MSI Wind 12 (U230-040US)
MSI Wind 12 (U230-040US) Evaluation, by Nate Rob April 22, 2010
The MSI Wind12 U230 ($430, by April 16, 2010) offers the performance from the ultraportable inside the chassis of the netbook computer. But poor battery existence turns a powerful contender correct into a lame duck.
Weighing three.three pounds and outfitted getting a 12-inch screen, MSI's Wind12 U230 is big for any netbook pc. It operates on single.6GHz Athlon Neo X2 dual core processor, carries 2GB of RAM, includes a spacious 320GB difficult disk, and makes use of House windows 7 Home Premium. It published a mark of 56 inside our WorldBench 6 test suite, much much better than the spate of scores inside the mid-30s we are accustomed to seeing netbook computers earn. (For instance, the reigning netbook computer king, the Toshiba Little NB205-N310 ambled to some mark of 36.) Nonetheless, it isn't inside the same league with ultraportables in performance. (Towards the leading from the ultraportable heap presently may be the overclocked Alienware M11x which zoomed to some score of 77.
The Wind12 U230 offers visually, too. Its easy, glossy black spend gives an understated elegance--but furthermore works as a fingerprint magnet. The netbook pc includes a glossy 12.1-inch screen by getting an HD-friendly resolution of 1366 by 768, though its image quality is really a mixed bag.
Viewing angles are fine, and also the display is glare-free below typical fluorescent lighting, but outside viewing is not a choice. Though colors occasionally looked moderate, reproduction overall was great. I observed a affordable quantity of motion clouding all through video playback, and streaming performance was lackluster--but componen for that course for any netbook pc.
Audio efficiency was middling, too, with tinny media playback. The device does get superbly noisy, nevertheless its appear high quality dips from acceptable to jarring at greater sound levels. The efficiency from the 1.3-megapixel Webcam may also be under stellar test video clip I shot tended to appear rather grainy.
Just one benefit to become in the bigger finish from the netbook pc spectrum is obtaining space for any comfy keyboard. The Wind12 U230's secrets are wide and spacious, with hardly any travel time on button presses, creating for mistake-free typing. Even though it lacks specific media secrets, the netbook pc provides generic volume manage and accessory toggling through function-key combinations.
The touch pad, nevertheless, although smooth and superbly responsive, was disappointing. Its little, stiff buttons are positioned flush using the chassis, and that i often mashed a finger from the netbook's frame whilst attempting to mouse abou. Moreover, the touch pad lacks scrollbar functionality--and depending on the Internet page's scrollbar or even the arrow secrets for navigation could be maddening at lower resolutions.
The MSI Wind12 U230 ($430, by April 16, 2010) offers the performance from the ultraportable inside the chassis of the netbook computer. But poor battery existence turns a powerful contender correct into a lame duck.
Weighing three.three pounds and outfitted getting a 12-inch screen, MSI's Wind12 U230 is big for any netbook pc. It operates on single.6GHz Athlon Neo X2 dual core processor, carries 2GB of RAM, includes a spacious 320GB difficult disk, and makes use of House windows 7 Home Premium. It published a mark of 56 inside our WorldBench 6 test suite, much much better than the spate of scores inside the mid-30s we are accustomed to seeing netbook computers earn. (For instance, the reigning netbook computer king, the Toshiba Little NB205-N310 ambled to some mark of 36.) Nonetheless, it isn't inside the same league with ultraportables in performance. (Towards the leading from the ultraportable heap presently may be the overclocked Alienware M11x which zoomed to some score of 77.
The Wind12 U230 offers visually, too. Its easy, glossy black spend gives an understated elegance--but furthermore works as a fingerprint magnet. The netbook pc includes a glossy 12.1-inch screen by getting an HD-friendly resolution of 1366 by 768, though its image quality is really a mixed bag.
Viewing angles are fine, and also the display is glare-free below typical fluorescent lighting, but outside viewing is not a choice. Though colors occasionally looked moderate, reproduction overall was great. I observed a affordable quantity of motion clouding all through video playback, and streaming performance was lackluster--but componen for that course for any netbook pc.
Audio efficiency was middling, too, with tinny media playback. The device does get superbly noisy, nevertheless its appear high quality dips from acceptable to jarring at greater sound levels. The efficiency from the 1.3-megapixel Webcam may also be under stellar test video clip I shot tended to appear rather grainy.
Just one benefit to become in the bigger finish from the netbook pc spectrum is obtaining space for any comfy keyboard. The Wind12 U230's secrets are wide and spacious, with hardly any travel time on button presses, creating for mistake-free typing. Even though it lacks specific media secrets, the netbook pc provides generic volume manage and accessory toggling through function-key combinations.
The touch pad, nevertheless, although smooth and superbly responsive, was disappointing. Its little, stiff buttons are positioned flush using the chassis, and that i often mashed a finger from the netbook's frame whilst attempting to mouse abou. Moreover, the touch pad lacks scrollbar functionality--and depending on the Internet page's scrollbar or even the arrow secrets for navigation could be maddening at lower resolutions.
The Wind12 U230's connectivity options are strong but unimpressive: an High-definition multimedia interface port, 3 USB ports, a four-in-one card readers, a gigabit ethernet port, along with a legacy VGA port. Furthermore you get Bluetooth, and 802.11b/g/n wireless.
The earphone and microphone jacks show up on the very best side from the machine, taken care of of peripheral devices and cables that might be dangling in the region. A built-in 3rd generation modem is definitely an option, and also the (modemless) model I examined incorporated a vestigial function important.
MSI's documentation includes the conventional complement of driver and OS dvds, together with an extensive quick-start guide. The plan bundle consists primarily of Webcam companion applications, whose utility will unquestionably alter from user to user. Of great interest to oldsters is Kido'z, a walled-garden browser that offers heavy parental controls and monitoring, plus use of kid-friendly websites. A few of the more comprehensive tools are kept in a normal membership package.
The Wind12 U230 provides quite a bit to adore, nonetheless its battery existence--3 hrs, 48 minutes within our tests--is really a major drawback. The typical battery existence for netbook computer systems is all about 7 hrs, also because the Alienware M11x ultraportable went for 7.5 hrs. It is unfortunate, considering the Wind12 U230's powerful common performance and transportable design. Whenever you are mobile indicates not connected to some energy outlet as well as in the configuration I examined, the Wind12 U230 did not have endurance.
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