For those of you looking for a reason NOT to buy the MSI Wind, I can’t really give you a good one. It’s a great little machine. Go ahead and buy one if you’ve been waiting. For everyone else, read on for the pros and cons of this aggressively-priced, yet impressively-performing netbook.
Overview
The MSI Wind is an ultraportable notebook that weighs about two and a half pounds, features Intel’s new Atom chipset (1.6GHz), and runs Windows XP Home Edition. There’s also a Linux version that’s coming out in a couple of weeks, but the configuration I tested included XP and the larger six-cell battery (the three-cell version is available now, the six-cell will be available within a couple weeks).
There’s a 10-inch LED screen with a 1024×600 resolution, 1GB of RAM, 80GB SATA hard drive, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, three USB ports, built-in memory card reader, and Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Bluetooth connectivity.
I ran a bunch of tests on the review unit I had, check them all out here.
Price versus Performance
I’d say that the overwhelmingly positive aspect of the MSI Wind is found in the price versus performance department. It doesn’t feel like a cheap $500 notebook, it doesn’t perform like a cheap $500 notebook, and it doesn’t look like a cheap $500 notebook. About five years ago, I purchased a wonderful and tiny Sharp Actius MP30 notebook for well over $1,500. The Wind reminds me of that computer, except the Wind is even smaller and more powerful – it would work perfectly for anybody looking for an inexpensive laptop, not just people looking for a tiny one.
Battery Life
The good performance exists thanks to Intel’s new Atom chip, which is quite impressive on its own, but really shines when it comes to battery life. MSI claims a maximum five and a half hours of battery life out of the six-cell battery and I was able to easily squeeze more than five hours out of the Wind while doing some simple web surfing. If you needed to go somewhere for a weekend and wanted to be able to access the internet and your e-mail sporadically, you could confidently leave the AC adapter at home.
Form Factor
The form factor is great, too, provided you’ve prepared yourself for a small machine. The keyboard is 80% full size, which is a fair tradeoff. You won’t, however, enjoy typing on the Wind for extended periods of time. If you’re planning to purchase the Wind as your primary computer, you’ll want to have a full-sized keyboard around for when you really want to hammer out some text. As a world-famous professional blogger, I wouldn’t, unfortunately, be able to take the Wind to a convention or to cover an event for more than a day or so. The keyboard’s just too small.
That being said, what you trade in keyboard size comes back to you full circle in chassis size and weight. The Wind weighs 2.6 pounds with the six-cell battery and can easily be toted around anywhere. I took it on vacation with me for over a week and was able to slide it into a large camera bag, if that gives you any indication of its size.
Screen
When Windows booted up for the first time, I was really impressed with the screen quality. Even though it’s only 10 inches and 1024×600 resolution, the screen is vibrant, clear, and easy to read — no complaints there. If you’re someone who needs a large screen, you’ll want to pass on the Wind, but if you’ve been using a laptop with a 12- or 13.3-inch screen, you’ll feel at home on the Wind’s 10-inch screen. It’s a little bit narrower and shorter than the standard 1280×800 screens found on most notebooks but for basic web surfing, games, and that kind of stuff, it’s just fine.
Other Features
The Wind features some nice little touches, like a 1.3-megapixel webcam, Bluetooth connection, and a variable CPU speed setting that conserves battery life when the computer’s unplugged or kicks it up to full speed when plugged back in. The 80GB hard drive, too, is a welcome feature as compared to much smaller flash-based hard drives on similar netbooks.
Even though the Wind has a conventional hard drive, the computer itself is dead quiet. Eerily quiet – like, as in you have to hold the thing up against your ear to hear that the fan is even running. And it doesn’t get uncomfortably hot on your lap, either, which was a common concern for some people when the Wind was first announced.
Cons
One downside to the Wind, in my opinion, would be that the extra girth added by the six-cell battery makes the computer a little bit wobbly if you’re trying to balance it on your lap or when you first pick it up. I’d trade that awkwardness for the excellent battery life, though. The other downside (for me, at least) is that it’s not quite powerful enough to use as my main computer — I don’t require much beyond word processing and light image editing but I need something that I can use to edit video – that, and the keyboard wouldn’t work out for me, as I need to have a full size keyboard due to the nature of my work. I could get by with using it to patiently edit video — the keyboard is pretty much the only thing keeping me from buying one of these for myself, though. It’s not a bad keyboard, technically, it’s just the size issue. Finally, I’d want to upgrade the RAM to 2GB, but there’s no easy way to do that. You’d have to take the thing apart first.
Conclusion
I can (and will) safely recommend the MSI Wind to just about anybody who’s not a hardcore computer user or who needs to type all day long. The price is right, the performance is right, and the portability is so right that it’s somehow wrong (in a right kind of way). I’m really impressed with this machine — MSI has a winner on its hands.
MSI Wind [Product Page]
“For those of you looking for a reason NOT to buy the MSI Wind, I can’t really give you a good one.”
