MSI Wind U100-432US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Black

MSI Wind U100-432US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Black Features

Additional MSI Wind U100-432US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Black Information

What Customers Say About MSI Wind U100-432US 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, XP Home, 6 Cell Battery) Black:

I don't need a high-performance PC and was attracted to the compact netbooks for some reason (I had never wanted, needed, or used a laptop before but it seemed like a cool gadget). The battery has not truly locked in place since then. The Wind does everything I need (I regularly use the Opera browser, word processors, AVG Antivirus and Spybot S&D, winamp, some old games such as Half-Life, Morrowind or even JNES and ZSNES, Daemon Tools, uTorrent, VLC player, etc) and by "docking" it I don't sacrifice comfort by going with the tiny keyboard, touchpad, and 10 inch screen. Just the one. Turns out I made a good choice.Sure it's a neat travel PC (it's been a welcome companion on a couple of vacations where I would have been without a computer), but it's the only computer I own period. I look at it sort of like an mp3 player with docking capability; not that I only play music on the Wind, I mean metaphorically.At home I can plug in to AC power and connect the VGA-out to a widescreen monitor, run the headphone-out to my old 2.1 stereo setup, and use the 3 USB ports to power any number of devices (such as my wireless keyboard + mouse combo receiver, external hard drives, Samsung DVD Burner, a 56k modem if I'm staying somewhere with no broadband at all, even my Playstation 3 controller with the right driver). I bought this when my old desktop bit the dust last February. Second, there's a dead pixel on the monitor.

They're not really designed for that kind of use. Creative solutions abound, like velcro or adhesives or maybe a professional fix, but since the battery has never fallen out under its own weight I haven't bothered (I can yank out my battery by hand without unlocking it though). But if you're wondering whether the MSI Wind series are reliable machines that will stand up to regular use, my personal experience with this one indicates YES. I leave it on all day every day, lift it by the LCD monitor while open, drive around with it on the front seat, let it get dusty on the floor, accidentally knocked it off a chair or two and spilled beverages on the lid, get crumbs in the keys, etc. Despite having never heard of MSI computers, I decided on the Wind based on several features: easy 2GB RAM upgrade, built in Bluetooth, the proprietary overclock/underclock, 3 USB ports, bigger keyboard and monitor compared to other netbooks at the time, 160GB HDD, and Windows XP. That's pretty much it.Netbooks have a lot of limitations, and if you're shopping for one you should be familiar with them (relatively slow processors, little upgrade capacity, odd screen resolution, no dedicated video, small size everything, lousy onboard speakers, things like that generally go with the territory).

Then if I want to hit the road with my PC, I just unplug and load up my laptop bag.Using my Wind this way, I've probably put a more stress on it than it was ever intended to endure, but I have never had a problem with it that I couldn't easily fix. not that I abuse it on purpose, but stuff happens you know :-)The only problems so far: First a broken battery compartment tab that happened when I dropped it edge-first during the first week of ownership. Then again you probably don't intend to make it your main computer like I have. My Wind has gone above and beyond the call of duty and isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

On the positive side, I was able to triple boot load it ( with Fedora 12 Linux, Win7, and Leopard), and it seems to work well. Overall I like the MSi Wind U100 432US, but I would NOT recommend it. There seems to be some quality issues with with a number hardware components, including the selector rocker arm, touchpad, power connector, microphone, etc. The MSi U123 model is a much better model to go with --better design and hardware quality.Before purchasing a Netboot of any brand, a person needs to resarched a bit. A regular Notebook (with small form-factor) is a much better value for the money, such as the HP dm3t model Notebook.

Only comes with Microsoft office as a trial package. Very portable and lite. This net book is wonderful. I recommended it to several of my friends who have since purchased this product. Easy start up. Slightly smaller key board is still easy to use. Battery life is as exptected, about 4hrs depending on use and settings. I would definately recommend this product, especially for those who do a lot of traveling.

In addition, the color and contrast is much better with the Mini's glossy display -- the Wind has a problem with color, as all of my digital photos seem off when viewed on that unit. I had the u100 for a few months, and it was a decent little laptop for travel, but so many things about it bothered me that I decided to sell it and get a slightly larger Mini 311. The Mini weighs a bit more (8 or so ounces) and is an inch wider, but is much more stable in my lap. The main problems are that the u100 screen is 10 inch, with a resolution of only 1024 x 600, whereas the HP Mini 311 comes with a 11.6-inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. The benefits for me are that the screen resolution allows me to see so much more, and have several more applications in view at one time. Many others have reported the unstable nature of the Wind, with the 6-cell battery it is impossible to keep this thing balanced on a lap -- and often it falls over backwards when resting on a table. I got tired of that and decided to get a nicer netbook that was well balanced on my lap.

They told me this issue has been dealt with in newer models. Four stars even though the charging system fried itself after 2 months. Turnaround on the repair was very fast. Built-in overclocking is fun and puts a cool "turbo" icon on the screen. Good for everything except games.