Customer Reviews

MSI Wind U120-024US 10-Inch White Netbook - 6 Cell Battery

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this for a friend and have been setting up software and updates for them over the past couple of days. I think the styling of the HP Mini is much nicer than the MSI Winds, but I'm getting battery life of 4 hours and change on this for a much better price. I think most folks can put up with that.

The gray, angular design really evokes some of HPs designs from about 3 years ago, like if an HP business notebook and the MSI Wind U100 had a baby together. Or if an MSI Wind had a baby with another MSI Wind, but it turned out the biological father was really an HP business notebook. Anyhow, this goes to say that while this isn't a Vivienne Tam fashion statement, it doesn't come across looking like a toy either, as some of the other netbooks do. It feels solid, even without crazy aluminum unibody casing or something like that.

I will say that there are a few quirks in the unboxing process that caught me by surprise. One is the the boot-up/install time. You turn the thing on, and it sits there for 15+ minutes installing Windows, I guess, onto a 30 GB partition of the hard drive. The other partition is ~100 GB, and labelled D:, but this is non-obvious to novice users who might wonder where the heck the rest of their drive space went.

The other unboxing/first-time use thing is that the WiFi and camera have to be turned on with a combination of the Fn key and the top row of F-keys. I'm sure this was in the paper insert somewhere in the box, but it wasn't obvious to me, and it would've been nicer to just have a big fat button with a lighted symbol of what it was supposed to turn on, e.g. a webcam or a wireless/radio symbol. By the way, the webcam image is nothing to write home about, but it does ok for Skype etc. WiFi range is pretty good, though -- it almost outslugs the access points I can see from my Macbook. Not sure if that's good, actually, but it sure ain't bad.

1GB of RAM seems to do just fine for this XP-based machine; it can feel a little sluggish if you decide to open three different browsers, Microsoft Office, and some video applications at the same time, but if you're doing that in the first place -- on a netbook -- then maybe you need a prescription for Ritalin. Maybe this is a function of the processor also, I'm not sure. Certainly this isn't the machine to be running Photoshop on while you watch re-runs of You Suck at Photoshop.

The keyboard bothers me a little (but then, a lot of things bother me, just a little bit). The period and comma keys are a little narrow for my liking -- but it beats the keyboard layout of the Dell Mini 9 and the EeePC I saw over at Best Buy. It's sort of like if you had a flight of stairs in your home but the last two steps were a little more narrow. You get used to it, but it's not exactly something you enjoy. That said, in this continued analogy, all the other stairs are close to normal sized, and so I'd say that the keyboard, while certainly not full-sized, comes as close to it as possible while maintaining the compact netbook form factor. The trackpad is a little small for my liking, but this was the case on nearly every netbook I saw.

What's really impressive about this machine is that for $350, this is a rather solid deal. I can see this particular model -- or netbooks like it -- becoming increasingly popular with enterprise users down the line, particularly for those users who already have a desktop at their... well... desks. It has ports galore off the sides. It has just enough oomph to run Office 2003 for your basic productivity-type needs, enough space to store your Neil Diamond mp3 anthology. It has an interesting facial recognition and webcam fun/toy app that you probably won't use.

Oh, speaking of mp3s, the sound from the stereo speakers is tinny but loud enough to do a speakerphone-like conference with someone over Skype. It's sort of the sound quality that I'd expect from a notebook this size, so I guess my expectations must've been not too high to begin with.

So I'm actually going to give this four stars. Then again, five stars would probably notch the price up a bit, at which point you'd probably have to give it four stars because the price was higher than most other netbooks. Thus, we are at an impasse, and so I end my review here.

ADDENDUM (6 months later):

Several months later, I must update my review, after now owning an MSI Wind U100 myself and having experienced the keyboard first-hand. (I wonder how many keyboard reviewers have used that pun.)

The keyboard on all netbooks is a miserable experience. The MSI Wind I suppose is marginally better, but outside of the aforementioned issues with the really narrow comma, period, and forward slash keys, all the keys are sort of tiny. I have big fat fingers, and so this is a problem for me. If you have long, spindly fingers, you may enjoy the keyboard on the MSI Wind U120 and other netbooks. If you have long, spindly fingers, you may also want to audition for commercials that make stuff look big where you're supposed to hold some new product.

Still give it a four-star rating, though. This is a sturdy little sucker. My daughters have both dropped the machine from wuthering heights, and not-so-wuthering heights, and generally abused the plastic casing to no end. That was the point, by the way -- I didn't want them mangling up my Macbook. But the MSI Wind continues to hold up despite the rough-housing. I suspect that if the kids were old enough to read, they might find the keyboard appropriately-sized for their little fingers. But alas, they aren't yet reading age, and by the time they will be old enough to read and to type, the keyboard will probably be too small for them. So we are at an impasse, and so I end my comment here.

