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MSI's Wind U123 Netbook Now Available in the USA

Paul Lilly — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:41:38 -0500

Prior to today, the only way to get your hands on the MSI Wind U123 was through pre-order, and while that's still the case at Amazon, a handful of other retailers are showing the new netbook in stock and ready to ship. So far, only the red and blue models are available.

In case you'd forgotten and/or haven't yet memorized the specs on just about every netbook ever released, the 10.2-inch Wind U123 will come configured with an Intel Atom N280 processor (1.66GHz, 512KB L2 cache, 667MHz frontside bus), 1024 x 600 LED backlit display, 1GB of DDR2-533 memory, Intel GMA950 integrated graphics, a 160GB hard drive, Windows XP Home, and a 6-cell battery.

Frosty Computers so far is the only one offering customization options, which includes a bevy of hard drive and SSD options, a 2GB RAM upgrade, Wireless-n upgrade, additional OS options, and a handful of other configurations.

Prices range from $350 to $380 for the standard model.

Amazon (Pre-order)
J&R (Pre-order)
Newegg
Frosty Computers
BuyDig
ExcaliberPC

Image Credit: MSI via J&R

MSI Announces Another Incremental Wind Update

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:36:37 -0500

It looks like MSI has created yet another version of their Wind netbook, this time with the slightly upgraded Wind U100 PLUS.

The U100 PLUS comes with a 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor, an 945GMS chipset, Intel’s GMA950 graphics, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 1,204 x 600 10-inch LCD, 160GB HDD, 4-in-1 card reader, VGA output, three USB ports, a standard 3-cell battery with the option of upgrading to 6-cell, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

Image Credit: MSI

MSI Releases Complete Specs for new X-Slim and Wind Laptops

Andy Salisbury — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:16:50 -0500

It wasn’t long ago that MSI announced their X-Slim notebooks, but we’ve finally got some solid information as to what will be under the hood, along with some additional information on the latest generation of Wind netbooks.

The new generation of MSI Wind U123 netbooks will sport a 10.2-inch screen, a 1.66GHz Atom N280 CPU, 1GB DDR2 RAM, a 160GB HDD, a built-in TV tuner and the choice between a 6 and 9-cell battery.

As for the X-Slims, the X340 (which will start at about $1,000) will be one of the first machines to feature Intel’s new CULV platform (which is reported to only use one-sixth the power of a regular mobile CPU), and will come with a 13.4-inch 1366x768 screen, Intel GMA4500MHD graphics, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB HDD and 802.11b/g/n.

As for the X320, it’ll come with a notably less powerful 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, the same size screen, Intel GMA500 graphics, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 250GB HDD and along with the 802.11b/g/n wireless, will have an optional 3G/WiMAX module.

No specifics yet on pricing for any of these machines, but given MSI’s past there’s a good chance that it’ll be reasonable.

Image Credit: MSI

MSI Begins Shipping Wind Nettop CS120 to US and Reveals VR430 Notebook

Andy Salisbury — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:22:54 -0500

Just this past week MSI announced that they would begin shipping their CS120 Wind Nettop to the US, and introduced another new laptop, the VR430.

The CS120 Nettop will come complete with a 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor, GMA950 graphics, up to 2GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, WiFi, a slot-loading DVD burner and enough ports to plug in all your goodies. Best of all, it’s all available for $319.99.

MSI’s latest introduction comes in the form of their 14.1-inch VR430 laptop. Underneath the hood of this bad boy you’ll find an AMD Turion X2 dual-core CPU, ATI Mobility Radeon HD3200 graphics processing, up to 4GB of RAM and it’ll all come to you on a 1,280 x 800 resolution screen. No word yet on pricing for this one, but we don’t suspect it’ll break the bank.

Image Credit: MSI

MSI's Wind Box DE200 Blu-ray Nettop Seen at CeBIT

Andy Salisbury — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:20:40 -0600

Earlier this week at CeBIT MSI displayed their new Wind Box nettop without making much of a splash.

