MSI Wind U100
Review by Julian Prokaza on Wed 02 July 2008
Page 3 of 4
The other component to benefit from the wider case is the keyboard and the Wind has the best we’ve so far seen on a netbook. The keys are about the same size as those on the Aspire One and are equally comfortable to use, but the extra space means there’s room four a double-height Enter key and a large Backspace key – the larger 2133 Mini-Note is the only other netbook to manage this.
Given the size of the keyboard, the touchpad looks a little undersized in comparison, but while it could be wider, there isn’t enough room in the wrist-rest to make it much taller. It works well enough, though the single strip of plastic that forms the mouse buttons could do with being a little wider.
The rest of the Wind’s specification is essentially the same as that of the other Intel Atom-powered netbooks – 1.6GHz N270 processor, 1Gb DDR2 RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the same selection of ports. One important difference, however, is that all models have an 80Gb hard drive rather than a much smaller SSD. Windows XP runs more comfortably as a result, since there’s room for both a swap file and to enable hibernation (which requires as much disk space as there is RAM – a problem on a 4Gb SSD). The disadvantage, of course, is that a hard disk is much more vulnerable to damage than an SSD with its zero moving parts, but we think the trade-off is worth it.
The hard drive also makes a measurable difference to performance compared to an SSD. The Wind was some 16% faster overall than the SSD-equipped Eee PC 901, and 31% faster in the multi-application test. And as with the Aspire One, the Wind barely gets warm to the touch even when it's running flat-out and the fan that blows air through the left-hand case vent is very quiet – which is just as well, since it seems to run all the time.
The Wind also runs YouTube videos comfortably at full-screen – the clip below shows it in action with YouTube , Blip.tv and BBC iPlayer. It's worth noting in this clip that the volume is set at 50% and so our earlier fears about speaker power (they're mounted on the underside of the front edge of the case) were unfounded – they're more than loud enough!
MSI announced a few weeks ago that the Wind would ship with a 2200mAh battery rather than the original 5200mAh one we saw in the prototype model. This is obviously disappointing, since the prototype had a battery life of several hours (at least according to Windows' own estimate – we weren't able to test it) and that made for a very versatile laptop.
The prototype MSI Wind we first saw also had options to overclock and underclock the processor to some degree, for situations where you needed a boost to either performance or battery life. Alas, MSI has disabled the overclock feature – MSI wasn’t confident that it wouldn’t affect the processor’s well-being and so sensibly removed it.
The underclock feature remains though, and when manually activated with a keyboard shortcut (it’s not automatic, like on the Eee PC 901), the power LED changes from blue to green, the Atom processor is locked at 800Mhz (even when under load), and screen brightness drops to 20% or so.
In standard mode, the MSI Wind lasted for two and a half hours in our light-use test, and just under 80 minutes in our heavy-use test – not bad, but nothing to get excited about. By cranking down the processor speed, power-saver mode stretches battery life by 20 minutes for heavy-use, but doesn't make much difference to light-use – the processor isn't doing much in this test anyway, and any power saving is almost all due to the screen brightness being lowered.
It's interesting to note that the MSI Wind's light-use battery life is the same as that of the Acer Aspire One – interesting because the Aspire One also has a 2200mAh battery and a supposedly frugal SSD, while the Wind has hard disk. In other words, those extra moving parts in the storage department make no difference to battery life, despite what SSD advocates would have you believe.
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MSI Wind U100 specification
- Processor
- Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz)
- Memory
- 1Gb DDR2 (2Gb max)
- Graphics
- Intel GMA950
- Hard disk
- 80Gb SATA
- Optical drive
- NA
- Floppy drive
- NA
- Screen
- 10in (1024 x 600) LED backlit
- Connectivity
- Ethernet, 802.11g, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 x 3, VGA, 3.5mm headphone & mic
- Other
- SD Card, webcam
- Operating system
- Windows XP Home SP3 (as reviewed) or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
- Size
- 260 x 180 x 34mm
- Weight
- 1.154kg
- Battery life
- 2h 37m light use;1h 20m heavy use
- Recharge time
- 2h 5m
- Warranty
- 2 year
Comments
Any update on the how long the battery lasted when cpu was underclocked?
Does the SD card fit flush against the edge when inserted or does it stick out of the side?
