MSI says which way Wind is blowing
The Wind U120 will hit at the end of January.
(Credit: MSI)MSI dished to Laptop magazine about its plans for its Wind Netbook.
The previously announced Wind U120 will ship in the U.S. at the end of January. As we learned last month, the U120 will feature the same specs as the U100 but introduce a new design along with WiMAX and mobile broadband connectivity. MSI's Director of U.S. Sales Andy Tung said about the U120, "the price will be about the same as the U100, but the 3G/WiMax may raise the overall price." MSI will continue to sell the U100 but its aim will be "kids and teenagers."
MSI will also release two new Netbooks in late January, the Wind U110 and U115, that will forgo the Intel Atom N270 CPU in favor of the Atom Z530 chip. Both chips feature the same 1.6GHz clock speed, but the Z530 is physically smaller and more efficient. The U100 and U115 models will feature 10-inch screens, which MSI believes is the sweet spot for Netbooks. (I would agree. Anything smaller and I'd rather use a smartphone. Anything bigger, and I'd probably spend a bit more for a more fully functional ultraportable or thin-and-light laptop.)
The U115 will also feature a hybrid hard drive that will include an SSD and spinning hard drive. You'll be able to turn off the hard drive for improved battery life; Tung estimates that the U115 will run for 10 hours on the SSD using its 6-cell battery. He expects the price for the U115 to stay below $699.
Other items of interest: MSI will be demoing touch-screen Netbooks at CES, has no plans to sell Linux-based Netbooks in the U.S., and will introduce a 1.3-inch ultraportable, the U300, that it promises will shockingly thin.
(Via: Gizmodo)
