MSI Wind U115 tested, dissected in Polish

u115-ssd

The MSI Wind U115 isn’t making the rounds in the US yet, but it looks like some European tech sites are getting their hands on pre-release versions of the netbook. Yesterday we got a battery life report from Germany. And it looks like Polish tech site nvision got some hands on time with a U115 earlier this month.

The MSI Wind U115 has a few things that set it apart from other netbooks. First, it uses the Intel Atom Z530 CPU, which is more energy efficient than the Intel Atom N270 chip found in most netbooks. Second, it has a unique storage system involving an 8GB SSD and a 160GB hard drive. The operating system sits on the SSD, along with any programs or files you can fit on the solid state disk. This allows the computer to turn off the hard drive when it’s not in use, which conserves energy and prolongs battery life.

According to nvision, the U115 gets between 5.5 and 15 hours of run time from a single battery charge depending on use conditions. There’s no mention of the battery capacity, but that figure isn’t too far off from the 13 hours that Eee PC.de reported with a 6 cell, 5200mAh battery.

The SSD appears to be reasonably fast, but if it’s not good enough for you, it looks like the SSD should be user upgradeable. I mean that in the strictest, warranty-voiding sense of the phrase. But it doesn’t look like MSI has blocked access o the SSD or fused it to the motherboard.

thanks tst!


Posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009, 12:08 pm by Brad
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  • The 13 hours reported by eee-pc.de are really impressive since the test forces the CPU to run at 100% all the time. Wifi was off, but still great run time.

    Seems like the processor combined with the SSD are huge power savers.
  • enchantedsky
    Before everyone thinks this netbook is better than Asus 1000HE and Samsung NC10 SE, consider the following disadvantages to this new MSI Wind:

    1) No multi-touch support (it uses a cheaper touchpad)

    2) No ethernet port (it uses a USB dongle which slows down your CPU and overall USB speed when accessing the internet)

    3) Trackpad is small, and mouse buttons are hard to press (try one in person, and you'll see what I mean)

    4) Screen placement is poor (it's almost off center compared to other netbooks)

    So in other words, battery life isn't everything. I'm still getting either an NC10 SE or Asus 1000HE
  • I just got the Asus 1000HE yesterday. Got 9 full hours of battery after my first charge cycle, which is awesome. I'm really having a tough time putting OS X on it though, so much more difficult than on the Dell Mini 9 or the MSI Wind U120.. I might return it because of that...
  • Jay
    I'm a bit confused by your statements. It doesn't have an Ethernet port? Does the U100 not have an Ethernet port because I could have sworn there was one, which leads me to believe the U115 will as well. The screen placement is far from poor in my opinion. It wasn't off center at all on all the models I've used. And I prefer the beveling on the U100 to the other netbooks on the market. As far as multi-touch support, yes since they went to the Sentelic pads they haven't been as nice as the Synaptic which does now support certain multi-touch. FYI, if that is really important to you than you can look online (MSI wind forums) and they have the synaptic part number you need to order and replace your trackpad with, as well as the drivers for multi-touch.

    I personally dislike the NC10 and don't see why people like it so much. It's not a bad machine at all, but for the price it doesn't make sense to me. The 1000HE is the real champ of netbook right now though, but I do think this MSI U115 could dethrone it if it comes out affordable. Matter of fact if the old U100 just had a better battery that lasted a good 7 hours I'd buy one over the 1000HE as I actually type faster on it and like the look of it more.
  • Untz
    Yes, it is now out on msi's site! Oonts! LOL
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