I’ve got a pretty good reason, Doug: WE CAN’T BUY ONE IN THE USA YET.
The three-cell battery version running XP is available if you can find it. It’s been available since June 27th. Check http://www.msimobile.com/nblist.aspx?series=U periodically. There will be a Buy Now button or something similar when MSI gets them back in stock.
Well, you can pay for one. It doesn’t appear to be true that you can actually buy one though. OK, if you were one of the first 300 to place a pre-order directly with MSI you might get one, maybe. Seeing as how they’ve missed their last 3 ship dates (counting today), I think the “WE CAN’T BUY ONE” comment is completely legit. If this were a pizza delivery, you’d have already starved, been buried and your wife would have remarried by now. Anyone who actually needs a computer they can use would be better off ordering something else today and then consider buying a Wind in 6 months when they actually ship. We are of course taking it on faith that the rest of their manufacturing process is better than their scheduling…
Nice, will definately get one! Is there gonna be a video review btw?
Bunch of videos over here: http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/06/26/first-look-msi-wind-update/
saw those…i was speaking of a formal video review. and one that actually runs ubuntu for real.
Did you try to play video on it? Will it run DivX movies OK?
I got it to play a large WMVHD file and mounted a DVD .iso file, which also played fine. I didn’t try a DivX file, but I’d be really surprised if it didn’t handle them just fine.
It’s battery life kills it for me. my search continues and maybe the Acer One is a better choice.
So Is MSI WIND better that ASUS 1000H considering all the aspects?? Will be greatful if you can make a comment on that. Another question, is msi wind linux can be replaced with xp later (if i want)? Thanks
I haven’t actually tried the 1000H, but apparently the keyboard is a little bigger. It’s also a little heavier, at 3.2 pounds. And it’s priced at $650, versus $500 for the Wind. The Asus has 802.11n versus 802.11g and the battery life (according to Asus) is up to seven hours versus five and a half from the Wind. But that seven hour rating is “on select models” which leads me to believe it’s probably on the models equipped with solid state drives, not the 80GB hard drive that the 1000H has. Without actually trying the 1000H, though, I can’t give you any solid advice.
As for loading XP onto the Linux version of the Wind, I see no reason why that wouldn’t work.
>The Asus has 802.11n versus 802.11g
The Wind also has 802.11n. At least mine does o_O
Nevermind, I just found out that mine has a different wireless controller
I wouldn’t agree to what you said about the keyboard. True, it’s damn small at first sight. True, it does need some getting used to. But it’s certainly ok even for typing all day long.
I’ve purchased one of these babies myself and was very surprised about the quality of the keyboard. It took me about two days to get used to it, now I’m pretty much as fast on the Wind’s small keyboard as I was on my old laptop’s keyboard (Dell Vostro 1400 with regular size keyboard). And writing is what I do for my living, thus I’m not only dependent on a high-quality keyboard (god bless my old Powerbook 1400 and my Pismo) but also on not getting the cramps after a few hours of typing.
However, I can see how some people could run into trouble trying not to hit two keys at the same time - I have rather skinny hands and fingers, chubby folks will certainly see this entire issue differently.
As for the memory issue: I did upgrade my memory from 1GB to 2GB - it’s a piece of cake. The entire bottom cover practically falls into your lap as soon as you remove the screws holding it in place. Afterwards you will see the only available free memory slot. Next I’ll probably replace the hard drive with a shock-resistant solid state drive, although I’ll have to wait until ~80GB SSDs are available at a price that will not make my wife hit me over the head repeatedly every time I even as much as think about purchasing it ;)
For me, the 10″ Wind is a perfect companion for everyday mobile work, and I’m currently even considering replacing my desktop at home with it and hooking up my external display, keyboard and mouse to the Wind if I actually have to work at home. After all we’re talking 25W v. 85W for the exact same kind of work here.
How does this machine work with an external harddrive? If it plays DVDs from external drive well and so one.. thx
If anybody wants to see more video of a black Wind, I got really lucky and nabbed one at Fry’s before they sent the batch back to MSI (not sure why they’re sending back). It’s only got the 3-cell battery and 802.11g, but it was totally worth it.
http://www.adamia.com/blog/msi-wind-u100-unboxing-in-hd
I want to know more about your laptop- Sharp Actius MP30. Is it free or i have to pay? Is the laptop in good condition?
I’m getting me one of these for sure. But I’ll wait for 2 months more. By that time the 6 pack battery cell will be available.
One more thing, Intel is coming out with the Intel Atom Dual Core. Who knows, the newer MSI Wind Model (If they come out with one) might come before Christmas 2008 equipped with this new CPU. Or probably they’ll change architecture and use NVIDIA’s computer on a chip called The Tegra.
I wouldn’t mind paying a little extra for this machine.
When I saw it in the display, I asked to try it out to get a feel of the weight and speed…. and I tell you straight out…. I am impressed.