Ok, just wait a minute...let me jump in here and supply some information.
First, I actually own one of the U210's and have spent 3 complete days messing with it. Second, I don't have a bias against "netbooks" "ultra portables" "toy laptops" full size laptops, gaming laptops, business laptops, etc. etc. etc., or whatever else you want to call them, no axe to grind here, I own one or more of all the different categories. Lastly, there are some VERY important aspects of this MSI box that people aren't covering. I often think of writing to reviewers requesting that before they read the manufacturers press release propaganda, or take a quick survey to see what all the other reviewers are saying, that they simply get a quiet space with a good internet connection, and sit down, open the box and examine a new laptop like its the first one they've ever seen. No preconceptions, no prejudices, no axe to grind.
Having said that, Let's cut to the chase. Bottom line, the $800 plus or minus HP DV2z with the dual core neo and ati3410 gpu is a marvelous machine, its based on an elegantly engineered magnesium and some other metal chassis, has a luxury automobile finish, runs noticeably hot, and clocks about 3400 in 3dmark03. Now, my vanilla U210 runs amazingly quiet and cool, all externals are plastic, it has neither the dual neo, nor the 3410gpu, yet pumps out around 1150 3dmark03 marks with the included Vista. A simple (once you discover the mystery that is MPUAA) "downgrade" (that's a laugh) to XP pro netted a base of 1280. Some simple tweaking, and a bit of overclocking gets me right at 1700, i.e. half of the score of a DUAL core neo DV2z WITH the vastly superior 3410, for about half the money. I havn't yet found a 3dmark 03 for the single neo DV2 but I suspect it will be very near the score of this MSI.
In any event, the overclock is simple, it results in a cpu temp rise of 2 to 4 C, and is distinctly noticeable in effect. In fact, it brings an ear to ear grin to your face and you wonder.."is this really a NETBOOK?". I'll tell you right now, This wind U210 is a completely competent WOW machine for those 'stolen' moments tho to be sure, it wouldn't be my first choice for a raid in Northrend.
The 2gig mem chip is ddr800 HOWEVER, at least THIS one will run at 1066 speeds, with ddr 800 timings rather sweet right? ....yet I still find one reviewer pooh poohing the "cheap" memory included on the U210...duh. Furthermore , the msi motherboard will take a base clock increase from a starting 200 to at least 260..with aplomb. Considering this is multiplied by 4 and THAT my friends, is pretty decent design overhead...
Open up the box and you will be impressed with the engineering of the chassis. The hinges are hell for stout and hold the screen wherever you put it.
Examine the stress riser reinforcement grids on the plastic body panels and again, you'll be inpressed with how this thing was built. This is not to say there is not metal in the U210 because there is, a very substantial base plate for lack of a better word, and with the single exception of a power wire running under the harddrive that looks like a last minute afterthought, everything is laid out inside nice and tidy. Remove the two screws in the back cover, (carefully for it is apparently purposefully designed with lateral flexibility so that its snap hooks hold securely, and you'll find ready access to most of the things you want to get at- a HUGE improvement over the U100.
The keyboard is not only essentially full sized, it 'feels' even larger than that because of the way the keys are flattened and extended towards each other as opposed to the 'doming' you usually find. A few hours with "TOD" (Typing of the Dead to all of those who havn't yet discovered this nuts zombie killing typing tutor proggie) will let budding touch typing students start to kick out some serious wpm's ("words per minute"). Having spent a year with the U100, I find the U210 superior in EVERYway except one, which might in fact be a plus for most sub note users. Whereas the U100 has a Turbo button which kicked in a built in overclock, when on battery, the U210 has a 'de-turbo' "ECCO" button which will with a single keystroke combo SELECTIVELY: cut the mghz down, dim the display, kill the wifi, wan, and the webcam, all in the name of squeeezing every last ounce of battery life out of the puter. Not too shabby.
Ok, now, about Kevin's review....I think for the most part that he is fair, and the points he makes are valid..but I would look at the comparison's he makes in an entirely different light...lets think about this a moment.
How do you classify a laptop? by Name? that makes no sense..who cares if its a 'netbook', 'notebook' , 'laptop', 'subnotebook', 'ultra portable', or a damned bbq for chrissakes. The "name/classification" is irrelevant and I wish all the reviewers would get that in their heads. What counts is 1. what does it cost, 2. what size is it (both dimensions and weight) and 3. what can it do and not do..period, finito, end of story. Now if we examine the U210 in this light, what should we compare the MSI Wind 210 to? Well, with respect to its competitors that sell for around the same money, as to dimensions, we can say its 'slightly' bigger than some (which if you don't have a six year old's fingers is a GOOD thing), its 'slightly heavier' than some...it has a VASTLY superior infact BRILLIANT screen, hugely better resolution, processor and gpu.., comes with twice the memory, bigger and faster harddrive (this toshiba 250 is damned quick for a non 7200 drive) HDMI out (which works just fine once you sort out the drivers) a mem card slot (which is omitted on many) a super finicky touchpad that is waaaaay too sensitive out of the box, but that can be instantly transformed into a terrific one, vastly superior to most touchpads, by just adding a dose of Synaptics latest driver. a built in 1.3 webcam that works damned well, (I was really surprised just how well), a pleasing 'look', a well balanced form that doesn't tend to tip over backwards at some screen angles like the U100 and a few others, solid internal craftsmanship, and clearly superior cooling design with a VERY quiet but effective fan. Add the ECCO mode,(which WILL get you a solid 4 hour plus work time) a strong WIFI module but WITHOUT bluetooth (what's up with that btw MSI? ) Oh, and regarding the battery time, the U210 will accept the 9 CELL U100 bat with no muss, no fuss, and THAT will get you close to 7 hours...pushing 11 adding the two together
AND..this thing.will overclock easily and safely on the order of 30 PERCENT!!! (which will net you a performance increase of greater than 50percent for many tasks) all for about the same or in many cases LESS MONEY!!! so.... WHAT AM I MISSING HERE?
In the 'NETBOOK WORLD', the MSI 210 is a NO BRAINER!!! someone name me something that comes close...then tell me what it costs...
Now, in the ULTRAPORTABLE world...can u buy a stronger machine, yes, can you buy one with a better screen or resolution? Well, not the HP Dv2..., can you buy one with a better graphics processor? Yes, but not with the same battery run time...
sooooo, if its better than the netbooks, and not as fancy or quite as powerful as the best of the ultra portables, nor anywhere NEAR as expensive as ANY of the Ultraportables...just where DO you put the MSI Wind U210?
I'll tell you where to stick it....
In your briefcase or your backpack, that's where.
Buy one of these things. You will NOT regret it.
Period, end of story, finito..done.
Seer
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
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