Just a few days after revealing its X-Slim X420, MSI is back at it again with another Intel ULV-powered laptop -- but this time the redesigned 15.6-inch version of its X series has made room for an optical drive. As one might expect the 1.4-inch thick / 5-pound lappie is a bit heftier than before, though oddly it has the same selection of ports, including HDMI, two USBs, e-SATA, an SD card reader, along with a mic and headphone jacks. Other than that the Windows 7 Home Premium portable packs an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430 GPU, and will support up to 4GB of RAM and 500GB of storage. No details on pricing or availability, but we'll be keeping our ears to the ground.

We've had our eyes on MSI's answer to the MacBook Air (yeah, we said it!) for a while now -- and that includes a shady, late night hands-on photo session live from the Neville Island Motel and a horrifying back-alley vivisection, to boot. Now it looks like the crazy kids at Laptop are dead set on having their say on the X340 13.4-inch ultra-portable -- and why not? The more the merrier! According to the reviewer, what this character lacks in processing power, it more than makes up for in price, weight, and battery life -- at 2.9 pounds the device is certainly lighter than the Air, and its over three hours on a single charge are none too shabby. Even the 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo processor (coupled here with 2GB memory and running Windows Vista) is characterized as "snappy." Sadly, the keyboard is said to be flimsy and graphic performance pretty weak -- but still, at $899 (price as reviewed) this is sure to be right up some of your proverbial alleys. Interested? Hit that read link for all the gory details.

They're still pretty hard to come by 'round these parts, but it looks like the folks at UMPC Fever have managed to track down one of MSI's shiny new X-Slim X340 ultraportables and, like any good citizen of the internet, they've promptly gone and ripped it apart. As you might expect, there aren't exactly a ton of surprises, but it looks like anyone hoping to do a quick and easy 3G upgrade is out of luck, unless, as SlashGear points out, they're willing to ditch the built-in WiFi to free up a PCI-E slot. Hit up the read link below for the complete, not always pretty breakdown.

[Via Slash Gear]