MSI Wind gets a battery upgrade
One of our favorite new netbook laptops is the 10-inch MSI Wind, which has decent specs and performance, but is saddled with a terrible 3-cell battery--we got about two hours max from it. MSI blamed supply chain problems for preventing the initial run of the Wind from shipping with the more common 6-cell battery found in systems like the Asus Eee PC 901.
Now we hear that the 6-cell version is on the way, already popping up for pre-order in several online stores. There's a catch, though; the new battery jacks up the cost by $50, bringing the total price to $550, passing our magic $499 netbook optimal-price point. Asus also offers a 10-inch model with similar specs for $550, the Eee PC 1000H, but both these systems have standard hard drives, not the SSD drives found in most netbooks.
We're currently testing new netbooks from Acer, Asus and Sylvania, so stay tuned for a serious netbook shootout to find which one is right for you.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
