Ooh la la, this looks to be an interesting machine right here. Starting at $750, MSI’s latest “Wind Top” all-in-one features a big 21.5-inch 1920×1080 multi-touch LCD, NVIDIA ION graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium, and a wireless mouse and keyboard set.

That’s pretty aggressive pricing an attractive all-in-one with a big multi-touch display.

Full feature list includes:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU at 2.2GHz or Pentium dual-core T4300 at 2.1GHz (depending upon configuration)
• NVIDIA ION, NVIDIA GeForce 9300 chip with 256MB of RAM
• 4GB of DDR2 RAM
• Double-layer DVD burner (Blu-ray optional)
• Wi-Fi (b/g/n), webcam, card reader
• VGA and HDMI outputs. 6 USB ports
• Wall-mountable (VESA)
• 5.1-channel surround sound
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• Optional TV tuner

Various configurations are slowly appearing on online retail sites (this one on ZipZoomFly.com, for instance) so we should start seeing increased availability soon.

Press Release | Product Page

It looks like MSI is getting set to launch a 12-inch Windows 7 netbook from its U200 series. You’ll recall that the company released the Vista-based U210 back in mid-September, and this new one, the U230, appears to be very similar with the exception of the newer operating system and a bumped ATI Radeon GPU.

Let’s run down the specs for good measure:

• AMD Neo X2 MV40 CPU at 1.6GHz
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• AMD Radeon HD3200
• Up to 4GB of RAM
• 12.1-inch LCD at 1366×768
• 160GB/250GB/320GB hard drive options
• 1.3-megapixel webcam
• Card reader, Ethernet, b/g/n Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth
• VGA and HDMI output
• Three- or six-cell battery options
• Weighs 2.86 pounds with three-cell battery
• Up to four hours battery life (with three-cell battery)

No word on pricing or availability yet, but the Vista-based U210 model carries an MSRP of $429.99 so it’s likely that the U230 would settle in close to that number – maybe $449.99 or so. It’d also stand to reason that the machine would go on sale in the near future, what with all the recent Windows 7 hoopla still fresh in everyone’s minds.

Wind12 U230 [MSI Global via The Link]

The MSI X-Slim X600 tries so hard – so very hard – to be a full-size, Windows MacBook Air. It has the looks, it has the specs, hell, it even has the same shape. But one huge flaw keeps will keep it from becoming the de facto slim Windows notebook: the trackpad. It’s that bad.

Specs

• Intel Core 2 Solo U3500 1.40GHz
• GS45+ICH9M-SFF Chipset
• 4GB of RAM
• 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330
• 15.6-inch 16:9 1366×768 LED LCD
• 500GB HDD
• 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet
• 802.11 b/g/n
• USB2.0 X 2, E-SATA/USB Combo X1
• HDMI out
• SD card reader
• Webcam
• 4.6lbs
• .98-inches thick
• 320 GB at Newegg for $799

Build

It’s undeniable where MSI got the design idea from for the X-Slim series. They are almost an exact copy of the MacBook Air except for a couple small differences. The I/O ports are full exposed and not hidden by a trap door. Plus, there are three USB ports (one is a eSATA combo port) along with a Gigabit Ethernet port, HDMI-out, SD card slot, and VGA out. The MacBook Air only has one USB port, a Mini DisplayPort, and a headphone jack. That’s it.

But a direct comparison isn’t exactly fair as the X600 is a larger computer with a 15.6-inch LED-backlit screen, instead of the 13.3-inch one found on the Air. Plus, all the extra ports and removable battery are so last-gen according to Apple. No one wants that type of stuff, right?

Screen

I found the screen to be satisfyingly bright, but not especially color accurate. I was hoping that the Vista GPU drivers for the ATI HD4330 were to blame, but the colors look only marginally better in Windows 7. The glossy screen is a glare magnet, as you might expect. The glossy bezel around the screen doesn’t help either.

Battery life

I managed to sneak out just over 4 hours on the 6-cell battery. That was in Windows 7 with the screen at a somewhat bright setting and with the WiFi on. I’m sure that if you crank everything down and run just Microsoft Word, you can probably get near 5 hours without a problem.

Hardware

Let’s just say that this notebook surprised me at how competent it is. The low-voltage Centrino 2 setup is helped greatly by the ATI Radeon HD 4330 GPU. It handled just about every video I threw at it including .MKV files.

I was also able to do some basic video editing in the new Windows 7 Movie Maker just fine. Yeah, the encoding took a bit, but it got the job done and unlike the Air, the notebook didn’t heat up to an egg-frying temperature.

The X600 has enough power for the average casual user. Don’t expect to fire up animation software, but it will handle MS Office and Internet tasks just fine.

Keyboard and trackpad

But nothing above matters because it’s nigh impossible to use the X600. The keyboard and trackpad fail in such catastrophic fashion that there is no way I can recommend the notebook. Let me explain.

First off, the X600 features a full keyboard and number pad. That’s not that uncommon for a 15.6-inch notebook nowadays. But some keys are cropped and I still haven’t gotten used to it. The enter key, along with most of the keys to the immediate north and south are slightly smaller. That’s not that the dealbreaker though.

I must say, however, the keys themselves feel great with just the right amount of springiness. This is one of the selling points to the notebook, but it’s too bad that the designers placed the trackpad in such a terrible location.

Look at the pic above. The green lines represent the home keys while the red show the trackpad boarder. Do you see the issue? There is no way to type on the notebook without the palm of your hand hitting the shallow trackpad because of the trackpad’s alignment with the home keys. It doesn’t help that there isn’t a border between the trackpad and the wrist pad or that the the trackpad is less than 0.5mm beneath the wrist pad.

