Well, my new MSI Wind arrived two days ago and first impressions are very good indeed.
I’ve been trying it in its stock format, ie with 1gb ram and running Windows XP, I know you can install other Operating Systems but google is your friend (so use it).
OK, so the spec of the one I am using is really quite good! A 120gb hard drive, a GMA950 intel graphics card, a 0.3mp web cam, built in mic, x USB ports, a vga port, a built in SD card reader, ethernet, wifi, and bluetooth! The unit is finished in piano black with a sort of metallic, glittery surface.
No higher than a glass of wine
Wow! This is a lot of usefulness built into a small package!
Windows XP runs brilliantly and will fly with the addition of an extra 1gb ram – £10 from here www.crucial.com/uk. Size wise this netbook is perfect. It has enough screen size to make web surfing and blog editing painless but is small enough to fit into a small bag.
With the plugging-in of a USB dongle or tethered to a phone (use PDAnet on the iPhone) this makes the perfect portable device.
The hard drive is large enough to store lots of music and movies. Video playback is very smooth and looks very good on the LED Screen, and the speakers work well for their size.
My only gripe is battery life. A friend of mine has a Samsung NC10 and is claiming 7hrs per charge. At the moment I can only get 2 hours, although this can be improved with the purchase of a 6 or 9 cell battery.
Yes, I’m having lots of fun with this revolutionary little unit.
Available from here. Play.com
I got the 6 cell for my u100, and so far it’s been great. I just wish I could swap the batteries without shutting down or connecting to AC power…
Did you stick with the stock wifi card or swap it for something else?
I’ve just ordered a 9 cell!
Yes I kept the original wifi card – drivers are fine in all operating systems.
Hi David
I have the Advent-badged version (cheaper, and I prefer the colour scheme) with an extra 1GB RAM and the 6-cell pack (5 hours life)
Other observations….
Windows 7 feels noticeably snappier on it than XP
I use Microsoft Live Mesh to synchronise key data with my main machine, so I use it for client work when I just need a note-taking/reference tool, and we use it at home as a handy machine for checking emails from the sofa!
Yes, I’m running OSX on mine at the moment, but thinking of dual booting windows 7 as well.
Done it!
Now dual booting OSX and Windows 7.
It works very well!
MSI Wind is basically good for net surfing and some light applications. for heavy gaming and multi-tasking apps, i would still use those heavy, bulky laptops.
MSI Wind is very very convenient to take wherever i go. it has basic features only but for general internet browsing this is good enough.