MSI Wind U90 reviewed, thrown back to the wolves

Laptop Mag would evidently like to make two things quite clear: if you pick up MSI's Wind U90, you better love SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and be totally cool with the sub-2 hour battery life. For those of you still with us, you can probably guess that the 8.9-inch Wind didn't do so hot during its review, with those two rubs really overshadowing the solid design, great keyboard and delicious price tag ($350). For whatever reason, MSI figured it'd be peachy to toss a 3-cell battery in there and let mobile users just deal with the 1 hour, 39 minute lifespan; obviously, that's an issue serious road warriors can't ignore. If you're willing to pony up for an extra battery and install your own OS (if SUSE isn't your cup of tea), the Wind U90 might not make for a bad companion, but as-is, you better do some serious soul searching before pulling the trigger.

[Metkis @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:06PM]

I don't want it, but I have to say the battery life in my current Toshiba laptop had deteriorated to about 20-30 minutes. 1 hour and 30~ minutes is still indecent to me. I want at least 3 in a 'net book', but would it be so much to ask for 6 without making the battery jut out like a laptop tumor? (AKA most 6-cells for netbooks.)

[OCEAN 'CLAK' 19TH ACOUNT SOON 1000 LOL @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:11PM]

i still prefer the old msi wind better specs and capable of running OSX, xp, ubuntu, and vista all together as dual boot, plus the designs better on the old msi wind

[mcatrage @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:20PM]

I don't think you know what the word dual means.

[Flashpoint @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:23PM]

I can deal with the subpar 2 hour battery, but, no XP = NO DEAL.

I leave my laptop plugged in ALL the time. I have a HP dv6835 and a Lenovo X60

[lorddshadow @ Oct 4th 2008 12:34AM]

i wouldn't leave it plugged in if i were you. i always left my hp laptop plugged up while using it and now the battery loses 2% per second. literally. 50 second battery life is extremely useless. since i'm too young to have a job or drive to the nearest electronics store, i can't buy a new battery. :(

[Unisyst @ Oct 4th 2008 4:58AM]

I made it a habit to keep my battery out of my laptop. I usually leave it plugged in whenever I use it as well.

[blahblah @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:26PM]

1.5 hour battery life is no problem for me but I'm sure I'm in the minority there. Why don't more laptop makers go for Ubuntu? Its got plenty of community support and in my opinion its totally fabulous. Also, has anyone seen a single new netbook out there with a trackpoint? Ever since my ThinkPad X40 (which at 2.7 lbs, 12" screen is a 'netbook' thats been around for probably 4+ years) I can't imagine ever using a laptop again without trackpoint and Ubuntu.

[Jeffery @ Oct 4th 2008 5:58AM]

I agree. Ubuntu has a much larger community than SuSE (to say nothing of /Xandros/), and they also have a "Netbook Remix" version. It would be nice to see some netbooks preloaded with that. As for XP, if you like it, fair enough, but netbooks are a market that is well-suited for Linux, since it will run on pretty much anything. Heck - I'm writing this on a PIII machine that was kludged together out of free parts, and it runs as a basic desktop machine just fine... Linux just works nicely on low-powered machines, because you can strip out anything you don't like, and replace it with more lightweight software. So yeah... I'm glad that most netbooks have a Linux option, as well as XP. I /do/ hope I never see another netbook attempting to run Vista, however (*shudder* *not pretty*).

[King Mook Mook @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:40PM]

I am surprised. That comment is not as bad as I thought it would be. But why did you double post???? WHY????

[digitallysick @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:50PM]

i have the 4cell battery verison and i hate the battery life compared to my asus 1000h 6cell, so i want a 6 cell or better battery for my wind

[shmuck @ Oct 3rd 2008 11:51PM]

The tiny battery is killer, but SUSE is pretty great. The thing can't run games anyway, no real reason to be using Windows.

[ethana2 @ Oct 4th 2008 12:03AM]

I don't know if I'd leave suse on it or not..
...I think I'd probably try it out for a few days and then wipe it.