It is the same as the Wind. NOT identical, the same. Other posts online claim there is even a 'made by MSI' sticker on the base of the box!On top of that, it is available NOW, collectable from most stores in the UK, and significantly cheaper than what MSI wish to eventually charge when they ship in the UK. I have seen some retailers claim £365 for the same model as PC World are stocking.I suspect that MSI has seen the competition, has decided to sell the wind rebadged through a few competitors, for most stock, and will quickly bring out a better model before Christmas at the same price point as they sell the wind now. This is a fiercely contested market sector at the moment and possibly Apple or Dell could blow the whole thing wide open with design / pricing.By the way, does anyone know if it is possible to drive a HD Res monitor from the wind? I have a 24" with a VGA in that would go nicely! I would not expect full screen video though
The article writes:"at just 34m, the Wind is only a little thicker than the Acer Aspire One (29mm)"IMO there is quite a difference between 34m and 29mm :shock:
What is the webcam like and what type is it? eg: 1.3mega pixels?
i have an msi wind in white and yes it is a little more expensive than the advent. Specifications are the same but the advent uses a different hard drive and inferior ram. It also has 1 year warranty in uk while wind has 2.Thirdly i have had both in my hand simultaneously and the wind is the better looking model by far. Looks slicker especially in wind as opposed to two tone of advent. this is down to preference
hello,while on Amazon(just as an example),the prices of the msi wind and Eee pc 901 are $500 and $600 respectively ( [b]the wind is the cheaper[/b] ),on your latest reviews on these , you noted that their prices(with Windows XP for comparison)will be $570 and $500(£363 and £319) ( [b]the 901 is cheaper[/b])!did i miss something !?
Why does the wallpaper disappear after exiting its hibernate state? (in the video)
My Advent 4211 (took 5 days via on-line courier order) is currently driving an LG L226WTQ at 1680 x 1050 60Hz (full resolution), via it's VGA input, so I expect other HD Res monitors could be driven too.If you are driving an LCD display from XP, I strongly recommend downloading and installing the Microsoft ClearType PowerToy, otherwise the picture can seem a bit 'thin'.The machine has a black outer and a Silver inner and has a proper laptop 'finish' unlike the tacky look & feel of the EeePCs. The PSU is a tiny 100V to 240V input, 20V 2A output, in-line type, with a changeable mains lead, so great for mobile and international users. The machine seems fast enough for 800MB XVID videos, but drops frames for very high data rate 4GB MP4 videos. I haven't tested it with DVD files yet.IMHO ASUS, HP and ACER are out of the running now, for the high end of this sector. The Acer Aspire One (also at PC World £229.99) looks worse value for money given it has less memory, a smaller screen, and less storage space, however will wreck the sale of low and mid range Asus EeePCs!
How easy is it to install applications (say MS Office) and how's it done without a CD drive?
Just copy your ms office to a thumbdrive and install ms office from the usb on MSI Wind. I did it yesterday, a breeze... :wink:
Hi All,Just got back from PC World, my new 4211, first impressions its very good, before I bought it I asked a member of staff if you could upgrade the ram, they went over the the Tech Guys, for advice and came back and told me you could not upgrade the ram, could someone tell me if this is correct.I was going to buy the eepc 900 but I'm glad i came accross this in the store.I'm supprised how fast it is, one thing I inted to do over the next few days is to install Linux as a dual boot.I know it's early days yet but so far I can't fault it.ThanksPhilip
Philip, could you check on your unit the visual quality of typed text (any font, say 14pnt) on Wordpad or the wp app in Works. I found the appearance of the line of typed text very patchy looking as though there were several different shades of black/grey.
Text is fine on the Advent 4211, Mike - I'll check on a Wind too, but I think it'll be the same. Can you be more specific with your problem, or perhaps take a photo?
The new 6cell winds are shipping with a diff touchpad, no good, doesn't allow for touch scrolling...
hello im buying a wind u100 soon, would you reccomend anything, like what i shouldnt download and what i should
its £200 in argos atm btw :D
hi i just brought this from argos and who how great it is runs really fast cant wait till xmas and give to children
If you're looking for a spare battery, I know where to get it. http://www.batteries4laptop.co.uk/msi-wind-u100-battery.htm
can i buy an external hard drive for the msi 100 U netbook; i have bought my daughter one from argos at 199 POUNDS which is fantastic but she wants to play her sim games; i am not very technically minded so any replies can they be simple please
My daughter had a msi U100 for xmas. We cant get it to connect to the WLAN. We know the wlan works & netbook connects using cable so im thinking its something we havent done when setting netbook up. Thewireless LAN LED indicator is glowing showing its enabled. Im stuck !! Any ideas ?
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