With the growing trend of Web 2.0 applications that use the Internet in ever more pervasive ways, almost every computer manufacturer is producing what is known as a "netbook." This week I will review the MSI Wind, one of the most highly touted netbooks on the market.
A netbook is an ultraportable computer, often with displays ranging from just 7 to 10 inches. They are usually powered by a weaker processor such as the Intel Celeron or the Intel Atom.
However, the benefits of the netbook include its ease of use, and of course, its portability.
The Wind has one of the largest screens of all netbooks, a widescreen at 10 inches, with a decent resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels.
It's powered by the energy efficient 1.6Ghz Intel Atom processor, with 1Gb of onboard RAM. Though the Wind lacks an optical drive, it does come with built-in 802.11b/g, Bluetooth and a 1.3MP webcam.
The Wind has all of the standard ports you would expect on a laptop: a VGA out, standard headphone and microphone jacks, three USB 2.0 ports and an SD card reader.
The Wind also comes with two different battery types, the 3-cell or the 6-cell, which gives about 2.5 hours and 5 hours of use, respectively. Although this might be a little less than your typical laptop, this is usually sufficient for standard use.
The notebook weighs in at a tidy three pounds. It's priced at around $450 and $500 right now for the 3-cell and 6-cell models that are pre-installed with Windows XP.
I've had my Wind for over two months now, and I can truly say it's one of the best notebooks I've ever owned. I primarily use my Wind when I have to take my laptop around for some portable use, such as browsing the Web, or taking notes in class, so I don't have to lug my much larger MacBook Pro around.
(Don't get me wrong, my MBP by far is the most powerful laptop I have, but sometimes I just don't need a 15 incher with me.)
On my Wind, I mainly use three programs: Microsoft Office, iTunes and Firefox. With the abundance of Web applications out there now, there isn't really much need to install a variety of programs directly on your hard drive.
I find the Atom processor more than enough for my daily usage, even with several windows of Firefox running, iTunes playing in the background and Word open.
And the best part of this is that with my 6-cell Wind, I can get over five hours of use on my battery, meaning I don't have to bring my charger most of the time when I go out for the day. And this is five hours with battery-draining Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on.
Many people are concerned about the trade-offs with the portability of netbooks. I've heard that the screen may be too small, and will require too much scrolling to read anything of value, and also that the keyboard and trackpad may be too cramped for prolonged usage.
I completely disagree. The screen is plenty wide to effectively eliminate any side scrolling you'll do, and there's a substantial amount of text that fits on one window before you have to scroll down to read more.
MSI claims that the keyboard is 95 percent of a standard keyboard's size, and while I think it's closer to 85 or 90 percent, I don't have a hard time typing on it.
I do find that the trackpad is a teeny bit small, but it's alright for occasional use. For prolonged periods of time, I prefer using a standard mouse that is purchased separately.
The Wind also has a hard-to-press trackpad button which is also a rocker, meaning that the same button pivots to serve as both the left and right clicks. That's annoying. If there was something MSI could improve on, it would be the trackpad.
The MSI is a big winner mainly because of its ultra-portability, reaonable price and battery life. I'd definitely suggest this to any student who needs a low priced laptop to carry to and from class every day for notes.
