Filed under: Laptops

Considering that MSI’s Wind U120 is on track for release this quarter, it follows logic that we’d see a few press shots as the run-up to launch continues. Once again, we’re told that this bugger will sport a 120GB HDD (or a 20GB / 40GB SSD), 802.11n WiFi and built-in 3.5G WWAN. As you can easily see, the U120 isn’t too much different (style wise) from the U100, and unfortunately, it’s not a whole lot thinner either. Still, the unit does look a bit more edgy, and hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more (read: in the wild) shots as December comes closer. Speaking of, check the read link for a whole load of press images.

[Thanks, TheLostSwede]

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We knew it would be going down, but the formal announcement has finally been made: MSI’s Wind will soon be gracing store shelves at Best Buy. As early as “right now” if you’re lucky enough, the 10-inch netbook can be procured at your local BB (no word on Future Shop), and we’re told that it’ll pack a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, Windows XP Home Edition, a 10-inch WSVGA (1,024 x 600) display, GMA950 graphics set, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120GB hard drive, 3-cell battery (sigh…) and a black or white motif. You might expect to just snag one real quick like for $399, but don’t expect to leave without being hassled for one of those Product Replacement Plans. Fun, fun! Full release is after the break.

Continue reading MSI’s 10-inch Wind winds up in Best Buy

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Slowly but surely, MSI is following in the laughable footsteps of ASUS. At first, the Wind was simply the Wind. Now, we’ve a smattering of variants to keep up with, and according to a recent interview with director of US sales Andy Tung, that trend isn’t about to stop. Starting next week, the Wind U100 will be available at an undisclosed “large national retailer,” with the 3-cell / WinXP version going for $399. Additionally, Tung gave us all a reason to hold off on making that very purchase by revealing that the business-minded Wind U120 (or Wind 2, as he called it) will be landing on US soil in late November or early December. Said machine will boast “a whole new look,” new HDD / SSD options and inbuilt 3.5G WWAN connectivity for under $600. Also of note, MSI’s internal research has found that Linux-infused netbooks get returned four times as often as units with Windows XP; we can’t say we’re shocked that people don’t feel like learning a new OS, but we’re deeply, deeply saddened that reading comprehension levels (particularly on specification labels) in this nation are so obviously low.

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Filed under: Laptops

Laptop Mag would evidently like to make two things quite clear: if you pick up MSI’s Wind U90, you better love SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and be totally cool with the sub-2 hour battery life. For those of you still with us, you can probably guess that the 10-inch Wind didn’t do so hot during its review, with those two rubs really overshadowing the solid design, great keyboard and delicious price tag ($350). For whatever reason, MSI figured it’d be peachy to toss a 3-cell battery in there and let mobile users just deal with the 1 hour, 39 minute lifespan; obviously, that’s an issue serious road warriors can’t ignore. If you’re willing to pony up for an extra battery and install your own OS (if SUSE isn’t your cup of tea), the Wind U90 might not make for a bad companion, but as-is, you better do some serious soul searching before pulling the trigger.

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Back in July, we heard that Sylvania (of all companies) would be bringing a few more netbooks into the world, and sure enough, that g netbook MAGNI that was hinted at earlier this year will be making its red carpet debut in time for the holidays. Based on information gathered in an interview with Paul Goldenberg, Managing Partner of Digital Gadgets (the company that sells under the Sylvania brand), the 10-inch netbook will be nothing more than a rebadged MSI Wind with a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, an Intel Atom CPU and your choice of either Windows XP or Ubuntu Remix. Pricing and battery size details have yet to be determined, but given how easy it is to search for both of those tidbits in relation to the Wind, we’d say you’ve just found a great use for your deductive reasoning skills.

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You’ve seen the Wind U90 MSI has wanted you to see — you know, that version it brings to trade shows, possibly showered and cleaned up by professionals beforehand. But the U90 you’re about to see in the video past the break is the real deal. Ordered from Canada and shipped to the US of A, this 8.9-inch Wind looks pretty much exactly like its larger-screened sibling save for a bigger bezel and a few French symbols on the keyboard. But why listen to us spell it out when you can just click through and mash play?

Continue reading MSI’s Wind U90 gets unboxed on video

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Filed under: Laptops

While some manufacturers are just now getting in on the netbook craze, others are rolling in the cash from their first generation and are already prepping for the launches of their second and third. Such is the case for MSI, and in an interview with Impress, Notebook Product Manager Neo Lin dropped a few interesting nuggets about the U91, an 8.9-inch successor to the U90; and the U120, a wholly new 10-inch model. Both will offer HSDPA and could receive new keyboard warmers: VIA’s Nano was considered but discarded, while Intel’s dual-core Atom 330 might just make the cut — if engineers can figure out how to feed it twice the power of its predecessor without killing battery life. 2GB of memory seems to be the plan on the U120 at least, which might break it out of Microsoft’s “ULPC” category, meaning Vista instead of XP Home. Yeah, Lin didn’t sound too happy about that prospect either.

