Customer Reviews

MSI Wind Nettop 120 Desktop - Black

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

>>>> UPDATE! sun 27 dec 2009 <<<<
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For more performance with Youtube videos, and heavy flash sites, install greasemonkey for firefox, and then, install a script that force low quality in flash movies and animations for all web sites that you visit, this will reduce your processor use.
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>>>> UPDATE! mon 20 july 2009 <<<<
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I make a puzzle with tcpmp win32 (or you can buy coreplayer for windows), and now with it you can play even 1080p
videos and others high bitrated videos with the intel GMA !
You can play HD content with it totally smoothly ! for eee pc as well
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This is the best low consuption computer. >>>> UPDATE! sun 27 dec 2009 <<<< NOW WE HAVE NVIDIA ION...

COOL
> There is no hard drive, memory, or disc drive. So you can choose what you want and save money, and choose low power hard disk
> Only 30 W of power are required :-) Earth will thank you
> Atoms dual core performance is great, don't worry about it if you are planning using it like a server 24/7

BAD
> There is no wifi card
> Intel GMA video chip is slowly and crappy. Here is my recomendation:

You will realize, that you actually can't play high definition videos with the wife of the Atom processor, the Intel Graphics Media "Accelerator" (GMA). Frame skipping and audio cuts, will be totally a mess.

Can be frustrating, but there is a solution:

> Deactivate deblocking filter on all the codecs that support it (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC)

How ?

Install klite codec pack, and at the end of the setup, choose deactivate deblocking.

If you use build-in codecs player programs such GOMPlayer, there are options for quit deblocking filters.

This way you can play even 720p hardly encoded videos, you will see some blocks here and there, but no frame skipping or audio cuts.

Alternately, if you need more performance, you can choose 16bit of color depth.

FEATURES:

There is a:
1) cdrom/dvd bay, 2) mini pcie port, 3) wifi antenna -and rear socket for it- 4) rear jacks for 7.1 speakers system -and line-in/out and mic- 5) one frontal speakers jack 6) one frontal microfone jack 7) two frontal usb ports 8) four rear usb ports 9) one rear ethernet jack 10) one rear VGA port 11) one frontal SD/MMC card slot 11) two SATA internal ports -sata only- 12) CF internal port -compact flash port- 13) one DDR2 200-Pin SODIMM Laptop Memory RAM slot 14) 3.5 hard disk bay 15) one power button 16) one power supply 17) one disc with drivers/controllers 18) one vertical stand adapter 19) one multilanguage user manual

There is no:
1) reset button 2) wifi card 3) DVI port 4) IDE ports -sata only- 5) hard disk -must get it- 6) compact flash drive 7) dvd/cd drive 8) ram memory -must get it-

Enjoy your hardware.

I needed something that could run 24/7 as a file server that could be occasionally used as a Desktop. While I would not recommend this as an everyday desktop, it gets the job done.

Pros:
Size
Solid Build - High quality contruction, feels like a mini business class desktop.
Low Power Usage
Took only 10 minutes to install ram, hard drive and dvd burner.
External power supply reduces heat (laptop type ac adapter).
For much less than $300 I was able to build a 1tb file server that will outperform just about any NAS in that price range.

Cons:
No WDDM 1.1 support for the 945 chipset. This cripples Aero performance when using Windows 7. No linux drivers for this chipset, forcing VESA drivers.

Loud - The single fan is louder than I expected. I'm looking into replacing the fan.

You can not run 2 hard drives at the same time due to power limitations. Not an issue for most people, but worth a mention if somebody is planning on using the ODD sata port for a 2nd hard drive...
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Other thoughts:
After reading rave reviews of Windows 7's performance on netbooks I thought this would be a no brainer. I did not take into consideration the low netbook resolution which is much easier on the graphic chip than my 19" monitor is. Disabling some visual effects like transparent windows and animations helps, but Windows XP may be a better option for everday use.

Edit: After trying everything from Ubuntu to Windows 7, I've found that Windows XP runs better than anything else on this. Everything works the way you would expect it to in XP, while everything else either suffered from less than full hardware support or inconsistent performance. (end edit)

Built in CF slot is perfect for a permanent ready boost solution.

Performance is exactly what I expected. A quieter fan and a chipset that supports WDDM 1.1 would have earned it a 5th star. No regrets here...

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Notes on Amazon:
My first order was dead on arrival. Amazon got a replacement to me less than 17 hours after I submitted the return request. They paid for the return shipping and overnight shipping for the replacement. I can't say enough good things about Amazon.

I purchased one of the single core models like this for personal use, and was so impressed, I got one of these dual core models to use in my "day job." I wanted to experiment to see how well these beasties stood up against the other full sized PCs we use. I started out using Ubuntu Linux, but plan to try XP on it as well.

