Along with the soon-to-be-released X-Slim series of ultra low voltage notebooks, MSI has unveiled the next machine in the “U” line, the Wind U200. Unlike the U100 series, the U200 uses an Intel ULV processor instead of an Atom chipset and the screen is 12 inches at 1366×768 instead of 10 inches at 1024×600.

Tweaktown.com got some good photos of the U200 and had this to say about the computer itself:

“MSI’s U200 features a 12-inch 16:9 widescreen LED display with a 720p HD capable resolution of 1366 x 768. It comes with an Intel Penryn ULV SFF 723 processor which is a single-core Celeron 723 processor clocked at 1.2GHz – no Hyper Threading, so only single core action here. Graphics are provided by the Intel GMA 4500M, yawn…

It also includes 2GB (1 x 2GB – single channel) DDR2-800 memory, 250GB hard disk drive, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR and after removing the battery, we also noticed a SIM card slot on the back for 3G mobile Internet access. It weighs in at 1.4KG with the 3-cell 2200mAh battery installed – don’t expect huge battery life hours with this.”

The U200 scored a 3.2 on the Vista Experience Index — not terrible for an ultraportable. The keyboard looks a bit cramped for my tastes. That shrunken right shift key always gives me the jibblies. I’d much rather have a full size one with the four arrow keys scaled back instead.

No definitive word on pricing or availability yet. The price will be interesting, as this one would theoretically join the Wind series of netbooks that are priced between $300 and $400 currently, yet with a higher resolution screen and moderately faster processor. If I had to guess, I’d say it might get priced at around $500 to $600. Then MSI would run the gamut from a pricing standpoint: Wind U100, Wind U120, Wind U200, X-320, X-340, X-400, X-600, etc., ranging from $400 up to around $1000. I may have missed a couple in there, but you get the idea.

Hands-on with the MSI CULV U200 netbook in Taipei [TweakTown]

Aw, there I go giving away the entire post in the title again. I should have made it something like “What’s in your city’s water supply? MSI knows! Full story on the ten o’clock newscast” or something sensational like that. Oh well.

Laptop’s got some interesting info about what we’ll see from MSI at CES, including:

The currently-available Wind U100 will continue to be sold alongside the new Wind U120 — available in January. Specs between the two systems are pretty similar, except that the U120 will sport a new design and feature WiMax and 3G options.

Also available at the end of January will be the Wind U110 and Wind U115 – both will feature the new Atom Z530 chip and the U115 will have an SSD and a hard drive. The hard drive will be able to be turned off to save power, which will give the U115 a battery life rating of ten hours!

MSI will also release information about the U300, which is not a Wind computer but will be a low-priced 13.3-inch ultraportable. MSI’s Andy Tung says people will be “shocked,” according to Laptop. I’m guessing this computer will be an attempt at a direct shot across Apple’s bow as it pertains to the MacBook Air.

I’m not a touchscreen guy, but MSI will be showcasing a touchscreen Wind at CES. The company also has no plans to release Linux-based notebooks here in the states. Finally, it’s been revealed that adding more RAM to your Wind is a perfectly acceptable and normal activity and will not void your warranty.

Hark! Here’s a good deal on the MSI Wind. For one week only, starting today, MSI is offering a $50 mail-in rebate on the Wind with XP, 120GB hard drive, and 1GB of RAM. Buy.com has them for $299 after the rebate. That’s a good, good, good deal, so hurry.

MSI Wind U100-439US [Buy.com]

Wow, lotsa good deals today. J&R is selling the black MSI Wind with Windows XP for $399 after a $50 price break and $50 mail-in rebate. And – and! – it would appear that they have them in stock, too. This is the three-cell battery version, if you’re wondering. But for $399, that’s a hard deal to pass up if you’re looking for a good netbook.

The $50 mail-in rebate is good until the end of the month.

MSI Microstar WindBook U100-016US [J&R via dealnews]

The fine folks over at Fudzilla have managed to wrangle photos of the upcoming MSI Wind U120, which should be available at the end of the year. Specs appear to be very similar to the current MSI Wind U100, except that the U120 will feature a SIM-based 3.5G wireless chip, presumably to attract a more business-oriented crowd.

The netbook will still have a 10-inch screen and decent keyboard, and hard drive options are reported to be either a 120GB conventional drive or a 20- or 40-gigabyte SSD, which seems odd since we normally hear about 16GB and 32GB solid state drives. I also wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the processor would be one of the dual-core Atoms, since the U120 isn’t supposed to ship until December. Fudzilla claims it’ll cost under $600, which would be consistent with MSI’s aggressive pricing strategy.

