MSI unveils ultra-thin X-Slim 320, fits snugly into manila envelope

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

[Josh Ladella @ Jan 5th 2009 1:48PM]

"either a 4 or 8 cell battery that lasts up to 10 hours."

Sounds removable

[Flashpoint @ Jan 5th 2009 2:35PM]

WOW It's almost as thin as STEVE JOBS

*badum ching !*

[Samboini @ Jan 5th 2009 2:42PM]

I can't believe I'm voting you up.

[NC @ Jan 5th 2009 3:52PM]

"[..]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

[Steve @ Jan 5th 2009 3:22PM]

Little wary of Instant Rim Shot websites since last time....

[OneLove @ Jan 5th 2009 3:47PM]

"Request blocked by WebBlocker"...Is that the best picture they had?

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Jan 5th 2009 7:51PM]

Wow, flashpoint, that came out of nowhere... A++, would laugh again!

[JL @ Jan 11th 2009 9:43AM]

ah, he (flashpoint) reads XKCD... nothing original there

[Zak @ Jan 5th 2009 1:51PM]

Q4 09, does this mean it will run on Windows 7?

[Phoenix @ Jan 5th 2009 1:53PM]

That would be Q2 09...

[justin @ Jan 8th 2009 2:12PM]

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...

[Phoenix @ Jan 5th 2009 1:52PM]

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?

[strang @ Jan 5th 2009 1:54PM]

Personally I would rather have a mini-DisplayPort or a HDMI port instead of VGA.

[Phoenix @ Jan 5th 2009 2:01PM]

You go to any business and give a presentation, what will EVERY SINGLE PROJECTOR have in common? VGA. It servers a purpose.

[iomatic @ Jan 6th 2009 2:31PM]

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.

[Gian @ Jan 5th 2009 2:21PM]

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.

[Gian @ Jan 5th 2009 2:25PM]

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. :)

[Phoenix @ Jan 5th 2009 2:36PM]

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.

[Jughead @ Jan 5th 2009 2:54PM]

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.

[Oscarv77 @ Jan 5th 2009 4:16PM]

@ 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.

[Peter @ Jan 5th 2009 1:56PM]

That hinge doesn't look very solid.

[Mark @ Jan 5th 2009 4:51PM]

Those elbows are too sharp.

[swingin' dick hero @ Jan 5th 2009 6:05PM]

This assrash is killing me.

[CJ @ Jan 5th 2009 10:56PM]

my Gimpy ankle is giving me all sorts of trouble.

[pika2000 @ Jan 5th 2009 1:57PM]

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.

[coffee @ Jan 5th 2009 2:18PM]

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.

[pika2000 @ Jan 5th 2009 2:37PM]

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.

[coffee @ Jan 5th 2009 4:08PM]

good point, Pika. Hopefully this time both batteries will be available upon release.

[Benson @ Jan 5th 2009 7:11PM]

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...

[nikster @ Jan 8th 2009 7:56PM]

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.

[htd @ Jan 5th 2009 1:57PM]

another beauty to cut bread with!

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jan 5th 2009 8:17PM]

Cake...

[Dave @ Jan 5th 2009 1:57PM]

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.

[Dirk Lucas @ Jan 5th 2009 1:59PM]

Want it.

[vvtopkar @ Jan 5th 2009 2:00PM]

1 Word:
Nicee.....

[ProfessorKaos @ Jan 5th 2009 7:29PM]

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.

[Fanfoot @ Jan 5th 2009 9:07PM]

Dude, anything like this will just SUCK at playing games. You should find something else.

[Metkis @ Jan 5th 2009 10:54PM]

Oh darn, and I was prepping to reinstall Crysis and everything!

[L @ Jan 5th 2009 2:04PM]

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!

[ZSX @ Jan 5th 2009 2:18PM]

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.

[L @ Jan 5th 2009 2:45PM]

Erm...both the linked Crave article and the post here say that it has a HS*PA interface of some sort...

[kamikaZi_blitz @ Jan 5th 2009 2:05PM]

Fits 'smugly' is more like it amirite.

[Jon Nelson @ Jan 5th 2009 3:04PM]

I lol'd

[Sarig @ Jan 5th 2009 3:36PM]

I was roaring with laughter in real life and everything. Well played, sir!

[Hackettman @ Jan 5th 2009 2:06PM]

"Dont worry jim Im going to interoffice your laptop....."

[Shyam D @ Jan 5th 2009 2:07PM]

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.

[Ken @ Jan 5th 2009 2:48PM]

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.

[you @ Jan 5th 2009 4:09PM]

@ 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.

[loosely_coupled @ Jan 5th 2009 6:42PM]

@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...

[Stymie @ Jan 5th 2009 2:19PM]

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.