MSI Wind U100

Tiny system delivers big value


IN THE NEW BUDGET ultraportable laptop class, the $499 MSI Wind U100 strikes the best balance yet between portability and performance.
Powered by Intel's 1.6 GHz Atom N270 processor, the 2.3-pound Wind performs better than netbook competitors like the early Asus Eee PC models and HP's 2133 Mini-Note PC. It includes 1GB of RAM and currently ships with Windows XP Home Edition; the company's planning a lower-cost SUSE Linux version, as well. Storage comes from an 80GB hard drive-roomy compared with the solid-state drives used in some budget netbooks-but as with those other systems, there's no optical drive on the Wind.
The keyboard doesn't feel quite as sturdy as that of the 2133 Mini-Note PC, but its sculpted keytops are more comfortable to type on. The 10-inch screen, meanwhile, features a 1,024x600 wide-screen resolution. The Sound Blaster-compatible audio is fine when using the headphone jack, but the built-in spekers are poor, adding lots of distortion to the Wind's output.

Due to battery shortages, MSI shipped the first Wind units with a meager three-cell unit; at press time, MSI said that a larger six-cell battery would soon be available. With the three-cell unit installed, we were able to use the Wind for 2 hours and 22 minutes with Wi-Fi and power saving enabled.
As for connections, there are no PCMCIA for ExpressCard slots, but the Wind does include three USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, an SD/DHC memory-card slot, and a VGA connector. Wireless connectivity includes 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. -Denny Atkin
source: Computer Shopper October 2008.
www.msi.com.tw