MSI outs official Wind specs, mum on price and dates

MSI just got right with the gadget lorf by going official with its Wind Notebook. Launched anonymously at Intel's IDF, the Wind is pretty much everything we've heard: about 1-kg weight; XP-only (at the moment); LED-backlit, 8.9- and 10-inch 1,024 x 600 displays; and traditional 80GB, 2.5-inch hard disk. MSI also claims to have a superior keyboard and battery life compared to the competition. Yup, they're looking right at you Eee PC. No word on price or delivery date though we previously heard Juneish (with Atom CPU launch) for between $470 to $1,099.

[Via DigiTimes]

[brickwood @ Apr 21st 2008 4:22AM]

"between $470 to $1,099."

at least they're not being vague..

[Gaz @ Apr 21st 2008 4:40AM]

Blimey thats a bit costly compared to the competition, too! Well the promise of longer battery life is a big plus I suppose. ASUS may just kick their ass when the EEE gets Atom.

[gad get @ Apr 21st 2008 6:02AM]

I believe that's the price range the various models will fall in. You know, the cheapest model being $470, and the most expensive being $1,099.

[jed @ Apr 21st 2008 4:44AM]

what does lorf mean?

[gad get @ Apr 21st 2008 5:58AM]

LORF: Laughing Over Ridiculous Funnies?

[gad get @ Apr 21st 2008 6:26AM]

OK, that doesn't work.

[Mike @ Apr 21st 2008 7:37AM]

hey, atleast they didn't use rolfaarp

rolling on linoleum floor amongst assorted rodent pron

O_O

[Zach @ Apr 21st 2008 1:19PM]

that's disgusting mike. you should be ashamed.

[david @ Apr 21st 2008 5:16AM]

Remember, that his one will have LED-backlit, while other ones does not (correct me if I am wrong) Maybe only HP Mini-Note could have it too, but others - I don't think so.

[JAmerican @ Apr 21st 2008 5:17AM]

EEE and Cloudbook are LED-backlit as well. What do you mean others?

[david @ Apr 21st 2008 5:31AM]

Damn, I did not expected that. It looks like it really does have LED-backlit, I always thought that it wasn't.

[jo3 @ Apr 21st 2008 5:56AM]

the eee has led backlight, the hp i dont know.

[gad get @ Apr 21st 2008 6:08AM]

David, try to use more logical and consistent grammar-- your posts are almost painful to read. Just a little friendly advice.

[david @ Apr 21st 2008 6:15AM]

Thanks, I will try to keep that in mind :)

[Sukhminder @ Apr 21st 2008 5:26AM]

I'm glad I didn't jump the gun and buy an EEE PC. I still might, but now we have competition, which is always a good thing.

[King Mook Mook @ Apr 21st 2008 5:27AM]

Yes, but does it play Crysis?

[gad get @ Apr 21st 2008 6:09AM]

Do YOU play Crysis?

[gad get @ Apr 21st 2008 6:22AM]

You don't care at all whether it plays Crysis, do you? You're just repeating a line you and everyone else has read far too many times already. It's getting old.

To everyone else out there who makes the same pointless remark (or the Doom variation of it) every time a new MID, UMPC, PMP, or anything with a processor and memory comes out: enough already! We get it; you like stale jokes. So I say eat your words and stop feeding us the same boring crumbs. Got it?

[OneLove @ Apr 21st 2008 10:56AM]

@gad get: commenting about "will it..blend...doom...crysis" comments is equally as lame.

[Superevil @ Apr 21st 2008 1:00PM]

I hope you choke on a bottle cap.

[Jazza @ Apr 21st 2008 5:39AM]

From that photo, that looks like the HP Mininote

[The Engadgeter @ Apr 21st 2008 5:46AM]

:(
i love the influx of cheaper ultraportables such as the original 7" Eee, but even that was priced too high imo. once you enter the $700+ range, its really not cheap anymore since you could get an m1330 for less than $1000 . I was hoping that intel coming into this market would introduce phenomenal computing power at phenomenal prices, but apparently its just another way for the manufacturer to hike up margins.

everyone seems to rag on dell so much lately, but i love them. they have finally introduced a design team, so their offerings have some great aesthetic appeal and they have always been very affordable. heres to hoping that they can come out with a sub-notebook that is cheap, looks good, and packs a wallop...

[silverblackvoid @ Apr 21st 2008 5:49AM]

want

[jo3 @ Apr 21st 2008 5:55AM]

is the juneish release US, or europe, or where?

[Jose @ Apr 21st 2008 8:33PM]

It will be first release in Taiwan, just like the EeePc..

[Khoa Khuong @ Apr 21st 2008 6:00AM]

"Juneish"? You might want to add a dash. That sounds like a religion.

Regarding the Wind, I think it could be a potent competitor to the Eee PC if and only if MSI gets distribution right. They've never had much of a presence in the notebook market with mainstream American consumers, but they may be making an effort to change that. Note the new logo and variety of colors; that's at least something.

[thequinox @ Apr 21st 2008 6:08AM]

I don't know, It looks nice an all, but the 2.5" mobile drive is why it won't get my money. I have the 4G EEE and the reason I love it so much is because I don't have to worry about it. I treat it like a book, toss it on the bed, throw it in a bag, because I don't have to worry about it breaking. Storage space doesn't really mean anything to me. 4GB is more than enough for XP and the other small apps I have, and if I need anything bigger I use the 8GB SDHC card I have.