[kojo87 @ Oct 4th 2008 12:08AM]

said the man with the Ubuntu icon. wtf

[kojo87 @ Oct 4th 2008 12:10AM]

sorry ethana2 i read that wrong. now i look like a jackass

[Metkis @ Oct 4th 2008 12:01AM]

You know you got voted down because of either:

A.) Your inability to capitalize an "i".

or more likely,

B.) Because your user name contains the word, "Clak".

Whichever one, it's pretty darn funny.

[ethana2 @ Oct 4th 2008 12:05AM]

C.) 4 != 2

[zmjjmz @ Oct 4th 2008 12:09AM]

Why did they preload the slowest Linux distribution known to man?
They should of put antiX or something on there, not SLED.

[Jeffery @ Oct 4th 2008 5:58AM]

I haven't personally tried SuSE (any variant) v10.x, however, 11.0 is pretty speedy, and I've heard it's a vast improvement. That said, it still might be overkill for a netbook. I'm sure I'll go back to SuSE at some point. :P

[Ian @ Oct 4th 2008 12:09AM]

If the size of the body is identical to that of the 10" version, why buy this one? It's just like the 10" version, but more difficult to see details on the screen.

[hansning @ Oct 4th 2008 12:26AM]

because it costs 2/3 it's big brother.

[hansning @ Oct 4th 2008 12:23AM]

i'm pretty sure the u90 has a 8.9 inch and not 10

[Mike @ Oct 4th 2008 12:25AM]

We all know it's going to be OS X or XP on this thing, so the only thing up for debate is the battery.

[DanFunky @ Oct 4th 2008 12:30AM]

MSI sure needs some better leadership when it comes to releasing product lines. The Wind could be even more of a success if it wasn't for all the shipping issues and bizarre product choices. I love my 10" black Wind w/6 cell battery, but come on MSI...
1. No white MSI in the states at launch - only black - I settled
2. When white arrives it's only the "Love edition" which was in stock on their site FOREVER because no one wants it for any price.
3. Switching trackpads after review models with poorer quality version
4. Disabled overclocking feature unless you use a bug filled beta BIOS.
5. Still no spare batteries
6. Still no Linux version in the U100
7. Now a cheaper 9" U90 version with SUSE and a a horrible battery
8. I'm beginning to think the rumored 9 cell battery could be real at only 80 pounds.

Get a grip MSI!!!

[KilgoreTrout @ Oct 4th 2008 4:08AM]

Yes I also thought that MSI's marketing policies are pretty wierd.
The MSI wind (the first one not this downgraded version) has been marketed under at least 4 or 5 rebranded names, and all of them, ALL, are definitely better that the original.
I feel that I 've been so lucky to be able to buy a 1 month old Medion "miniAkoya" , which is just a rebranded MSI wind but with undeniably better looks and a nice choice of colours.
It was available in Europe 3 month before the MSI and it costed 60 USD less; it included Bluetooth, wifi a,b & g., a 120GB HD, Atom 1,6 Gb CPU, 2 GB ddr2, XP sp3, works, MS office, ulead, all the Nero suite and other useful commercial software + 3 YEARS full guarantee and a carrying sleeve.
Now, 3 months after buying it (and loving it), I still get nearly 3 hours battery life (without using the external DVD writer, or DTV-B)
In the UK Sainsbury sold another rebranding (can't remember the name) for the same price (60 USD cheaper than the original wind with same specs but only 1 (upgradeable ) 1 GB ddr2; and I've seen other rebrandings too of which I can't remember the specs, but I remember that they were all better than the MSI's original.

And now this "new model" that eliminates all that made the wind stand out among netbooks.
Something is seriously wrong whith this guys.

[KilgoreTrout @ Oct 4th 2008 4:09AM]

Yes I also thought that MSI's marketing policies are pretty wierd.
The MSI wind (the first one not this downgraded version) has been marketed under at least 4 or 5 rebranded names, and all of them, ALL, are definitely better that the original.
I feel that I 've been so lucky to be able to buy a 1 month old Medion "miniAkoya" , which is just a rebranded MSI wind but with undeniably better looks and a nice choice of colours.
It was available in Europe 3 month before the MSI and it costed 60 USD less; it included Bluetooth, wifi a,b & g., a 120GB HD, Atom 1,6 Gb CPU, 2 GB ddr2, XP sp3, works, MS office, ulead, all the Nero suite and other useful commercial software + 3 YEARS full guarantee and a carrying sleeve.
Now, 3 months after buying it (and loving it), I still get nearly 3 hours battery life (without using the external DVD writer, or DTV-B)
In the UK Sainsbury sold another rebranding (can't remember the name) for the same price (60 USD cheaper than the original wind with same specs but only 1 (upgradeable ) 1 GB ddr2; and I've seen other rebrandings too of which I can't remember the specs, but I remember that they were all better than the MSI's original.

