MSI Wind U115 rated at 15 hours of battery life, torn apart for its trouble

MSI's never been a slouch when it comes to its Wind series, but this new U115 seems to be something else entirely. In tests done by the folks at Eee-PC.de, the laptop ranged from 5.5 hours to 15 hours of battery life, based on level of usage. Even 5.5 hours is good for continuous use, but we could imagine all sorts of happiness with 15 hours of battery -- like camping. The laptop gets some of its battery mojo from its hybrid storage system, which allows the laptop to run entirely off of its 8GB of SSD memory, with the 160GB hard drive spun down to save power. The SSD is user-replaceable, if you don't mind a little warranty voiding, and the folks at nvision have thrown caution to the wind in ripping apart their U115 for our viewing pleasure.

[Via liliputing]

Read - Eee-PC.de
Read - nvision

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 9:41AM]

Dear Paul:

Be mindful of the date and day.

Thanks,
Bored worker

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:49AM]

oops, wrong post!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 9:44AM]

The hybrid system is a good idea although SSD prices can't fall quick enough. Netbooks need them the most as 1.8 inch drives are painfully slow. Running torrent software or carrying out a virus scan while working is a major chore for my Mini 1000. So I'm longing for the day I can purchase a 32GB SSD drive at a reasonable price too boost system performance.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:48AM]

wigwams and tipis?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 11:59AM]

msi wind u100 and u115 run on 2.5" drives

[Fanfoot Posted Mar 13th 2009 12:53PM]

If you're at all familiar with the SSDs that are available for the Mini 1000, you shouldn't be "longing for the day". I doubt the little PCIe SSDs the HP Mini 1000 uses will be much faster than the 1.8" 4,200 RPM hard drive it offers.

But anyway, this system uses a 2.5" drive, like most (non-thin) netbooks.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 9:48AM]

" we could imagine all sorts of happiness with 15 hours of battery -- like camping."

Woah! Camping?!?! Thats pretty in-tents...

[macgregger Posted Mar 13th 2009 9:59AM]

+ eleventy billion for that pun

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 12:27PM]

Incorrigible punster - do not incorridge.

[tylersmyler Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:17AM]

15 hours of what kind of usage.

not video watching that's for sure.

[xyrcncp Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:20AM]

Thank you for that insightful comment, Captain O.

Is the memory expandable in this one?

[tylersmyler Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:30AM]

lol you know what's funny about that comment.
on
Dec 4th 2008 4:11PM you wrote "Well thank you for that insightful comment Captain O!"

are you a bot?

[tylersmyler Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:35AM]

Oh and yeah, it's expandable to 2GB

Wind U115:
Z530 Atom Processor
1GB (expandable to 2GB)
10-inch LED backlight
Split SSD/HDD options (16, 32, 64 GB SSD, 160GB or 250GB HDD)
6-cell battery (there will be a 3-cell option)
802.11 b/g/n
1.3 MP or 2MP webcam

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2009 9:41AM]

A laptop with 15 hours of battery life can do other things than play videos. It can provide light at your camp site so you don't need to light a fire.....now all it needs is a USB heater and I am sold!

[fourthletter Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:18AM]

How is it the hybid storage system that gives the battery life ? wouldn't a purely SSD driven system out perform it ?

I think you'll find Engadget that it is the new intel chipset and new battery technology that gets you to 15 hours.

Who writes for engagdet ? can't they get people who understand technology ?

P.s What do i need a laptop on a camping trip for ? GPS is the only thing I can think of and a handheld gives much better battery than this would, I can't even get phone signal while camping so internet is out.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:22AM]

Yea this doesn't make any sense. My lenovo x300 gets nowhere NEAR this amount of battery life on 6 cells, and it's using ULV processor with an SSD and a LED screen - there has to be something else at play; what type of screen is this thing using?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:31AM]

"And torn me to pieces,
and threw every piece
into
a
FIRE..."

XD

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 10:43AM]

The hybrid system might help, but more than likely the long battery life is due to its 9 cell battery

[Fanfoot Posted Mar 13th 2009 12:57PM]

Yeah, the Laptop magazine "mini-test" had one with a NINE CELL BATTERY. And they didn't get anywhere close to 15 hours, but rather just over 10. It'll be the typical 7 hour machine with a six cell. Apparently the nine cell isn't even going to be offered.

And the hybrid thing? Really? So if I want to install Office I put it on the hard drive? Okay, no problem. What about the DVD player software (for ripped images)? Gotta go on the SSD. Sounds like kind of a nightmare to manage.

Also, seriously, has anybody seen a benchmark yet (Windows 7 not included yet) that shows SSD battery life vastly better than spinning media? I thought this was one of those shoulda coulda woulda things that maybe would appear some day. Or not.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 1:12PM]

"And the hybrid thing? Really?"
Why wouldn't you just use the SSD for the OS? When surfing the web the HD (for your music and video etc.) wouldn't be needed so it could spin down.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2009 1:33PM]

Geez, do we really need a post for every MSI-Wind tear apart? It's like the whole front page is all MSI Wind or something, like Engadget is totally getting paid or something.

/sarcasm

[superhobo Posted Mar 13th 2009 5:00PM]

Now that's well packed.

Great design.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2009 1:41PM]

Was the real question answered? Does it run OSX as well as the old model did?