Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
First off I would like to give credit to this formal review from NBR:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4498
As a result of many things that I agree with in the above review I will try to touch on things that I find that the review didn't fully cover or things that I disagree upon. I've also enclosed multiple pictures to help with potential buyers' perceptions on the Size and the Color of the black Wind. Enjoy!
Reasons to Buy:
Being a college student I had one computer already for my everyday computing and intensive applications (gaming, CAD, etc.). So I was in the market going back to school for something that I could easily put in a bag full of books and bring to class for notes and to the library for studying. In this sense, I think that the Wind will be a great notebook for anyone in my situation.
Performance:
While I haven't put games or intensive applications (I have no need to >.<) on my Wind I have used many common apps like Firefox 3, Skype, MSN, & Microsoft Office 2007. For these I have found the MSI Wind to work great and is quite snappy.
I did end up putting in an extra 1 GB of RAM and found that the Wind did become more quick in startup and shutdown (obviously) but also was an even better little multitasking machine.
Heat & Noise:
I have found the Wind to be completely cool and quiet. While I have heard others complain about a whirring air noise I have found no such thing so far with my wind after about 15 hrs. of total use. As far as heat goes, I have felt no heat through the top (keyboard or touchpad) while using it at room temperature, and very little heat coming through the bottom of the Wind.
Size:
Here is where I feel that the Wind really makes its selling point. Before purchasing the Wind I had went to a local Microcenter and looked at an HP Mininote (8.9") and found that I didn't think I could really deal with a notebook of that size.
While the 8.9" still seemed quick and similar in performance I found that the resolution of the screen was much too high and the screen was too small for real use of more than 1/2-1 hr. The keyboard, while nice compared to the original Eee Pc, was still a tad too small and cramped for me, even having smaller hands.
Also there I looked at a Sony (not sure the model) at 11.1" and found it to be plenty big for what I needed so I figured: "the Wind should be a great compromise right?" For me, it turned out to be so.
So for all of you who are in the market for a UMPC I highly suggest you go out and see what these sizes really are like in person. In addition though, I have some pictures below that I believe will help not only understand the size, but the color (I thought the finish was really close to that of a Black DS Lite, so I included some pictures with that as well).
Screen:
One thing about the screen that immediately surprised me was the clarity and brightness of the Wind's LED screen. Even on the lowest setting the Wind is EASILY usable and I don't think that even in broad daylight I would use over the 6/10 brightness setting. This thing gets SO bright on the highest setting.
The resolution for me seems just about right. While I am usually one who prefers higher resolutions (I run 1920X1200 on my 17" laptop), I think for a small laptop 1024X600 is decent. 1024 wide makes it awesome for web surfing, but 600 is odd for me because I am used to having 1200 vertically. It makes for a bit of scrolling, which I'll talk about next with the touchpad.
Touchpad:
With my Wind I received a Synaptics touchpad. While other users have been reporting receiving a non-Synaptics touchpad, I know nothing about this now and will only comment on the one that I have used.
With this touchpad, I am pleased with it overall. It has a simple Fn+F3 to turn it on and off, and options within the Synaptics software to turn on/off touch to click, and corner scrolling. The only nice addition to this would've been multitouch scrolling.
Having never used a touchpad with scrolling in the corners, it took me a little while to figure out that it even had it. In the Upper Right and the Lower Right about the size of my fingertips (perhaps a tad smaller) you can either tap to scroll or hold to scroll, both of which I find myself using often and without much thought.
What I have had problems with though is that sometimes when I type I find that my right thumb hits the touchpad and messes with whatever I am typing pretty badly. I have found though that when I am typing something important I simply Fn+F3 and turn it off. Also, the buttons are small, but I have only used them for Right Clicks and it hasn't really caused me discomfort or made me go out of my way.
Lastly, Pictures:
Here are the pictures I promised. The laptops in these are an Alienware m9750, HP Pavilion dv6000, and of course a Black 3 Cell MSI Wind. Also, I put in there my Black DS Lite for Size comparisons, but mainly because I found the Wind's glossy finish and colors to be insanely close to a DS Lite. The only difference I can see is that the Wind has a slight glittery color under brighter light conditions.
NOTE: See post below for pic links!
So that's it! Please feel free to ask any questions and I'll try my best to answer them!
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SL...very, very nice review...
Kudo's to you!
Now we just need to see the pics!
Cin
Edit: You added and I was posting!
Nice, nice, nice!
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Thanks for the review!
You touched upon a lot of things that I wanted to know.
I agree strongly with trying to find a laptop with the same size in person. I recently saw an EEE PC 901 at Best Buy and even though I've been spending a lot of time looking at dimensions and size comparisons I truly did not know how small a 8.9" really is.
It is so tiny. I don't have big hands but I could not see myself typing on it for very long. I would probably have to end up pecking at it.
What an age we live in where we have laptops of every size (7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 13, 15, 16, 17). Where's the 12"?
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Thanks! I really agree with ya here on the you must look in person thing. It really may be a no brainer to some people, but especially with UMPCs size and comfort are a must know!
As for the 12", there actually are a few companies making 12.1" notebooks, but they aren't really in the same category as these UMPCs mostly because they are a lot more $$$... That may change though with the upcoming Dell Slim. Who knows though lol.
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Oh, and I also wanted to say that I know some people have been reporting a high pitched whine coming from his power supply. I personally checked this on mine, but I found that I:
a.Could only hear ANY sound 3-4" away or closer and it wasn't that noticeable
b.The pitch was quite high, but not really all that much higher than my m9750...
Just thought I would comment on that. Hope this helps!
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Well all I have used it for is Skype, Firefox 3, Windows Live Messenger (MSN), and MS Office 2007.
For all of these it has performed very well (smoothly and quickly), and with 2 GB of memory in it has had no problems multitasking them all.
Also, I don't plan on putting in a larger or faster HD, but I've heard that it is pretty easy and I know some other members here have done it so search around.
Hope this helps!
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The case in my opinion is very nice. It is a white leather (or pleather) that seems to not only look and feel good but would protect it well. Inside the case as my pictures show it also has a little net to put something small inside (I simply put a lens cleaner in there).
For me it is more than enough protection when I am putting it in my backpack with all of my books.
Hope this helps!
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Yup it comes with one open slot as you guys figured out, and that slot is easily accessed right at the top when you open it up.
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The mic huh?
So far it has been just great for using with Skype (webcam works pretty decent too), so I am not sure how it would perform for lectures...
Do you have any idea what software you will be using? Because if you do I could just get that software and try it out for ya!
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My MSI Wind Review (Black)
Discussion in 'MSI' started by shoelace_510, Aug 18, 2008.
