9. Special Functions: IR Remote Control And Instant-on AV Player

As a special function, Gigabyte's mobile PC has integrated instant-on AV player functionality. This is automatically activated as soon as the PC is started with the IR remote control, which is tucked into the PC card slot.

Practical, but a little too small for men's hands: the IR remote control

In this case, the system boots not to Windows XP, but instead to a pared-down Linux or Cyberlinks Power Cinema Player for Linux. With this program, films and photos can be shown on the widescreen display, and audio CDs can also be played.

The Power Cinema Player from Cyberlink

The remote control unit operates over a distance of more than 13 feet (4 meters) and works whether the notebook is on or off. The device can thus be remotely turned on as long as it has energy from the battery or power supply unit.

The small remote control can be elegantly stored in the PC card slot.

The remote control is also fully operational under Windows XP. You can thus use it to scroll through menus, call up programs, and control the Windows Media Player or Power DVD applications.

Seven keys on the keyboard are specially marked with symbols in red for the Power Cinema software.

As is the case with other devices, the TV output cannot be activated when the Power Cinema Software is running under Linux: the optical digital output is also not available. In the options menu you can only choose a language for the player. There is also an option provided to choose between a two- or a six-channel loudspeaker system, but where you are supposed to hook these up remains a mystery to us. Furthermore, the colors during playback under Linux have a washed-out look, are somewhat pixilated, and look slightly out of focus, as if the film were being played with a resolution that is too low.

MPEG4 videos can be played back, but in our test, looking at photos in JPEG format was a failure. We have already pointed out these problems, for which the software is responsible, during the DIY notebook project. That device also included an instant-on AV player.