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Here’s an interesting, albeit confusing, story: we’re getting word that MSI has recalled some Wind laptops running SUSE Linux, since some random oddities had snuck onto the disk image. Namely, illegal screener copies of movies and some family photos. That could explain MSI’s temporary delay in shipping this thing out — a preemptive recall — but the when, where and what of the recall are a bit hazy, so we recommend rummaging around for the files just in case they’re eating up your hard drive room or contain that one flick you were dying to watch with large “Screener copy!” signs flashing past.

[Thanks, Patrick S.]

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While MSI’s 8.9-inch Wind U90 first made an appearance in June at Computex, it took MSI this long to flesh out all details — which is actually a relief, given the ridiculous quantity of Eee PC SKUs ASUS has managed to pump out in the meantime. We just got to handle the new laptop, and we think MSI might have a winner here. The laptop is shipping with SUSE Linux exclusively to start, with an XP version in the works, and boots quite rapidly to the full OS. SUSE has never looked better, and we think these two might be quite the pair. MSI has kept the full keyboard of the 10-inch Wind, and merely bumped up the bezel while cutting the price; all the other specs are the same. MSI is planning on shipping this at the end of September or beginning of October for 339 Euro (no word on a US release), and is also working on a six cell battery to fix the paltry 2 hours of battery the Wind currently gets from the three cell.

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Well, that took long enough, now didn’t it? We’ve been hearing about an 8.9-inch MSI Wind for months now, but it has just now popped up on the outfit’s website. The Wind U90 will pack an Atom N270 processor, built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam, stereo speakers, microphone, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 512MB or 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 1,024 x 600 resolution panel, 80GB hard drive and a 4-in-1 card reader. Additionally, you’ll find an Ethernet port, three USB 2.0 sockets, VGA out, a 3-cell battery (optional 6-cell available upon request) and a weight of 2.2-pounds. Your guess is as good as ours when it pricing / availability, but hey, we’re just thrilled to know this thing is destined to be more than a trade show crasher.

[Thanks, Peter]

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A USB shuffle here, a logo swap there and here’s what you get, the MSI, uh hem, LG X110. Sporting a fairly obvious MSI Wind base, LG’s X110 is making its first appearance in Berlin. Prices will range from €399 to €499 (about $590 to $738) which takes home an 8.9-inch display, 120GB disk (6GB SSD option), 1GB of RAM, and choice of built-in 3G HSDPA and GPS modules. Yes, XP running atop a 1.6GHz Atom processor, too. On sale in Europe at the end of September.

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Filed under: Laptops

Just let that name sink in a little. Seriously, we couldn’t make this stuff up. Our main point of contention is the emphasis on netbook love, or is this merely a love edition of the Wind netbook? Questions that need answers, MSI. From what we can tell, the only netbook loving that’s happening here is MSI has slapped on a few hearts in various colors, and will be making charity contributions to Taiwan, China, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Korea and India to help kids there learn how to use computers. Oh, and you want to know what this charity is called? “Love with the Wind.” We’re dead serious. Would we lie to you on matters of such gravity? Well, probably. No word on exactly when, where, or how much these new laptops are going for.

[Via Pocketables Forum]

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MSI has clearly been busy with its Wind here lately, but that doesn’t mean it has forgotten entirely about the gaming crowd. The 15.4-inch GX620 and 17-inch GX720 were both made official today, even though they made their debut at CeBIT. Now that the specifications are nailed down, here’s what you’re looking at: an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA’s 512MB GeForce 9600M GT, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 2-megapixel webcam, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, a 320GB SATA drive, an optional Blu-ray drive, 6-cell battery and the usual assortment of ports. Sadly, there’s no mention of prices just yet, but click on past the break for the full release.

Continue reading MSI gets official with Centrino 2-based GX620 / GX720 gaming laptops

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Sick of your puny 3-cell battery? Not really kosher with paying absurd premiums for a 6-cell edition? Do what any self-respecting, entirely fearless netbook owner would do — create your own 9-cell while simultaneously sticking your tongue out at MSI. We wouldn’t go tinkering with a battery pack unless you’re a) quite skilled and b) well protected, but those looking for extra long battery life at the expense of (severely) uglifying your machine can dig into the how-to guide waiting in the read link below.

[Via jkOnTheRun, thanks Joe]

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MSI told us that a 6-cell version of its briskly-moving Wind was on the way. What it failed to mention, however, was the $50 premium that would be tacked on. The units including a 6-cell battery have been popping up in a few e-tailers here recently, with prices ranging from $559 to $599. According to an MSI representative, however, the official MSRP for the 6-cell units is $549.99 (versus $499.99 for the 3-cell edition). As you can tell, it seems that some places are taking the liberty of bundling in a little profit while demand is high. Worse still, users who managed to get their orders in at Buy.com for a $499.99 6-cell unit are now receiving cancellation notices. So, is the more capacious battery worth an extra 50 bones (or more) to you?

[Via jkOnTheRun]

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Now that MSI’s Wind has (finally) started shipping out to eager customers, we’re anxious to hear how you all like them. As was the case with HP’s heralded 2133 Mini-Note, we’re confident that you early adopters are champing at the bit to let loose some opinions here. In the end, was it worth the wait? Was it worth the asking price? It is nimble enough? Even if so, what would make the Wind an even bigger threat in the quickly growing netbook realm? Take all the time you need to get it all our, we’re here for you.

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