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First Reviews of the MSI Wind Ultra-Portable Laptop
Ken E. writes "UK tech website Mobile Computer has an early hands-on review of the MSI Wind — a £329 ultraportable notebook that will compete head-on with the Asus Eee PC 900. In its favour are a 10in screen, better keyboard and, perhaps most important of all, an Intel Atom 1.6GHz dual-core processor (though the site shies away from mentioning this open secret due to what sound like NDA constraints). They like it a lot — is this finally a worthy Eee PC alternative?" (£329 is about $650US at the moment.) An anonymous reader points to CNET's hands-on photo gallery of the Wind; CNET's reviewer says the MSI Wind is the first mini notebook with an overclock button. Barence adds another review at PC Pro.
I'm not being rude, but they fucking stink. I wish they'd all go back to Blackland.
If their laptops are anything like their motherboards, you'd be well advised to steer clear of this one.
More evidence that the OLPC is a toy that we will be hearing less and less about.
let me be the first who is saying "FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP!".
Will code for new sig.
Am I the only one who read the title and thought that MSI had made a wind powered laptop?
You're right that £329 is about $650 on xe.com etc today. However it's a bit misleading when it comes to product. In Blighty here we have always suffered in the transatlantic stakes - new kit is always significantly more expensive than the USD/GBP exchange rate would infer. This is frequently illustrated in the UK press as being indicative of 'Rip off Britain'. I very strongly suspect this holds in the reverse here too. Given how weak the dollar is, I seriously don't expect them to be charging $650 for it in the US - it'll be cheaper.
Ok, why the hell has every manufacturer in the business decided to eschew the pgup/pgdn buttons for the god-awful two-handed replacement? Does anyone actually like this crap or are the rest of you only reading 1 page things?
1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
Some men are coarse, and wish to woo their ladies with feats of strength and masculinity. Often tall and powerful, they cast themselves as the protector to the protected, the coccoon to the lady's butterfly. Eager to prove themselves, they will be loud, brash, but never disrespectful, and will win their prize with acts of courage and valour.
Some men, on the other hand, are gentle. They behave towards a woman they desire as a honeybee would to a flower, delicately circling her before coming in to make his move, entering into a relationship where neither can survive without the other - as the honeybee to the flower, as the yin to the yang, is the man to the woman. More introverted but no less eager, he will aim to triumph in the game of love with gifts, such as chocolate, or flowers, or his mere presence on a night where she needs him most.
Both are filled with wonderment and fascination, a process that has danced for thousands of years, for millions of couples in hundreds of countries. You will have to find your own way to dance this ancient, timeless dance, but sure enough, you will find your feet, and you will find your partner in your own way.
Me, you ask? Well, I like to rip their legs off with a threshing machine.
Sometimes I spunk in the wounds.
The processor is still unknow ?
CNET's reviewer says the MSI Wind is the first mini notebook with an overclock button.
This sounds like the old "Turbo" button from the old 386 days!
I find it interesting that this laptop more or less falls right in between your standard fare laptop and an Eee PC in terms of portability and raw power, but is the most expensive of the crop.
Using the base Vostro 1500 for the "average laptop" and the Eee PC 8G we have:
I realize the comparison is odd since they all hit different intended markets, but it seems that something that is between the two in specs would be closer to either of the two in terms of price than it currently is.
Proudly supporting the Libertarian Party.
"Um, aren't Atoms all single core?"
I find it interesting that this laptop more or less falls right in between your standard fare laptop and an Eee PC in terms of portability and raw power, but is the most expensive of the crop.
Using the base Vostro 1500 for the "average laptop" and the Eee PC 8G we have:
I realize the comparison is odd since they all hit different intended markets, but it seems that something that is between the two in specs would be closer to either of the two in terms of price than it currently is.
Compared to the Vostro you're paying for the size reduction. I bet that Vostro is one of those fugly and heavy cheap dells. At 6.33lbs, you can have that Vostro lead brick. UGH! Never again for travel would I use something that heavy. Once you go 3lbs for travel, you NEVER go back.Compared to the EEE, you are paying for the larger 10" screen & faster processor.
All in all, it makes perfect sense to me the price placement from your list.
3-4 hours on a 3 cell battery!? Awesome! With a 6cell battery at ~6 hours, I would gladly take one. Not to mention it's a dual core processor, and the the Asus eeePC only runs for a few (3.5) on a 6 cell battery off a 1ghz processor. That isn't to say I need a dualcore all the time, I am just amazed they could squeeze more juice out of a dual core and still make it competitive.