Turn off the touch to click option, you say? I tried. The software is a joke and doesn’t seem to help at all. In fact, there is an option that is supposed to address accidental trackpad clicks but it doesn’t seem to make any difference.

So every time your thumb or palm hits the misaligned trackpad, it causes the mouse to click and transfer attention to something other than where you’re trying to type. This is a huge problem and is basically like having your mouse randomly click whenever you’re typing. In order to counter this side-affect, you have to lift your right wrist and palm so it doesn’t touch the wrist pad at all. Try typing on your notebook that way. It sucks after a quick minute.

The trackpad does get bonus points for supporting multi-touch gestures, but I don’t know how well they work. I had to completely turn off the trackpad just so I could type on the damn thing.

But it’s not just the alignment that bugs the hell out of me. The trackpad button also has a problem. It looks like a single button, right? Well, it’s a Windows machine so there is a right and left click area, but the button is very hard to press unless you’re on the far edges of the button. It’s a pain.

The bottom line

I want to love this notebook. It’s super slim, has just the right amount of inputs and enough computing juice to power through almost anything. But something that seems as trivial as a misaligned trackpad thoroughly ruins the ultra-slim notebook. You simply cannot type on this notebook when the trackpad is enabled, and that’s a big problem.

But if somehow you can get past this design flaw, the notebook is great. MSI hit the “enhance” button on the photocopier when copying the Apple MacBook Air. The more inputs, user-replaceable battery, and dramatically lower price tag all combine to create a hell of a notebook.

Product Page

Okay, here’s the MSI Wind U110 ECO. It’s a netbook, through and through, with the added twist of a nine-cell battery good for what MSI claims to be over 15 hours of battery life. Not bad considering the weight of the computer is kept at a very-portable 3.2 pounds.

It’s not going to set any performance records, with an Atom Z530 CPU at 1.6GHz, 1GB of RAM, Intel GMA500 graphics, and a 10-inch screen with a resolution of just 1024×600. It’ll probably appeal to those of us who hate carrying AC adapters around everywhere, though.

Comes with Windows XP and a 160GB hard drive and is priced at $430 (MSRP) from MSI or, better yet, $399 at Newegg.

MSI’s gone the AMD Neo route with the Wind U210, available now for $429 at Amazon and Newegg. The U210’s got a 12.1-inch screen with a 1366×768 resolution, 1.6GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, Vista Home Premium, 3.2-pound weight, and a six cell battery good for over four hours according to MSI (five hours, according to Amazon’s product page).

Full press release:

MSI US Announces Availability of the New 12.1” Wind U210

The U210 Features the new AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 Processor, 12.1” HD LCD, and a Spacious 250 GB HDD

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – September 15, 2009 – MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is excited to announce the availability of the new Wind U210. Weighing in at just 3.2 pounds, Wind U210 is MSI’s first notebook to feature the AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 1.6 GHz processor. The newest edition to the Wind family of ultraportables, also features a 250 GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR2 memory, and an energy efficient 6-cell battery with a 4+ hour life.

MSI paired the Wind U210’s 12.1” HD (1366×768) 16:9 aspect ratio LCD with ATI Radeon X1250 for crystal clear graphics. The combination delivers a bright widescreen visual experience with exceptional color saturation and crisp imagery.

The Wind U210 also features MSI’s EDS (Ergonomic De-stress) keyboard with keys that are 51% larger than those on a standard keyboard. The larger keys greatly improve finger contact range, which reduces stress on fingers and wrists to provide a more comfortable typing experience.

Additionally, MSI included a 1.3M webcam, HDMI port, 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA port, and a 4×1 card reader in the U210.

The new Wind U210 is available now at Amazon.com and Newegg.com for just $429.99. MSI offers a 1-year limited warranty with the U210 and extended customer services hours at 1-888-447-6564.

Hey, hey. Look what the Fedex man dropped off! Why it’s the sexy MSi X-Slim X600. His big, white truck is like Santa’s sleigh to me. Anyway, I just unboxed the svelte notebook, shot some pics, and came away with these impressions.

Things I like:

• The matte black finish
• The bright 15.6-inch screen
• The full size keyboard including number pad
• The 4.5 hour battery life according to Windows (untested)
• The multi-touch trackpad
• The MacBook Air inspired design
• The small-ish power adaptor
• The HD video capable ATI Radeon 4350 GPU
• The USB/eSATA port
• The flat 6-cell battery

Things I don’t like:

• Windows Vista
• It gets toasty
• The large, glossy black bezel around the screen
• Some keys have been shrunk in size to make room for the number pad
• Some of the included MSi apps that auto-start are corny
• The flat – physically and acoustically – down-firing speakers
• The small trackpad buttons
• 47sec Vista boot-up time

The first point is my biggest gripe so far. This notebook is screaming at me to install Windows 7 on it – or OS X if possible. I don’t know how long I can ignore its cries either. I’ll probably end up doing two reviews on the X-Slim X600: one would be just the way it ships and the other with Windows 7 or OS X installed. But even Vista can’t totally ruin the X600. I can’t wait to spend more time with this capable MacBook Air clone.

But while I have you, is there anything you wanna know about it?

The screen is 20″ at 1600×900, You’ve got an Athlon X2 dual-core 1.5GHz processor (better than it sounds, and way better than the Atoms out there), integrated Radeon 3200 graphics with discrete memory, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB 7200RPM HDD, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Integrated webcam, mic, and SRS speakers, a card reader, six USB ports… it’s really quite fully featured, and starting at $650, it’s pretty light on the wallet, too. Did I forget to mention the whole thing runs on a 90W power supply?

