Here at Gadget Lab we’ve been blessed with an early test unit of the
MSI Wind U120 — the successor to the popular MSI Wind netbook. Our
first impressions? We like it plenty. The improvements from the first
model are very minor, but they make a significant difference on
something as small as a netbook.
Here’s a rundown of the MSI Wind U120’s features, accompanied by beautiful photography courtesy of Wired.com’s Jonathan Snyder.
Bigger, Better Trackpad
First and foremost—the trackpad (above). Almost everybody complained about the
crappy trackpad on the first Wind, and MSI listened. The Wind U120’s
improved trackpad is about two centimeters wider than the previous one,
and you’d be amazed at how much easier it is to mouse around with that
tiny addition in space. Also, the texture of the trackpad is a bit
grainy, which makes navigating less of a slippery experience than it
was on the previous model’s. Third and most important—the Wind U120 has
two silver buttons accompanying the trackpad, which beats the living
bejeezus out of the clunky, single mouse button on the original Wind.
Professional Makeover
Other than that, MSI completely reworked the Wind’s exterior, ditching
the original model’s cute, rounded aesthetic for a more professional
design with sharper edges and a mixture of black and white (above). More
serious this new netbook looks and feels indeed, which business users
should appreciate.
Spiffy Vents
The case is composed of a higher quality, sturdier
plastic compared with the first Wind. MSI also redesigned the heat
vents to, well, look like heat vents (above). The last model’s sorry excuse
for heat vents were five punched-out square holes, lined with cheap,
holey aluminum.
Same Ol’ Netbook Performance
As for computing performance, we saw no improvement. And we didn’t
expect any, since the Wind U120 contains the same guts as its
forefather. The test unit shipped with a copy of Windows XP, which operates
about as well as you’d expect an 8-year-old operating system to. (Read:
Like a piece of sh*t. We look forward to hacking this baby to run Mac
OS X.) Anyhow, we streamed some Hulu videos and they played back just
fine. Audio from the puny speakers sounds tinny, awful and barely
audible, just like on the first Wind. We recommend plugging into the headphone port (above), as
we generally do with every netbook.
Spacey Keyboard
The keyboard (above) hasn’t changed at all: It’s plenty roomy, but some might
have a problem with the three keys to the left of the "Shift" key (<
> ? ) because they’re smaller than the rest, which is a little
awkward.
Business or Casual?
With all that said, I personally still prefer the more casual look of
the original Wind (above and below)—but I treat my netbook as the computer I use to
"unwind" at home (i.e., web surfing, chatting and listening to music).
We’ll provide a full review after a bit more tinkering around and running benchmarks. Stay tuned, Gadget Labbers!
See Also:
Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
(Thanks, Maren — for getting this thing in!)
