The march of the "Pineview" netbooks continues, with two newly announced models from MSI. The Wind U130 and U135 include 10.1-inch screens, 160GB or 250GB hard disk drives, 802.11b/g wireless networking, three- or six-cell batteries, and the Windows 7 Starter operating system, the company says.

Intel's newly announced Atom N450 processor replaces the chipmaker's earlier N270, and it was a foregone conclusion that we'd see a deluge of netbooks based on it. Word of "Pineview"-equipped portables from Lenovo (the FL5-B3) and Asus (the Eee PC 1008p) leaked even before the CPU's launch, and yesterday saw announcements from Dell (a refreshed Inspiron Mini 10) and Fujitsu (the LifeBook NM10).

Intel touts the N450 and its accompanying NM10 I/O controller as saving 60 percent in circuit board space, compared to previous equivalents. While that is a benefit for manufacturers, not consumers, the chipmaker adds that compared to the previous N270/945GCSE/82801GBM combo, power consumption is 20 percent lower. As a result, purchasers of netbooks employing the revised Atom should enjoy longer battery life.

MSI's Wind U13x series

MSI claims battery life on its new Wind U130 and U135, pictured above, can be "all-day, uninterrupted, ultra-long," though this duration presumably requires a six-cell battery instead of the three-cell one that comes standard. The U130 and U135 are apparently identical except that the former only comes in "angelic white" and "wind dancer black," whereas the latter comes in the "cherry red" and "trendy blue" pictured above, along with "refined silver" and the "wind dancer black."

OUR VERDICT: A day after the processor's launch, N450 netbooks are already becoming fungible

According to MSI, the Wind U13x devices have 10.1-inch screens with typical netbook resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, plus usual ancillaries such as a 1.3 megapixel webcam and a four-in-1 (SD/MMC/Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro) card reader. Storage is via a 2.5-inch SATA hard disk drive, which comes in 160GB and 250GB versions and is loaded with the Windows 7 Starter operating system, the company adds.

Like previous Winds, the netbooks come with three USB 2.0 ports, a microphone input and headphone output, a 10/100 Ethernet port, and a VGA output. The U13x includes both 802.11b/g wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.0 personal area networking, MSI says.

Features and specifications listed by MSI for the Wind U13x include the following:

• Processor -- Intel N450 clocked at 1.66GHz
• Chipset -- NM10
• Memory -- Up to 2GB of RAM via single DIMM slot
• Display -- 10.1-inch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution
• Storage -- 160GB or 250GB hard disk drive
• Expansion -- SD/MMC/Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro card reader
• Networking:
  • LAN -- 10/100 Ethernet
  • WLAN -- 802.11b/g
  • PAN -- Bluetooth 2.0
• Other I/O:
  • 1 x VGA
  • 3 x USB 2.0
  • Audio -- mic in and headphone out
• Battery -- 3- or 6-cell (capacity not specified)
• Dimensions -- 10.23 x 7.08 x 1.24 inches (260 x 180 x 31.5mm)
• Weight:
  • 2.65 pounds (1.2kg) with three-cell battery
  • 3.1 (1.4kg) pounds with six-cell battery

Further information

MSI did not announce pricing for the Wind U15x series, but the U135 will reportedly be available in early 2010 for approximately $330.

A "first impressions" review of the U135 may be found on the Laptop website, here.

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Related stories:

• Intel launches Pineview Atoms
• Pine Trail benchmarks disappoint
• Pineview netbooks won't be ready for the holidays
• Asus' Pineview netbook is revealed
• Lenovo's Pineview netbook breaks cover
• Next-gen Atoms to launch Jan. 3?
• New Atoms will double netbook battery life
• Intel spins next-gen Atoms for netbooks
• Tweener portable has AMD chipset
• N280 netbook has optional TV tuner
• Netbooks run all day on MID CPU
• Netbook boasts overclockable Atom

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