I've owned my MSI Wind, w/6 cell battery, since November, and have no complaints (but, one suggestion). After traveling with notebook computers for at least the past 15 years, it is great to finally have an alternative that weighs less then 3 lbs, has a long battery life, and runs all the software that I normally use on the road.

One suggestion for MSI -- ship the netbook w/the Wi Fi turned on, or at least a card with a hint to his Fn F11 to turn it on. I only found out by finding that hint on the internet. Several friends who saw my MSI Wind went out and bought one of their own. They all like 'em... but all called to ask how to turn on the Wi Fi!

Great computer, not as powerful as my desktop, but perfect for travel. And, the price just keeps getting better!

The MSI Wind is a perfectly serviceable netbook, with a nice 10 inch screen, massive (for the genre) hard drive, great keyboard (with nearly full-size layout), and it is very lightweight. Battery life is adequate, but not quite the battery life you would expect from a 6-Cell Battery. The one flaw is that it is not possible to add additional RAM to this unit -- the prior version of the Wind is set up to allow the owner to add an additional 1GB stick of SO-DIMM. I ordered this unit before there had been any reviews. Had I known that it would not take additional RAM, I would not have ordered it. That said, if it is unlikely you would ever add RAM yourself, this netbook may be exactly what you are looking for.

I received my netbook yesterday, and so far I am very pleased with it. First, let me say, I am NOT a techie kind of girl. I purchased this machine because I am starting a masters program and I wanted something I could carry in my book bag. It's connecting well to the wireless router in my house and I'd say the internet speed (on Chrome browser)is absolutely as fast as my desktop. The keyboard is a smidge smaller than a traditional laptop, but I can still touch type with it.Web pages are surprisingly easy to view- I expected it to be far more limited. I did not upgrade the memory from one to two gig yet but I have had no problem with performance even with more than one application open at a time. I am not loving formatting a document on this screen, but then I am using office 2007 (not included on the MSI Wind) for the first time and kind of hating the new program, so I don't think I can really blame the computer for that. Things that aren't so great- the track pad is pretty bad with difficult to click right and left buttons- I plan to use a usb mouse. Also the speakers aren't great quality. All things considered, for the price and the portability, I am impressed with this little computer.

When I bought my MINI 10, I wasn't sure how to load programs on it. I do not have my computers networked, and I was under the impression that it would connect to my computer via a USB port . . . obviously, I'm not a computer IT person . . . but I do love new gadgets! It was very EASY to boot up. Everything practically loaded itself! I found that by copying my program CDs to my flash drive, they were simply a "click and install" option to load them on the Mini. I thought I was going to have more difficulty, but so far loading programs has been pretty easy. The Wi-fi is REALLY easy to use. If you set it up to automatically search for available connections, it's very convenient wherever you are at! I needed to have the XP OS so my Palm could sync with my Palm Desktop (I use it for my calendar and appointments). The program loaded very easily. I still need to sit down and plug in the Palm cradle to see if it will work, but I'm confident that it will not be difficult. In any case, I love working on my MINI! I will have to say that I put out $20 for a wireless mouse . . .I just prefer it to the pad on the laptop (any laptop for that matter!). Haven't run into any problems yet. . . time will tell all! I would definitely reccomend the MINI to anyone who wants quick access and has good sight! I'm sure that the small sized screen would be difficult for someone with bad sight!

6 week update - LOVE the mini10 W.I.N.D., but NOT the lack of WARRANTY from MSI! The 10-inch WIND is a great little computer for the price. I'm a basic user, meaning that I usually use it for internet, to sync my PALM, watch converted movies, and play games (simple word games - not high action games). It's convenient to carry and is all around EASY to use. I love all the ROOM on the Hard Drive, too (especially for movie storage). . . at least until it quit on me! It started not wanting to see the HD, but I could get around it by using the F11 key. I was smart enough to plug in my 80GB portable HD and back it up while I could. . . good thing I did because that's the last time it would boot up! I contacted MSI online, got a lot of useless tech "talk" (they acted like I was some kind of "techie" myself, instructing me to do things without giving me step-by-step instructions - until I out right asked for them). . . they finally told me that I should request an RMA. When I proceeded to do so, the WIND (U120) wasn't even an option on their drop-down list (neither was "other"). So, I took the netbook over to the shop that I purchased it from. FINALLY, I got some help getting the RMA (be it only 90 day)to send it for repair/replacement of the HD! I've only had the netbook for 6 weeks. I don't know if anyone else had issues with MSI "warranty" (actually, it seems to be a paid-by-the-purchaser repair service), but I will definitely NOT buy another of their products until they can provide better warranty service. I think MSI puts out a very nice product (hopefully the HD crash was just a "fluke" and not just cheap hard drives) - just BE AWARE that they don't really provide a WARRANTY. I REALLY wish that more companies put out the kind of warranty service that DELL does!! I LOVE Dell's service, but am not greatly impressed by their lack of larger HD and battery sizes on their MINI's. Here's for hoping for a "marriage" of sorts between better service and products! I'm just lucky that the HD took it's "dump" before the warranty from my local retailer expired . . . otherwise I'd be paying to ship it to MSI (providing I could get an RMA from them) and paying an unknown amount for the repair (not to mention any damage to the product or my losses during the repair)!

