Last year the company Gigabyte entered the market of communicators with its first model Gigabyte gSmart i. From solid manufacturer of computer iron buyers were waiting conventional and affordable Communicator, but as the result came out an interesting conceptual toy with a small screen and, in general, useless TV tuner and a relatively high cost. We will see whether Gigabyte has managed to correct drawbacks of the previous models in its new offspring named Gigabyte gSmart i300.

The complete set of supply

In the colorfully-fitted box of cards except the communicator itself, there surfaced a usual conventional device, a wire stereo garniture, the cable of the synchronization with USB interface, the disk with software and a set of pamphlets. Strangely, that the communicator, equipped with a GPS module, incomplete in automobile accessories - however, its purchase does not cause any particular problems. A similar situation we saw in the case of the HTC 3600 - perhaps a desire to earn on sales of accessories is becoming stronger than common sense. Wired headsets quality didn’t give pleasure for a while. It will certainly suit for talks, but for listening to music it will suit anything better. Unfortunately, in communicator Gigabyte there uses its specific disconnector, and to search for him not original headset will be very difficult. We will probably be needed to be addressed with the help of wireless stereo. It is also puzzling the lack of cover in a complete set of delivery - all have already become accustomed to find in a box with a communicator this accessory. In general, the complete set of supply is plainly - it has only the most necessary things.

Appearance

The trunk of the communicator is made of white plastic. There immediately arise associations with Apple products, which may attract a certain group of buyers, for whom is important stylish appearance for to stand out in a crowd. The Plastic of the trunk is of high quality, is comfortable enough to hold. The quality of the assembly is at a high level, there is nothing to hang or to squeak, even the battery lid sits very tightly. The design of the communicator is rather for youth - in the hands of businessman Gigabyte i300 will look strange, though, in my opinion, it would suit for a business lady. Around the display there is a metal box, which attaches to the front panel brings extra density and adds diversity in the design of the front panel. Overall i300 looks quite specific, but the impression this communicator makes at first sight. Its dimensions are 102.5 x51, 5×19 mm, and weight is just 116 g. Gigabyte gSmart 300 is one of the smallest communicators, its dimensions are close to the parameters of today’s mobile phones. It should be remembered that a numeric keypad hardware i300 does not have. Light weight and small size allow to maintain with no problems long conversations – you have only to use a headset in the car or when both hands are thoroughly engaged. There are no problem with the wearing of the device - it can be put into a pocket of any shirt or trousers. On the top of the front panel there are

the slot voice dynamics, and two office LEDs that show the activity of GSM - module embedded GPS, wireless interfaces and the charge of the battery. Lights are not covered with decorative overlays, but they seen even in the afternoon.

At the bottom of the front panel there are buttons of the beginning and end of conversation, the two soft-keys, buttons Win (opens the Start menu) and the OC, as well as made under the metal five- positioned navigational key is inscribed with its key “confirm the selection. KEY quick access to applications in the Communicator, no - instead they should use soft-key. I would not say that the keyboard is very comfortable to use. Its sizes are sensible brink of a reasonable, and they require a strong enough suppress. Such keys fit poorly for arcade games poorly, and the navigational key is sometimes false alarm. But the viewing of documents is quite comfortable, because they could be hanging the scroll key on volume control. At the end of the communicator is the right button of activation the camera, the ear for lace, the disconnector for headsets, covered with plastic plugs, and sunk into the trunk the reboot button. The lid of the disconnector looks insecure - I have a suspicion that in a couple of months after its active exploitation it will be torn off and lost. At the left end of the device is key of the volume.It is black, but adapted, it can not only control the volume during a call, but turn over the pages of various documents. At the upper end of Communicator is only the button of on / off switch. At the lower end of communicator there are miniUSB connector used for charging and synchronization with a desktop computer, slot for miniSD memory card, slot for stylus and the microphone hole. Only normal miniSD memory card are supported, SHDC does not work even after the installation of additional drivers - probably there is no support in hardware. However, due to low prevalence SDHC card it is not a big problem. On the rear panel of the communicator there are located 2 - mega pixel camera with the flash and function of autofocus, the lattice of a loud dynamics, as well as the battery of compartment lid.

Maximum permission of images in camera is 1600 * 1200 pixels, it supports video recording and 3GP wmv format with a resolution of 320 * 240. There supports multiple compression formats, changing the white balance, dozens of effects, including a night shooting mode. The quality of images has pleasantly surprised - among the communicators with built-2 - megapixel camera Gigabyte gSmart i300 is among the best. It should be noted that the function Auto does not always work properly, especially when surveying of neighboring objects. The battery of Gigabyte gSmart i300 is removable, lithium-polymer has a capacity of 920 mAh, that is for communicator is not much. As a result the time of autonomous work of communicator is small concerning competitors. The time of autonomous work of communicator in testing in network UMS is 1 day, with active use of additional functions - this communicator will likely have to be charged every day. While reading the book in the program Haali Reader apparatus has holded out for 9 hours, if the GPS receiver worked a little less than 5 hours - for the tourist i300 is not suitable. Under the battery wears slot for a SIM card. On convenience, the card is inserted and taken out without problems. TFT-LCD capable of displaying 65,000 thousand Flowers already has become the standard for most of the CPC and communicators. But the device with a diagonal display produces only 2.4 inches Gigabyte. Due to the small screen diagonal image on the screen looks better than the conventional pocket computer. However, the problems begin with ingress stylus too small interface elements. On the other hand, it is a fee for too small sizes. On the sun the display appreciably fade, but at 5 - m level of illumination remains suitable for reading.

