MSI Wind gets terse pre-release review
By Darren Murph 
posted May 31st 2008 2:12PM
posted May 31st 2008 2:12PM
It's pretty tough to wrap your melon around, but MSI's Wind has not yet officially launched per se. That being said, it has still managed to end up in the hands of quite a few eager subnote lovers, and Laptop Mag is no exception. Shortly after the UK branch of CNET posted up their initial impressions, along comes yet another mini-review to get you even more worked up about June 3rd. Here's the skinny so far: the screen is amazing, keyboard is as well, the trackpad is simply too cramped and the port assortment is very respectable. All in all, critics were left "seriously impressed," and they even threw together a video and image gallery for checking out afterwards. Head on over, alright?
Where in the U.S. will this thing be available for purchase? I dont see it listed anywhere on newegg, amazon and all the other usual places. Please post links or stores where you know it's going to be available.
thanks.
It won't be released until mid June
According to Netkas Leopard runs on the 1.6ghz atom just fine. Performance is between a quicksilver g4 mac and a g4 mac mini, more ram helps (it was tested on 512k)
Not only is this laptop much more portable and 1/4 the price of a MBA, it'll run leopard too. I bet it.
The only thing that may not work is the Atheros based wireless in leopard, but thats easily remedied by a usb one.
Btw, I bought an APEX MI-100 mini-itx case (45.08 with 250 watt psu) and the Intel BOX945GCLF motherboard with the atom on it (64.12) ncix in canada pricematched directcanada.com (they're in stock) and that saved me about 30 bux.
Also, depending on performance, tinyxp rev09 will fly on this.
lol tinyxp
go grab n-lite and make your own, much better version than that junk.
the only worthwile cut-down program/os that you can download is nero lite or some usb drive linux OS.
I've never been so excited over a laptop, but then again, I only bought one once... If thsi thing proves to be useful I just might buy a couple more...
The thing I love about this is that there's a full-on brawl for this new micronotebook niche. It's awesome. Back in the day, you couldn't get a machine like this for less than $3k imported from Japan, and now there's a bunch of choices for under $400. Let the slugfest continue: so far we have Asus, MSI, Dell, and HP. Apple and IBM's little notebooks aren't really in the same league as these, I wonder if they've got something else up their sleeves. I'm still hoping that rumored Apple nano tablet that docks in an iMac is real...
When can I sell my Eee PC 701 for this thing?
Two months ago.
Please make the MSI on the back of the lcd light up. :)
Yes, MSI is a good reliable British brand. It is a key division of Amstrad and has been managed by one of Alan Sugar's apprentices for the past couple of years.
lmfao
@Keith: Actually, "terse" is regularly used to mean "brief" in England, which is part of the English-speaking world... This is becoming surreal!
Ah, yes, I wasn't sure. Note that I indicated in a previous post that I wasn't sure of the usage in England. ;) Don't take this the wrong way )it's not intended as a slight), but the use of the word in this post almost sounds like a British usage. ;) For the record I'm Canadian...
My question is, does terse in England have anything but a negative connotation? In North America it is basically synonymous with "curt" or "laconic".
Keith, I hate to break this to you and I'm sure you'll deny this to the bitter end, but laconic, like terse, does not have a negative connotation.
Let's see what reference.com says:
laconic
adjective
brief and to the point; effectively cut short; "a crisp retort"; "a response so curt as to be almost rude"; "the laconic reply; 'yes'"; "short and terse and easy to understand"
Keith MacDonald you are a dumbass.
@Keith: In England, both "terse" and "laconic" are used regularly in a neutral way; I think the negative meaning is used less frequently. Also, a quick check shows the neutral definition is usually the first definition in English dictionaries (I don't know about American-English ones)...
I hope the Mini Inspirion's specs are a few times better than the Winds' . I like the Wind but Dell has better "packaging".
I think that is a matter of opinion. Dell may have candy apple red but its squarish and as a result has a lot of dead space in front of and behind the odd keyboard as well as around the bezel.
Am I the only one who doesn't think the wind looks very good? It's not BAD but it's not great either.
And why can't someone make a subnotebook that is .74 inches in depth at both front AND back? It just seems like these all are much thicker than they need to be.
its that stupid vga port. if they get rid of it, they can make it much slimmer. my old sharp mm20 had no vga port, instead, it had an adapter. i never used the vga port so i never carried that adapter around.
Someone should give the Wind to Steve Jobs as a 4th of July gift.
The card inside would read.
Dear Steve,
Here, have a real portable computer.
Love users who want a fucking usable system instead of a fashion statement.
@Keith,
I don't mean to be terse, but were either of your Ivy League degrees in English ?
Funny, my sister is studying dentistry at Kings College, London. She truly believes that becuase Kings is a leading research insititute, that she is qualified to debate on any medical topic.
I am not sure how old you are, how many books you have read, how many continents you have lived how many decades on, how many dinner tables with how many writers and intellctual giants you have sat around.
However, in the context you are thinking "terse" is sometimes, SOMETIMES, used in conjunction with a negative response to the extent that the response is intended exact an immediate SHORT response, whilst at the same time leaving no doubt as to the intention of the statement.
So, it would run something like this;
"I don't care how many ivy league degrees you have got, you are still full of shit".
Therefore you are right in your association of the term terse, in the above context.
Example of terse in a positive sense;
"The wine is fine".
But this would be terse only in context. So, if you said this in reply to my saying "I do so love this love, it's bouquet is so aromatic it makes my feet dance with the lightness of a butterfly on a hot July day, whilst Angels look on from on high. What do you think of the wine?"
The response is positive and to the point.
I am full of shit.
"I don't mean to be terse, but were either of your Ivy League degrees in English ?"
Actually the real question is were either of them in linguistics? The thing about words is that they never have exactly the same meaning twice. Why? Because their meaning comes from context. Every word in a sentence influences the others around it. Dictionaries are historical works. All they tell you is how a word has been used in the past (notably, with context omitted which for the sake of brevity which is a problem in and of itself). The fact of the matter is that there is no innate connection between the sound _tûrs_ and a given meaning. The map is not the territory.
@Darkstar: I'm sure that's part of it but it can't be all. My brother has an old dell x200 which is .8 inches thick at both front and back and was made in 2002/3. Incidentally, you can buy one off ebay for $200 in good condition.
But it still has the 3-cell battery standard, which kills it. And they're still selling it as a Windows machine rather than a Linux one.
As a professor of English at Princeton University, I am getting a kick out of these replies.
Seriously, however, terse has an even more esoteric meaning: "To be rubbed smooth". It is often found in prose and poems applied to river stones.
That said, I believe that its usage in the headline is appropriate, as the secondary meaning of terse - brief and to the point - isn't unpopular among the well-read in the U.S.
Dr. MacDonald, please don't feel bad. I've seen people with multiple PhDs from Ivy League schools make mistakes before. Particularly the mistake of pursuing three PhDs in Humanities!
Leaves lots of time to post comments on Engadget. After all, Starbucks has short shifts.