And wait, did I also forget to mention that you can get the thing with a touchscreen? Man, if I were a kid trying to decide between this thing and an iMac, I’d be having a hell of a tough time. It comes with Vista, but you can fix that pretty easily.

[via Tech Report]

MSI’s got a 12-inch Wind netbook rolling out to the US in the next few weeks. The U210 will feature an AMD CPU, though, which ought to place it in direct competition with Gateway’s LT3100. We can probably expect to see shorter battery life (the LT3100 promises five hours) in exchange for some extra power over Intel’s Atom offerings.

The U210 will apparently ship in two configurations: an XP version for $379 and a Vista version for $429. Both will, according to Gizmodo, feature 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. I’d normally expect the Vista version to have at least 2GB of RAM, though we’ll see if that actually happens or not. The 12-inch screen, too, means that it’ll have a decent resolution — likely 1280×800.

MSI is also planning to debut a touchscreen Wind netbook based on Intel’s upcoming Pinetrail initiative (see previous coverage here). We won’t see the U150, as it’ll be called, until CES in January. It’ll apparently be a touchscreen convertible tablet-type affair, though.

[via Gizmodo]

MSI’s big-but-light X600 is now available for $800 from Amazon and Newegg. The ULV computer rounds out the X-Slim series with a 15.6-inch LCD, six-cell battery, 5.5 pound travel weight, and is less than an inch thick.

You get some decent extras, too, like an external optical drive, 320GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and an ATI HD 4330 GPU. Other features include Windows Vista Home Premium, 1366×768 resolution, 1.3-megapixel webcam, Bluetooth, two USB ports, HDMI out, memory card reader, and a three-year warranty.

Full press release:

MSI Announces Availability of the X600 Ultraportable Notebook

Newest X-Slim Features ATI HD 4330 graphics card, external optical drive, and 6-cell battery

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – August 24, 2009 – MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is excited to announce the availability of the ultra-slim 15.6″ MSI X600 Notebook. The X600 notebook weighs just 5.5 pounds, is only .98 inches thick at its widest point, and is now available for only $899.99 MSRP. The X600 features the Intel® ULV CPU, which uses 1/6th the power of a regular mobile CPU.The X600 also ships with an MSI external optical drive, allowing users to view DVDs on the X600’s HD LCD that features a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1366×768 resolution.

The X600’s crystal clear display is partnered with an ATI HD 4330 Graphics card to deliver brilliant images andvideo. The newest edition to the X-Slim family of ultrapotables also features a spacious 320GB HDD, 4GB ofDDR 2 memory, 6-cell battery, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.

The X600 notebook is available in sleek Silver and stylish Black at Amazon.com and Newegg.com. MSI offers a 3-year limited warranty with the X600 and extended customer services hours at 1-888-447-6564.

I didn’t want to post this. I really didn’t. It’s a viral video for MSI. It involves men in singlets throwing laptops at one man’s buttocks. It’s everywhere. It’s really silly. Go ahead and watch it. Or not.

via the Internet

Ah, the netbook. Back in 1999 or so I remember one of my co-workers spent over $3,000 for a mini Sony Vaio PCG-C1, the kind with the tiny keyboard and woefully underpowered processor. Fast forward a decade and we’ve come full circle with the netbook. These still woefully underpowered laptops still have tiny keyboards but they cost a pittance and, for a certain subset of users, they’re some of the most compelling pieces of hardware to come out ofTaiwan and Japan in years.

Origin Story

The netbook was supposed to save the PC industry. Cast your memory back to 2007. We were just on the edge of the global financial precipice. Desktop sales were flat and laptop sales were soaring. All seemed fine. But there was a problem: the laptop market was considerably different than the desktop market. Desktop PCs sat comfortably in a den and were upgraded over time. Junior wanted to play The Sims so he installed a new graphics card. Sis wanted a scanner – she added an all-in-one. Dad was going through a mid-life crisis so he bought a new case. PCs generated sales in peripherals and, once the PC was maxed out, it was relegated to the basement and a new one purchased. PCs cost a pittance to make and could be sold at a slight profit.

Laptops, on the other hand, were stagnant. You bought a laptop and held onto it. For many it became a main computer, but one you never upgraded. You could add some memory and plug in a printer, but you weren’t purchasing overpriced graphics cards or hard drives.

In the years preceding the netbook, laptop manufacturers played with a few possible upgrade paths. First, they stuffed desktop hardware into laptops to create the Desktop Replacement. These massive laptops weren’t portable, had horrible battery life, and were prohibitively expensive. They knew that this was the wrong route towards riches.

Then they played with mini-PCs for the living room. These PCs fit in teeny-tiny cases and were supposed to sit next to your TV. Windows Media Center promised a 10-foot TV computing experience for all. I doubt many of us have actively used Windows Media Center – let alone Apple’s Front Row experience on the Mac Mini – in the intervening years.

These two branches of hardware manufacturing looked like dead ends. However, by learning how to stuff more technology into a tiny package, laptop manufacturers were able to use fairly low-power desktop chips inside tiny cases.

In about 2007 the OLPC suddenly appeared. The OLPC, if you’ll recall, was the proto-netbook. It was a woefully underpowered laptop for developing countries with a hand crank to charge it. It was great for kids who have never seen a computer but not so great for power-hungry Americans. I once saw a man who could be charitably called a massive geek – in a good way – whip out an OLPC at a conference. He started it up and its speaker began to quack like a scalded duck. It was, in general terms, useless as a real laptop.