Innards

While HTC continues to torment its favorite Texas Instruments, Gigabyte began to graft on megahertz. As a result, i300 received the processor Intel PXA 270 with a frequency of 520 MHz. This allows the communicator to cope with any challenges, including the not overdressed video playback. However, for games i300 is still not very suitable, but at the opening of weighty PDF documents a powerful processor is not redundant. For an experiment, I decided to try to disperse the i300 using the programme XGuru, as a result I received a stable operation of the device, at the CPU frequency of 624 MHz. Gigabyte gSmart i300 is equipped with 64 MB of RAM, which has already become the de- facto standard for modern PDA, but 256 MB of ROM, of which 150 is accessible to a user, causes respect, especially bearing in mind, that not all applications can be installed on a memory card. Gigabyte gSmart i300 is a Bluetooth module version 2.0 with support for EDR. But there not used functional drivers from Microsoft, as a result in an FTP connection to exchange files is not supported. Here is a list of available profiles: ActiveSync-synchronization, PAN, channel contacts, individual and vCard files, access to the SIM card, COM connection, a Bluetooth headset and stereo. There was used Microsoft Bluetooth stack-with some alterations. In addition to the standard functions of the stack there is still GSmart BT Application Program, which is due to the idea should immediately send a group of files, but not with my Acer n311 or with a desktop using Bluesoleil stack, it would not work. Overall, there are no special claims to the work of Bluetooth: a stable connection to the computer, BT headset, Jabra BT-150 worked without problems, some files are transferred normally.

Wi-Fi module conforms to the standard 802.11g. When testing together with a network card and an access point Asus D-Link there were no problems, the WPA and WEP didn’t not attract criticism. Thanks to the powerful processor Skype client works without problems. Cellular Communication Module is absolutely standard and doesn’t gladden by anything special. There is a support for GSM 900/1800/1900. Supported GPRS Class 10, support for EDGE is not available. However, far from all users have a need for high-speed connections. The vibrator from Gigabyte gSmart i300 is of the average power, in a pocket of warm winter jackets it can be skipped. GPS module is built on the basis of the most popular to date SirfStar III chip. Traditionally, I used to test the navigational program Navitel Navigator as the most popular and functional solution for navigation in the CIS countries. Cold start time was about 2 - x minutes - the average result. When testing in a car gSmart i300 shown himself of the best way steadily kept the signal even in a dense buildings. In ROMs of communicator have already been sewed few simple tools to work with GPS, but for the full use we have to buy in addition navigational program.

Programmatic part

Gigabyte gSmart i300 runs under Windows Mobile 2005 Phone Edition, the package AKU version - 2.4. At the Taiwanese company’s website can be downloaded Gigabyte upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 Professional. Considering the firmware, I will talk about the latest firmware with WM 6. The composition of the OS includes standard applications such as Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, Outlook Mobile, Pocket Internet Explorer and Media Player Mobile 11 - version, Phone application. Additional applications simply an enormous amount and I would like to consider them in detail. Photo Editor is a simple graphics editor, Recorder - Annex recording, which allows records to create long, JVM, Black List - blacklisted numbers, Easy Touch Menu - something like “menu” of the package close Pocket Plus, Magnifer - raises some system fonts, useful to people with low vision, Tourch allows to use an outbreak as a flashlight, a popular backup utility for archiving Spb Backup, the vacation Answer Machine, a cool utility for creating a sound background during a call, as well as the Pocket Sudoku game. There is still quite unhelpful utility to purchase additional software, and a couple of small applications like mapping charge numbers and simple quick launch icon. Most programs are intended for Window Mobile 2005, and work perfectly at WM 6, many system utility is also beyond the appropriate updates. However, the firmware with WM 6 at the moment there is the English language version only, so it will have to raise at least a virtual keyboard, I myself used SPB Full Screen Keyboard. Since testing Gigabyte gSmart i300 all the time, it was never frozen even during the attempts to disperse, the interface and almost all programs work sharply.

Conclusion

Gigabyte gSmart i300 is a small, but a powerful navigational communicator. A powerful processor from Intel, two wireless modules, a small size, stylish youth design, embedded GPS module – there are not so few advantages. On the other hand, small sizes had a mediocre convenience of organs of operation and low capacity of battery. Approximate cost of gSmart is about

$650-670 that allows i300 to compete with HTC 3300, which the has also very specific organs of operation, and the performance is much lower. Also, in my opinion, it will bad i300 come to the role of “female communicator.”