This barebone computer is NOT complete; minus RAM, a hard drive or Compact Flash card, an optical drive, monitor, keyboard and mouse, and operating system. Adding all those items can easily cost more than the basic machine, depending on how much you have sitting around. Since I had plenty of monitors, keyboards, and mice, I only needed to add RAM, hard drive, and optical drive to be ready to install Unbuntu. (I actually had a spare new SATA hard drive as well.)

Installing the parts was about a 20-30 minute task. The case and motherboard are quite well made and solid. I haven't installed a Compact Flash card on the motherboard, but that would require removing the motherboard due to the case size and positioning of the connector. Installing, updating, and running Ubuntu on it is a breeze. The wired network connection works quite well. I rarely use wireless, so haven't tried that.

While some people like to complain about fan noise, I come from an era where computers were a lot more noisy than they are today, and that doesn't make much difference to me. I don't find the fan to be a problem.

Benchmark tests I have seen rate the overall average performance gains from the dual core model at about 30% over the single core Atom. I can say that I noticed a very clear difference in how the Flightgear flight simulator worked on the different models. The dual core performance gain with that software was very apparent.

This is NOT a game machine or a 3D rendering machine, so don't compare it to those. It is a small, low power, basic computer that works well for most desktop uses, as well as many media uses. I have run photo slide shows while also playing WAV files (not smaller mp3s) with no problems at all on the single core machine. This beastie and a 17 inch (or larger) monitor would make a great digital picture frame.

This is the only computer I have seen using the dual core Atom chip, and I am surprised that more aren't using it. It would probably create some heat issues for tiny netbook-style cases, so this might just be the ideal format for it.

This is a sweet little computer, and you can hardly go wrong getting it for most daily uses. It is one of the most cost effective computer solutions available. I am currently using it in a small TV control room for monitoring online video conferencing recording, and it does just fine with that.

I have not tried playing DVDs or HD video files on these machines, since a DVD player is far less expensive. At some point in the near future, I will try a DVD in the dual core machine and update this review.


UPDATE: April 2010

Finally got one of these dual core versions for home. Running Ubuntu 9.10 on it and very happy with performance. I've heard of people running Windows XP as a virtual machine with Ubuntu as the basic OS, and I intend to try that, rather than do just an XP machine with this. I will be upgrading to Ubuntu 10.04 shortly, and will try the virtual XP box with that. (And before you ask, I am running XP because of ONE Windows-based program for which I cannot find a Linux substitute. I am also going to try it with Wine.)

While visibly faster than the single core version, these are still not multimedia machines, and do not fill a 19 inch widescreen monitor with smooth video. They can do smaller windows on the desktop pretty well, and I watch all manner of video from the web (YouTube and such) without any trouble (unless it is a strange format video file).

I am looking forward to the Atom 510 dual core version with an upgraded video chipset (the DE500 and 550, I think), minus the Windows 7 OS. While the performance boost from the 510 over the 330 is not huge, I will be interested in seeing it. I have also been looking at different vendors' machines with the Atom 330 dual core and NVidia Ion chipset. This level of machine is more than adequate for most tasks, and is so affordable that one can have more computers available (back-up, special tasks, etc).

These are very nice little machines, and you cannot go wrong putting together an Ubuntu machine with one of these. They do the basic computing tasks very nicely. These make sweet little machines for someone who just wants the basics, and with Ubuntu they are fairly safe and easy to use for tasks like digital photo management, word processing, etc.

MSI did really good with these, and I hope they continue to follow this line.

UPDATE April 30, 2010

Just upgraded this to Unbuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. It runs both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions, and the performance is crisp. I am looking forward to putting it through its paces.


UPDATE JAN 2011:

There are now new models, no longer called the Wind, but 6676 and such, which have newer processors like the Atom 510 and Ion graphics - still great machines!

It's a pretty decent low power system, and MSI did add a couple of nice things I'll describe below. The box is a bit heavy for the size. If placed horizontally 's about the size of a VHS player (for those young ones, slightly taller than a slim DVD player, but not as wide.)

Hardware:
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PROS:
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- Even though it is not specified, the kit actually includes screws for both the Hard drive and the Optical drive. This was a nice surprise (I usually buy OEM drives which don't include screws), since I thought it may not have them.
- External passively cooled power supply. (it's just a brick, like a laptop's psu, so no noise)
- Small and sturdy, includes card reader.
- Awesome cable management - got to give them props 6 stars for how neatly organized everything is in there. Nothing is loose, the SATA disk drive cables are color coded and already set up for you in very neat fashion. Same with all the cables in there (LED cables all bundled together, etc).
- Passively cooled chipset and processor, no fan = no noise. Big aluminum heat-sink on to, covering both.
- Consumes about 40-50 watts on normal use (less than a regular lightbulb!)