Then Asus, a heretofore unknown PC company, hit upon an idea. Why not take cheap processors, stuff them into some of the small motherboards they had been working on, add a laptop screen and keyboard, and make a mini-laptop? They could stuff in Intel’s cheap new Atom processors and make something that is essentially a peripheral laptop. In a strategy that can be attributed to Pimp My Ride, laptop makers knew that consumers loved laptops so they decided to add a laptop to their laptops. The larger, more expensive laptop would sit quietly in the den while the netbook would scoot around the Internet, while you were on the couch watching TV or in the kitchen making pizza bagels.

Thus the eee PC was born. It was amazing. Laptops were now less expensive than some graphics cards. A $400 laptop was something the average consumer could stand behind. Sadly, manufacturers didn’t stand behind the consumer.

The Terrible Truth

The netbook will die soon. They were a cynical play by an industry in panic. They knew they couldn’t get people to buy expensive hardware so they sold inexpensive hardware at a massive discount, hoping against hope that they would sell enough units to make a profit. And profit they did. But, almost three years later, people are discovering the awful truth: netbooks are horrible. Devices like the Macbook Air, for example, are on par with hardware that came out at the turn of the century and the tiny notebooks we tested were fine for most purposes but try to get any real work done and you run into a wall. While they are striking, they’re unacceptably slow for most applications.

But, in a way, it doesn’t matter. You’re not supposed to run desktop apps on your netbook. In fact, you can bypass most of the major issues simply by focusing on web-based apps like Gmail and Zoho Office.

Also, try telling a cash-strapped consumer not to buy a netbook. It’s futile. Nintey-nine percent of computing time at home is spent on the web. Unless you’re a gamer, you probably fire up the laptop for porn or recipes and little else. So, on the aggregate, netbooks are just fine. But woe betide the netbook user who suddenly wants to do some video editing. Interestingly, many netbooks are going back to the store for exactly this reason: consumers feel conned by their relative uselessness.

What’s Next

The next logical step in the netbook world is the ultralight. These ultrathin laptops – think a better MacBook Air rather than eee PC – appeared briefly in about 2006 but disappeared when folks realized they still wanted optical drives. I remember bringing a Gateway ultralight to an IT shop once in about 2006 and the team thought it was an “old” notebook because it didn’t even have an optical drive.

Now, however, optical drives are all but useless. Streaming and downloading are the way to go. Therefore, expect to see ultralight laptops with screens 12 inches or bigger. The netbook will turn into what can only be described as an iPod Touch and manufacturers will fall over themselves trying to replace their mid-tier laptop line – the kind that you’d carry with you on a business trip – with ultralights that can actually do a little work. The prices will rise and crap notebooks like the Cloudbook will blow away.

Think ChromeOS will appear on netbooks? Think again. It may appear on devices similar to the CrunchPad but the netbook as we know it will soon be running Windows 7 and liking it.

Where Does That Leave Us?

It leaves us on the edge between notebooks and ultralights and so we dug up the best of the current crop of what we’d still call notebooks yet can actually run a few apps. The current MacBook Air is much more powerful than its predecessors and new processors from AMD and Intel will supplant the runty Atom with something like the Athlon Neo, a more balanced chip with a bit more speed.

However, the days of $200 laptops are numbered. There’s no profit in it. This race to the bottom has to stop and, although you will see laptops like the Lenovo Ideapad S10, below, netbooks will slowly migrate to faster – and more expensive – hardware. If this year’s COMPUTEX was any indication, this is the year of the ultralight.

This is not to say that $200 laptops will go away. Manufacturers have already opened that Pandora’s Box and can’t close it. But they will be marginalized by manufacturers and distributors.

That said, here are a few hotties that we played with over the past few weeks. N.B. Apple didn’t get back to us about the 13-inch MacBook or new Air in, but I’m sure Apple makes fine hardware, right?

To test we ran an AVI movie on repeat for a full battery cycle and then ran PrimateLabs Geekbench.

But I’m Shopping for a Netbook

What should you look for? Lots of memory – 2GB at least, and a 2GHz or better processor. A Core 2 Duo is probably your best bet at this point. Unless you’re absolutely sure you won’t even be watching video on your netbook, anything less is a waste of money. I’ve seen some netbooks that can barely surf YouTube let alone run Final Cut Pro.

Don’t be fooled by price. The cheapest netbook is the worst one. A laptop manufacturer can’t sell something for $350 and still add in any bells and whistles. Windows itself takes up a large percentage of a laptop’s cost.

Avoid Linux, at least the pre-installed versions. Sorry, Linux nerds, but it’s true. Buy an XP model and install Ubuntu or whatever later, but don’t get the Linux netbook because it’s cheaper. Maybe Chrome OS will change all that, but Linux-based netbooks are usually running some wonky, kiosk-oriented installation, making them nigh-on unusable.

Go major manufacturer. If there’s anything China is good at it’s creating OEM devices and badging them for sale in the US. All of those Sylvania, Everex, and CloudUnicornNotebooks you see online are exactly the same netbooks with a different sticker on the front. It may look like a bargain but it’s garbage.

Reviews

Click to read

Lenovo Ideapad S10-2

Price $349.00
Screen Size 10.2″
Processor Intel N270 1.6 ghz
Memory 1 GB
Benchmark 861
Battery Life 4:05
USB 3
Display out 1 VGA
Keyboard Tiny, but usable
Mouse A bit too small, side scroll
Bottom Line Priced to move. B

This small netbook uses its patterned gloss top to add a little pizzazz to an otherwise standard appearance. Despite its light weight (2.65 lbs according to Lenovo) it feels very solid, not flimsy or delicate.

