14 DAY TRIAL // In recent times we have seen Gigabyte roll out a new premium multimedia laptop in the form of the Q2756N, which arrived bundled with NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M graphics card.
Now the company is launching a lightweight laptop designed to cater to simpler tasks less demanding users usually rely upon.
The official press release doesn’t state anything about the operating system onboard. Surely, we’re dealing with Windows 8 here, but we’re not told which version exactly.
However, judging by the specifications to be found onboard the laptop, we will say that the new Q21 is one of Microsoft’s new “Bingbooks,” which are inexpensive laptops designed to aid with the completion of daily tasks, such as web browsing and lightweight working activities.
These devices are basically Chromebooks specs-wise, running a different operating system. But unlike Chome OS-enhanced devices, Bingbooks offer access to popular applications such as Skype and will let you tap into Office.
This is the case of the Gigabyte Q21, which arrives with an 11.6-inch display (which is characteristic of most mainstream Chromebooks out there) coming with an unknown resolution (most likely 1366 x 768 pixels).
Under the hood lies an Intel Celeron processor from the Bay Trail family (just like with so many Chromebooks on the market) that includes Intel Burst Technology 2.0 with four cores, four threads, and 2 MB L2 cache.
Gigabyte claims that this will offer thrice as much graphics capabilities than the previous-generation of Atom processors. The processor works in concert with Intel HD Graphics tech combined with Intel Clear Video HD Technology, which support the whole multimedia dimension of the laptop.
Q21 is also compatible with the latest DX11 for expanded PC applications, game support, and mobile entertainment.
In the storage department, the Q21 arrives with mSATA SSD that offers space up to 512GB, while the hard disk can house up to 1TB of storage.
Furthermore, the laptop enjoys the perks of built-in standard D-sub, HDMI, and LAN port. Q21 also supports multi-touch gestures and is offered with a matte silver finish option.
Sadly, we’re not offered any info about the availability of the laptop or how much the device will end up costing, but it’s safe to speculate that it will revolve around the $250 / €182 mark.
In recent times, we have seen a lot of inexpensive notebooks with Windows 8.1 with Bing make an appearance on the market and we will continue to do as more and more manufacturers jump on the budget bandwagon with Microsoft.