The modest machine, which will feature a 2GHz Celeron M processor, an Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU, 2GB DDR2, a 160GB HDD, 802.11 WiFi and a Blue-ray player, has yet to be shown with any pricing or availability information, but we can expect that MSI will keep their handiwork nice and cheap – just the way this economy likes it.

Image Credit: Engadget

MSI Stoked to Offer Free Q-Face and Windy Zone Apps on the Wind - Are You?

Paul Lilly — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:15:46 -0600

MSI says it "wants to offer you the freedom to play," and it plans to do that by tacking on a couple of freebies to its Wind Netbook. Owners of MSI's U100 and U90 models are eligible to receive the company's Q-Face and Windy Zone game software applications for free, a $200 value according to MSI. What exactly is MSI's Q-Face, you ask?

"Using the MSI Q-Face v.1.0.0.8 software, you can easily transform your icon on instant messaging software, by putting a hat on your picture, changing into a cute puppy, or adding a frame of bubbles around the image," MSI writes. "Q-Face brings fun and excitement to the never-changing world of instant messaging!"

Try to hold back your 'Oh-face,' but there's more.The Windy Zone application includes 6 "classic games," including Star Mission, Chicken Shake, Chicken Invader, Island Wars, Loco, and Smileville.

Image Credit: MSI

MSI Wind U100

Nathan Edwards — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:00:00 -0600

MSI has been moving into the notebook market in a big way over the past few years, with forays into business and gaming notebooks, and, this summer, netbooks, with the Wind U100. We have to say, we’re impressed.

The MSI Wind runs on the same Intel Atom N270 processor and Intel GMA950 integrated graphics chipset as the other two netbooks in our roundup. Unlike those two, however, the Wind sports a 10.1-inch LED-backlit LCD display, making it the largest netbook we’ve tested, although that’s nearly an oxymoron.

The corner hinges on the Wind are not quite as sturdy as the Eee PC’s barrel hinge or the Aspire One’s, but it’s still solid. The matte screen is quite bright under AC power and readable at even 25 percent backlighting.

The Wind performed admirably in our tests (with the exception of Quake Live), lasting nearly two hours in our video battery-rundown test. It plowed through our Photoshop benchmark in 730 seconds, twice as fast as the Eee 901—albeit a good third the speed of our Asus C90S zero-point notebook.

The Wind’s larger size serves it well: Though it has the same-size keyboard as Acer’s Aspire One (reviewed next), its wider body means that large hands don’t hang quite as far off the board.

Add to that the slightly larger screen, and the Wind emerges as the easiest to use netbook in our roundup. Sure, we like the Eee’s fantastic battery life, and the Acer’s bigger hard drive, but drop another $50 on a six-cell battery and you’ve got five hours of battery life and a form factor that’s comfortable enough to use for those five hours.

Check out our other NetBook reviews:

Asus EEE PC 901

Acer Aspire One

MSI's CES Lineup Includes Netbooks, Gaming Notebooks, and All-In-One PCs

Andy Salisbury — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:04:22 -0600

As you may or may not have heard, CES is coming up, and there will be plenty of big name vendors there. That includes MSI, who has recently announced their full 2009 lineup, which is chock-full of new goodies!

First up, their netbook announcements! Thanks to the success of the Wind U100, MSI is planning to release a U115 and U120 to compliment the previous model. The U115 sports the option of being the first netbook capable of simultaneously running an SSD and an HDD. The U120 will be the power user’s option, designed for being portable without sacrificing performance.

They’ll also be offering 16”, 19” and 22” versions of their new All-In-One Wind at CES. It’ll feature an Intel Atom processor, which will allow it to consume a fraction of the power that a 250W PC does. The All-In-One will also feature a nice 16:9 display.

Finally, the gaming notebooks will be expanded to include the (deep breath) GT725, GT727, GT627 and the GX420. Reportedly, the GT725 and GT727 are capable of breaking 10,000 3D Marks.

While unfortunately most of this information is pretty broad (thank you, press releases!) CES will provide us a great opportunity to check out these new toys and find out more about them. Who knows, with any luck we’ll be able to figure out exactly what’s under the hood and how much they’ll cost!

Image Credit: MSI