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  (Source: CNET/Crave)
MSI's latest Atom-based notebook is just 0.71 inches thick

With the start of CES 2009 just days away, we can expect a flurry of new product announcements to flood the internet. As DailyTech reported earlier today, notebooks and netbooks are expected to take most of the limelight this year in Las Vegas.

MSI's Wind was one of the first 10.1" netbooks to hit the market and is available in a number of variants from a standard model with a 160GB HDD to the recently introduced Wind U115 which features both SSD and HDD storage in one machine. MSI is now looking to steal a bit of thunder from Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad X300/X301 with its new X-Slim 320.

The notebook features a 13.4" widescreen display (1366x768), is just 0.71 inches thick, and weighs 2.87 pounds in its base configuration. MSI says that the X320 will be available with both 4-cell and 8-cell batteries with the latter providing up to 10 hours of running time.

According to Engadget, the machine supports 2GB of DDR2 memory, three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, 802.11n, Bluetooth, 3.5G WWAN, a VGA port, and a card reader. CNET's Crave is even going so far as to say that the X320 could be sporting NVIDIA's Ion platform which pairs Intel's Atom processor with the GeForce 9400M mobile GPU instead of Intel's less than GMA 950 solution.

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Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By omgwtf8888 on 1/5/2009 2:58:31 PM , Rating: 2
I want a netbook to complement my desktop. It seems like it will fill a nice little niche for traveling, i like the small size and low low price. Once a netbook grows to 13.4" and looks this sexy, I am thinking big and expensive. Which, is the complete opposite of what i like about a netbook. Unless they make the price very attractive it seems there will be any number of 13" laptops that we be far superior to this.




RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By omgwtf8888 on 1/5/2009 3:01:11 PM , Rating: 3
Ack nevermind... its a notebook... wow that reading stuff is important.. my bad


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By Motoman on 1/5/2009 3:07:39 PM , Rating: 5
...bleh.

I find the term "netbook" to be useless. It's a compact, inexpensive laptop. Notebook. Whatever.

There isn't really a fundamental difference between these things and "notebooks." I don't understand why someone felt the need to invent a new label for them. Small notebook, medium notebook, large notebook. Whee.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By foolsgambit11 on 1/5/2009 9:06:07 PM , Rating: 5
I think the definition should be a lack of optical drive. That makes your only means of getting content the 'net. Or an external drive, but let's not quibble here. It also makes the MacBook Air a netbook. A ridiculously priced netbook.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By cmdrdredd on 1/5/2009 11:24:48 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
I think the definition should be a lack of optical drive. That makes your only means of getting content the 'net. Or an external drive, but let's not quibble here. It also makes the MacBook Air a netbook. A ridiculously priced netbook.


An Optical drive is absolutely essential for a portable system in my view. I need to load things onto it and all I have are the original disks. Office etc should be no sweat for these things and I don't have a way to get it on there except the disk. Also, playing a DVD is also a great feature of these...


By davepermen on 1/6/2009 6:10:41 AM , Rating: 3
I use about one optical medium in half a year. And then only to quickly transfer it onto the winhomeserver, and install everything from there.

I don't trust optical disk. They get read errors over time trough scratches, they get lost, they get given to friends (and then lost), etc..

Nowadays, I download most applications from the internet (legally), have to activate them over the net anyways. The some apps that I don't are on my homeserver.

Optical Disks are overrated.


By Dreifort on 1/6/2009 4:15:23 PM , Rating: 2
Besy Buy offers two exclusive NOTEbooks. The HP has a removable hot-swap optical drive.

So I guess you could say it is Netbook? confusing.

Eitherway, look for HP to unveil at CES a new thin note/netbook/laptop whatever... it should be sweet.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By swampjelly on 1/6/2009 9:09:47 AM , Rating: 3
It has USB ports.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By foolsgambit11 on 1/6/2009 5:46:33 PM , Rating: 2
That's why I said "or external drives". Netbooks also (usually, if not always) have VGA or DVI out, so why define netbooks by screen size? A netbook could use a 24" external monitor (granted, not as easily as carrying around an external optical drive).


By Motoman on 1/6/2009 7:07:16 PM , Rating: 2
...but why bother with the additional moniker at all? I don't see that it provides any value...

...so you produced a laptop without an optical drive. OK. I have a 10-year old Toshiba that is thin, light, and doesn't have an optical drive. BFD. Of course, it has a 600Mhz P3 CPU, but still. The point being that's neither novel, nor sufficiently differentiating as to warrant a new name.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By ImSpartacus on 1/5/2009 7:03:55 PM , Rating: 1
No, it still uses Atom, it's a netbook. I used to define a netbook by having a smaller 7-9" screen, but now I just say anything with an Atom-like CPU is a netbook.

