msi

The MSI Wind has been around a long time by Netbook computer standards and generally gets good reviews. Laptop magazine, for example, loved it. Back in July, CNET gave it 3.5 stars out of 5.

The model CNET reviewed was, at the time, $479. It ran Windows XP, came with an 80GB hard disk and included Bluetooth networking. If you can live without Bluetooth, you can now buy a very similar model, the Wind U100-420US, with a 120GB hard disk for only $349. For that price you get a gigabyte of RAM, an Intel Atom processor, a 10-inch matte … Read more

We had gotten word previously that MSI's follow-up to the Wind 100--the 120--would likely hit the streets this December. According to Digitimes, though, we won't have to wait that long. In fact, the 3.5G-sporting Netbook should be available sometime next month. The specs are fairly impressive, running Windows XP on Intel's Atom N270 processor with 1GB of RAM.

With its 8.9-inch screen, this ultraportable is inviting with its estimated street price of $552, but that price could come down if the manufacturer squares deals with American 3G network operators like AT&T or T-Mobile, … Read more

Before you pick up MSI's Wind U100 Netbook at Best Buy, you'd do well to take a look-see at purported photos of its sequel, the Wind U120.

It appears to be very similar to the U100 in size and design, keeping the 10-inch screen but going with a two-tone look with a black screen bezel and sides and a white lid, keyboard, and wrist rest. The U120 will reportedly target business users, adding 802.11n Wi-Fi and 3.5G WWAN. Other rumored specifications include a 120GB hard drive or 20GB or 40GB solid-state drives and no changes to … Read more

The MSI Wind is hitting retail store shelves. That's good news if, like me, you'd like to see just how cramped a Netbook's keyboard is before your fat fingers pull the trigger on a purchase. MSI today announced that its 10-inch Netbook, available only online from Amazon and other direct sellers until now, is on store shelves at Best Buy.

The MSI Wind U100 model at Best Buy looks very similar to the $479 model we reviewed earlier this year, featuring the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of memory, and Windows XP Home, but it … Read more

Given the Democratic and Republican conventions and the Labor Day holiday stealing everyone's attention, I expected this week to be a quiet one when it came to product announcements. But those distractions really only apply to folks in the States, and overseas manufacturers pushed out plenty of new laptop models to keep us busy.

Samsung threw down a challenge to the MacBook Air by announcing the 13-inch, 2.8-pound Samsung X360. MSI came out with three new laptop models, the 14-inch VR440 and GX400, and the 17-inch GX720. Asus announced the G50V and G71V, gaming systems built on Core … Read more

Smaller and cheaper have always been big tech buzzwords, and the currently hot category of Netbook laptops seems to be embracing that spirit better than anyone else in recent memory. After all, we used to be crazy for 11- and 12-inch ultraportable laptops, which combined uninspiring performance and poor battery life into packages costing upward of $2,000. Now we can get comparable performance and (sometimes) better battery life in small 9- and 10-inch systems for $400-$700.

With low-power processors, tiny screens and finger-cramping keyboards, most of these Netbooks aren't good for much more than surfing the Web, … Read more

Hey, remember when Nvidia issued that business update saying it was expecting to lose money repairing or replacing flawed graphics cards, but then declined to state which cards were affected and which manufacturers bought them?

Well, this week, both Dell and HP finally came out with a list of laptops that included the defective cards. Check your laptops, people, or you too may be treated to "multiple images, random characters on the screen, lines on the screen, no video" or even a "notebook (that) does not start."

Moving on, analyst group Gartner says the $100 laptop is a pipe dream, but the $200-$500 laptop is going strong. This week saw Intel's Classmate PC primed for a third-generation release; the MSI Wind started shipping with a 6-cell battery (though that bumps the price to $550); and Asus reportedly prepared an Eee PC 701 powered by Intel Atom chips.

That last item is apparently part of Asus' plan to cook up a total of 23 varieties of Eee PC over the coming months (or years, the timeline isn't clear). It's enough to make me wonder if Asus will continue to manufacture any non-Eee PC computers in the next few years. Or will we soon be receiving a press release announcing that Asus is changing the company name to Eee?

Meanwhile, memory maker Buffalo gets our carpe diem award for recognizing the market opportunity in DIY solid-state drives for the Eee PC. First runner-up is Samsung, which finally recognized business users as a prime market for the UMPC and added a few enterprise features to its Q1 Ultra. … Read more

One of our favorite new netbook laptops is the 10-inch MSI Wind, which has decent specs and performance, but is saddled with a terrible 3-cell battery--we got about two hours max from it. MSI blamed supply chain problems for preventing the initial run of the Wind from shipping with the more common 6-cell battery found in systems like the Asus Eee PC 901.

Now we hear that the 6-cell version is on the way, already popping up for pre-order in several online stores. There's a catch, though; the new battery jacks up the cost by $50, bringing the total … Read more

Perhaps the better question is, "Who isn't getting into mini-notebooks these days?"

The latest rumor floating around is that Korean electronics giant LG has asked MSI to build for it a tiny notebook based on Intel's Netbook reference design containing an Atom processor.

This one was started by Digitimes, and it says that MSI will make a Windows XP-based mini-notebook with an 8.9-inch screen, 2GB of memory, and a 120GB hard drive.

Those specs are closer to Hewlett-Packard's mini-notebook, the 2133 Mini-Note, released this spring, than MSI's much-talked about Netbook, the Wind. (MSI … Read more