MSI has unveiled the 13.4-inch X-Slim 320 (is that you,
U300?), which at 1.98cm and about 2.87 pounds puts it just a teensy bit lighter and thicker than its Cupertino-born doppelganger, and comes with either a 4 or 8 cell battery that lasts up to 10 hours. The company provides no specs in its presser, but our cohorts at Engadget Chinese were at an MSI pre-CES event and report that we're looking at a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1366 x 768 resolution, up to 2GB DDR2 RAM, 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3.5G network card, three USB ports, an Ethernet port, VGA output, and an all-in-one card reader, and according to
Crave it might be using the
NVIDIA Ion platform. It's coming second quarter of 2009 for about $800 -- we'll see it for ourselves later this week.
[Via
Engadget Chinese]
Read - MSI press release
Read - Crave report
posted Jan 5th 2009 1:43PM
"either a 4 or 8 cell battery that lasts up to 10 hours."
Sounds removable
WOW It's almost as thin as STEVE JOBS
*badum ching !*
I can't believe I'm voting you up.
"[..]4 or 8 cell battery that lasts up to 10 hours."
then I will take the 4 cell battery that lasts up to 10 hours, thank you.
/Nc
Little wary of Instant Rim Shot websites since last time....
"Request blocked by WebBlocker"...Is that the best picture they had?
Wow, flashpoint, that came out of nowhere... A++, would laugh again!
ah, he (flashpoint) reads XKCD... nothing original there
Q4 09, does this mean it will run on Windows 7?
That would be Q2 09...
Ive been running windows 7 for a few weeks now (build 6801 on this laptop and build 7000 on the main). I have to say... meh. Its faster than Vista, and prettier than OsX, but I still like XP...
What's that? 3 USB ports, VGA, Ethernet and built in WWAN? Oh, and a card reader as a bonus!
I'm guessing you'll be able to fit slightly thicker USB peripherals in the slots too...
Whaddaya say to that, macbook Air?
Personally I would rather have a mini-DisplayPort or a HDMI port instead of VGA.
You go to any business and give a presentation, what will EVERY SINGLE PROJECTOR have in common? VGA. It servers a purpose.
From the MacBook Air:
Well, since I have a faster processor and graphics card, I can actually accomplish tasks while you look like an idiot plugging in all those peripherals you always claim to need all at one time while traveling light.
Uh huh; sure. Keep quoting specs that don't matter.
I'm sure Apple would remind us, this new MSI notebook runs windows and looks like a cheap crapgadget. Why would anyone throw their money down the tubes on this? Seriously, I use both Mac OS X and Windows. There is no competition. My Macbook Pro is just better in every way. It's stable. I don't get pop-ups or spyware (though, in fairness, this can be avoided to some degree on a Windows box by minding one's behavior online). It's blazing fast. It doesn't just slow down all by itself over time, like Windows.
Fine, I need an adapter for projectors. Really, it's not a big deal in the least.
Okay. After popping over to the Chinese Engadget site, it doesn't appear crap-gadgety at all. It actually is aesthetically pleasing. But...err...is that a single button for the trackpad?! Wow, I wonder how the Windows fanboys are going to spin this one. :)
Rocker button. It's two buttons that are "joined" in the center: Clicking the left is a left click, clicking the right is a right click.
an adapter will convert DisplayPort, DVI, Mini-DVI and HDMI to VGA.. but not the other way around so I would rather take a digital port which can be converted to VGA compared to a VGA that will only ever be VGA. Take a look here http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419 Like the above poster said.. Mini-DVI would have been the smartest choice.
@ Gian
The MSI Wind I own runs MacOSX natively, so I imagine that if someone wanted to slap OSX on this new model, there is a high probability that it will run it. I dual boot to both operating systems frequently and I haven't had any trouble in the 5+ months I've been doing this.
That hinge doesn't look very solid.
Those elbows are too sharp.
This assrash is killing me.
my Gimpy ankle is giving me all sorts of trouble.
Nice, with this kind of competition it means that there will be a new macbook air anytime (not too) soon with more ports and more battery life, just in time for my next laptop replacement.
I hope they lower the price tough.
C'mon, where's the dual core atom? As for the battery, I'm guessing it will come with the 4cell, and MSI will charge $200 for the 8cell battery, that is if you can actually find it. Why don't they just use the 8cell by default? I'm tired of portables being crippled with lousy battery life, despite the advancement in power management and power efficient chips.
Some people are more concerned with weight, and an 8-cell battery on a super-light laptop adds a lot. Nice to have the choice, I think.
coffee: It is good if it's actually a choice. However, unless it's a BTO like Dell, the higher capacity battery is usually impossible to find retail/online wise, and are way overpriced.
good point, Pika. Hopefully this time both batteries will be available upon release.
Well, the 8-cell is likely to make it thicker, which may make it not
fit in an envelope. (Ya know, in case you _wanted_ to carry it in
one.) In the world of T&Ls, there actually can be logic involved with
going with the compact battery sometimes, so I'm in favor of the
option. But I _do_ hope they have good availability of both...