CONS
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- The only fan gets loud constantly.
- Overheats a lot (I may have gotten a bad item - we'll see how it goes). But one design aspect that they chose to save money was using 1 big heatsink over both the chipset and processor. The problem is the uneven heights of these two, so they went cheap on us and added extra layers of paste for contact on the shorter item, which is not optimal at all. I saw temperatures of 89 degrees (Celsius!) almost 200 Fahrenheit. I would rank this item 1 or 2 stars, but I can't seem to change my rating now.
- No wifi card included. Just a bad decision, charge a few bucks more and include one. Having the antenna makes you think there is wireless included, plus these days people want/use wireless a lot.
- IMPORTANT - To make matters worse, they do not include an flat head (M2) screw, which you need to attach the wifi card onto the motherboard. If you plan on using the mini pci-express slot for wireless, please avoid unnecessary hassle and buy this screw. How much could it cost MSI about 2 cents? It would save a lot of heartache. It's an absolutely tiny screw, so chances of having an extra one that would fit are virtually zero.

Other thoughts (neutral comments)
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- Need to remove the drive cage to install the mini pci-e wifi card.
- Can't play HD content (I already knew this)
- Includes antenna for wifi card (nice, but I wish they had included the card as well, as it is, it's only a tease)
- Looks ok, but I wish the optical disk drive had a cover for it, to make it blend in more in a living room. Right now it is just the exposed drive (so you can't really re-use say, a white dvd drive). It is a little better in person though, the photos here aren't that good. I'll upload some photos soon, make sure to check them out.


NOTE:
I will add more details in a week or two after using the system some more.

I purchased theis nettop to use as a music server on my home network and for net surfing when needed.

Chassis is fairly good quality and easy to access. I just added a hardrive, optical drive, memory, WIFI card, and operating system and got things going. I ended up using a Gigabyte N300 for WIFI interface.

I have two gripes.

1. The case fan that comes with it is very noisy. I replaced with a 60mm Silenx. That really helped bring the noise level down.

2. The supplied antenna did not perform as expected (with any of the WIFI cards I used). I ended up purchasing a couple of tyco antennas and hid them in the chassis. That brought great reception to the table. The supplied antenna may have been defective as it didn't pickup my home network one room away.

Otherwise, it fit the bill as expected.

Purchased this last year, running it with Ubuntu 9.10 desktop as home network server. Hard drive is a full size WD 1TB Green model. All hardware detected and working well. System has been reliable. Graphic performance is below today's standards so I wouldn't recommend this computer for any video or home theater use. Office applications and even photo editing are fine.

The case is attractive and well made. It's compact but will house a full size 3.5" hard drive and full size 5.25" optical drive. With a 5.25" to 3.5" adapter two 3.5" hard drives would fit. The stock fan can get a little loud at times, it ramps up and down depending on the load. I modded the heat sink for a closer fit to the CPU, replaced the thermal pads with silver paste, and keep the optical bay empty. It's located away from my desk so I can leave on 24/7 if needed. It has boot on LAN so I generally leave it off until needed.

If MSI would update the design with better graphics, DVI and HDMI video output, better cooling, and more memory expansion I would consider purchasing another one.

Good: Small form factor, reasonably fast, lower power consumption than the micro-ATX PC that it replaced, compatible with Debian and boots from a SDHC card.
Bad: Could still be smaller (the drive bays are unnecessary for my purposes). It could draw even less power if the chipset were so optimized (none of its competitors are, either). The blue LED on the front blinds me with the light of a thousand suns.

Overall, this is the best choice I could have made.

Was working great until it died not even after one year of usage. I had many MSI products and it seems that the problem does not affect only this item, but also many others. I guess MSI quality is declining...

I came across this little computer when looking for a web server for a church of a little under a 1000 members. Having a dedicated server rather then renting hosting allows for a much richer set of capabilities. Since this setup only draws about 30 watts it is cheaper too.

This is the setup.
*2 gig ram
*2 - 500 gig green hard drives (the second drive is installed with an adapter kit in the DVD drive bay.)
*Ubuntu server hosting Durpal

Daily backups are automatic using Rdiff-backup backing up everyday to the second hard drive. Rdiff just backs up changes while compressing and saving the previous changes. This allows daily changes to the web page to be saved for years with out having to delete any.
After installing the operating system and setting up the network everything else can be done remotely. This leaves the Wind connected to just power and an Ethernet cable so it can be put in a closet or basement. The bios is set to reboot automatically after a power failure which it has done without problems. It runs cool and quite when set in the provided cradle with the cooling vents down.

The unit works as advertised, quiet and energy efficient. This is a great web browsing machine. You will just need 2 Gbytes of memory and a HD.