A couple more photos after the jump…

[via SlashGear]

The wait is over, netbook fans. MSI just announced that the U100 netbook is now available nationwide at Best Buy. The Intel Atom 1.6GHz equipped 10-inch netbook comes with 1GB of RAM, Windows XP Home Edition, a 120GB HDD, and weighs only 2.3lbs. It comes in black and white and starts at $399.

I just checked Best Buy’s online store, but it doesn’t look like the U100 is available there yet.

Update: The U100 netbooks will be available at Best Buy sometime this week.

It’s decision time. Which should you buy for school, a notebook or a netbook? Netbooks are great because of their portability and low price points. Notebooks are good for their much more usable keyboards, optical drives, and computing power. So which one is right for you? Here are five good options in each category.

Notebooks

Here are some parameters I used for choosing a notebook for school.

1. Starting cost must be under $1,100. I’d shoot for under $1,000 but the MacBook starts at $1,099 and it’s a very viable option, especially if your school uses Macs.

2. Must weigh less than six pounds.

3. Must have a multi-core processor.

Best Notebook for Mac Users: MacBook ($1,099)

Surprised with this choice? Didn’t think so. If you’ve grown up using a Mac or attend a school that’s primarily Mac-based, here’s your option: the $1,099 MacBook. Sure, you can get Windows-based notebooks for half the price of the base-level MacBook but a myriad of style preferences, software needs, and brand loyalty ensures that the MacBook remains one of Apple’s strongest sellers.

Best Big-Screen, Still Sorta-Light Notebook: Toshiba L305D ($679)

Take any notebook with a 15.4-inch and you’ll notice that the only thing larger than the screen itself is the immense weight that the notebook adds to your bag. Most break through the six pound barrier with reckless abandon, even getting up into the seven- and eight-pound range. The L305D from Toshiba, however, is different.

It’s got a 15.4-inch screen, yet starts at just under 5.5 pounds. With 160GB of hard drive space and 3GB of RAM, the starting price of $679 is nice. You can get it for as low as $599, but that’s with only 1GB of RAM. The extra $80 is well worth it for 3GB.

Best Tablet Notebook: HP Pavilion tx2500z Series ($899)

The HP Pavilion tx2500z series of tablet PCs offers a relatively affordable and light-weight computing option. The 12.1-inch screen tilts, swivels, and flips and these newer models have HP’s hipster “Echo” designs on the lid.

Until tomorrow, you can get some pretty decent extras: $150 instant rebate, free upgrade to 3GB of RAM, free shipping, and 50% off of Office Home and Student Edition.

Best Notebook for the Price of a Netbook: Acer Extensa EX4420 ($499)

When you hear people say “Why would I buy a netbook when I can get an actual notebook for the same price?”, this is what they’re talking about. The Acer Extensa EX4420 features 2GB of RAM, a dual-core AMD processor, DVD burner, 14.1-inch screen, and a 5.4-pound travel weight. At $499, too, it should get the job done for most everyday students – both in the classroom and in the money department.

Best ‘Let’s Get Down to Business’ Workhorse: Dell Latitude E6400 ($879)

For the student who’s going to be spending more time in class and the library than anywhere else, there’s the Dell Latitude E6400. It’s actually sold from Dell’s business division, but don’t let that dissuade you.

The notebook has a large 14.1-inch that can be upgraded to a whopping 1440×900 resolution, yet manages to weigh in at a scant 4.3 pounds. If you’re willing to blow through the $1,100 spending limit, you can outfit the E6400 with a 9-cell battery, battery slice, and a solid state drive for a caffeine-infused 19 hours of computing before needing to recharge. Unbelievable.

Netbooks

Netbooks are the small-yet-scrappy cousins to full-fledged notebooks. They’re svelte enough to fit in a large purse or small backpack, or they can likely blend in with the pile of books you’re carrying around and hoping to quickly skim before class starts.

Parameters:

1. Must run Windows. Sorry. This is aimed at college kids. If your school supports Linux, that’s great, but most schools are either Mac- or PC-focused.

2. Must weigh less than 3.5 pounds.

3. Must cost less than $600 with Windows installed.

Best All-Around Netbook: Asus Eee 1000H with XP and 6-cell battery ($549)

Sporting a big (for a netbook) 10.2-inch screen, 80GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP, and a six-cell battery with a claim of over seven hours of battery life, the 3.19-pound Asus Eee 1000H could almost be confused for an actual notebook. There’s an integrated webcam and a 95%-of-full-size keyboard, too.

