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Home » Reviews » Netbooks PCs & Laptops » MSI Wind U100 (Linux)
MSI Wind U100 (Linux)
By: Jayesh Mansukhani   |   Aug 07, 2008
  • 4
Neat design
Good specifications
Incredible battery life
High introductory price for India

The term "netbooks" may not be familiar to some of you. It’s used to describe the newly launched Intel atom platform that features in sub 10-inch laptops. These machines are inexpensive, have relatively modest specifications, and are designed for casual use. The most famous member of this new club is ASUS’s Eee PC, which was largely responsible for sudden popularity of this category.

In light of ASUS’s success, nearly every major laptop manufacturer is introducing a product in this range. One such company is MSI, which recently introduced its MSI Wind or "Wi-Fi Network Device". This product earned itself a good deal of fame even before its release, as it was used by Microsoft at the unveiling of Atom at IDF earlier this year. Does it live up to the hype? Let’s find out.

As you can see from the pictures, the MSI Wind U100 is a sleek and fairly small laptop. It has dimensions of 10.2 x 7.1 inches, and weighs in at just 2.3 pounds. Despite its diminutive size, it is designed pretty well, with an overall black effect, a matte finish for the keyboard/LCD panel area, and a nice glossy lid.

Its body outline is quite decent, with no extra flat-lined edges. The build quality is top-notch; it employs a lightweight plastic that's quite durable and has firm hinges that don’t squeak even if pushed hard. The body itself does not squeak or display any extra flex.

The keyboard of the U100 is about four-fifths the size of a normal keyboard. I was worried it may be too cramped, but my fears proved unfounded. The keyboard is larger than the picture indicates and offers a good typing experience. The keys are comfortably spaced, offer decent tactile feedback, and have a decent textured finish. I typed this preview on the U100, and despite being a touch typist who's fussy about the keyboard I use, I had to admit it was very comfortable.

The touchpad was, however, a bit of a disappointment. The touchpad area is small and takes some getting used to. The mouse keys are quite hard, and often need more than a firm press to register.

The screen is a 10-inch backlit LED panel with a native resolution of 1024 x 600. For a small notebook, this is adequate screen space. Though not on par with other backlit LEDs, this screen offers pretty impressive color and contrast levels. But on the brightness front the laptop lagged a bit – even at maximum brightness it looked a bit sober. While some users may appreciate this, it affects video playback – dark videos need to have their brightness increased via the player.

Connectivity-wise the U100 is decently loaded for a notebook. It has 3 USB ports, 1 VGA adapter, 1.3 MP webcam, 4-in-1 card reader, 802.11 a/b/g support for wireless, and a standard 100 MB Ethernet port.

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Hi. I can get you a source for this laptop. it comes to Rs 24-25K and i bought mine a little time back. its very good to use. let me know if youre interested call 22838887 in mumbai
Chaitanya @ Oct 26, 2008
Where it is available in Jaipur?What about service network?
Harsh Kulshrestha @ Sep 03, 2008
I want to buy this MSI Wind u100
where it is available
prasad @ Aug 24, 2008
price is high Rs25000.I want a laptop 12 to 14 inch screen size,with amd or intel atom processor, 1GB ram can be upgraded to 2 GB. HDD should be greater than 80GB or more and wifi 802.11 with a/b/g/n dual band and blue tooth. If MSI wind netbook available at 12-14 inch screen size also if yes, how much is the price.pls help any suggestion.
ravi chandel @ Aug 13, 2008
@ Jayesh, The AH 1000 is again an Atom based Lappy, granted it would have the batter advantage coz it uses an SSD which uses much less power compared to the HDD. However, when I said a detailed review, I was talking about the 'Atom platform' ... not MSI or Asus .... anyway surely hope for a detailed review.

Btw .... I doubt the street price would be 25 K ... if we look at the usual pattern the street prices are generally lesser than the ones on the press releases, which is generally done to keep the dealers happy.
MaxAxe @ Aug 09, 2008
Good config but as reviewed it is little expensive. If not required immediately worth waitingfor some time
P venkata Rao @ Aug 09, 2008
Where can I find MSI Wind in Delhi. I searched whole of Nehru Place high and low but no one has any clue about it. The internet or the official website offers no clue about authorized resellers in India. If anyone has any info then please post in comments.
Mandeep Sahni @ Aug 09, 2008
@sandeep: how would you compare linux with windows on the same machine? you need some standardized test like pcmark.which dont run on linux.
chandan @ Aug 09, 2008
@maxaxe and oh yea thats your answer

The asus 1000h for a comparable laptop
jayesh @ Aug 08, 2008
@maxaxe.

No simple reason beyond that i plan to test the full strength of the platform in a MSI wind vs ASUS 1000h shootout. There will be more detailed benchmarks and a closer examination of the platform in that feature.
jayesh @ Aug 08, 2008
Regardless of what you guys might say ( the comments below I mean) The atom is a wonder CPU, it does everything at a fraction of power required by conventional CPUs. And not to mention the small size
@ Jayesh, I fail to understand why we didnt have a bit more detailed review than just talking about the specs? Besides Tell me 1 notebook with this size and weight with all these features. I hope you guys know that this CPU platform is powerfull enough to HD movies (yea im not joking ive done so)
MaxAxe @ Aug 08, 2008
Looks like the reviewer or ths website does not care much about Linux or are ardent followers of MicroSoft. 'As such we have deferred our benchmarks of the MSI Wind for an upcoming shootout where we plan to compare the XP editions of the MSI Wind with the Asus Eee PC 1000H.'
Would have been interesting if you compare this machine with Linux with other 'netbooks' including one U100 with XP. That would be really interesting. I have read reviews where net books with linux (Ubuntu) have out performed same machines with XP :)
Sandeep @ Aug 08, 2008
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