A wind-up laptop?
while the products are produced outside the US, so the exchange rate matters...
While I like new toys why would I pay $600.00 for this when for $499.00 I can just get a Dell Laptop? I was looking at one of these a little while ago as I wanted something I could use for DVDs on trips and when I wasn't in the car and for something I use as a navigator in the car.
...the "overclock" button was known as Turbo and the only reason we used it was because our 386's went too damn fast!
They always exaggerate, that will be the battery life when inactive, screen with no backlight and WiFi turned off.
The Linux version of the Wind will be only $400 in the US. Unfortunately, it only includes a three-cell battery, which is a deal breaker for me. I'd pay $50 more for a longer battery life, but apparently that will only be available on the "standard" $550 Windows XP model.
Lately democracy seems to be based on the skybox, the Happy Meal box, the X-box, and the idiot box.
I like the placement of the buttons on my MacBook Pro.
I don't. And to add insult to injury mine's the 17" so there's plenty of room for a full sized keyboard.
This keyboard has what's close to the layout I'd like on a laptop:
http://www.adesso.com/images/big/bigger/MCK-91.jpg
The older model I have at home, no longer available, has no "Fn" key or fake numeric keypad... which is another think I'd like to see laptop manufacturers give up on. Either way, this keyboard is about the same size as a regular laptop keyboard, yet manages to fit all the critical keys with no two-handed stupidity.
I just bought another IBM Thinkpad/Lenovo X30 on eBay for $199: 1.2 GHz P3, 10" screen, full size keyboard, wireless, and it fits inside a Manila envelope. Comes with MS Win XP, Ubuntu installed in 25 minutes, everything worked perfect first time.
What has changed?
So will hacks/mods/cracks of this thing become known as "breaking Wind"? And if so, will the goatse guy become the new mascot?
laptop
What? No SSD? ultra portable laptops are one of the few uses that a 16gb or so SSD is viable.
Orbis terrarum est non altus satis
Atom is a single core CPU.
It supports two hardware threads on some configurations (not the lowest power versions), in the same way the P4 did.
But, I really want a wind powered laptop.
Whilst it will be a small computer, the 10" screen is making it very close in size to a 12" laptop, which aren't that expensive these days. My old 12" iBook isn't that much larger, and it's probably faster to boot, so there's not much reason to buy this.
The 9" versions are a little more desirable. I wish they'd make them slimmer.
FTA:
How can you claim performance is good without running quantitative benchmarks?
I am interested in the performance of the new Atom processor because it uses a new chip design that prioritizes cost (to manufacture) and power efficiency, but not necessarily performance.
If you drop it and it shatters or otherwise ceases to function, does that mean you just broke wind?
My first reading of the title:
First reviews of the MSI Wind Powered Laptop
--Phillip
Can you say BIRTH TAX
Is anyone else frustrated to see analog RGB/VGA as the video output method for an external display? Isn't this supposed to be a cutting-edge laptop? It's 2008. It should have DVI (or even the easily converted to/from HDMI). Are there really that many people left who have access only to a dinosaur CRT or an oddball LCD that allows only for an analog signal?
And while I'm at it, I'd be interested to hear other people's perception of the oversized backspace key (yeah, I know, this is at the bottom of the list of considerations for purchasing a new laptop, but I've got lots of free time to kill today). I've always preferred keyboards with a large "L-shaped" Enter key, and a standard size backspace key (so that the \| key is right at the top row, between the =+ key and the backspace). I've never really understood why some people like to shrink the size of a heavily used key (Enter) to make room for a key that is rarely used (backspace).
Whoever designed level 61 in Frozen Bubble is a sadistic bastard.
The Silverthorne Atom was single core, the Diamondville comes in single or dual core.
Chernobyl 'not a wildlife haven' - BBC News
the intel atom in the msi wind is it the dual core or single core http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Atom
Here is a link for you. If you hit the "Look Closer" link on that page, you can get a java-based 360 viewer. The Vostro actually has the same style aesthetic as the Wind. Just a bit bigger. Although it is a tad hefty at a starting weight of 6.33 lbs.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
Intel is really pushing Atom now; just last week I went to an Atom seminar for embedded computing folks. They claim 1GHz+-class performance at 3W power usage; I was impressed by a motherboard running a GPS/car automation type realtime app, where not only there was no fan or even a heatsink, but you could touch and hold the finger to the CPU.