They can call it a notebook all they want, but it's still just a netbook in my book. A freakin huge netbook, but still a netbook.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By teko on 1/5/2009 8:10:23 PM , Rating: 3
So, you're going to call a desktop that uses the Atom CPU a Netbook?

In general, netbooks are laptops with 10" screen or below".


By ss284 on 1/5/2009 10:12:21 PM , Rating: 2
Desktops that use an atom CPU are usually called nettops. The whole point is that the hardware is made for surfing the net and related activities. Small laptops/notebooks with real hardware are usually called subnotebooks. Makes sense in my opinion to label by performance and intended use first instead of just size.


By TheSpaniard on 1/5/2009 11:10:49 PM , Rating: 3
technically, a netbook as a specific small notebook produced by a company (Psion)

http://gizmodo.com/5117806/psion-orders-websites-t...


By ImSpartacus on 1/11/2009 4:18:43 PM , Rating: 2
Those would be nettops...


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By wvh on 1/5/2009 9:57:35 PM , Rating: 2
Hmm... I actually like the idea of a 13-inch screen relatively low-end laptop. Not so much the keyboard but the 9 or 10-inch screen used in netbooks is too small for me, even though I've got perfect vision. I figure that as long as it's about A4-sized, it will fit into the backpack you inevitably need anyway lest you carry the thing around in your hands.

If I'd need to carry around a 9-inch netbook, I'd rather buy a smartphone – still smaller, lighter and these days about as versatile.

The good thing with this netbook trend is that there are now options all over the range of price, size and functionality. Clearly no two people want to have the same machine...


By mechwarrior1989 on 1/6/2009 5:06:56 AM , Rating: 2
I don't know if you've actually used a netbook for a prolonged period of time but having a netbook and a smartphone the netbook is infinitely more useful. As good as surfing the web might be on an iphone or any other smart phone, it simply pales in comparison to a netbook. As for content creation, I can run pretty much any program you throw at my 1000H, even Adobe Photoshop CS3. Sure it's not the fastest thing in the world, but I can get things done.

For some people the idea of a small screen is unattractive, but I even feel like my 1000H is too big at times and would prefer something smaller. If I could take a higher res screen in as small or a smaller package then I'd definitely go for it. Since my desktop died, I've been using a netbook as my primary PC (replaced a larger laptop and a 7" EEE PC). A few upgrades like having 2GB of ram and a 250GB hard drive and I'm all set.

Having said that though, I still want to get a nice smartphone, but that's just the geek in me.


RE: Once i go 13.4" I'm going laptop
By Murloc on 1/6/2009 5:18:53 AM , Rating: 2
I got a 4 years old Dell 12''.
Got only an external dvd driver, which is good because I don't use it when I'm not at home.
If this msi is a netbook then mine is the first netbook ever.
They are abusing the term netbook, it's non-sense. It's not clear where the netbook term is not usable anymore.
It's just a small notebook, like mine. Good for everything, better than netbooks.


By StevoLincolnite on 1/6/2009 7:52:10 AM , Rating: 2
They have been making "Netbooks" ever since I can remember. (Although they used to be stupidly expensive).

I have an old Sony "Netbook" with a 7" screen, a Pentium 2 400, 64mb of SD Ram and a 2.5mb (According to the Bios) Video adapter as well as a 4gb HDD.

However back in the day they were called "Picture Books".

Anyone Remember the Powerbook 100? - Came with a 16mhz processor!(Not a typo).


oh well
By sprockkets on 1/6/2009 1:05:25 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
CNET's Crave is even going so far as to say that the X320 could be sporting NVIDIA's Ion platform which pairs Intel's Atom processor with the GeForce 9400M mobile GPU instead of Intel's less than GMA 950 solution.


Cnet's crave didn't get the msg that Intel will not validate the Ion platform and sell the Atom processor without their chipset. The only loser here is people who WTB it and Intel. Source: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20081223PD216.html




RE: oh well
By mechwarrior1989 on 1/6/2009 4:59:28 AM , Rating: 2
Or perhaps they're more to date than you considering Intel flatly denied such alligations

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2008/12/accus...


Available?
By cochy on 1/5/2009 3:02:50 PM , Rating: 2
Launched doesn't mean available for sale right? I had a quick look at their web site couldn't find a product page for it.




By Oralen on 1/6/2009 10:03:21 AM , Rating: 2
Can I put it inside an envelope?

'Cause... I have an envelope.

