NetbookTech

jkOnTheRun has published their initial impressions of running the Windows 7 beta on an MSI Wind netbook here on their site. Here are some key talking points from the article:

• System boot in 56.6 seconds including 10 seconds from BIOS/splash screen
• Win 7 reports full charge of 6 hours and 18 minutes
• Win 7 reports the Atom processor to have a performance index of 2.2. I’ll have to compare this to what the OS reports on my Lenovo IdeaPad S10.

Here’s a snippet from the article:

“All in all: good signs that show promise.”

Our initial impressions with Windows 7 have been fairly positive also but stay tuned for a more comprehensive overview.

[Check it out]

All the talk about running OS X on a netbook system has apparently raised an eyebrow or two over at Apple. The company recently approached Wired.com requesting that a video clip of installing a hacked version of OS X on an MSI Wind netbook be removed. This video clip appeared alongside a “Wired Gadget Lab” posting dating back to December and written by author Brian X. Chen. However, the posting itself is still up – but the video is now gone. It looks like Apple is somewhat OK with the posting – just not the video clip. Here’s hoping the posting stays up because at the very least this shows people are looking for an inexpensive way to run one of their favorite platforms – OS X.

via AppleInsider

MSI Wind owners who want or are running OS X on their respective netbooks have one more reason to celebrate. Official drivers for the Realtek Wi-Fi card have finally emerged although they are not available directly from Realtek. The drivers are currently floating around in the MSIWind.net forums and also available for download here and here. Cool stuff.

[Check it out via SlashGear]

A new review of the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 is out – this time from the folks at Stuff.co.nz. While there’s a lot going for the Mini 12, there’s also a couple of annoying features. The system supports a max of 1GB of RAM, has a slow, pokey hard drive, and comes with Windows Vista (not Windows XP or Linux like other models out there). Here’s a snippet from the review:

“For all that, the Inspiron Mini 12 isn’t as good as it could be.”

NotebookReview takes a look at the new HP Mini 1000 netbook here on their website. The Mini 1000 is HP’s second generation netbook featuring a larger 10.2 inch display, and the Intel Atom processor. I recently played with the Mini 1000’s keyboard and I must say, it’s quite good. Here’s what NotebookReview thinks of the Mini 1000:

“The HP Mini 1000 is a clear winner on the netbook front, offering a great design and being very user-upgrade friendly. It offers the best keyboard out of the entire netbook crowd, only matched by the earlier Mini-Note 2133 which uses the same design. “

Finally, DailyTech reviews the MSI Wind U100-483JP netbook here on their website. Here’s a snippet:

“Although the Eee PC 1000H is a solid choice for portable computing I think the MSI Wind U100 is the better pick.”

Enjoy!

Just in time for the holiday season, MSI has released a new Cherry Red version of the MSI Wind U100 netbook. Unfortunately this model is only available in Taiwan to celebrate “IT month” (what the heck?). Spec wise – there’s nothing different with the Cherry Red edition but hey.. the red color is more than enough right?

And finally, in other news, MSI will be displaying the upcoming MSI Wind U120 netbook at CES 2009 (We’ll be there folks!). The three pound Wind U120 has many of the same features as the U100 but also comes with an updated look (white with black accents) and WiMAX or HSDPA compatibility. The U120 comes with an Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, three USB ports, a 4 in 1 card reader, a 160GB HDD, and even comes with an external mouse. No word on pricing or availability as of yet.

While we may not see an actual Apple branded netbook system anytime soon, this certainly hasn’t deterred folks from installing OS X on a netbook system. However, at least one person has taken this a step further by not only installing OS X but also physically modifying an MSI Wind netbook – making it look like what a possible Apple netbook could look like (if they would only make one of course). The end result? Say hello to the “MacBook Nano”.

The transformation process from an MSI Wind to the “MacBook Nano” also happens to be documented pictorially on Flickr.com. Very cool stuff though ..I can’t say that I will ever spend the time to do something like this.

[Check it out via eWeek, MacRumors.com]

Best Buy has cut the price of the MSI Wind netbook (also known as the Q2 on the Best Buy website) down to $349.99. This particular system has the 10.1 inch WSVGA display, an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 120GB SATA HDD, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, a digital media reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Windows XP Home OS. On the downside, this particular system only has the three cell lithium-ion battery. However, at $349.99, this is well below what other retailers are selling the Wind at. If you’ve been sitting along the sidelines for the Wind, this might be the time to dive in and get the netbook.

[Check it out via Wired.com]

While you’ve seen us install the pre-beta build of Windows 7 on a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook, other adventurous folks out there have decided to try out the new OS on their respective netbook systems.

Joanna Stern of LaptopMag installed Windows 7 on her ASUS Eee PC 1000H netbook and had this to say about the system.

“So how is Windows 7 on an Intel Atom netbook? Two thumbs up for the new wireless manager and the new visual cues that are incorporated throughout the OS. We wouldn’t give up Windows XP just yet considering the video playback, but the OS is still in beta and it is our hope that final version will be even better for Atom-based PCs.”

Liliputing posted up their impressions of running Windows 7 on an MSI Wind netbook system here. Here’s what they had to say about the new OS:

“All in all, Windows 7 is even more enjoyable than Vista was, and it’s not going to be disappearing from my Wind any time soon.”

Another adventurous fella posted up a view clip of Windows 7 on the MSI Wind on YouTube:

He had this to say:

“Anyways, it runs ok (it’s still in Beta), but if you have a Wind, just stick with XP or Vista for now.”

Finally, the folks at the HP Mini Guide.com installed the M3 build on the HP Mini-Note netbook and said the following:

“Overall it does seem a bit faster than Vista and things are looking really good for this pre-beta.”

All very positive results thus far. Add in a few more features, clean up some bugs, and Windows 7 could definitely be a winner.

[via SlashGear]

Found another review of the MSI Wind netbook – this time it’s by Matthew Miller of ZDNet and the article is entitled “Review: MSI Wind netbook doesn’t compromise on the keyboard”. Here’s what he thought of the netbook:

There are many choices in the still growing netbook category today, but I was very pleased with the MSI Wind as far as functionality and quality.

You can read more of the review here at ZDNet.

[Check it out]

Here are a couple of new reviews for you to check out today. First up, the folks at AfterDawn.com have a new review up on the MSI Wind U100 netbook. While there’s no verdict, the site does list several pros and cons for the netbook. For pros, the U100 has “pretty fast start-up, good keyboard and touchpad, extremely powerful and longlasting battery”, while the cons include “Wi-Fi range, no scrolling on the touchpad, size, and hiccups in high load browsing”.

The second review comes from the folks at TrustedReviews where they managed to get their hands on a Toshiba Satellite NB100 netbook. Here’s what they had to say about the NB100:

Thus, if you want a no frills netbook at a no frills price, the Satellite NB100 could be a very good option.