MSI Wind U100-016US Black has selected a 10-inch wide LCD display as oppose to the typical smaller sizes to provide better comfort while viewing or reading. In addition, the 1024x 600 resolution can relief concerns of the full display of WebPages while browsing, giving you the freedom when exploring the internet. It is embedded with the LED power-saving backlight technology in providing better color fullness and brightness, elevating the total quality of imagery. Furthermore, the lower usage of power can offer a longer operating time. The U100 is equipped with the capability of magnifying text within software, so you may magnify any of the words displayed on the monitor freely, making it easier when you are viewing photos, editing or reading documents. The frame is approximately 26 centimeters in length and 18 centimeters in width. It is only 19-31.5 mm in thickness making it extremely thin. The total weight added with the battery is not more than 1 kilogram, making the U100 very ideal for taking it on the go. MSI has the same persistence for proper ergonomically design even on the keyboards of our smaller notebook computers. The keyboard of the U100 not only has great texture, it also increased the space between the keys to 17.5mm, allowing you to be as comfortable as you can. Plus, ingeniously designed spacebar and touchpad, so your fingers can move smoothly while avoiding strain. Intel Atom Processor uses a brand new design structure as basis adding in as much as 47 million transistors into one single chip, and the size is not even 25 (mm)². This is smallest and uses the least energy (power usage in limited below 1 to 2.5 watts) Intel processors thus far.
Helpful consumer’s review
I just wanted a secure client (i.e., my own computer) while on personal travel, and this exceeds my expectations. As a light packer, I was not looking forward to lugging a heavy 14″ laptop along.
I am a fast touch-typist with large hands. The HP 2133 has full-sized keys, but it’s pricey and heavy. I could not type at all on any of the Asus “net books”; it was just impossible. The Asus keys appear to be about the same size as these, but these are ever-so-slightly larger with bevel edges for separation and it makes all the difference.
Consider spending slightly more for this one, which has longer battery life and an additional 40 GB of disk.
MSI’s Live Update Online gave me a *scary* warning and required me to OK running it at my own risk outside the warranty (because it could include BIOS updates). After all that it found no applicable updates to install! Ha!
STRENGTHS:
* Though small, the display is nice and bright. It’s kind of exciting, a cool little device.
* Good old 32-bit Windows runs great. It came with XP Home Edition, SP 3. Set-up was a breeze and there were no “craplets” to clean off, just a trial version of MS Office.
* Bootup –from cold to password prompt– is only 36 seconds! After typing in my password, disk activity settles down after only 20 seconds, but this will vary with what software you have loading at startup.
* Performance is great for what I run: the IE 7 browser w/Google toolbar, TextPad 5.2, PGP Desktop 9.9, and a good free photo editor called IrfanView 4.2.
* If I don’t feel like connecting my camera, I can just stick its SD card directly into the slot. (I’ve done it with cards from Canon and Minolta cameras, probably works for any.)
* It came with Windows Magnifier, which I had never heard of until I got this. It magnifies fine print in case you’re without reading glasses.
* The con that’s really a pro: it’s tiny, so I don’t spend so much of my vacation on the computer.
LIMITATIONS:
* My Canon camera’s software refuses to load, citing insufficient screen resolution. (1024×600 and 800×600 are the only choices on this computer.) You might experience this with your apps; read the label on the software box. (I can still offload photos to the laptop and use IrfanView to tweak them.)
* The loudspeaker (”squeaker”) is such a joke that it’s cute, but it’s loud enough on headphones.
* You have to hold down the Fn key to use the End or Home keys.
TIPS/FYI:
* Fn+F3 turns off the touch pad so that one can type without the cursor jumping all over the place.
* Run Windows update and let it load IE 7. Then Youtube and CNN will work. (They didn’t in the store, where the floor model had apparently not been updated. Youtube’s a little jittery.) My banking sites work, as do advanced, feature-rich sites such as WSJ and Amazon.
* Set-up partitions the disk into a C: “drive” for the Windows operating system with about 30 GB of free space left over (where I installed all my software), and an empty 70 GB D: drive.
* There’s no CD or DVD player, so software must be downloaded from the net or from a USB device (external CD/DVD or memory stick). That keeps the weight down.
* It runs 90 minutes on battery and then KABOOM! It plays the two-piano-note Windows “asterisk” sound and shut itself down in the blink of an eye. I plug in the AC adapter and it’s back up in under ten seconds (!) and has not lost any work! Awesome! 8-[] It takes about two hours to charge back up while in use.
One Acer has a similar price & keyboard, but I did not test it. Sorry for the lengthy review but there are too many considerations about a computer to cover in 300 words. I hope I hit some points that you find useful.
