MSI's X-Slim X340 becomes a little chubbier, a little cheaper, and a little better

You might think that making a super-skinny laptop like the MSI X-Slim X340 wider would necessarily be a bad move, but when that extra girth more than doubles the battery life to a whopping 8:48, it's a trade-off many will make. Extra bonuses include a keyboard that won't bow under the pressure of your more expletive-filled rants and an MSRP $100 cheaper than the $899 it launched at. Given the older, four-cell model is already shipping at well under that ($749 at most major electronics retailers) we're eager to see just how much of a better bargain this already excellent deal can become. Oh, and if you're one of the folks already slinging one of these around wherever you go, you can get in on the eight-cell battery bandwagon for $99, but will just have to make do with that bouncy keyboard.

[iEye the great Posted Aug 19th 2009 7:08AM]

Oh gosh, thin laptops are out of style foo!

Apple was in the trend with the MB air and now have abandoned it buy all the "players" are following in Apple's wake slopping up the regurgitated seconds...

Third!

[Dking7 Posted Aug 19th 2009 8:33AM]

you do know there were other thin laptops before mac book air... they just didn't have a half eaten apple on it... (and mac book is not the thinnest and best looking one...)

[Streetfights Posted Aug 19th 2009 11:52AM]

It may not be the thinnest, but best-looking is up for debate.

[sagi446 Posted Aug 19th 2009 7:18AM]

So when will the AMD X-Slim be released? No one wants to buy a ziontel.

[hmmwv Posted Aug 19th 2009 10:40AM]

Despite Atom's shameful performance, no one wants to buy a space heater.

[calagan Posted Aug 19th 2009 8:48AM]

@meat_juice: I don't see Apple abandoning the MacBook Air anytime soon.

[Tony C Posted Aug 19th 2009 8:56AM]

Wouldn't that be "thicker" instead of "wider"?

[KRISC123 Posted Aug 19th 2009 9:38AM]

choad?

[aniym Posted Aug 19th 2009 10:54AM]

this is slowly becoming a better deal, now that the battery life is on par with the Timeline 1810T/1410 and the keyboard flex issue has been fixed. Price however does need to drop further to about $500-$600 for people to consider this over the other 11.6 laptops in the ultraportable space.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 12:59PM]

Wouldn't it be possible to exchange the keyboard on the old version too?
Just have to get the part from somewhere,...

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 2:01PM]

That's a good idea. However, I've taken down the keyboard on the old x340, and it seems one of the main causes of the flex is a lack of sufficient bracing on the chassis. If they were able to stiffen up the keyboard by adding bracing, then it may not be a simple matter of swapping keyboards.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 2:09PM]

@Roy
A little of topic here:
I guess you have disassemble your X340 before after reading you comment.
Was it difficult?
I found the disassembly guide, and that looks a little scary to me.
Because I want to upgrade my HDD to an SSD and, but I still couldn't find out if that void the warranty,...

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 1:56PM]

Still a giant paperweight unless they fix the cheap/unresponsive Sentelic trackpad along with the spongy keyboard - yes, it's THAT bad. Put a real synaptic pad in there and it'd be perfect.

[Brothernod Posted Aug 19th 2009 7:23PM]

Rats to them.

I'm in the I love and hate my x340. Cheap and thin/light were my main requirements, but I completely agree the keyboard and super sensitive trackpad KILL this machine. I very reluctantly pull it out to use it. Maybe I'll be hocking it around christmas for an upgrade... what a waste of money that would be :/

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 21st 2009 12:15PM]

how am i gonna catch this one with my butt :\
http://funnyvideos.todaysbigthing.com/2009/08/13

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 27th 2009 8:54AM]

Meat_Juice it seems like you are an avid apple fanatic. If you were you would also know that for its price tag the apple macbook air isn't that great of a deal. Sure this MSI doesn't have an apple logo but its equal in size if not thinner and packs one heck of a punch for its price tag. And the best part about it is that it has more ports than the air! Apple didn't invent the slim notebook, but they did make it look good. But the purpose of competition is to build upon what your competitors are doing and make it better both aesthetically and performance and it looks like the X-series is doing a pretty decent job at that.