Like all notebooks, its keyboard is rather small. However, it’s surprisingly usable. The key layout is very standard feeling, and with a little practice, or small hands, it would be just fine for any daily use. The touchpad is also cramped, though it also is intuitive after the first few minutes. It makes up for its small size by being sensitive. Not only that, it has some multi-touch features as well as standard side scrolling. The 1.3 Megapixel camera also works as a facial recognition system for logging in. An interesting feature sure to wow the ladies.

Hardware wise this machine is pretty standard, based on a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom, it packs 1 gig of RAM for pretty standard netbook performance. Its battery life at 4:05 minutes while watching a movie also seems standard. Its 10.2” screen is very readable, and the colors are acceptable. The included Windows XP works great for its OS, and it will already be familiar to almost any purchaser.

MSI XSlim X340

Price $899.99
Screen Size 13″
Processor Intel U3500 1.4 ghz
Memory 2 GB
Benchmark 1248
Battery Life 2:18
USB 2
Display out 1 HDMI + 1 VGA
Keyboard Flimsy, standard size
Mouse unremarkable, no scroll
Bottom Line Nice styling, underpowered. B

Although this is an ultra-thin very light laptop, and it’s definitely sleek, I couldn’t help my immediate impression of cheapness. With plastic chrome accents on its ports that seem to have been put there in an attempt to distract from its ultra-bland, uniform gloss black finish, to complete its blandness all of its status lights are plain white. It almost looks like a laptop I could buy in a shady market somewhere in China. In the interest of fairness I tried to look past that. Aesthetics, after all, have little impact on the utility of a laptop, and it is weight and thickness are definitely impressive, especially at its price just under 900$. It may be the only sub-grand ultra-thin out right now.

Unfortunately I was immediately disenchanted again when I attempted to open it. A magnet holds the lid shut, and to open it, you have to grip the lid by the narrowest of lips, then suddenly, its vaunted lightness is working against you because the bottom wasn’t heavy enough to separate the magnet. I had to use my fingernails to open it the first time. After the first time though, the problem seemed to get less and less extreme every time I opened it. Now it seems to open just fine. So again, I forgive it, after all everything has a break-in period.
Once opened, I like the screen, its colors are 13.4” screen looks good. Its colors are bright and vibrant, brought out by the glossy screen. The keyboard looks good with large un-crowded keys. Unfortunately they also have a problem. The whole keyboard flexes alarmingly. While unsettling, and in general adding to my impression of cheapness, it doesn’t actually interfere with typing. The keys are large, and have a satisfying amount of resistance, which makes up for the flex after the first few minutes of typing. The touchpad is acceptable, its smooth plastic finish is very usable and familiar, and the uni-piece button has a satisfying press and subtle click. The pad itself seems to be missing any scroll features though, no side scroll or 2-finger, it brings back fond memories of Windows 98 when I had to click and drag the scrollbar down.
On the hardware side, this laptop runs on a single core Intel Ultra Low Voltage processor, which along with a much better than netbook integrated Intel GPU means it benchmarked significantly higher than a netbook. Along with this comes higher power consumption, and when your keeping it as light as this (2.7 lb) that means short batter life. In our test it lasted 2:18. Honestly, despite its shortcomings, using this laptop was fine. It’s definitely quicker than a netbook, even running Vista. Its large screen and keyboard make it feasible as your main computer, while still maintaining great portability. The price is even pretty good, and if you are want a netbook supersize, they even make a model that runs on an Intel Atom.

Dell Adamo

Price $1,998
Screen Size 13.4-inches
Processor Intel U9400 1.4 ghz
Memory 4 GB
Benchmark 2010
Battery Life 3:07
USB 2 + 1 eSata/USB
Display out 1 Displayport
Keyboard Backlit, Large, good
Mouse Nice pad, bad buttons, side scroll
Bottom Line Amazingly slick, expensive. B+

This sleek ultra-thin laptop looks great. Its black-brushed aluminum body is accented by a strip of high gloss plastic. When you open it, the first thing you notice is the large backlit keys with huge futuristic font glowing at you. When you type on them they are satisfying, and probably my favorite feature of this whole machine. The touchpad also is really nice, one of the best textures I’ve come across. It’s an ultra fine-brushed metal that feels incredibly smooth. The mouse buttons I am much less sold on. They click loudly, and require a deceivingly firm push, deceiving because of a slight play in the buttons. The high-gloss, 13.4” screen looks great, very vibrant, but that’s inside. Its so shiny, I suspect if you tried to use this in the sun, it had better be to do your make-up. That’s not the only problem with this laptop. It’s all about the appearance. The hardware inside it is less than exciting, especially for the base model’s starting price of just under $2000. Its processor is an Intel Core 2 duo running at 1.4 GHz. Although it has 4 gigs of RAM, it acts sluggish constantly. Its battery life is its most impressive performance point, and in our test it lasted 3:07 hours. This laptop was clearly designed to look good, and it definitely does, but for the kind of money you have to pay for it I would have expected better performance.

