u90

8.9 inch MSI Wind to hit Europe next week

Ever wonder what an MSI Wind notebook would look like with a big old black Bezel around the screen? Enter the MSI Wind U90. Blogeee reports that the laptop, which will not be available in the US, should start shipping next week.

This variant, which made its first appearance at Computex a few months ago, is virtually identical to the MSI Wind U100 in all respects but two:

It won’t be available in the US
It features an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display instead of the 10.2 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display its bigger sibling uses

For MSI, it makes plenty of sense to pack the smaller display into the larger chasis. It saves the company money both because smaller displays are cheaper and because there’s no need to produce a whole new case. But there’s an upside for the end user as well: You get the nice big, roomy keyboard offered by the MSI Wind U100 even if you pick up a U90 instead. You just have to learn to live with a bezel — and hope that MSI charges a few bucks less for the U90.

Update: As several people have pointed out in the comments, the U90 is already available in some countries. Apparently what’s new here is that it will hit France next week. Thanks!

Thursday, August 14th, 2008, 1:56 pm by Brad Linder | Tags: msi wind, msi wind u90, u90

MSI Wind 8.9 inch model makes guest appearance at Computex

MSI may only be releasing a 10 inch model of the Wind laptop in the US, but the company plans to release an 8.9 inch model in selected countries. No, I don’t know which countries yet, but Engadget did manage to snap a photo of the elusive MSI Wind U90 at Computex, so at least we know it’s real.

It looks like the U90 is pretty much identical to the U100, except it has a smaller display. Surprisingly, MSI doesn’t seem to have put the U90 in a smaller case, but instead just packed an Eee PC 701-style bezel around the smaller screen. On the one hand, that means you get the same excellent near-full-sized keyboard whether you buy the MSI Wind U90 or U100. On the other hand, are you kidding me? This thing had better be significantly cheaper. I’m willing to bet it is — for MSI, but not necessarily for consumers. My guess is that the U90 will only be offered in countries where MSI does not sell the U100.