World’s Lightest Full Carbon Fiber Ultrabook – Gigabyte X11, Andy Warhol, & Our Tech Friend Déjà vu

By Paul B. Wordman on August 29, 2012 · 10:23 am

If it's thinner, faster, or lighter; it's either a fashion runway model, an Olympic athlete, or an ultrabook laptop.

When it comes to technology advances, which are frequently and for the most part accurately described by superlatives, both industry professionals and consumers alike will sometimes experience a sensation described by famous baseball star Yogi Berra when he said: It's "déjà vu all over again". As product development cycles continue to increase in speed, the frequency of release dates of the most recent World's Thinnest Laptop, or the World’s Most Powerful Mobile Workstations seem to almost literally fulfill Andy Warhol's famous 1968 statement that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

As for Warhol himself, he was primarily famous for being famous, and encapsulated that superficiality in the statement: "If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it".

By way of contrast, the surface of the Gigabyte X11 ultrabook laptop is a very thin and exceedingly strong carbon fiber skin, and there's plenty behind it.

Déjà vu is Our Friend

It seems like only yesterday that this technology journalist covered an ultrabook which was at that time, the World’s Lightest 14-Inch Laptop, weighing in at only three pounds. Everyone will just have to adjust to that ongoing feeling of "haven't we heard this before?"; because when it comes to rapid technological improvements, Déjà vu is our friend.

Granted, the Gigabyte X11 is an 11.6-inch ultrabook, but at only 2.15 lbs it's 28% lighter than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 carbon ultrabook. Just how far the ultrathin, thin-and-light trend can continue is somewhat like asking how long "Moore's Law" will continue. Various pundits over the years have predicted limits on the shrinking size of transistors and integrated circuits that will eventually be imposed by the physics of the universe itself. So far, however, advancements in Semiconductor Technology have not run into the predicted brick wall, but all bets are off at or below one nanometer. Suffice it to say, the practical limit on laptop weight reductions is near; otherwise we shall be filling balloons with ultrabooks instead of helium.

GIGABYTE X11 the "Lightest 11.6-Inch Full Carbon Fiber Notebook on Earth"

Known primarily for PC parts such as motherboards and graphics cards, the company known as Gigabyte has among other achievements, launched the "world’s first fully certified dual port Thunderbolt motherboards".

When utilizing the full description of "lightest 11.6-inch full carbon fiber notebook on earth" those additional qualifiers may keep the X11 at the top of the stack a bit longer than 15 metaphorical minutes. Someone in Gigabyte's marketing department did a good job with that longer description.

"World's Lightest Ultrabook" - NEC LaVie Z 13.3-inch Ultrabook

It should be noted that the NEC LaVie Z 13.3-inch ultrabook is being released only in Japan at a weight of 1.93 pounds. That weight qualifies it for the shorter title of "world's lightest ultrabook". It may be brought to additional markets in the future.

Gigabyte X11 Availability & Pricing

The few pre-release units that have reached reviewers are hand-assembled and are not quite as well made as the production-line units which will be put together by ultra-precise robots. The first assembly-line units will be released to the European market in September. Though subject to change, pricing when the X11 reaches the USA is expected to range from US-$999 to $1,299.

Specs to Inspect & Expect Changes
OS:	Windows 7
CPU:	Intel Core 3rd Generation
Display:	11.6-inch, 1366 x 768 LED Backlit, 16:9
Storage:	128 GB SSD (Solid-State Drive), 256 GB SSD Available Later
RAM:	4 GB DDR3
Graphics:	Intel HD 4000
Physical I/O:	1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, Micro SD slot, Mini-DisplayPort, Combo Audio / Headset Jack
Wireless I/O:	802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Webcam:	1.3 Megapixel
Keyboard:	Keys are 95% of standard full-size, Isolation / Island-Style
Battery:	Li-Polymer, 35Wh
Audio:	2 x 1 Watt Speakers, Internal Microphone
Dimensions:	11.7 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
Weight:	2.15 lbs / 975 grams
	Intel Rapid Start & Anti-Theft Technologies Built-In