Lenovo Thinkpad T400s

Price $1,599
Screen Size 14.1″
Processor Intel P9400 2.4 ghz
Memory 2 GB
Benchmark 2753
Battery Life 2:22
USB 2 + 1 eSata/USB
Display out 1 Displayport + 1 VGA
Keyboard Very standard, good, Top lit
Mouse Nice texture, satisfying, 2 finger scroll
Bottom Line Excellent build quality, speed. A

This laptop looks just like Thinkpads for years. It does because that look is utilitarian, logical, and well thought out. Its keyboard feels perfectly standard, requiring no getting used to, my one small complaint is that the control key is not the bottom corner, it is one in from the corner, and as a result I have hit the function key accidentally often. The touchpad has an interesting texture that I like, a fine grid of tiny bumps. It makes using the touchpad very tactile. The touchpad also allows you to 2-finger scroll. There is of course also the ThinkPad’s signature “trackpoint” nub.
An interesting feature is the built in keyboard light, which makes so much more sense to me than backlit keys. With the LED keyboard light you get some ambient light that you could read by or whatever you need. The 14” monitor looks fine, it can get quite bright, to the point it hurts my eyes inside, but that combined with a matte finish screen makes this laptop feasible to outside use on a sunny day. Those combine to make this a laptop that is useful virtually anywhere I would normally be. Combine that with its light weight (3.9 lb) and you have one of the most useful laptops available. Hardware wise it’s also very capable, based around a 2.4 GHz Intel Core2 Duo, it has 2 or 3 gigs DDR3 of memory. Of course running all that while keeping the weight down means that the battery life is less that phenomenal, and during our tests died after 2:22 hours. This laptop is the one for you if you need a powerful easily portable laptop you can use almost anywhere.

with Berkeley Beyers

Looks like MSI is the first out of the gate to ship an ultraportable with Intel’s new CULV chipset here in the US. The X340 is now up for sale for $799 at Newegg, Amazon, Buy.com, and elsewhere.

The machine features an ultralow voltage Intel Core Solo SU3500 CPU, 13.4-inch LCD at 1366×768, 320GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and Vista Home Premium. The X340 is less than an inch thick — .24 inches at its thinnest and .79 inches at its thickest — and weighs only 2.86 pounds, for what MSI calls “the world’s thinnest and slimmest 13-inch notebook.”

Yum. I want. Other features include HDMI out, draft-N Wi-Fi, built-in webcam, card reader, and three USB ports. Consider this machine if you’re looking for more than a netbook but not quite a full-fledged notebook (see more coverage here).

Full press release:

MSI US ANNOUNCES AVAILABILTY OF THE ULTRA-SLIM X340

The X340 features an HD LCD, Intel’s new CULV CPU, and a 320 GB HDD

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – May 26, 2009 – MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is excited to announce the availability of the ultra-slim 13.4″ MSI X340 Notebook. The X340 notebook weighs just 2.86 pounds, is only .78 inches thick at it’s widest point, and is now available for only $899.99. It is the first notebook to feature the new Intel® ULV CPU, which uses 1/6th the power of a regular mobile CPU. The X340 also offers users an HD 1366×768 resolution LCD and an HDMI input for high definition video playback.

“We are excited to bring such a thin yet powerful notebook to market,” said Andy Tung Vice President of Sales, MSI US. “The X340 truly is the optimal convergence of mobility, form, and functionality.

In addition to its biggest in class hard drive and outstanding performance, the X-340 notebook’s aesthetics are second to none. Its sleek exterior and the clean design is available in sleek Silver and stylish Black at Amazon.com, Newegg.com, Buy.com, Zipzoomfly.com, JR.com, and Excaliberpc.com.

[via jkOnTheRun]

Hey, if you guys are thinking of starting your own netbook line — and why not, everyone else is doing it — take note that MSI has released the Wind U123 with a six-cell battery as the standard battery, while still keeping the machine under three pounds. Upgrading to a nine-cell battery only costs $30, too, and pushes the weight to a still-manageable 3.2 pounds.

The U123 comes in one of four colors: blue, gray, red, or white and features Intel’s newer Atom N280 CPU, which runs at 1.66GHz. Other specs include XP Home, 1GB of RAM, 10.2-inch 1024×600 screen, 160GB hard drive, Wi-Fi/webcam/Bluetooth, and pricing at $349 for the six-cell version and $379 for the nine-cell version. That nine-cell battery apparently lasts over eight hours, mind you.

The U123 models are now available at the following stores:

Amazon.com, Newegg.com, Buy.com, Mwave.com, Zipzoomfly.com, JR.com,
BHphotovideo.com, and www.msimobile.com.

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]

Laptop Magazine (still available in print form!) got their hands on the super slim MacBook Air-like X340 from MSI and gave the $899 ultra low voltage notebook a relatively positive review. Like HP’s DV2 that Devin just reviewed, the X340 series falls somewhere in between netbooks and notebooks.

Here’s the quick and dirty of what Laptop liked and didn’t like.

• The design is very pleasing. It’s slightly thicker, yet slightly lighter than the MacBook Air. The thickness reaches a maximum of 0.78 inches (versus the Air’s 0.76 inches) while allowing for VGA, Ethernet, and HDMI ports, two USB ports, a card reader, and mic and headphone jacks. The actual build quality feels a bit plastic and hollow — not as solid as the Air or Lenovo’s X200.
• The large keyboard and touchpad are welcome features, although the keys feel cheap and the keyboard has “too much flex” while the touchpad’s single button “felt a bit mushy.”
• It’s got a great LED-backlit screen at 13.4-inches and 1366×768 resolution, which worked well for watching HD content.
• Intel’s ULV processor easily outperformed the netbook-centric Atom CPU but didn’t multitask very well in comparison to dual-core processors found in more expensive ultraportables. Likewise, the GMA 4500MHD graphics chip worked will with HD videos but just so-so for gaming.
• Battery life reached just over three and a half hours with the included four-cell battery, beating out the MacBook Air’s 2:08 runtime and the DV2’s 2:31 runtime. It fell far short of most six-cell netbooks’ 5+ hour runtime, although a six-cell battery will be available for an extra $100.