They didn't want to say what's the unit price, but it probably won't be in low single dollars like with some ARM variants (STM/LPC)
I don't mind lower hardware specs or a smooshed keybaord.
However, Before I plunk down my cash I want at least a 1280x768 resolution screen.
1024x600 is smaller than the old beater I'm using now.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
jesus - eye test time - I read that as wind up laptop... :S
I hope it's as sturdy as they say, or else people across the nation will be breaking Wind. :-)
Not to mention it's a dual core processor [...]
The Wind has the single-core Atom variant.
I'm expecting to see a dual-core version by Christmas. With that much power, these machines start reaching feasibility as the only machine a typical person needs.
The problem making most MSI motherboards die after little more than one year of use is known as "capacitor rot".
The reason is some chinese communist company stole industrial secrets from the japanese about electrolyte making processes. They either stole it incomplete or they were double-fed junk data by japanese counter-intelligence, but the dirt cheap bootleg capacitors they make in PRC have a tendency to decompose when subjected to continous heat and voltage for months.
The top of the capacitor cylinder rips open and rotten stuff, looking much like used coffee grain appears on the top.
You either replace the caps with solder or throw away the board. Other motherboard vendors were also affected, including IBM and ASUS, but they agreed to replace faulty boards, while MSI refused to take any responsibility for using dirt cheap bootleg components in their builds. They were sued in class action in 2005 and had to pay a hefty fine.
Our small company had 75% of its Pentium III and early Pentium 4 computers die due to rotting MSI motherboards.
Oh, may I also mention most PIII motherboards by MSI couldn't accept Adaptec PCI SCSI cards? Apparently MSI decided to save on capacitor costs even beyond dirt cheap bootleg economy, so they simply omitted caps necessary for 5 volt PCI support, which Adaptec 2940 uses. The motherboards either did not work or became unstable with SCSI plugged in.
If you want really poor but reliable performance for dirt cheap, I can recommand ECS (Elitegroups Computer Systems), or any established vendor will do if you can shell out a little more cash. I would avoid MSI like plague, they are run junk in, junk out.
In portable computing design, material and workmanship are everything, because you will hold the whole machine in your hands. Spare the money and buy big name for economy, reliability, usability and support, that IBM-Lenovo, HP or Apple badge is really worth it.
The Turbo button ... still must be OK for building a Beowulf of these.
Prof(Miss) A Mani CU, ASL, AMS, ISRS, CLC, CMS, IEEE HomePage: http://www.logicamani.in Blog: http://logicamani.blogs
That's not quite accurate. The company that bought/took the formula was a company that manufactured electrolyte, not a capacitor company. That flawed electrolyte was sold to about a dozen capacitor manufacturers in Taiwan and Japan, who in turn sold the capacitors to probably thousands of companies. It affected products by almost every major computer vendor, including every manufacturer you mentioned in your post.
IBM
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2003/06/22/ibms-capacitors-are-dodgy-too-but-its-hushed-up
HP
http://news.cnet.com/PCs-plagued-by-bad-capacitors/2100-1041_3-5942647.html
Apple
http://news.cnet.com/Apple-offers-repairs-for-problem-iMacs/2100-1041_3-5841331.html
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2071244
While we're at it, Dell, Asus, MSI, Shuttle, ECS, Giga-Byte, Abit, and Compaq.
I doubt you can find any computer or motherboard vendor that didn't get bitten by those capacitors on at least one of their products.
That said, I do agree that buying from a major manufacturer is probably a good idea. The advantage of the more reputable, bigger name vendors is that when bad things happen that are outside their control (as this clearly was), they are more likely to stand behind their products even for people who didn't buy the extended warranty....
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
OK we saw the Air and now we have the Wind.
Who's up for earth? Dell for some reason comes to mind. Something to do with dirt I think.
And who better for a laptop Fire than Sony?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
No - however, laptops based on the Via Nanobook reference design, such as the Acer Cloudbook, etc, are. Yes, it is $100 USD more than the cheapest Eee - however, unless people are fine with only having 2gigs of flash memory, I'd say 100 bucks more for a 30gig hdd and slightly larger screen is worth it. I know that not everybody (especially mass orders) can't afford that hundred each, but considering that the equivalent priced Eee only has 4gigs of ssd (if that?)...
Oh lookie... We've finally brought computing all the way back to the Apple IIc !
+++OK ATH
"Comes in" suggests "now", when in fact the dual-core version is not yet available. The dual-core version has an 8W TDP as well. Original post said that Atom is a dual core processor, which is currently not the case.