MSI Wind U100 netbook computer

Bridging the gap between the original Eee 700 and an ultraportable notebook, the popularity of MSI’s Wind U100 was one of the reasons Asus brought the 10in Eee PC to market.

A sleek-looking design, the Wind U100 has nicely rounded corners to the chassis and the glossy finished lid, which comes in a few different colours.

But its main attraction is the 10.1in screen with its 1,024x600 resolution which allows for a larger keyboard to be fitted, in this case right up to the chassis edge.

The keys are more manageable than those on the Eee PC 901, but not as large as on HP’s Mini-Note 2133. Thankfully they are good and responsive; the only problem is the slightly awkward layout which will take a little getting used to.

While the keyboard is nice and large, the same can’t be said for the trackpad, which is very small in comparison. It is responsive without being too sensitive, though, and the two mouse buttons have a satisfying click when you use them.

The Wind is powered by an Intel Atom N270 (1.6GHz) backed by 1GB of PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 memory which is enough to keep installed Windows XP Home SP3 OS happy. There’s plenty of storage space, too, with a 160GB standard Western Digital 5,400rpm hard drive installed.

One of the early problems with the Wind, and indeed many other netbooks, was the poor battery life from the three-cell unit. However, our review sample of the Wind came with a six-cell 4,400mAh battery ­ this does add to the dimensions and, more importantly, the weight of the Wind, but the small sacrifices are more than made up for by doubling the battery life over the smaller-celled battery.

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