Plus, you’ll get nice intangibles like a strong and many-numbered user community and a wide selection of accessories and cases. Now if you could only (like many other netbook brands) find one in stock. Amazon’s current ship time is 1-2 months.

Best Vista-Based Netbook: HP 2133 Mini-Note ($579)

One of the only big-name netbooks to offer a Windows Vista option, the HP 2133 Mini-Note is also widely regarded as having one of the best keyboards and build qualities around. For just south of $600, you’ll get an 8.9-inch screen, VIA C7-M Ultra Low Voltage processor, 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and 2.8-pound travel weight.

You’ll have to really, really want to run Vista Home, though. The 1GB of RAM, three-cell battery, and 1.2GHz VIA C3 processor make this option a bit of a gamble.

Best Netbook Deal Around: Acer Aspire One with XP and six-cell battery ($399)

Acer’s ultra-aggressive pricing has made the company’s relatively late entry into the netbook game a non-issue. Case in point, you can grab the Aspire One with an 8.9-inch screen, 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, XP Home, and a six-cell battery good for over five hours of work for $399. That’s an insane price for all those features. It shows, too, as you’ll have to wait 2-5 weeks to get one from Amazon, for instance.

Best Big-Screen Netbook for Under $500: MSI Wind ($499) 

Despite recent consumer-unfriendly price hikes, the MSI Wind is still a great deal for a netbook with a 10-inch screen and Windows XP. The build-quality and screen are especially nice and the Wind doesn’t feel short-featured or underpowered (see our review here). Newegg currently has the black MSI Wind for $499, which features a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, 10-inch screen, 2.3-pound travel weight, and a three-cell battery good for more than two hours of work before needing recharged.

Best Netbook You’ll be Least Apprehensive to Buy: Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ($399)

Whether you’ve had a positive experience with Dell or not, the fact remains that the company is one of the most recognized names in computing. If you’re apprehensive about buying a netbook from a company you’ve never heard of, you may feel safest with Dell. Plus, for $399, you get an 8.9-inch screen, Windows XP, 512MB of RAM (you can upgrade to 1GB for $25), an 8GB solid state drive, a travel weight of 2.28 pounds, and a four-cell battery good for over four hours of work (according to Dell).

Careful, though. These things JUST came out so they’re relatively unproven. I’d hope that a company Dell’s size, however, would have rigorously tested these netbooks.

Our friends across the pond will soon have some options as far as the MSI Wind netbook is concerned. Three new versions will be available soon, although there’s no definite time frame apart from “contact a local official MSI distributor,” per MSI.

So here’s what’s coming. First, the U90X-007UK (pictured far left) will have an 8.9-inch screen instead of the standard 10-inch screen. See that black border around the LCD panel? Looks like the body and everything else is the same standard Wind, just with a smaller screen. This one will have the standard 80GB hard drive, but it’ll be running SUSE Linux and will cost only £269.

Then there’s a black version (pictured center), which features all the same specs of the standard MSI Wind notebooks except that it’ll have a larger 120GB hard drive. That one will cost £329.

Finally, the U100-054UK (pictured far right) is your stock MSI Wind through and through except for the obvious color difference. It’s pink. It’ll sell for £319.

Oh wow. Wow. This is a really odd decision. MSI has raised the prices of its Wind notebook (see our review here) from $479 to $499 for a version with Windows XP and a three-cell battery and from $499 to $549 for the version with XP and a six-cell battery. An MSI rep told Laptop the following:

“Since the cost of the battery and materials raise (sp), we had no choice but adjust the MSRP to $499.99 with 3-cell battery and $549.99 with 6-cell.”

To make matters worse, some retailers are hiking the price of the six-cell version up as high as $599. And – AND! – if that’s not enough, apparently some pending retail orders are being canceled because MSI now wants to sell them at the higher price.

Buy.com had to cancel orders and told Laptop:

“While selling the MSI WIND series notebooks for $499.99, Buy.com received notice from the manufacturer that this product is being mapped at $549.99. To avoid being de-authorized by this manufacturer, we did cancel all orders on this day for the 6-cell WIND series notebook.”

