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The Ultimate Netbook Buyer's Guide
| Author | Andy Vandervell |
| Published | 20th Nov 2008 |
19 comments
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TrustedReviews NewslettersMSI Wind U100
UK Price: £340 with 160GB HDD & 6-cell battery | £300 with 120GB HDD & 3-cell battery
US Price: $440 with 120GB HDD & 3-cell battery
Brief Description:
A ten inch netbook that's available with Windows only, the MSI Wind U100 can also be found as the Advent 4211 and in other guises as well, though these generally constitute only minor cosmetic differences. Earlier versions came with a 120GB hard drive and a three-cell battery, but a new version comes equipped with a 160GB hard drive and a higher capacity six-cell battery. After market batteries are widely available for upgrading older models.
Vital Statistics:
- CPU: Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz
- Memory: 1GB DDR2
- Storage: 120GB or 160GB HDD
- Display: 10.1, 1,024 x 600
- Ports: 3xUSB 2.0; VGA; Headphone & Microphone; Ethernet; Memory Card Reader
- Internet: 802.11b/g or 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi; 10/100 Ethernet
- Bluetooth: Yes
- WebCam: 1.3 Megapixel
- Operating System:: Windows XP
- Dimensions: 260 x 180 x 19~33mm
- Weight: 1.1kg (3-cell), 1.29 (6-cell)
- Colours: Black & White
- Battery Life: 2hrs 15mins (3-cell); 4hrs 30mins (6-cell)
The Good:
- Attractive design
- Usable keyboard
- Reasonable battery life with six-cell battery
- Large hard drives
- Draft-N Wi-Fi available
- Not too heavy
The Bad:
- OEM versions are sometimes better value
- Build quality could be better
- Small touchpad
- Battery still not as good as either the Eee PC 1000 or Samsung NC10
The Ugly:
- 3-cell battery life is very poor
What We Said
"Even at the £360 RRP, the new version of MSI's Wind is a very attractive proposition, offering some serious competition in the 10-inch netbook sector. Indeed, in this form factor, for the moment at least, it's probably the best netbook available so is well worth a Recommended Award." - MSI Wind U100 Full Review | Watch Video Review
What We Think Now
As a design the MSI Wind is very strong. It's light, diminutive when compared to the Eee PC 1000, and has an excellent keyboard. Older versions with the three-cell battery should be avoided since they still sell for around £300, but deliver poor battery life and are more expensive than identical re-branded efforts. Though the newer version with the six-cell battery is much better, offering decent longevity, it still can't match the Eee PC 1000 or Samsung NC10 for battery life and isn't substantially cheaper.
The Bottom Line
As things stand it's better than an Eee PC 1000 but not as good as Samsung's NC10. Still worth a punt, though, and shouldn't disappoint.
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pw said on 9th December 2008
Prospero said on 22nd December 2008
Very useful review - one question please: Can I replace the custom o/s with Ubuntu without losing any functionality?
Chupakun said on 11th May 2009
Loved the feature. I really wish a company would come out with true netbook customisation options--so all we'd have do was pick 'n' mix as opposed to making it a gam... more
modus said on 13th July 2009
The Asus EEE PC 1000HE (http://www.trustedreviews.com/laptops/review/2009/02/12/Asus-Eee-PC-1000HE/p1) has a few significant improvements over its predecessor, the EEE PC 1000H -- ... more
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I'm a bit new to netbooks. I've got an old laptop and am about to upgrade and so after a few clarifications.
I mostly just use the laptop for browsing int... more