The MSI WIND U120 is a great laptop. The Atom processor seems a lot faster than the core 2 duo on my older laptop, but maybe that is due to the fresh install of xp. BUYER BEWARE, you are stuck with 1GB of ram, but i haven't had any problems. I will buy another once MSI comes out with an updated U120 that has expandability slots for memory. My wife uses the U120 for internet and music... its just very convenient to use the wind than going into the office and booting up our main computer.

BTW, the 6 cell battery is AWESOME!!! it charges quick and the screen stays bright for hours!!!

I was skeptical on buying a net book because i have large hands, but the keyboard is great. No problems whatsoever, very comfortable. for $350, you can't beat this purchase. The only upgrades you can do to this computer is upgrading the 160GB hard drive to a SSD for quicker boot up and load times.

The speakers absolutely suck, but better than not having any at all. Use headphones, sound is great

Overall, I love this machine. I found the wind U120 to be very quiet while the machine never gets hot, but lukewarm. This machine is a little future proof when considering the operating system. Windows XP comes with it out of the box, but you have options like Ubuntu or any other version of Linux and then you have MAC OSX. I can't comment on this, but it is very easy to do, but the research is on you. Hint: try youtube.com.

Windows 7 is coming out this year and as a beta tester of the new OS myself, I can say that if windows 7 runs faster than xp. That will make this machine even better. Finally, I must say that the MSI Wind has changed my perspective of what a notebook should be.

If your on the fence, I could only recommend you to make the jump and buy this thing. You won't regret your purchase.

I also bought this with the understanding it would be upgradeable to 2Gb. Amazon recommended the purchase of the additional 1 Gb and the carry case at the time of purchase. I understood that opening the case to upgrade would violate the warranty but I was willing to do that for the additional ram. I was very disappointed when after opening the case I discovered that it is not upgradeable. I have now violated the warranty and I have a useless 1Gb ram module to look at.

This is a great product. Easy to use. Lightweight. Nice screen.

Note the current MSI Wind 120 is NOT RAM upgradable. Even though Amazon is suggesting getting the ram with this netbook, the slot for RAM expansion has been eliminated. So 1 GB RAM max. I am stuck with RAM I cannot use in this computer. Otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.

I've had it for one week and love it. It is perfect for internet browsing and ok for office applications. The 1 gig memory is adequate.

I too was fooled into buying the 1gig ram upgrade due to the "commonly purchased together" link. I returned the ram and emailed a complaint, but the link touting the memory upgrade still exists. Even worse when I just came to the web page to write this review, a banner ad showed up to a memory supplier offering upgraded memory for the U120.

It just cannot happen due to the soldered on memory board.

I bought the MSI wind because I wanted an inexpensive netbook to travel with, but the keyboards on the smaller 7-9" models were way too small. I also wanted more than 16GB drive space. My review in short: I love this machine! The keyboard is perfect, the image on the screen is sharper and brighter than on my Dell vostro notebook, and there's no issue at all with it being too small. Turning to more technical matters, there's absolutely enough processing power to do everything I need to (word-processing in Word 2007, web-surfing, and other light duty tasks ), and battery-life is awesome (at least 4 hours, usually a bit more). I do note that it can be a little sluggish at times, but it's really no bother at all. The only real "con" has to do with the touchpad: I'm not sure why, but I often hit it with my palm or thumb or something while typing. This causes the cursor to move to where the arrow was, so I wind up typing over text I have already written. This is annoying, but the solution for me was to disable the touchpad when I'm typing a paper for school or writing an e-mail or something. To disable/enable the touchpad, you just hit FN+F3, so it's not a big deal. A USB mouse would solve the problem as well.

In sum, I am absolutely thrilled with this purchase. The MSI Wind is perfect for my needs: incredibly small and light, great keyboard, powerful, and the battery has an extremely long-life. Not to mention that it's a great value for the price. I could almost make it my primary machine.