This is Buy.com, too! Not some fly-by-night e-retailer. This is a really poor decision by MSI, especially since the aggressive price of the Wind was one of its main selling points. The company would be wise to eat the losses until its costs of production and materials dropped (computers just get cheaper and cheaper, remember?) and then make up for it over the long run. This is just going to turn would-be customers off something awful. On the plus side, there will probably be more in stock.

Those of you that have ordered and are still waiting for your six-cell Wind, has your order been canceled? Would you re-order it at the new price? Maybe an Eee now?

As I was preparing my review of the MSI Wind earlier today, I noticed that MSI’s product site pulled the notebook down for a bit. It’s back up, but I see that the six-cell battery version of the MSI Wind has been delayed until August now. Last time we reported, it’d been delayed until July. Looks like the battery shortage caused by the fire at the LG plant back in March is still causing some pretty serious delays.

The three-cell version of the Wind has been released and is available (if you can find one in stock) for $479 — $20 cheaper than the six-cell version.

UPDATE: Now the six-cell version has been pushed out from July to August to September. Just got the following…

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – July 8, 2008 – MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, has begun shipping all the pre-ordered Wind U100 notebooks. The Wind, with its speedy new Intel Atom™ 1.6GHz processor, is also on sale at Fry’s and online at www.newegg.com, www.amazon.com, www.frys.com, www.zipzoomfly.com, www.mwave.com, and www.buy.com. These first notebooks sold will feature Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and a 3-cell battery.

In September, MSI will begin selling a Windows version of the Wind with a 6-cell battery , as well as the Linux version with a 3-cell battery. MSI will also carry a 6-cell battery for customers who wish to upgrade their 3-cell battery in late September.

So the preordered three-cell units should be shipping out now. That’s good. But the six-cell version keeps getting delayed again and again. Let’s hope September’s the latest it’ll get delayed. People holding out for the six-cell version aren’t going to be too thrilled with this news.

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]

I’ve been playing around with the Wind for the past few days and I can tell you that a three-cell battery would certainly make the unit more svelte, but the six-cell battery easily blasted through 4+ hours of world-famous CrunchGear blogging from the couch yesterday while watching Tiger and Rocco duke it out for the US Open title.

It should be noted that the price of the Wind has dropped from $499 to $479 for the Windows XP version. You could always add the six-cell battery later, although I bet it’ll cost you a fat wad more than $20.

UPDATE: Just got this from MSI’s PR rep. The previously-equipped six-cell version will apparently be available in July for $499.99 – so if you can’t wait, you can pick up a three-cell version on June 27th for $479.99 or get the six-cell version next month.

“You are correct that MSI will ship a XP version of the Wind with a 3-cell battery on 6/27 for $479.99. However, they still plan to ship an XP version with a 6-cell battery for $499, but delayed that until July. The reason was the industry wide battery shortage, MSI felt they needed to get something in their customers’ hands now rather than wait a full month.”

MSI Wind Product Page [msicomputer.com] via Boing Boing Gadgets

TweakTown has some more details about MSI’s upcoming Wind notebook, one of the latest in the line of Asus Eee competitors. So far, the specs look pretty good and the relatively large 10-inch screen and 12-inch wide keyboard are welcome additions.

According to TweakTown…

“Shipping in mid to late May, the U100 ships with your choice of Windows XP or Linux and will get its power from an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor based on a motherboard using the 945GMS + ICH7M chipsets. It supports up to 2GB of DDR2 667 memory and includes an 80GB 2.5” SATA hard drive. It sports a 10” WSVGA LCD with a wide screen resolution of 1024 x 600 which MSI claims is going to be much better for web surfing compared to Eee. MSI makes notable mention of the 12” wide keyboard which should be much easier to work with compared to smaller keyboards – each letter key measures 17.5mm wide and the touch pad is 54mm wide.

You’ll also get a 4-in-1 card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, GB network port, 802.11B/G wireless and Bluetooth V2.0 EDR. As far as multimedia goes, you’ll get HD audio through its stereo speakers and a 1.3MP camera (0.3MP on the 8.9” model which comes later).

You get a choice between 3 cell and 6 cell batteries and with the 3 cell battery installed, the whole system weighs less than 1KG and measures 260*180*19-31.5mm.”

The mid to late May launch will beat a few other companies to the punch, as many of these little notebooks will be hitting shelves sometime in June. The biggest factor here will be price. Early reports have pegged the Wind at between $471 and $1100, depending on the chosen configuration. It’ll be interesting to see what the base model brings to the table, as that’s the one that’ll have to compete with most of the rest.

via TweakTown.com