MSI starts shipping two 12.1-inch, AMD-powered Wind12 U230 netbooks
By Darren Murph 
posted Mar 9th 2010 10:37PM
posted Mar 9th 2010 10:37PM
MSI North America Announces Availability of Two Powerful, Yet Portable New 12.1" Wind12 U230 Models
Both U230 Models Feature the new AMD Processors, 12.1" HD LCD, 2GB of Memory, and Windows 7 Home Premium
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – March 9, 2010 – MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is proud to announce the availability of the new Wind12 U230-033 and U230-040. The new models will replace the successful Wind12 U210, a favorite among netbook users looking for a larger screen and more computing power. Upgrades to this new generation of netbooks include the first Wind to feature a dual core processor and Bluetooth connectivity.
Weighing in at just 3.3 pounds both versions of the U230 ship with 2GB of DDR2 memory, with a 6-cell battery and Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. The newest editions to the Wind family are loaded with a 12.1" HD (1366x768) 16:9 aspect ratio LCD and an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics card. The combination delivers a bright widescreen visual experience with exceptional color saturation and crisp imagery.
The Wind12 U230 also features MSI's EDS (Ergonomic De-stress) keyboard with keys that are 51% larger than those on a standard keyboard. The larger keys greatly improve finger contact range, which reduces stress on fingers and wrists to improve accuracy and comfort. Additionally, MSI included a 1.3M webcam, HDMI port, 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA port, and a 4x1 card reader in the new U230 notebooks.
The new Wind12 U230 models are available now at Newegg.com starting at $429.99. MSI offers a 1-year limited warranty with extended customer services hours at 1-888-447-6564.
The specs looks a lot like my HP Pavilion dm3, except that I have a 13.3" screen, 4GB of RAM and an aluminium casing.
@mp3 How does the price compare though?
@mp3 Good choice. The HP may be significantly bigger but the chassis on the MSI is flimsy as hell. The magnesium base on the HP could be used as a weapon.
@RKN
It's cheaper than the HP. I'm planning on picking one up in white in a few months, that is if they decide to actually release the white one to the states.
@dingus
I currently have the MSI L2100 (pretty much exactly the same as the new U230, and the chassis is extremely solid. No unwanted flex anywhere, and the screen hinges are very strong. My only complaint is the keyboard, which could have been laid out better.
OK, I'm sorry but AMDs current processor line doesn't hold a candle to the Core i series chips or CULVs from intel. I had a ThinkPad x100r with the neo chip in it for 10 minutes before it went back to the store, got a computer with and intel CULV and slower chip -> works twice as fast and half as hot with 4x the battery life.
intel > AMD
@CannedCorn *x100e
AMDs low voltage processors are a joke.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Athlon+Neo+MV-40
It's just slightly faster than a Celeron M 1.6ghz. Sad.
@darkNiGHTS
I'll take the MV40 over an atom
@fisher
A Celeron 743 or dual Atom CPU (330, D510) run faster than the Neo MV-40.
Manufacturers seem to be going farther and farther away from the original concept of a netbook - small, light and cheap. What's the point of something that's 75% the size, weight and cost of a full laptop? You might as well pony up that extra $200 and get yourself something that can do actual work.
@tonicboy
Since these things are rarely a main machine, they don't need something that can do actual work. Something light and portable is needed, and netbooks deliver in spades.
@BigJayDogg3
Yes, that's exactly my point. Netbooks are becoming less light and portable every day. It used to be you could get a small netbook with an 8" screen, weighing in at just over 2lbs. Nowadays you can hardly find a netbook with less than a 10" screen and this beast is 12" and almost 3 and a half pounds. It's not a netbook anymore.
Battery sticking out the bottom = NO GO.
YAWN!
Why would anyone want this? Shouldnt there be some kinda of ATI 5200m gpu by now?
I'm waiting for the dual core version of this computer from lenovo(x100e).
Would anyone recommend this over the Asus 1201N? I want a netbook that can do 1080, play old games (open source ones), and for school.
@mercnet I would. This processor (the Athlon Neo L335) is much better than the Atom in the 1201N
Whoa. Just out now in the US? It's been out here in South East Asia since December. And you get ripped off from your config with only 250 GB. We get 320 GB for $400 cash. It's $450 though if you choose a deferred payment (6 or 12 months installment).
The battery life's a bit crap, though it's offset by Intel ULV-like performance. My friend's U230 only lasts a little over 4 hours on Win7 Power Saver mode when surfing the net, but it's a tad quicker than even the Atom N330 nettops I've used. Even plays Modern Warfare 2 quite nicely at 1024x600, lowest settings and medium textures.
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that there's only one variant of the U230 here. The one that comes with the dual core Athlon Neo X2 L335. If you want the single core MV-40, ASUS has one on their EEE 1201T. The 1201T's cheaper though at $370. Lenova also has the MV-40 on their X100e.
I've been waiting for an AMD powered netbook. This would be great for surfing the web and taking notes in class, and at 12 inches it's just the right size.
So, for an extra $70, would one rather buy a Dell Inspiron 1464 with a core i3-330m, at $499 (today only)? Or does one buy this MSI with an Neo MV-40?
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/ltd/en/us/dhs/inspiron_14_DNDOUN2?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
@gerrrg
I'd rather buy a 13" Aspire Timeline.
@gerrrg Depending of the person's needs, the main reason of purchase is not always the processing speed but the small form factor.
The single core Neo MV-40 is a dog. I gave away my MSI Wind L2100 which came with that processor and laughable AMD "Vision" graphics in favor of a Tosh for the same price, with similar specs, with the Celeron 743.
AMD is seriously lagging Intel in terms of power-saving, reasonably powered processors for super-netbooks, and I don't like them foisting old chips with new labels on the market place - chips that are underpowered and DON'T save the battery.
But an even bigger joke than MSi offering new models with the single core Neo is Lenovo, supposedly a premium maker, doing the same.
Just out of curiosity, does the Athlon X2 L335 CPU processor match in power with the new dual core atoms and does the ATI's Radeon HD3200 processor matches that of the Ion 2?
how does this compare to the asus eee 1201n?
I found that CPU work on half CPU speed on battery
(http://www.call-o-call.com/msi/battery_power.jpg). You can see that
CPU loaded on 100% but it still work on 800Mhz.
According MSI "maximum clock of 800MHz @ Battery Mode"!!! It is slow as 10 years old computer!!! You can't watch video on battery because CPU to slow and AMD chipset don't support acceleration for many video codecs (like WMV9, DIVX). Better take netbook with Atom CPU and ION chipset because it can use full power on battery and required much less power for that.