The only thing that is a little disappointing about the EEE is the screen resolution and battery life, which should be getting upgraded with the new version anyway. But what am I complaining about? I got the damn thing for $400!

That is why the EEE is still a winner in my books. I would never want a HDD in an ultra portable like this.

[Gaz @ Apr 21st 2008 6:17AM]

If you back up your data regularly, there really is no reason not to toss around a laptop with a hard drive inside. They are easy to replace with an SSD should you need more battery life, with the flash in the EEE 701, the flash chips are stuck there forever on the motherboard, requiring much hassle to replace :-)

[NakedOldGuy @ Apr 21st 2008 6:20AM]

Yeah, I always think "How convinient!" when my HDD fails, simply because I backed up last week. All those school papers I wrote last night and trusted to the HDD are gone... but at least I've got my porn!

[Mark @ Apr 21st 2008 2:10PM]

Great. You buy your EEE, and the rest of us, who can actually take care of our stuff, will get notebooks with hard drives.

[NakedOldGuy @ Apr 21st 2008 6:18AM]

That is exactly my thought. This seems like it would be a great, tiny laptop.... but it certainly isn't an ultraportable. Portable implies it can be moved without breaking.

[Gaz @ Apr 21st 2008 11:16AM]

USB port, Memory stick!

[payne @ Apr 21st 2008 9:57AM]

I would consider it if MSI includes SSDs in their lineup.

[Laughing Man @ Apr 21st 2008 10:26AM]

I am really looking forward to the Atom processor. I just wished that AMD would come out with something in the same class as the Atom. A processor mostly dedicated to being very small and portable. Thanks to the new Microsoft policy that states that only Ultra Portable Laptops will be allowed to have OEM copies of Windows XP until 2010. That will push a lot of people who normally would get a regular laptop into this market area.

I want my Atom EEE PC.

[Adrian @ Apr 21st 2008 11:00AM]

There's the AMD Geode, which is a small, low powered variant of the older socket A architecture. Doesn't seem to be very popular though, for whatever reason...

[j @ Apr 21st 2008 10:55AM]

There's clearly something in the air.

[gad get @ Apr 22nd 2008 3:31AM]

Wind, you mean?

[Schfelzerberg @ Apr 21st 2008 11:10AM]

Good. 1024x600 is just perfect for a 8.9" screen. The HP Mininote's WXGA will force me to squint. And the LED-backlit screen is a plus too! I don't mind if the $470 config only has a 1 Ghz Celeron or a Pentium Dual Core (aka Core Duo), I don't plan on running Photoshop or any resource-hungry app anyway. I'd fancy XP with the Fly-A-Kite OSX theme on this given 2GB of RAM.

[gad get @ Apr 22nd 2008 3:34AM]

If it makes you squint, you could always try turning down the res in your OS. Just a thought.

[Joshua Walters @ Apr 21st 2008 12:22PM]

Im still looking at the HP 2133 now.

The price on this thing doesnt thrill me, nor do the supposed specs.

Unless we get a significant (Im talking $50-$100) price drop on the Eee, I will be getting the $550 model of 2133. Its got the screen size, more power, and over all more potential. If Im not getting something for next to nothing, I want it to perform well.

[Schfelzerberg @ Apr 21st 2008 3:29PM]

More power? This thing will use an Intel processor. The Via C7 on the HP Mini Note is scrap heap compared to even the Celeron they use on the EEE PC. The screen resolution on the Mini Note may be better, but the hard standard 2.5" hard drive, much faster CPU, and apparently upgradable RAM won me over. I just hope the LED-backlit screen also comes on the $470 config.

[Crusty Magic @ Apr 21st 2008 5:04PM]

Really looking forward to the launch of this product. I like what Asus and HP are offering, but MSI's offering looks like it could have some serious potential.

[fbfromme @ Apr 21st 2008 7:10PM]

An ill Wind? Something smells...

I am not sure how only offering and insecure OS like XP Home is going to work out in the U S of A, what with Homeland Security breathing down citizens' necks as soon as their MS OS is rapidly hacked into a bot garden. If MSI has some cozy little exclusivity agreement with M$, this will sure prevent many US citizens from buying one of these until they offer a secure Linux option.

Of course, M$ does not care about security or the welfare of those who use these products, they only care about taking your money, and strongarming manufacturers with threats and bribes to force their products into your homes. I know I will not consider buying anything with a M$ OS on it, ever again (including MSI products).

[Schfelzerberg @ Apr 22nd 2008 1:29AM]

Unfortunate for you guys there in the US of A. Your security (insecurity rather?) isn't really something companies would necessarily need to fully comply with. Then again, MSI might be also releasing this elsewhere and 'elsewhere' are places that doesn't have national security snooping around and taking security measures to the extreme. I agree the US market is big, but the rest of the world, especially Asia, is bigger and given the price tag of the MSI Wind, it's even more ludicrous.

[Rhino @ Apr 21st 2008 11:59PM]

Where is my TOSHIBA? We had a 7" several years ago... It's time for these Japanese companies to show their power in thin and strong!

[Schfelzerberg @ Apr 22nd 2008 1:31AM]

Yes. I'm sure you're perfectly willing to shell out at least $1500 for those 7" Japanese laptops.

[Spelt @ May 6th 2008 11:20PM]

to all those complaining; 2.5" IDE -> to Compact Flash SSD. so the Wind offers the best of both worlds...