▶▶▶ MSI Wind U123-001US 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook - 6 Cell Battery

Monday, October 11, 2010

MSI Wind U123-001US 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook - 6 Cell Battery

MSI Wind U123-001US 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook - 6 Cell Battery Review

A very nice product for the price and for what it aims to do. The case is solid, the display is fine, though the height of the screen affects some types of online reading. The battery lasts long enough for my needs. I get about two hours of life from it. It's light and easy to carry around. It's a great unit for writing on your own somewhere or bringing to a meeting. If you're looking for a light, portable way to get on the Internet, check e-mail, surf web sites, and to do basic office functions, this works really well. I like the fact that it has VGA out and USB ports. I don't think it would work for me as my only computer, but as a supplemental computer, it occupies a useful niche.

If you are expecting a similar experience as you get with a larger laptop, you may be disappointed by a few aspects of this machine. The trackpad is too sensitive and XP doesn't appear to have a control panel to moderate its sensitivity. When I type, the trackpad picks up my left thumb and makes the cursor jump. I'm getting better and knowing how to hold my hands when I type, though. Also some of they keys to the side are half-keys, and so it takes a little practice to find where they are when you are typing. The left mouse button has a dead spot in it. Sometimes you have to press it in a certain region of the button to get it to work.

I was caught off guard by the fact that the wireless radio and the camera were off by default. I had to turn them on via a function key stroke. Not a big deal once I realized it, but for a while I thought I had a computer that wasn't functioning properly.

If you want to listen to audio while using this computer, use the audio jack. The speakers are too weak to let you properly hear a video or audio file.

According to the sticker on the back, the warranty is voided by upgrading the memory to 2 Gigabytes. That's a shame. Simply taking the back off and popping out the memory card seems like a minor invasion into the computer. It's very easy to do, by the way. And upgrading to 2 Gigabytes improved the machine's performance.

Even though there are some aspects of this machine that don't stack up to a traditional laptop, neither does the price. So, on the whole, given the price and my purpose for the machine, I'm satisfied with it.