News Bits: MSI Wind is $399, Vostro 1710 Available, Office Ultimate for Cheap

Dell Vostro 1710 now available

The Dell Vostro 1710 is now available for purchase on Dell's Small Business website. It completes the new Vostro lineup, joining the already-available 1310 and 1510.
The Vostro 1710 starts at $799 with a 17" screen; it is available with Intel Core 2 Duo processors and up to 4GB of RAM.

Product Link


MSI Wind gets a price tag: $399

Official pricing for the MSI Wind has been revealed. The US will only get the 10-inch version and will be available with Windows XP and Linux. The expected availability date is June 3. The following configurations will be available:

SuSE Linux version:

• 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor
• 512MB RAM
• 80GB HDD
• 3-cell battery; 2.5 hours battery life
• $399

Windows XP version will have all of the above specifications with the following changes/additions

• 1GB RAM
• Bluetooth
• 6-cell battery: 5.5 hours battery life
• $549

A lower priced $500 Windows XP version should also be available, but there are no details on specs for that price point.

The MSI Wind will be available in four colors, including black, white, silver, and pink.

Full Story (Blog.LAPTOPMag.com)
Via (Engadget.com)


Creative introduces X-Fi 5.1 USB sound adapter

Creative introduced its latest Sound Blaster product, the X-Fi Surround 5.1, which connects via USB. System requirements are as follows:

• Windows Vista, Windows XP
• Pentium 4 1.6GHz/AMD Athlon XP 2000+
• USB port (USB 2.0 recommended)
• 256MB RAM (XP)/512MB RAM (Vista)
• 600MB hard drive space
• CD/DVD-ROM drive
• Headphones or speakers

The X-Fi Surround 5.1 features Creative technologies such as X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity, CMSS 3D, EAX Advanced HD, and ALchemy 3D Audio. The device is currently available from Creative direct for $59.99.

Product Link


ECS to ship 1 million notebooks in Q2 2008

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) plans to ship one million notebooks in the second quarter of this year. The company projects its total notebook shipments for 2008 to be four million, a 60% on-year increase.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

Apply Arctic Silver 5 to your notebook's processor

Forum member Destiny has written a comprehensive guide on how to apply Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound to your notebook's CPU. Please see the full thread in the forums.

Student Discount gets you Microsoft Office Ultimate for $59.95

Microsoft is wrapping up their "Ultimate Offer" promotion in which students can buy a fully licensed copy of Office Ultimate 2008 for $59.95 if you're enrolled at least half time in school. Truth be told, there is no check of your class syllabus, all you need is an @.edu email address to sign up and receive this offer from www.theultimatesteal.com

Via: Microsoft Office 2008 Student Discount

 

That's a very impressive price for the Wind. Looks like the EEE 900 might be facing some stiff competition.

 

Isn't it the www.theultimatesteal.com?

The MSI Wind looks very impressive if they can deliver at those prices. Asus better be scrambling to get their Atom EEEs out by June as well.

 

The Wind looks so tempting, unless the RAM is soldered on, of course.

 

That's a more sensible starting price for the Wind. The UK Linux version of the Wind starts at over US$500 equivalent (after allowing for 17.5% VAT) but does have 1GB RAM.

John

 

It is http://www.theultimatesteal.com - I took advantage of it earlier this year and I am quite happy that I did.

 

It is, thanks for the correction. Link updated.

 

Well,vosto 1710 is quite expensive!

 

The wind looks amazing. I'll definatly get one of these over the hp mininote or the eee unless they come out with a 7" atom eee

 

and what about sound quality of that usb sound adapter?

 

That MSI Wind looks very impressive. Too bad it's not a bit cheaper, but it still looks nice and is at a decent price point.

As for the 'ultimate steal', I still wouldn't want Office 2007 even if they were giving it away for free. I just cannot stand the interface nor all the problems that cropped up at work after they switched to it, unfortunately.

 

I can't wait for the Wind to come out. Finally an eee style PC that has decent specs and is priced in a way that makes it affordable to have for school. I'll get a black for myself, and a pink for my fiancee

 

I wish I could take advantage of The Ultimate Steal. My school doesn't give @edu email accounts to their students. -.-

 

Asus better lower their prices... $550 for the new EEE PC... no thanks. MSI Wind for $399 sure... Thats not a bad price.

 

oeh nice that msi wind is just what i need. 10" bigger key board then the EEE and a 1.6atom which i guess isnt going to preform outrageous but at least its a energy saver the xp version with 5.5 hours battery live is quit impressive for that money! I say ideal note taking laptop for students ! And im glad they used a normal HD i rather have 80GB of pace then having to lure around 10 sdhc cards for a EEE

 

So I tried to get the Office Ultimate discount stating I'm a student of life. But they said, like, I wasn't... matriculated?

 

its office 2007 thats being discounted, not 2008

 

Don't forget the Wind also packs an LED screen, making it's price & spec even more attractive

 

hmmm... liking that wind.

 

the wind beats eee900 hands down. its priced the cheapest ever! 399$ im really thinking of going for it if ever.

as for the ultimate steal? office student ed does it for me quite nicely but it is a steal!