All in all, it looks like the X340 will provide an interesting option for those who want a stylish ultraportable for under $1,000. It’s definitely got more pop than run-of-the-mill netbooks without the high price tag or multitasking ability of premium ultraportables.

[via LaptopMag.com]

I’d stay away from the SyrenPhones for now, since they’re almost certainly put together from a mishmash of third party bits; MSI isn’t exactly an established force in audio technology. This is probably just them dipping a toe in right now; if they like how these sell, they’ll probably start engineering their own. No pricing is available yet, but unless these are less than $40 I’d go with something nicer.

[via Far East Gizmos]

I can think of no better way to show your support for green initiatives than to donate a single $400 PC to a place for budding business professionals to congregate. I’m sure it’ll get tons of use. All those green startup initiatives need to save their pennies, rather than buy their own computers to be able to communicate and do business-type stuff.

Here’s the whole press release, for your charitable illumination:

MSI US Announces Strategic Partnership with Green Spaces

Corporate eco-friendly focus continues as MSI Computers supports the organization dedicated to providing work space for green entrepreneurs.

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – May 7, 2009 – MSI, a worldwide leading manufacturer of computer components and systems, is excited to be partnering with Green Spaces. MSI is intensely focused on operating an environmentally friendly company, designing and building green products and supporting causes furthering the green revolution. Green Spaces brings together leading green entrepreneurs by offering affordable work space, shared resources and a community to launch their businesses.
Green Spaces (www.greenspacesny.com) is a company that operates a work space collective where small, green entrepreneurial companies are offered affordable work space, shared resources and a community to launch their businesses.

“MSI is pleased to be a part of the green movement and the Green Spaces organization,” said MSI US Vice President of Sales, Andy Tung.

MSI donated an All-in-One PC, Wind Top AE1900, to Green Spaces. Green Spaces educates and connects emerging organizations and passionate individuals. “Green Space companies will make great use of the donated product and are thrilled to have the backing of such a tremendous company in MSI,” said Green Spaces Founder, Jennie Nevin.

We spied the hot MSI Wind Top in the past but now we are finally seeing what the US market models will look like. We’re getting two different models here in the States and both sport a 1.3MP webcam and a 18.5-inch, 1366 x 768 touchscreen that supports multi-touch goodness via MSI-built photo viewing software. No word on the larger 20- or 22-inch models for us here though.

The AE1900-01US ships with an Atom 230 CPU that powers Windows XP Home, while an Intel GMA950 provides the graphics juice. Plus, the base model ships with a 160GB, 7200 HDD, Gigabit Ethernet, 1GB of DDRII 533MHz RAM, b/g/n WiFi, and a 4-in-1 card reader.

The similar AE1900-05SUS ups the CPU to an Atom 330 Dual Core, 2GB of Ram, and a 250GB, 7200 RPM HDD. No word on how much this model option will cost, but the base AE1900-01US will be $529 when these systems launch, which is anyone’s guess as that info wasn’t in the press release either.

MSI US ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF TOUCH SCREEN WIND TOP ALL-IN-ONE PC

MSI Eco-Friendly All-in-One PC, Wind Top AE1900, features touch screen, sleek and green design at an affordable price of $529

See this and other MSI Desktop models at the Pepcom EcoFocus Green Technology Showcase in New York City April 29th from 6pm – 9pm

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – April 21, 2009 – MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is excited to announce the MSI Wind Top AE1900. The AE1900 is a complete home computing solution featuring touch-sensitive PC navigation, a true 16:9 widescreen 18.5-inch screen, SRS Premium Sound and a sleek modern design that fits in with any décor.

The MSI Wind Top AE1900 features the Intel® Atom 230 Processor and runs Windows® XP Home operating system. It features a built-in webcam and microphone to insure convenient audio and video recording. Continuing along MSI’s tradition of “green” computing, the MSI Wind Top AE1900 consumes 80% less energy then a traditional desktop PC. At full operation, the MSI Wind Top AE1900 consumes no more then 50 watts of power.

MSI also included a spacious 160 GB SATA 2.5 inch hard drive, 4 USB ports, a 4-1 card reader and ships the MSI Wind Top AE1900 with a stylish matching mouse and keyboard. The ultra-silent, state-of-the-art cooling system eliminates traditional cooling fan noises and keeps the sound level to no more than 26 decibels.

FULL SPECIFICATIONS BELOW

The MSI Wind Top AE1900 features MSI Wind Touch; allowing for easy user interface with all PC functions. Additionally, picture viewing has never been easier or more fun with MSI Easy Viewer. Users can quickly browse, enlarge, rotate and scan through all your images with the swipe of a finger. Lastly, data entry using natural handwriting or the touch on-screen keyboard and the SoftStylus™ program is now easier then ever.

Please visit www.msicomputer.com/msiaio for a user-friendly and dedicated webpage designed specifically for MSI All-in-One PC.

LCD Specifications

Size

16.13” (H) × 9.07” (V) (18.5″ diagonal)

Touch Screen

Yes

Anti-Glare

Yes

Resolution

WXGA (1366 x 768 pixels)

Surface

3H Hard-coating

Brightness

250cd/m2

Contrast Ratio

1000:1

Viewing Angle

170° Horizontal, 160° Vertical

Color

16.7 millions of colors

Response

5 ms

Pixel Pitch

0.3mm (H) x 0.3mm (V)

For images or additional information please contact MSI media representative Greg Mondshein at 305-576-1171 x22 or gregmondshein@maxborgesagency.com.