And now this "new model" that eliminates all that made the wind stand out among netbooks.
Something is seriously wrong whith this guys.

[KilgoreTrout @ Oct 4th 2008 4:09AM]

Yes I also thought that MSI's marketing policies are pretty wierd.
The MSI wind (the first one not this downgraded version) has been marketed under at least 4 or 5 rebranded names, and all of them, ALL, are definitely better that the original.
I feel that I 've been so lucky to be able to buy a 1 month old Medion "miniAkoya" , which is just a rebranded MSI wind but with undeniably better looks and a nice choice of colours.
It was available in Europe 3 month before the MSI and it costed 60 USD less; it included Bluetooth, wifi a,b & g., a 120GB HD, Atom 1,6 Gb CPU, 2 GB ddr2, XP sp3, works, MS office, ulead, all the Nero suite and other useful commercial software + 3 YEARS full guarantee and a carrying sleeve.
Now, 3 months after buying it (and loving it), I still get nearly 3 hours battery life (without using the external DVD writer, or DTV-B)
In the UK Sainsbury sold another rebranding (can't remember the name) for the same price (60 USD cheaper than the original wind with same specs but only 1 (upgradeable ) 1 GB ddr2; and I've seen other rebrandings too of which I can't remember the specs, but I remember that they were all better than the MSI's original.

And now this "new model" that eliminates all that made the wind stand out among netbooks.
Something is seriously wrong whith this guys.

[ChrisReigh @ Oct 4th 2008 4:54AM]

Yeah, i've got the U100 and i absolutely love it. I've got the 6-cell battery and that thing lasts for about 2.5-3 hours on average. I love it, probably one of the best investments yet. Looking at this review is pretty astonishing to think that there would be such a huge difference in basically an identical product.

Hate to say it, but linux just doesn't fit right with me...Regardless, lets hope the 9-cell battery isn't a 100-pound oil drum.

[David @ Oct 5th 2008 12:47PM]

You're only getting 3hrs with the 6-cell?

I'm absolutely getting the 5 hrs promised (or at least high-4 hours).

I think you mis-typed.

[William B @ Oct 5th 2008 6:32AM]

This is the 7800mAh battery manufactured by Fattafa for the MSI Wind U100 Netbook. It also fits the following:

Advent 4211, Medion Akoya Mini, MyBook M11 Freedom, Mouse Computer, Tsunami Moover T10, Mivvy M310, Casper Minibook, Datron Mobee N011, Proline U100, CMS ICBook M1, Roverbook Neo U100, Ahtec Netbook LUG N011

Color is White

11.1v, 7800mAh, 9 Cell battery.


http://www.lionbattery.com/description.php?noproduit=1631

[ssrat_ @ Oct 5th 2008 8:13AM]

OK a 9c white battery pack on a black computer...(there is a deep blue version of the wind right?)
The best part of the link is that it is free! making it one hell of an upgrade :) Hopefully it comes in at less than $100.

I THINK that it will be the basic one with a 6c, since I must be missing the big "upgrade" to "business class"

HARD corners, same size case, keyboard a "tad" bigger the SSD might be available larger but that's because more options just came out.

The only other thing might be the max memory, other than that since the keyboard is "that close" already I don't see it

[ssrat_ @ Oct 5th 2008 8:15AM]

My bad I went to start looking for their other stuff and they DO have a black version, the original link was just to the white

[Jash Sayani @ Oct 4th 2008 7:07AM]

EeePC is the best. It rulz. MSI Wind fails in front of it !!!

Waiting for EeePC 1000H with HSUPA !! Hurry up ASUS !!

[PEZ @ Oct 4th 2008 8:02AM]

Might be time to start porting ANDROID to these netbooks. Hey, its free! Come on asus/msi, yada yada...