Teardown party: the MSI Wind and Acer Aspire One get ripped open

You knew this was bound to happen. Like any good piece of gadgetry, there's always someone who can't wait to get their grubby hands all over it... and rip it to shreds to see how it works. Today we present the disemboweling of two of the latest challengers to the Eee's netbook throne: the MSI Wind, and the Acer Aspire One. The Aspire One at least gets the courtesy of a proper unboxing before the medical proceedings begin; the Wind just gets cracked open like a cold PBR at your cousin's barbecue. Don't take our word for it, however -- truck on over to the read links and see the messes with your very own eyes.

Read - Breaking Wind
Read - Acer Aspire One Unboxed and Disassembled

[DefPo3t @ Jul 5th 2008 6:22PM]

First mammaries and now naked PCB boards ..... Shame on you engadget Naughty writers

[nerdtalker @ Jul 5th 2008 6:43PM]

Combine those two, Steve Jobs, and... OH LAWDY... You've got a full on Engadget orgy...

[nerdtalker @ Jul 5th 2008 6:44PM]

Combine those two, throw in Steve Jobs, and... OH LAWDY LAWDY... You've got a full-on iminent Engadget orgy! O_o!?

[nerdtalker @ Jul 5th 2008 6:50PM]

Crap. Another annoying double-post courtesty of this 1999-esque comment system on the leading gadget blog.

My apologies.

[derX @ Jul 5th 2008 8:19PM]

How is that a double post a fault of Engadget's admittedly crappy comment system? The comments are a minute apart with different content. Dude, you posted it twice...unless Engadget's comment system now has self-editing.

Regardless, the comment system does suck and it *is* 1999-esque. If I had to choose a year, I'm fairly certain 1999 would be the year.

[nerdtalker @ Jul 5th 2008 8:34PM]

It's a double post because it initially didn't appear in the comment list like a successful post does.

Instead of using the wrong password resulting in some sort of popup or notification page, it simply refuses to post. Seeing that behavior, I decided to post again, and, since the content wasn't stored somewhere in my clipboard (like I usually do to avoid this problem), I wrote new content.

But, yes, 1999 is the year ;)

[kagai @ Jul 5th 2008 6:27PM]

Your hard drive is showing.

[GatgetMan @ Jul 6th 2008 12:37AM]

Let me get this straight... They BROKE the WIND and RIPPED ONE open?

[helloUser @ Jul 5th 2008 6:32PM]

Is this a serious comment?

[Bellerophon @ Jul 5th 2008 6:34PM]

Of Course It Is. Don't You See How The Comment Has Capitalized Letters For Every Word? That's As Serious As You Can Get.

[DefPo3t @ Jul 5th 2008 6:35PM]

you just upset because clak gets to wait outside the applestore in nyc and be the bigger fanboy

[nerdtalker @ Jul 5th 2008 6:56PM]

You're obviously Clack posting under a different alias, that's why. That, and we're all endgdget readers, and Clak is the most infamously infantile poster ever.

In fact, this will probably draw him out from the dark recesses of the internet to troll again! He will rise from the ashes of the flamewar victorious or your money back. Honestly.

[Travis @ Jul 5th 2008 7:20PM]

Acer read link = Lousy pix and no text.

[Reader @ Jul 5th 2008 8:40PM]

Sounds like my type of article, all pictures no text!

[Travis @ Jul 5th 2008 7:45PM]

Acer reak link = Lousy pix and no text.

[BigD145 @ Jul 5th 2008 7:43PM]

You have to completely open the case and break a warranty sticker to upgrade the memory?! Why is there even a warranty sticker? The last laptop I bought never had one. It also didn't require opening the entire case to get at memory.

[Rick @ Jul 5th 2008 9:11PM]

One word explanation: Micro$oft. They (MSI) have to give some assurance that they or you won't be naughty in terms of the XP Home license:

The OEM licensing agreement for XP Home on these UMPCs is that there be no more than 1 GB of memory, an 80GB HD and 10" or less display.

I don't know how Dell will have the E-Slim with a 12" display though.

[Scott @ Jul 5th 2008 10:04PM]

If you read the article, all you have to do is register with MSI that you're doing a memory upgrade and they send you a new warranty sticker. Not sure what the point is, but at least they don't live you SOL.

[phobic99 @ Jul 6th 2008 7:26AM]

Wow, you mean there's still people that spell Microsoft with a trendy $ for the "S"? Who knew?! That's so cool and so 1997!

[felipe @ Jul 5th 2008 8:21PM]

heh heh
...breaking wind

[^^; @ Jul 5th 2008 8:44PM]

Very poorly designed... No wonder this is made in China (or Taiwan?)...

[Skazer @ Jul 5th 2008 10:24PM]

Taiwan- and most of your computer products are designed and made in Taiwan. Better throw them all out now :(

[whowhatme @ Jul 5th 2008 10:24PM]

uh.. ok...

[Skyride @ Jul 5th 2008 11:43PM]

Yes, that is bassically Asus, Gigabyte, and umm..... everything else not directly PC related. Electronics in general yes, but most directly computer related parts are elsewhere.

[Skazer @ Jul 6th 2008 11:07AM]

D-link, benq, asus, aopen, gigabyte, transcend, ECS, asrock, msi, AU optronics, chaintech, realtek, acer, Liteon, Shuttle, thermaltake, VIA, etc etc.Yeah I think they're VERY involved in many, many computer-related components.

[TNP @ Jul 5th 2008 9:32PM]

Can we 'unbox' you first?

[ronald.raygun @ Jul 5th 2008 10:24PM]

good, looks like it will be easy to change the wireless card to get osx on it. unless they get that working by the time it comes out.

[josearoldan @ Jul 5th 2008 10:54PM]

I wonder how easy to hack/add hardware like the eeepc are these two computers.

[bot @ Jul 5th 2008 11:32PM]

"One thing we found interesting is that there is a DDR2 SO-DIMM slot to upgrade the memory, unlike the Eee, which means the Wind has a much more simplified future expansion compared to your average cheap sub-notebook."

I thought the Eee had a slot to upgrade memory as well, except for the old 2G Surf?

[Skyride @ Jul 5th 2008 11:41PM]

Whats the big deal with pulling these things apart? They arent particularly special in terms of internals. Laptops generally arent and typical desktop PC's just get cooler looking heatsinks and more fans as the price goes up.

Laptops and PC's are so standardised in design that its just not interesting to see their internals.

[GatgetMan @ Jul 6th 2008 12:41AM]

Shouldn't the Apple Fanboy gods set a curse to rain down upon your head for suggesting such HERESY!?

How could you, of all fanboys, suggest a Macbook Air be brutally dismantled!?

[GatgetMan @ Jul 6th 2008 12:42AM]

Well, it's either "Clak" or "Jack Ass"...

[Ypocaramel @ Jul 7th 2008 1:52AM]

Due to their lower prices netbooks are popular amongst tinkerers and modders. Look at the touchscreen moded eees, for example.

[ShadowKain @ Jul 6th 2008 5:07PM]

Its nice to see a few netbooks have emerged that arn't as wimpy as the first Eee PC, If I want a small netbook, sure thats fine, but It should have a little umph as well.