For more information on PEPCOM or the EcoFocus event, please visit www.pepcom.com/ecofocus-web.pdf

About MSI

Founded in 1986, MSI strives to design and manufacture superior technology and innovative products, while offering outstanding customer service. MSI has continued to uphold a business philosophy that stresses “Award-winning product quality and outstanding customer service.” MSI specializes in the design and manufacture of mainboards, graphics cards, desktop PCs, all-in-one PCs, wireless communication products, and Notebook PCs. To learn more about MSI’s complete product lines, please visit: http://www.msicomputer.com.

MSI Wind Top AE1900-01SUS

CPU

Intel® Atom™ 230 Processor

Operating System

18.5” Touch Widescreen (16:9), 1366 x 768

Chipset

Intel® 945GC and ICH7

Graphics

Integrated Intel® GMA950 graphics core, share memory up to 228MB

Memory

1GB DDRII 533MHz SDRAM on board

Display

18.5” (16:9)Touch Widescreen

HDD

160 GB SATA, RPM 7200

ODD

Tray-load DVD Super Multi rewriter drive, support dual-layer burning

Card Reader

4 in 1 (SD/MMC/MS/XD)

I/O

1 x DC-in jack, 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x LAN jack (RJ45), 1 x Mic.-in, 1 x Headphone-out, 1 x Modem jack (RJ11)

Wireless

8.02.11 b/g/n

LAN

10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN

Webcam

1.3MP Webcam with Microphone

Sound

Built-in 2.0 Speakers, SRS Premium Sound Technology

Dimension

14.37” x 18.74” x 1.93”

Keyboard / Mouse

Color-matched multimedia keyboard and mouse

Software

Microsoft® Office 2007 (trial version), MSI Wind Touch, MSI Easy Viewer, MSI Burn Recovery, MSI Controller, MSI Q-Face, MSI Easy Face, WinRAR (trial version), SoftStylus™, Adobe® Reader, BurnNow, Cyberlink® PowerProducer, Cyberlink® PowerDVD8, Cyberlink® PowerDirector, Cyberlink® Power2Go, Cyberlink® DVD Suite, Cyberlink® PhotoNow, Gimp2, Dia, Ganttproject, FreeMind, GeoGebra, Java 6, Microsoft® DirectX, Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5, Microsoft® MSN

Power Supply

External 65W Power Adapter with Active PFC

MSI Wind Top AE1900-05SUS

CPU

Intel® 1.6GHz Atom™ 330 (Dual Core) processor on board

Operating System

18.5” Touch Widescreen (16:9), 1366 x 768

Chipset

Intel® 945GC and ICH7

Graphics

Integrated Intel® GMA950 graphics core, share memory up to 228MB

Memory

2GB DDRII 533MHz SDRAM

Display

18.5” (16:9)Touch Widescreen

HDD

250 GB SATA, RPM 7200

ODD

Tray-load DVD Super Multi rewriter drive, support dual-layer burning

Card Reader

4 in 1 (SD/MMC/MS/XD)

I/O

1 x DC-in jack, 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x LAN jack (RJ45), 1 x Mic.-in, 1 x Headphone-out, 1 x Modem jack (RJ11)

Wireless

8.02.11 b/g/n

LAN

10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN

Webcam

1.3MP Webcam with Microphone

Sound

Built-in 2.0 Speakers, SRS Premium Sound Technology

Dimension

14.37” x 18.74” x 1.93”

Keyboard / Mouse

• Color-matched multimedia keyboard and mouse • Hot keys on keyboard to control screen brightness (+/-) • Function buttons to control Internet Browser, Email, Volume (+/-),

Rewind, Stop, Play/Pause and Fast Forward

Software

Microsoft® Office 2007 (trial version of 25 times), MSI Wind Touch, MSI Easy Viewer, MSI Burn Recovery, MSI Controller, MSI Q-Face, MSI Easy Face, MSI Star Mission game, MSI Chicken Shake game, WinRAR (trial version of 40 days), SoftStylus™, Adobe® Reader, BurnNow, Cyberlink® PowerProducer, Cyberlink® PowerDVD8, Cyberlink® PowerDirector, Cyberlink® Power2Go, Cyberlink® DVD Suite, Cyberlink® PhotoNow, Gimp2 (photo/image editing) , Dia (drawing), Ganttproject (project management), FreeMind (mind mapping), GeoGebra (interactive geometry), Java 6, Microsoft® DirectX, Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5, Microsoft® MSN

Power Supply

External 65W Power Adapter with Active PFC

###

Johannes over at German site Eee-PC.de was able to push a nine-cell MSI Wind U115 – the one with the hybrid SSD + HDD setup announced at CES this year – past the 25 hour mark using the Battery Eater notebook benchmarking test.

It should be noted that the 25 hour figure was attained as the computer sat idle. LAPTOP pushed the nine-cell U115 earlier this year to just over ten and a half hours by letting the machine undergo constant web surfing. Assuming that you’re not going to constantly flip between web pages for that long, real-world results should settle in between 10.5 and 25 hours before needing to recharge.

Of course, we’re all still waiting for the U115 to hit the market here in the US. It’s supposed to launch in the UK sometime in May for £499. That’s $729 in US dollars, although I’d think it wouldn’t cost that much stateside. The initial announcement featured three- and six-cell versions, so it’s likely that US pricing might begin at or around $500 or so.

U115 MSI wind with 9 cell battery at idle: 25:04 hours! [Eee-PC.de via Wired]