MSI's AMD-powered U210 up for pre-order, still not 'official'

Who needs press releases? You can snap up an MSI U210 pre-order right this second on Amazon, so why bother waiting MSI to actually confirm the thing for a Stateside release? Morality. That's why. Kids these days think they can just drop $430 on any old Athlon Neo MV-40-powered (the same chips at the heart of HP's dv2) 12-inch XGA ultraportable with 2GB of RAM and a 250GB HDD and 802.11n and not have to pay the consequences. Well, we're not standing for it. That read link right below? Not an implied approval of these illicit activities.

[Via Mark's Technology News]

[Chrisboff Posted Aug 29th 2009 1:39PM]

methinks "(the same chips at the heart of AMD's dv2)" should be changed to: "(the same chips at the heart of HP's dv2)"

kthxbi

[mscdex Posted Aug 29th 2009 1:39PM]

I wonder how this will perform vs. the Atom netbooks.

[gerrrg Posted Aug 29th 2009 2:06PM]

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2009/01/amd-athlon-neo-the-new-ultra-thin-platform/3-8.png

[dark star Posted Aug 29th 2009 2:35PM]

thanks for the comparison gerr! looks like this wont stutter with hd vids

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2009 4:29AM]

gerrrg
How about playing HD movies? Still stutters?
Whats the video card?

[Average White Boy Posted Aug 29th 2009 1:39PM]

Nice change from seeing the usual Atom-powered netbooks.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2009 4:30AM]

No Ion here either :(

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 1:45PM]

YAWN! I'm going back to Gizmodo...

[rhcpsfan Posted Aug 29th 2009 2:06PM]

Not enough sex jokes for yah?

[risk Posted Aug 29th 2009 3:20PM]

Na, I think he's missing having useless posts.

[GadgetGeeks Posted Aug 29th 2009 2:53PM]

If only it had more battery life....

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 7:00PM]

the neo is 15 watts while the atom n270 is 2.5w and the n330 is 8w (http://www.intel.com/products/processor/atom/specifications.htm). so the cpu is killing the battery life but it would be way faster than the atom(http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2009/01/amd-athlon-neo-the-new-ultra-thin-platform/3-8.png) at getting your work done so you might just not need extra battery life. 5 hours of run time is better than my mom dell mini10 with atom cant get more than 3 out of it.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2009 4:47PM]

aaaaaaaaaargh!
i hate it when people compare intel tdp vs amd tdp...
amd cpus have an internal memory controller...
intel have them in there chipsets....
would amd use 45 these cpus would kick ass...
but since amd is to slow they only use 65nm and the platform ends up using more watts then intels crapchipset+atom

[BigD145 Posted Aug 29th 2009 3:08PM]

2GB RAM?!

[JeremyBenthem Posted Aug 29th 2009 3:18PM]

And Radeon graphics
Doubting it has XP

[Luffy Posted Aug 29th 2009 3:09PM]

That is a fantastic deal.

[r34p3r Posted Aug 29th 2009 3:48PM]

Hrm, not a bad price at all

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 3:52PM]

hate to sell my 13" mbp but the thing is giving me frequent beach balls during web browsing and i've found a thread on mac rumors that confirms the defect from others.

this msi is a viable alternative with a 12" screen and n network. going from leopard to vista would suck but it's also a third the price of the mbp.

[Luffy Posted Aug 29th 2009 4:53PM]

Install Windows 7, problem solved

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2009 1:49AM]

good call.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 5:00PM]

this is the right price for an MV-40 book. HPs prices are ridiculous.

[Patlex Posted Aug 29th 2009 6:55PM]

Will this come in a dual core Neo like the HP? And how does the single core model compare to the Core 2 Solo in a device like the Acer Timeline 1410.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 8:55PM]

I just sent my 1st gen ASUS eeepc in to the manufacturer because it wouldn't turn on (no power) and they replaced the mobo out of warranty for FREE! I know this comment might not actually fit this article, but if you are deciding on a new netbook i wanted to share this customer service experience. Am I an ASUS fanboy now?

[kandekilla Posted Aug 29th 2009 9:40PM]

http://www.frostycomputers.com/MSI_wind_u210_12_wind_12_U210_008US_6_cell_Athlon_p/msi%20wind%20u210%2012.htm

Says it is instock now. They have a quick unboxing video on youtube under their channel. Seems a viable option to the XSlim and Timeline as far as price goes.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2009 11:00PM]

And don't forget this will run Snow Leopard. $430 Macbook... I'll take it.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2009 12:50AM]

if it can do 5.5-6hrs of real-world battery usage (wifi on, medium brightnesss) and doesn't get too hot, it's a great alternative to the Acer Timeline 1410/1810, even though the weight is slightly (0.1lb) higher. Personally, I'll wait till they can get this form factor down to 2.75lbs flat like the MSI X340 before pulling the trigger. Should be doable in about another 12 months or so.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 31st 2009 6:28PM]

thought macs need 2.0 ghz to run leopard at all dats amazing time to start savng guess I'll have to sell some games but this is really worth it hopefully I can get it soon

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 30th 2009 1:19PM]

I'm late with this comment and there's probably a newer post about this unit that I didn't catch, but the U210 is doing pretty well now. I think everyone is buying into the small but no too small netbook with a solid build. nothing fancy on the inside but something solid. i heard from users that the grip on the screen is thick too, not flimsy like some of msi's other models. *ahem* x-series. but yeah, i heard their doing a contest to give away 4-5 units of the u210. something about designing the skin/cover of the netbook and the winning design actually gets made into a one of a kind u210 and given to the designer. runner ups get the original black or white units. crazy. and i think there's some kind of sweepstakes too with voters. sweet.