Laptops

MSI Wind 100

The Atom-based Eee PC-a-like which talks the talk and walks the walk

Our Score User Score Be first to review this!

Last reviewed: June 3rd

The MSI Wind will probably be the first laptop on the market with Intel's Atom processor inside

Zoom

The laptop market has changed in recent months.

That was due to the introduction of the Asus Eee PC, which single-handedly created the low-cost mini-laptop market segment.

To support this market, Intel has now released its Atom processor, designed specifically for such laptops and the MSI Wind 100 is the first machine we've seen sporting the new chip.

In style, the Wind takes many of its designs queues from the Eee PC. It's made from white plastic - a black version will ship in July - with a 3-cell battery taking up the back of the unit. It feels great in the hand and is certainly tough enough to carry around on a regular basis.

Weighing 1kg, its weight is nicely balanced, especially considering the use of a 10-inch Super-TFT screen that has a native resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.

Images look great and even when running on battery power it looked sharp. The screen sits on hinges that make the screen cover the back of the unit, giving a slightly low line of sight.

No compromise

The use of this screen means it feels a lot more like a standard laptop than either the Asus Eee PC or the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC. The keyboard is a good size and doesn't feel as though you're compromising usability for a smaller form factor.

The touchpad and single-strip mouse button is on the small side but it doesn't take too much away from the usability.

When it comes to performance, you'll find a state-of-the-art Intel Atom N270 processor that is the smallest mobile chip to date. As a pre-production unit we were unable to benchmark it but in daily use we found it quicker than the current options on the market. Running Windows XP Professional, the system loaded and ran with ease.

The Atom is a 45nm chip that measures just 22mm across and has been designed to run in fan-less systems. This means the MSI Wind runs exceptionally coolly and quietly.

The use of the ageing Intel 945GSE chipset will no-doubt keep development costs to a minimum for manufacturers but it does mean the Front Side Bus (FSB) is limited to a maximum of 533MHz. So, in real terms you won't see much performance gain over the current Celeron M chips being used in the Asus Eee PC.