your hands. If you bring it out, not to carry a piece of cloth to wipe fingerprints, others might be interested in some incorrect view of your generation. So, X11 work well, but the surface is so easy to dip fingerprints, people think it is a little flashy.
Keyboard and touchpad
The first impression is really unreliable: X11 island-style keyboard seems good, but typing this sample we tested simply suffer. Seems each touch of the keys are a bit different, some key need hard hit, some fingertips can. Perhaps X11 finished keyboard would not be so cunning.
And the X11's Sentelic touchpad is not good enough. In the course of our testing, the cursor sometimes indiscriminate jump this sensitivity deeply frustrated. Fortunately, it is Win 7 If you are running Win 8, feeling still do not know there will be more bad then.
Display and sound
Earlier complained border too wide, but this piece is 11.6 inches 1366 × 768 display itself is not very good, a little dim colors, such as bright red to reddish brown, how to adjust does not work. However, its brightness is relatively satisfactory: 300 lumens screen in sunlight can be clearly seen, the screen set to maximum brightness may be blinded your eyes - but this is a compliment, because a lot of laptops 's the backlight are quite weak.
Open to the maximum volume, the X11 stereo speaker sound resounded through the room, but will be accompanied by a clicking sound, it sounds like someone stuffed paper in speakers. Basically turn the volume up to 75%, the sound will be distorted.
Performance and life
If we have to choose one word to describe the day-to-day performance of the X11, it is "flexible". Cold start only takes 17 seconds, and most of the program point to open. When we use more than one browser tab open more than 20 to hear the voice of the high-speed rotation of the fan, but fortunately not too harsh, and will not let you restless. Play games with X11 may not be appropriate to use it, we tried the "UFO: unknown enemy" (XCOM: Enemy Unknown), the results of the framerate only 18 fps. However, the general performance benchmarks, such as PCMARK7, this device's score is higher than the IdeaPad Yoga 13, Satellite U925t and XPS 12;, it even beat the Acer Aspire S7 in 3DMARK11 test .
In order to maintain the appearance thin, Gigabyte built a 35Wh battery. In the hands of heavy users, it can only persist in just two hours.
We tested this ultra-extreme, X11 hitting a record low of life. The Gigabyte X11 can use five hours, but we tested (cycle play local video, turn on WiFi, brightness fixed), it persist in 3 hours and 37 minutes. We tried, the worse results than the first, only 3:31 minutes! Is shorter than the life of the Acer Aspire S7 1 hour. This means, want to use X11 point of view, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is impossible in the long-haul flights.
Optional version
X11 only two versions: the basic version (1.7GHz Core i5-3317U) and Premium Edition (1.9GHz Core i7-3517U). In addition, you can choose to install Win 8 or Win 8 Pro.
The basic version is also equipped with 4GB of DDR3 memory and 128GB SSD, Intel HD Graphics 4000, Webcam, to support 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, a price of 875 pounds (equivalent to about 8800 yuan). Premium Price £ 968 (equivalent to about 9800 yuan).
Summary
X11's attractive appearance, you can easily attract people's attention, but it is a bit "can not stand the test. Admittedly, we tested this X11 is just a sample, but if Gigabyte feel can represent this model, we also do not have to be too polite to make conclusions.
Overall, X11 has a lot of bright spots, such as fast, has a stunning minimalist design, but when you sit down and really use this machine, its serious fatal flaws began to emerge: a fragile shell can be afraid of the keyboard and touchpad, outrageous life. If you are a heavy users, it is best to look at the other ultra-extreme. Initially, we were the X11 looks seduced, guessed at the beginning, do not guess the ending. Hope Gigabyte companies can learn from this lesson, and the next time you launch a better laptop.