They have the choice so they can say this laptop costs as little as $800, lasts as long as 10 hours, and weighs as little as 2.87lb.
Just not all at the same time. I am sure the 8 cell will be protruding too, for that really cheap feeling.
another beauty to cut bread with!
Cake...
Want it.
1 Word:
Nicee.....
HA, except for that resolution, I do hate odd resolutions/screen sizes. Forces your screen to downsize for a game when you have a higher res, just doesnt fit anything preset. Small gripe I know.
Dude, anything like this will just SUCK at playing games. You should find something else.
Oh darn, and I was prepping to reinstall Crysis and everything!
Interesting stuff, even though the design really could have been a bit more original.
Nice screen, nice port selection, integrated WWAN, low weight, apparently good battery life - me likey!
I can't see where it says that WWAN is built in. I have a bog-standard Wind, and the one thing I wish it had is integrated WWAN. From MSI's press release only the Wind U120 has 3.5G/WiMAX on board.
Erm...both the linked Crave article and the post here say that it has a HS*PA interface of some sort...
Fits 'smugly' is more like it amirite.
I lol'd
I was roaring with laughter in real life and everything. Well played, sir!
"Dont worry jim Im going to interoffice your laptop....."
This isn't an Air Competitor. It is a Mini 12 Competitor, and a damn good one at that. Hopefully the keyboard is solid. Honestly, this all most coders need: A light platform with a good keyboard. Here's to hoping Dell up's that Ante and brings the Z530 as well so we can get 2GB of Ram on the Mini 12's.
Like hell it isn't. Explain what market the MBA is competing in? An under powered, low profile laptop seems to fit the description of the MBA pretty well. MSI can't compete with OSX tho so we'll have to see what Android or Ubuntu can put forward in the not-to-distant future. Otherwise, MBA is just overpriced using the wrong approach to make a slim laptop.
@ ken.
Windows 7 can compete with your precious OSX.
i've used both, and im posting on a PC running windows 7 build 7000 and im happier with it then i was with OSX.
@Ken
First of all, the Macbook Air is vastly more powerful than this. It has a normal ~1.8Ghz dual-core Core 2 Duo. This has a single-core atom.
More importantly perhaps, the Air is obviously meant for a market niche that values extreme portability and form over function. With a single (recessed) USB port, no firewire, no expresscard, no eSATA, no card reader, etc it obviously isn't for geeks.
To the OP, I don't know what you work on, but I'm guessing it must involve HTML/javascript or Python/PHP/Ruby, and not use much of an IDE. A single-core atom and a slow-ass 4200RPM drive would choke to death trying to compile C/C++/ or JIT C#/Java, and Visual studio or eclipse would be a drag on that thing...
I agree, this is a netbook competitor, and it's refreshing to see some design innovation in the class. Most of the ones currently out have pretty bland designs (small and cute, but not as light or small as they could be).
Two things I'd be interested in with this - dual core atom and whether this thing uses a normal 2.5" hard drive. If it has those things, sign me up.
In a way, aren't all netbooks laptop competitors by definition? Before, if you wanted a low-powered laptop just for surfing the web and word processing, you had to try to find an old/used laptop and a wifi add-on card. It could be said that the more powerful a netbook is, the more it draws from the laptop market (and, naturally, the netbook market as well).
This is only a competitor for the Air in form factor, as already stated. But what's starting to bother me is that they make a big deal about how these three pound beasts fit in manila envelopes. Those of us who have actual ultraportables know there's a 50% weight difference between those and the Air; I'd love a 13 inch screen, but my 12.1 inch will have to do if I have to sacrifice 1.48 more pounds to get the bigger screen. Plenty of good, high quality ultraportables are available which weigh less than two pounds and have more performance-oriented mobile chipsets than Atom.
This is an interesting entry because it has a larger screen size than its true competitors and is built in a frame that has the ports and affixes of a real ultraportable.
Why are "r" and "ead" two separate links for the Crave report?
This looks pretty sweet though, I'm certainly liking the battery life.
$800 for an atom equipped netbook? That's a sick joke.
$600 tops.
$550 would make this a best seller.
Yeah, we know the innards is cheap. Let's face it though, cheap netbooks are low margins, so companies will try to spin and upsell them to get higher margins. This is one of them.
this is exactly what i'm looking for - bigger display they today's atoms, light as apple air, with atom's low performance, but also with near atom's low price.
I got only 2 problems:
a) not yet on the market
b) if it will come to the europe in the second half of the year, so at the time of windows 7, i except and want touching display
msi X-Slim 320 + iatkos =cheep mackbook air
If it uses the Nvidia chipset would make a much better air than the air itself does.
Nothing about the HDD in any of the releases that I could see. Could be a craptastic PATA ZIF 5400 rpm or slower 1.8" drive (better would be a 1.8" SATA like the new Toshiba's), or could be an SSD of some kind, or could support both. Anybody have any idea?
