Customer Reviews

MSI Wind U100-001US 10-Inch Pink Netbook - 6 Cell Battery

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are so many comparably priced netbooks on the market that it can be pretty hard to choose one. Like other netbooks, the MSI Wind U100 features a small footprint, a very light weight, and WiFi capabilities. And, just like other netbooks, it lacks a disc drive and bears a smallish keyboard. It lacks the ability to do a lot of heavy graphics work, but it runs GIMP well enough for simple image editing, so I have no complains in this department.

I decided on the MSI Wind U100 because it offered just the right combination of features for under $400:

* Good battery life (with a six-cell battery),
* a 10-inch screen,
* and a generously sized hard drive

These were the main factors that influenced my decision. It doesn't hurt that its physical appearance is pretty easy on the eyes (if you're a fan of pink hearts, that is) but, of course, we all know it's what's on the inside that counts.

I can't comment on its ability to smoothly juggle the needs of Windows users, but I can attest that the MSI Wind runs SUSE Linux like an absolute dream. I've had some minor issues with getting the right drivers for my machine, but that is easily fixed by a quick download or two. The WiFi is seamless, which was a huge breath of fresh air after attempting to wrangle with Ubuntu Linux.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with this netbook (which I use for primarily for writing and for taking notes at school). The keyboard is decently sized and surprisingly easy to get used to. In an hour's time, I was touch-typing with almost no trouble at all.

The Wind isn't exactly perfect, though. In future versions, I'd like to see the option for a solid-state hard drive. Also, it would be nice to have two separate buttons instead of the single long button that the current models have. I've noticed that there's sort of a "no man's land" on the button that is neither a left-click nor a right-click, which can be a bit annoying at times. The track pad could also stand to be bigger.

However, in regard to the machine as it is right now, I'd have to say it excels as a netbook for its excellent battery life, generously-sized hard drive, and nice-sized keyboard. I'm certainly quite happy with it thus far, and if you're looking for a light-weight mini-pc to handle a bit of net surfing, writing, and the like, then this may be the right machine for you.

I guess there have been a lot of reviews written about netbooks and most of them have the same specs. That's why the first thing I'll say is.. color. It is not toxic pink and exactly matches what you see on the picture. I bought it as a gift for my wife and she is extremely happy with the way it looks.

Now quickly about technical side. This is my first experience with netbooks. I was happy to see that it does work :)

1. Starts up in 1 minute (new).
2. Works from the battery with average load for about 4 hours.
3. I connected it to my Samsung 8 series 52" via VGA cable and it works fine with 1920x1080 resolution (1080i). I wish there was HDMI output to be able to connect it to AV-receiver.
4. The processor is good enough to play fullscreen DVDs but not enough to play 720p MKV files (accaptable to watch but freezes sometimes).
5. Left "ctrl" button is not the first one in the row. "Fn" goes first. If you used to short-cuts like ctrl-c, ctrl-x, ctrl-v, ctrl-esc, you will not find it to be convinient.
6. Touchpad buttons are made as single bar. I did not find any issues using it. I even like it.
7. If netbook stays on a flat surface and you push the lid more than 30 degrees from vertical, then it will fall on the back. Not expected behaviour.
8. It comes with 1 Gb of DDR. Someone says it easy to add 1 Gb more. It is not that easy. One of the screws is covered by warranty label. You can unscrew others and very carefully pullback part of the cover. Like that you will get a very narrow space to get inside with your fingers and add memory chip. I ordered Crucial 1 GB DDR2-667 Sodimm on Amazon and it worked for me.
9. It weighs less than I expected.
10. It has Wi-Fi N (not G, like most of netbooks), which was a very good surprise for me. Wi-Fi is switched off initially and you have to switch it on with Fn-F9 combination. I had to search through support forum to find out why wi-fi does not function..
11. In 1 month of usage: 1 time windows crashed, 1 time could not recover from hibernating mode, 1 time Explorer crashed and 3-4 times restarted itself after installing Windows updates.

That's all I can recall now. In general, this is a very good piece of equipment and an excellent gift for ladies!

Originally leaning towards an HP mini I decided to go with this little one after discovering all its great features and tons of great reviews. It's light, fast, has a great screen, the keyboard rocks, I have no problem with the mouse bar and I just love it! I drag it all over the place with me, it into the kitchen rather than printing a recipe and it worked like a charm, into the family room to surf, outside to work, everywhere - battery lasts forever and it doesn't get hot like my Thinkpad I use for work.

I love this laptop! It has everything I need to surf the web and the battery has a long life. I'm especially impressed withthe keyboard, which is large for such a small computer. The heart design is very subtle.

Excellent product very happy with it, bought it for my wife, delighted with the product

I bought this specifically for web browsing. Mostly use it to check my fav websites while watching evening tv, uploading/dowloading pictures and to and from work on the bus.

First thing that I found when I opened the package is the itty bitty laptop and the additional memory that I ordered. I STRONGLY recommend spending the extra 15 to 20 bucks to get the extra memory - it makes a massive difference in the performance of any machine.

The issue I had with the memory is that the laptot doesn't seem to have any place to install it. The documentation doesn't show where it goes. I found a video on Youtube showing how and where to install it. The apparent terrible thing about upgrading the memory is that it requires removing the back cover. One of the screws is covered by a security tape that says "warranty is void if tampered".

I contacted tech support. It took two calls. Both times they answered within 5 minutes. The first call, oops, they dropped the phone and accidentally hung up on me. I got the same tech that did this on the second call. The tech support agent said that it is alright to remove the sticker to get to the screw. They have reviewed their policy and it will not void the warranty. They have stopped placing the sticker on new systems. With the cover off, I removed the sticker altogether and got the residue off with goo gone.
The tech support agent said that nothing else is user or locally serviceable. Not even the hard drive.

Next, I backed up the hard drive as delivered using Norton Ghost.

I then replaced the operating system by installing Windows Vista Ultimate to test the capability. It ran just fine. The Vista Performance rating gave it a 1 for the graphics card - or lack of.

I installed XP Pro. Office 2007 Ultimate. Joined the laptot to the domain. It is truly not a desktop replacement, but my wife likes it a lot!

I don't know why they don't offer XP Professional as an option for these machines. XP home is simply a broken version.

I wonder what OS these laptot manufacturers will begin shipping when Microsoft finally discontinues XP.