The new MSI Wind U120 is not a groundbreaking machine, and is by no means a 'Wind 2', more of a Wind 1.5 (or 1.2?). While the 'Wind 2' is expected to be released in '09', we are looking at a mid-December pre-Xmas release of the U120.
The U120 was displayed recently at an MSI Press Conference in Taiwan. The U120 for all intents and purposes is an MSI Wind U100, in a two-tone shell meant to appear more professional for business users. It has the same specs in the 10" screen, Atom CPU, 1GB RAM department, but offers a 120GB HDD or 20/40GB SSD option. The major additions are a 3.5G modem and Wireless N that will add to the appeal for mobile business users.
As a huge fan and advocate of the original MSI Wind U100, I'm not terribly excited about the U120 with its lack of major specification changes but I think that it does fill a small gap in the market. No word yet on whether the touchpad has been upgraded to the Synaptics model from the shocking Sentelic-made model found on the majority of MSI Wind U100 machines.
Laptop Mag recently got their hands on a pre-production U120 and gave it a going over... hit the break to read about my observations and a couple more pics or see the original here...
- The laptop looks sleeker than the U100, and has a squarer shape reminiscent of the Samsung NC10
- The keyboard is pretty much exactly the same (see below)
- Split buttons on the trackpad vs the original one bar with left/right click zones
- Display is similar (10" 1024x600, bright)
- 1.3MP Webcam is nice, MSI facial recognition software allows users to login using their mug as you can see in the shot below (may or may not be bundled with production models)
- No word on battery size/life just yet - lets hope its a 6-cell only affair
Overall it looks like a good machine with a few basic improvements over the U100. Not worth trading up from your U100, but if you are in the market for a new netbook then this is one definitely worth considering. The Wind has proven to be a very well-built, supported, high quality machine and so I'm sure that in purchasing a U120 you can rest assured you arent buying junk. Hopefully this model will also run MSI's amazing U100 1.09 bios that allows for a one button overclock.
2 comments:
Not impressed.
A 2nd gen unit without a full-sized right shift key. Non starter.
The USB ports are ALL at the front of the unit. Sorry, but that is stupid.
No thinner. Still plastic. No 802.11n.
Sorry, but this space is getting more competitive. Maybe they haven't figured that out.
The keyboard is essentially the same as the MSI Wind... I have added a closeup pic above.
I'm a touch typist and the right shift key is actually completely fine. I am typing this on my Wind keyboard right now. I would really struggle to accidentally hit the up arrow key instead of right shift when typing and my hands are probably above average size (I'm a 6'0" guy).
You are right, the machine isn't thinner, I meant to say sleeker - tying in with the Samsung NC10-ish design. It is still plastic but this keeps the cost down. That's why HP moved from aluminium to plastic for the Mini 1000. Apparently this gave them HUGE cost savings in manufacturing, which is why the Mini 1000 is so much more affordable than its predecessor.
It does have 802.11n as mentioned above and in the laptop mag inspection.
However, I do join you in the not impressed department, however MSI aren't pushing this as a 'Wind 2', think of it as just a U100 variant, similar to the U90 or the scores of Eee variants.
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