MSI Wind gets official pricing and availability for the US: $399
By Nilay Patel 
posted May 13th 2008 4:27PM
posted May 13th 2008 4:27PM
We already knew most of the details on the MSI Wind, but the Atom-based ultraportable just got official US pricing and availability today -- and just like we hoped, it got a little cheaper on the trip over. Although there'll be both 8.9-inch and 10-inch versions worldwide, we're only getting the 10-inch in both XP and Linux flavors, starting June 3rd. The SuSE version will feature that 1.6GHz Atom, 512MB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, and a 3-cell battery rated at 2.5 hours of use for $399, while the XP edition will come in at $549 with 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth, and a larger 6-cell battery good for 5.5 hours. There's also apparently going to be a $500 "base" XP edition, but details on that are pretty sparse at the moment. Looks like ASUS had better get that Atom-based Eee 900 out by June as planned if it wants to keep up, eh?
I like this price.
Hopefully this baby is built to last or people will be "breaking wind" all over the world.
If these things are made as widely available as the EeePC, this could actually be an EeePC killer. It appears that for $400 they're giving you something a little better than the $549 EeePC.
The people at Asus better rethink their pricing.
First the Asus Eee PC 900 is available
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/12/asus-eee-pc-900-now-available/
Second you guys are right
this does seem more tempting than asus.. 1.6Ghz and 80GB that was the part that got me
10x Nilay for this info was about to go but the Asus as present
I know the EeePC is available. You can walk into Best Buy and get a 7", or order one from Costco. Unfortunately, I have never seen an MSI-branded PC for sale from a major retailer.
I'm sure that sometime after June 3rd, you'll be able to find them online at various places, but my hope is that more of these little notebooks can move into the mainstream like Asus has, or Everex with the Cloudbook (which is sold through Walmart).
Considering that its actually got some decent power, I agree. XP is made to run great in that type of environment, and I'm sure SuSE wont be bad either. and with 80 gigs - I know hard drives are out of style, but still- practicality for a good price might just beat the eee
Why no option for the better hardware and SuSE, that's a tad disappointing. Oh well, I won't be getting one of these baby laptops anytime soon anyways.
5.5hrs
Now you have my attention for a truely portable computer. This could even replace my Dell Inspiron 8200 with dual batteries. That's only about 30 minutes less than my old 15" 10lb dual battery monstrosity.
That 6cell battery had better not be some outside of the case standout piece of hideousness though.
5.5 hours with no backlight, sound, bluetooth, or programs running i bet.
What is even more intriguing is in the PR MSI mentions that with a SSD instead of the HDD you could get 7hrs. Somehow though I doubt the power savings of SSD vs. HDD is THAT much...
now if i can configure the cheaper version with the extended battery for $450, i'll be a happy man.
GIMME GIMME GIMME
All I see when I read this is "one more month until Dell's."
please no more headlines with "gets official."
oh, if we would only start listing the engadget-style phrasings...
You pick a word to describe what these are that isn't "official" and I'll start using it -- harder than you think!
Sanctioned
Standard
Validated
Authenticated
Certified
Legitimate
Valid
Bona fide
Finalized
Done
Diddly doo
Shit on
how about
"4REALZ"
How about "MSI breaks wind with Wind specifications..."
This model looks interesting, especially with the Intel Atom and 6-cell battery. The price is also acceptable.
Well this has to be a first for somebody to break wind and it be a good thing.
549 is getting into the low end of traditional laptops for the XP edition, wonder how much the larger battery alone would add to the price.....
I am presuming that this uses the lower end of the 2 Atom CPUs?
Why is Linux not offered with the larger RAM and BT?
Why no WiFi?
What's the screen resolution?
With a few spec corrections this looks interesting. Wonder what the size and weight is?
Are you about the no WiFi? If you read the link, the MSI guy talks about its pretty much an internet-centric device, so although it is not mentioned, it seems highly unlikely that there is no WiFi on a laptop meant to compete with the eee.
Size: (w/h/d mm) 260/180/31
Weight: 2.6lbs with 3 cell battery
Hey sounds like someone should tell Rod!!!
"Rod K @ May 13th 2008 3:49PM
wow, i am also in Philly, and i just wanted to get the new iPhone clone - Wi-Phone cause it had wifi... maybe not now... http://www.chinagrabber.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1614&HS=1"
Nice! This seems to be the new notebook-to-beat in the budget ultraportable market!
Is this thing cheaper or more expensive than the Eee PC 900?
its less expensive than the eee
At that price point it simply blows me away.
Blows you away huh?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pTjnhS96Nyo
I promise it's not a rick roll.
Are those versions coming out in Europe as well?
I hope so because that cheapest one is so atractive!
Wow that's a hot price.
What's with all these manufacturers only putting bluetooth in the XP equipped versions? It's a $5 part, give it to me on all versions. I'll make it work in Linux (it's not hard).
how big is the keyboard? like the 2133? or eeePC?
need flash memory, even if it 4 or 8 gb.
want BT? more RAM? bigger drive? all with Linux?
get the Windows version with better specs and put whatever you want on it. this is a sweet little package and fills all the gaps in the eee line. only thing missing is WWAN, but then, with BT, I'll just use my phone.
I don't see why they do not offer the windows version sans-windows for the price of the license?
I am happy again! *saves money* but mad that the bigger battery cell version comes with xp, instead of linux. I shouldn't have to pay double just because it comes with xp
Now we're talking. The only thing the EEEpc has going for it is the multitouch trackpad and a good user base.
You do understand that the SSD in the Asus is a huge part - if not all - of the price difference, don't you? If you want an SSD and - I think - a lighter weight machine, get the ASUS. Otherwise or if price is more important, the MSI might be right for you. Either way, understand that other people might make the opposite choice.
Are you paying attention Asus?
We finally have competition with the EEE. $399 is the price everyone should have been aiming for, none of that $600 lunacy. This thing is great, especially with an 80gb drive instead of SSD. I would totally get this over an EEE, I hope it will come in black too.
Could this be modded to fit a SSD in it? Wonder what the battery life would be like with that instead of a hard drive.
It uses a standard 2.5" notebook drive, so it shouldn't be an issue. I don't know if it's a PATA or SATA connection though.
Give me linux or give me core 2 duo!
does the atom really even perform at 1.6 ghz?
Tests show that it performs slightly better than a Celeron-M 900 at that speed IIRC.
It will run at 1.6GHz, so of course it will perform at 1.6 GHz. Now, I doubt its Core2 GHz, but it should be enough for this purpose oriented laptop (web, music, etc.). It just better not be P4 GHz, because those sucked.
Sweet, now all we need are some benchmarks.
Score MSI
Excellent! Now just to wait for the black one... I don't like these white/big-rainbow-colored things...
If I'm not mistaken, this doodad has a card slot that would allow me to add a firewire port. Can anyone confirm that this is possible? My need for firewire (recording gear) keeps me from going with the MacBook Air... that and all my software is for XP.
5.5 hours battery life is what I've been waiting for ...still waiting to see what Dell is going to offer though.