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As an example of the first type of product, we cite Acer's recently introduced AS1410, which is netbook-sized, but comes with a dual-core Celeron SU2300 and up to 320GB of hard disk storage. As an example of the second type, there's Asus's EeePC 1201HA, which has a netbook-style Atom processor but sports an unprecedented, 12.1-inch display.
Netbooks used to be further set apart by their use of Windows ULCPC, a loss-leader edition of Windows XP Home. Now, while OEMs can apparently ship this venerable OS until October of next year (see Microsoft's product roadmap, here), machines like the two mentioned above ship with Windows 7, eliminating a key differentiator.
Now, MSI, too, has released a "tweener" device, sized like a relatively large netbook but incorporating more RAM and a faster CPU. The company's new Wind12 U230 (right) measures 11.7 x 7.5 x 1.22 inches, incorporating a 12.1-inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.
Like the Acer device already mentioned, the Wind12 U230 sports up to 4GB of memory -- most un-netbook-like! -- via two SODIMM slots, and is offered with 160GB, 250GB, or 320GB hard disk drives. The Wind12 also includes an AMD processor, described by MSI as the 1.6GHz Athon Neo MV-40 that first made its debut last year with the HP Pavilion dv2 mini-notebook. (Though AMD was late to arrive at the netbook party, Gateway's LT3013u was subsequently released with an Athlon L110 CPU, while Acer's Ferrari One features an Athlon X2 L310.)
If you're confused by this plethora of Athlons, which AMD does a poor job of explaining on its website, you're not alone. A recent blog posting by Pat Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing for AMD, previewed a MSI notebook that looks and sounds like the Wind12 U230, but which was described as having an "Athlon Neo X2 dual-core processor L335." On its data sheet, meanwhile, MSI says the Wind12 U230 has a "Yukon CPU MV40/L335 processor," muddling processor generations.
MSI says the Wind12 U230 employs AMD's RS780 northbridge and SB710 southbridge, and includes ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics. As a result, the system is DirectX 10-compatible, and can play back even "difficult 1080i content," according to information previously released by ATI.
The Wind12 U230 includes both HDMI and VGA ports, three USB 2.0 ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, plus a microphone input and headphone output, says MSI. Also specified are a 1.3 megapixel webcam, an SD/xD/MMC/Memory Stick card reader, 802.11b/g/n wireless networking, and optional Bluetooth 2.0.
MSI says the Wind12 U230 is offered with either three-cell or six-cell batteries, and weighs 2.86 pounds when equipped with the former. Battery life is said to be approximately four hours, though the company didn't say if the optional six-cell pack is necessary to achieve this.
Features and specifications cited by MSI for the Wind12 U230 include the following:
Availability
MSI did not release pricing or availability for the Wind12 U230. More information on the device may be found on the company's website, here.
To read the blog entry by AMD's Patrick Moorhead alluded to above, see here