According to Engadget Chinese:
"Hard Disk: 2.5-inch, there is no plan SSD "
I assume this to mean a regular 2.5" HDD. Would be even lighter (but more expensive) if you threw in the 2.5" SSD. Nice if it was an option when it gets to the States.
Uh oh.. I smell a new Serato notebook for myself!
I just don't think using laptops with those sharp edges is very fun at all. Really starts to cut into your wrists. Can't we just round that mess off a bit?
What, no DVI? Not even a DVI breakout box?
Wonderful! i said i would buy the first netbook with a higher res than 1024 x 600, and i own a msi wind and love it. Perfect osx86 machine.
The price is a bit high, and i wish they would include something higher than a 1.6atom , how about a 2.2 atom? or something like that would be nice
The slides shown on the engadget chinese site seem to make it clear that this is menlow so I would think Nvidia Ion would be out. Though it would certainly be nice if it was Ion. I'd consider picking it up.
OH my gos me want me want!
well thats an original design i have never seen before.
Oh and my DSLite fits in a standard envelope
Every one wants to be like apple
Notice after the iPhone came out touch screen phones got popular
Touch screen phones existed before iPhone came out. Hmmm... Apple is very Japanese, they copy and improve and excel on products that are already out in the market. The Xerox interface, the Creative dap interface, and switch from resistive to capacitive touchscreen. When Apple comes out with something apple fans call it original without studying where Apple copied the design from. However Apple does have a knack for reorganizing and simplifying interfaces that other companies fail to do in the name of ergonomics.
This sounds like a well thought out machine. MS seems to be on the right track as of late.
no display port/hdmi out - no thanks
wow looks nice
Intel Atom doesn't sound fun though...
Sony still king I guess
Loved reading the Chinese engadget
Hehe
I know you guys american are among the wealthiest people on earth, and given your currency's value changes everyday I assume even YOU don't know how much a dollar really is worth..
But hey Can't you make a difference between $800 and $1800 ?
I 'll convert it in euros for you (maybe this will do the trick and turn your brain on) : 593 euros and 1332 euros.
Now let me tell you a little story, a metaphor : I once wanted to buy a new car, and was quite seduced by a mercedes berline I had seen in the streets, but then I realized it was twice cheaper to buy the high end Citroën C5.
I compared the specs and all : both car had everything I need from security (8 airbags,ABS, ESP blabla ) to confort and performance (I drive 900 km out of 55 l of gasoil and top speed 220km/h)
Later on I went to visit a friend at his job (a engine factory) and realised Montupet SA was actually manufacturing both Mercedes and Citroën engines, in the exact same factory !
I then understood the only difference between my car and the Mercedes I wanted at the beginning was the fucking 3-branch-star at the rear and on the front.
But the most amazing thing is : I would have done EXACTLY the same thing with this car that I do today (driving my ass from A to B) had I decided that two 3-branch-stars are worth 25000 euros.
I hope this helps underlining the absolute stupidity of the comparison between the MBA and this new MSI (that I find highly promising)
Either you're ok paying twice as much to do the exact same thing or not, it's not logic nor arguments that will convince you not to do so.
(ty for reading and sorry for the long comment)
Sorry, you are totally wrong. Get a Mercedes at some point to see for yourself ;) Not to say that the Citroen is a fine car, I actually like their styling a lot. It'll get you from A to B like most cars these days. But it's no Mercedes.
With these machines its even more obvious. The Air is twice as expensive and twice as fast. For people like myself who are not poor students anymore and who actually need some serious horsepower in their machines, the Air would be the only choice.
seriously just get and air, i mean rlly, all of these netbooks and eee Pc's its stupid, they all fail in some area...even the macbook air however its from apple, and if you really want to you can still run XP or Vista on it
Skip the Air and buy this. They're both going to get used for going online, watching downloaded movies, watching pornography, etc. Both are perfectly capable of all these tasks, but Apple is going to charge you an extra grand to do it.
If you're worried about not owning the world's thinnest laptop, don't. Though you don't own it, neither do Macbook Air owners, unless they happen to own a Sharp Actius MM10, the actual world's thinnest laptop. The ill-fated Pedion, released in 1998, was also thinner than the Air. I guess "World's Thinnest Laptop, If You Ignore These Other, Thinner Laptops" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
If I were going to make bold lies about my product, though, I would have gone for gold. "World's most powerful computer of any sort, ever," perhaps. Maybe "cures cancer while enlarging your penis". Or "renders user immortal". These are slightly more outlandish, but exactly as truthful.
In the end, yeah, it's a knockoff, but it has the same functionality as the original, with a thousand dollars knocked off the price. Only buy the Air if you're a yuppie living off a trust fund, and you need something flashy to pretend to write a screenplay with at Starbucks in a desperate, pathetic bid for attention, because you couldn't fill the void in your soul with cocaine, expensive cars, and thousand dollar prostitutes.