MSI plots touchscreen Wind, 13.3-inch U300 ultraportable for CES

After hints aplenty, MSI has gotten super serious about what's going to go down in January at CES 2009. As expected, there'll be a Wind U110, U115 and redesigned U120 (pictured). Those will land in the States in January, and will co-exist with the U100. MSI's also prepping a 13.3-inch U300, which won't be part of the Wind line, but will be billed as an "affordable," thin and light ultraportable -- people will be "shocked," says MSI's US Sales Director Andy Tung. Shocked. MSI also promised to bring a touchscreen Wind to the show, but has no promises on the release front.

[Jim Grover @ Dec 10th 2008 11:59AM]

By the looks of this touchscreen, someone had some grubby hands.

[nerdtalker @ Dec 10th 2008 12:15PM]

Seriously. Looking at it makes me feel nauseous. I hope it ships with a microfiber cloth or something to keep that high gloss sheen bevel clean.

[OneLove @ Dec 10th 2008 2:50PM]

Please no more new netbooks. (Dear netbook, please die now, it was fun. - onelove)

[MikefromAmsterdam @ Dec 10th 2008 12:00PM]

...judging from that picture, MSI will have to throw in a screen wipe. The thing looks like a fingerprint magnet!

[James @ Dec 10th 2008 3:23PM]

I think someone mistook sandpaper for a microfiber cloth.

[MikefromAmsterdam @ Dec 10th 2008 12:02PM]

*note to self: remember to press F5 before posting comments to Engadget.

[htd @ Dec 10th 2008 12:05PM]

why still such a big border around the screen?

[tom @ Dec 10th 2008 12:10PM]

to accomodate an almost full size keyboard

[Al Gore @ Dec 10th 2008 12:07PM]

Indeed, it does look like they are SUPER SERIAL about this.

[xB Owner @ Dec 10th 2008 12:14PM]

Would have been nice to see th U300 before Christmas. Depending on specs, it might have made a nice gift for the wife.

[ZSX @ Dec 10th 2008 12:15PM]

I really do love my MSI Wind (I have the Advent 4211 incarnation), but the one thing I wish it had was built-in WWAN support. The HSDPA dongle I'm using sticks out miles. I'm not about to buy a U120 to sort it out, but it is good to see more netbook manufacturers finally including integrated cellular access. After all, netbooks are about accessing the internet everywhere.

[Mark @ Dec 10th 2008 5:31PM]

You and 5 other people. The rest of us tether or make do without being chained for two years to a $60 data plan.

[Jacob @ Dec 10th 2008 12:16PM]

I'm not so sure "shocked" is the correct description for peoples reactions. A touchscreen netbook? I can see some benefits but perhaps investing in less border around the screen as mentioned earlier in the comments would have been better first? I suppose disposing of the need for a mouse is a bonus.

[telepheedian @ Dec 10th 2008 12:29PM]

He was talking about the 13.3 inch ultraportable.

[coffee @ Dec 10th 2008 4:36PM]

the "shocker" is an attempt at a macbook-air style thin 13.3" notebook that costs less than $1500.

[Matt @ Dec 10th 2008 12:31PM]

Unless the screen can swivel around to be used as a tablet, I fail to really see the point of having a touchscreen on a netbook. It seems like it would be awkward to use with the keyboard sticking out in front of it.

[Patriks7 @ Dec 10th 2008 12:39PM]

The point of having one in a netbook is if you are in a classroom taking notes and need to quickly draw something or write a formula thats impossible to type using a keyboard.. I would really welcome such a thing on my MacBook, as I always have my notes on my laptop but all my drawings and such are on separate papers :\ really annoying :/

[Matt @ Dec 10th 2008 12:45PM]

Yeah, I would like a touchscreen netbook too, but it just seems like it would be far easier to write on and take notes with if the screen could swivel around and fold down like a normal tablet. Unless the screen hinges are really stiff, I would think writing on the screen would be incredibly difficult without this feature. Maybe if you could just open it the whole way, but then you would still have to lean over the whole bottom part of the laptop.

[huh @ Dec 10th 2008 1:55PM]

I've had a conventional notebook with touchscreen (Fujitsu B series), and while it's better than no touchscreen, it's quite awkward for drawing, it is more designed for navigation. Convertibles make a lot of sense, and there is already the Gigabyte M912, which just needs refinement to be a near perfect form factor which I think will become very popular starting in 2009. It would be outstanding to see a company really focus on this concept and make a mass produced good quality (think unibody), low cost model.

[TareX @ Dec 10th 2008 12:47PM]

I dream of a 10" netbook with minimal border around it's multi-touch screen, and a dedicated graphics card.

So if that's not their "shocker" then, too bad.

[Stephen Lang @ Dec 10th 2008 1:24PM]

I think you are actually dreaming about an 11" netbook with minimal border.

If they keep the screen at 10" and eliminate the border, the keyboard will be too small to touch type on.

[mailbox01 @ Dec 10th 2008 12:56PM]

Just in time for Windows 7

[timmy @ Dec 10th 2008 1:05PM]

Introducing the new MSI Smear !!!!

[Argot @ Dec 10th 2008 1:21PM]

Yeah, they should have a big smear campaign.

[iHoppipolla @ Dec 10th 2008 2:12PM]

Wow! It's the new beat-t0-hell case mod!

Wicked!

[Jash Sayani @ Dec 10th 2008 2:13PM]

I wanna get the EeePC 1002HA.... The best netbook currently available, according to me.

[FiL @ Dec 10th 2008 6:16PM]

If only it had a real right-shift key!

[rgbFilter @ Dec 10th 2008 2:17PM]

Why oh why can't they make it a convertible touchscreen? Hell, you'd think Asus would already have one given the number of EEE models that exist.

[ED @ Dec 10th 2008 4:46PM]

Have we had this picture on a previous post? Those smears look very familiar.
*quick tag search*
Yup, the same pic as for http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/19/msi-wind-u120-gets-spotted-examined-in-the-wild/

[Ryan Meray @ Dec 11th 2008 12:45AM]

I'll probably be waiting awhile, but I'm trying to hold out for that dual-core netbook with all the extras and goodies that a proper notebook should have. Give me full Bluetooth+EDR, give me at least a 10" screen, LED backlighting, and at least 6 hour runtimes, and I'll be a happy camper.

[Chung Dha @ Dec 11th 2008 9:39AM]

Which they design some material that is phobic to dirty fingers stains so you don't have to clean the screen each time some one touches it with a greasy finger.