No carrying bag, no briefcase.

Just an envelope.




Mud?
By Diesel Donkey on 1/5/09, Rating: -1
RE: Mud?
By kattanna on 1/5/2009 2:37:17 PM , Rating: 3
heres a better pic of her really pretty face

http://taiwan.cnet.com/sharedmedia/product/nb/msi/...


RE: Mud?
By Smartless on 1/5/2009 2:38:56 PM , Rating: 5
I'm sorry what were you saying? Something about a book?


RE: Mud?
By mmntech on 1/5/2009 3:08:47 PM , Rating: 2
Asian girls always make the best booth babes. ;)

Um, we were talking about laptops I think. If it's 0.71'' thick, that means it's slightly thinner than the Macbook Air. That's assuming that includes both the chassis and the lid. Thin & Light is a market that PC makers have been neglecting. Based on the pics from CNET, it looks vary similar to the air. They've obviously directly going after Apple fans with it. One button trackpad by the looks of it too. That's an unusual choice. CNET says it will cost between $799 and $999. At that price, I'd expect to see at least a Core 2 Duo in there, or a dual core Atom. It's still a lot cheaper than what Apple and Lenovo have to offer.


RE: Mud?
By Smartless on 1/6/2009 1:44:16 PM , Rating: 2
Oh thanks. Well she looks expensive....

I mean the book thingy.


RE: Mud?
By Belard on 1/5/2009 2:54:53 PM , Rating: 2
Bleh... I've had better.

But on topic... is it still a Netbook with a 13" screen?


RE: Mud?
By PrimarchLion on 1/5/2009 3:01:54 PM , Rating: 3
I would probably be able to make a better guess if they included information on the operating system used. If its XP, I think its officially a netbook.


RE: Mud?
By Belard on 1/6/2009 6:49:31 AM , Rating: 2
It's not the operation that determines that the computer is a Netbook vs a Notebook. Afterall, Vista is way too bulky for a under-powered computer, much less a normal one.

Point of a netbook is a CHEAP portable computer that allows you internet abilities. At about 2lbs, small screen, yet usable small keyboard for $250~350, that is quite a bit different from my $600 6.5lb 15" notebook... which came with XP... so is that a "netbook"? no.

A client's $1800 12" 3.0lb Thinkpad is NOT a netbook... it has a fully powered C2D CPU, 4GB RAM (still XP), good size HD and full size keyboard. Almost 4 of these fit in the area of my 15" monster.

While the optical drive is optional, its not required as much software we use nowadays is downloadable.

Lately... I've been thinking of selling my Notebook for a netbook. ;\


RE: Mud?
By choadenstein on 1/5/2009 4:52:32 PM , Rating: 2
Anyone else notice the serious lazy eye on this one?


RE: Mud?
By trisct on 1/5/2009 5:05:43 PM , Rating: 2
Nah, that's just her model-pose (face turned slightly right of camera) combined with Asian features. No lazy eye, just a little different look.

She could use more practice in front of a camera, but she's got the looks for it...


RE: Mud?
By DASQ on 1/5/2009 3:21:04 PM , Rating: 3
Not much in the realm of fashion are you? Not saying as a bad thing. Just saying those gloves are pretty standard in the 'gothic lolita' vein of style.


RE: Mud?
By Diesel Donkey on 1/5/2009 7:38:57 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Not much in the realm of fashion are you?


Very true, indeed. I think my sister would be the first to agree. Anyhow, I wasn't really trying to diss the gloves, I just honestly thought they looked like mud (literally, not figuratively) upon first glance. Apparently everybody else's eyes work better than mine!


I'm all for hot babes but....
By MykC on 1/5/09, Rating: -1
RE: I'm all for hot babes but....
By DASQ on 1/5/2009 3:22:16 PM , Rating: 1
You're complaining about off topic comments?

You don't go on the internet much, I guess?


By kattanna on 1/5/2009 4:33:46 PM , Rating: 5
well you see.. 2 years from now the Asian female will, most likely, still be cute and desirable, while the laptop will not be.

so with that, yes, posting about the female is actually the relevant item.


RE: I'm all for hot babes but....
By elessar1 on 1/5/09, Rating: -1
By foolsgambit11 on 1/5/2009 9:09:36 PM , Rating: 1
She's so f***ing hot, she's like a curry. I gotta tell her how hot she is. But if I tell her how hot she is she'll think I'm being sexist. She's so hot, she's making me sexist...bitch.


By kondor999 on 1/6/2009 5:07:44 PM , Rating: 1
Then again, the notebook is useable all 4 weeks of the month.


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