 

Hrm. So the Wind has got a LED screen, about 68gb more space than the Eee with XP, bluetooth, a better CPU and twice the batterylife for 150$ less?

Asus Eee has met its match it seems, unless there's something terribly wrong with the Wind I see no reason to get an Eee instead of this one. So so tempting...

 

It looks like MSI knows how to deliver a cheap ultra portable. This should put pressure on the others to drop their prices too.

Office 2007 is a great piece of software. It was different at first, but now I love the ribbon interface. I got the Ultimate Steal Deal a few months ago, you can't beat the price.

 

there has to be something wrong with the msi wind because right now it sounds too good to be true.

 

Good thing LG is ramping up LED production on I think 8.9inch and other smaller screens

 

I second this concern and suspect either the price will creep up or the quality/specs will go down by the time the Wind is released. Has anyone seen specs on the 80 gig drive? i.e. will it be a 7200, 5400 or 4200 rpm drive?

 

I also agree. But, as said before in the '900 thread, maby MicroSoft slashing the licence-fee might have something to do with the cost. I just hope that the Ram isn't soldered on and is as acsessable as the EEE's (4G). However, the Atom processor living up to its prommises will 'make or break' the Wind, sadly; youll think that somebody would fit a cheap duel-core to a low-cost utra-portable .

 

The Wind looks awesome. I'm guessing the keyboard is a lot closer to full size too. Anyone know what % it is? I know the HP Mini-Note's keyboard is 95% full size.

 

they look very similar.

 

Gizmodo says the Wind's keyboard will be 20% smaller than full size.

http://gizmodo.com/390414/msi-wind-gets-final-specs-packs-an-atom

 

Damn, that's a bit of a disappointment. How did HP get theirs so big?

 

For that price I doubt it will even be 5400.
The Atom's cheaper than the Celery that eeepc uses? Wonder how they compare.
I would still take the eeepc though, just because it doesn't have a hard disk drive.

 

HP is actually 92%, but compared to the EEE, both hobbits and regular humanoids can use it.

 

Is 80% of full size large enough to touch type on?

 

10inch LCD screen!? SWEET! its bigger than eee900 and cheaper !

 

I'm still interested in seeing the benchmarks of these Atom CPUs, I feel leery about that. Still want to go with Intel's ULV processors, though these Atoms are much cheaper in price for one thing.

 

The new EEE PC 901 has been leaked:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=11786




Hopefully the Wind will drive its price down. One things for sure, I'll definitely be buying a ultraportable this year.

 

I wonder if the pricing will actually come down on the Atom ASUS. I watched a EEE PC live webcast, and the sources said that the Atom will only increase the ASUS margin. But, I wonder if the Wind will bring that price down. As for right now, I am all for the Wind - sorry ASUS, better price + better specs = better.

 

Can anyone say eee killer??? lol Only time will tell...

 

Hmm, I might get the Wind instead of an EEE Pc. Nice, simple design.
Does it have an HDMI port?

 

The $550 model has bluetooth and 1GB RAM. The $400 models doesn't have bluetooth and Windows XP, and it has 512MB of RAM.

The rumor is that a 1.6GHz "atom" CPU is slower than a 900MHz ULV Celeron.

 

Using SuperPi, the Silverthorne atom tested slower than the Celeron, however the Diamondville atom (which will be in the eee 901 and the Wind) apparently bested the Celeron by taking advantage of its built in hyperthreading. Check post #10 at this link

http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=24742&p=1

It would appear the jury is still out until tests can be done on finished products but at least there appears to be hope for atom.

 

Atom's big selling points are low cost, low power consumption, and small size, not necessarily speed.

 

www.theultimatesteal.com offers Office 2007, not 2008.

Also, it should be worth mentioning that the offer ends May 16,2008 according to the site.

 

Does anybody know how much the msi wind 8.9" will be? i know it's not gonna be sold in the U.S. so possibly the price in asian countries?
thanks!

 

Nice looking laptop!

I'm tempted in selling my LG P300 for the MSI Wind if it ends up to be a solid product. Let's hope it really delivers.

 

I HIGHLY doubt it... lol

 

What's the downside of the Wind versus the Eee 900/901? Basically, only the lack of a solid state HDD, right? Compare XP versions and the Wind will have Bluetooth capability and a larger HDD for the same price. The only problem is if, like me, you'd prefer an 8.9" to a full 10" (I like the way the Eee is like a large book). But even then, the upside is that the keyboard is roomier, so you can't really complain.

At worst, I may settle for the Eee 901 if I can somehow return this 900 without getting hit with a restocking penalty (doubtful).

 

What's not to like about the P300 that makes you want to get rid of it?

I mean, by reselling it, the amount you lose from the transactions is probably enough to get you a Wind?

 

Curious about it as well.

I just got a pair of Grado headphones and they really amplify the less than stellar on-board audio on my Asus.

 

I finally found a reference to the drive speed in an article about the Medion Akoya which apparently is a rebadged MSI Wind. The article says the hard drive will spin at 5400 rpm.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/05/20/medion_takes_aim_at_eee/