160 GB SATA Hard Drive, 1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM, 2 GB Max
Product Description
Enjoy ultimate computing mobility with the lightweight yet power-packed MSI Wind U100 Mini Laptop, which features a 10-inch LCD screen for excellent web browsing, Intel's newest low-power processor, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and familiar Windows XP Home operating system. The crisply and colorfully designed Wind U100 also includes an integrated webcam for video chats and an ergonomically designed keyboard that's makes typing easy. Designed especially for mobile devices, the 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor uses a brand new design structure new hafnium-infused circuitry--which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors--to conserve energy, giving you more time away from the wall outlet--up to 6 hours with the included 6-cell battery. This model also features an 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB of installed RAM (2 GB max), internal stereo speakers, multi-format memory card reader, three USB ports, and a VGA monitor port. It comes in black, but is also available in pink and white, and it includes a carry bag that matches its color.
Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews
"MSI Wind good value"2009-07-19
By John O. Champney (Columbia, ME)
I purchased this netbook for my wife and we are both pleased with it. The white color was a big plus hor her as she detests black computer items. The Wind has worked well and we are quite happy with the purchase. I would recommend it to others.
"I love this netbook!!!"2009-07-10
By Mommy Malloy (USA)
I wanted a netbook so I did some research and found that this is one of the best in it class for the price. I'm so happy I bought it! I haven't touched my pc since I got it! They say that these aren't going to replace your main computer, but so far mine has, and I've still got a ton of memory after downloading some of the same programs I have on my pc. I bought it in white and I love it! It's a beautiful pearl white and it resists fingerprints, which I love since I have a curious 3 year old. Shipping was fast too...I ordered on a wednesday and got it on saturday.
"msi wind u100-279"2009-07-06
By Daniel Kleiman Priewer (santiago,chile)
great small computer regarding its internet capabilities.it comes with few software that can be a bless sometimes. The only problem is that is much heavier than I thought!. It was meant to be the ultimate portable device in my bag but it isnt. Other than that, great. The battery (6 cells)lasts forever!.
"Fit for purpose"2009-06-28
By V. Siregar (Indonesia)
This is a really nice netbook. Fit for purpose since I'll be using it a lot during traveling (and left my bigger laptop at home). It's light weight and the 6 cell battery gives around 4 hours autonomy (browsing with WiFi or watching movie).
I saw in some website, you can even install Apple Mac OSX inside it too (not legally of course) and have double boot with the installed Windows XP. Somebody even had quadruple boot with XP, OSX, Unix and Windows 7.
It's a powerful little machine. Overall I'm very satisfied.
The minor drawback I had with my unit, sometimes the cooling fan makes a bit of a noise, but doesn't bother me too much.
"Love my Wind!"2009-06-02
By Ren1216 (WI, USA)
I researched Netbooks for a few weeks (read until my eyes burned!) before making a decision on one. What I wanted was something inexpensive, super portable and simple to use, especially when traveling.
One of the reasons I chose this model is because the RAM can be upgraded, which I did (took 5 mins). Adding 1GB of RAM cost me $15 (from a local store). I searched YouTube and followed along with a simple, informative video. You will need to puncture a sticker over one of the screws to remove the back cover which states your warranty will be void, but MSI says they will still honor the warranty as long as you don't modify anything else inside.
The boot up is so quick compared to my desktop. I also cleaned out some of the unnecessary programs from the start-up to make it boot up and run even faster. With the extra RAM, I'm running Norton Internet Security just fine. I prefer Windows XP, so I wont be installing Vista any time soon. If you want to upgrade to Vista, you'll NEED to upgrade the RAM first in order to run it. I don't care for IE so I installed Firefox, no problems. A trial version of Office 2007 comes preloaded, but I downloaded Open Office (free office suite) to use instead and that's also working fine.
Yeah, the speakers stink. I knew that before purchasing it though. My headphones work and sound fine with it. Make sure you visit the MSI website and update your drivers. I've read many times that they're needed especially for the touchpad, wireless and Bluetooth functions.
My battery is lasting 4-5 hours with regular use, there is an Eco setting to get more life out of your battery (Fn F10 while unplugged, power LED turns green). Don't forget, Fn-F11 to turn ON the wireless, which is not automatically on when you first take it out of the box. However, thereafter it does stay on unless you turn it back off OR remove the battery pack. Pressing Fn-F11 again engages the Bluetooth. There are 4 options here, keep pressing the Fn-F11 keys until you get the combination of wireless and Bluetooth that you want, as indicated by the LEDs. I pick up an 'excellent' signal from my router all over the house and outside. I just recently traveled with it for the first time and was able to pick up other wireless signals as well as public WiFi with no problems.
I purchased a small (Rocketfish - Best Buy product) laser mouse with a nano USB adapter for what I thought was a decent price... Love It! The USB adapter is nice and small, sticks out the side of the unit only 1/4" as opposed to the other ones that stick out probably 1.5" - 2". However, when I downloaded the Synaptics touchpad driver, I was unable to utilize the advanced functions of the touchpad. I read in the FAQs on the Synaptics website that if a secondary mouse is installed, the advanced functions on the touchpad would be disabled. Their resolution was to uninstall the secondary device. Well, I like my wireless mouse, so I'll forgo the extra functions (left side corner options) on the touchpad. Right side corner-tap functions works fine though, for engaging the scroll feature. Maybe there is a way to make the touchpad work to it's full ability along with my wireless mouse installed, but I was not able to figure that out.
I really like the matte screen, great color and clarity with no glare! The screen is wide enough to display the full width of a web page, but shorter than a standard monitors view. Another reason I chose this model was for the keyboard. It's larger than other brands and I'm able to type on it just fine. The smaller size period and comma haven't been much of an issue so far. The touchpad IS super sensitive but can be turned off (Fn-F3) when you are doing a lot of typing or while using a mouse. Yet another reason I chose this one was because it's white. No pesky finger prints, looks nice and clean all the time. And so cute!
I'm always surprised to read when others are shocked to find no CD/DVD drive in these netbooks, and therefore give the unit a lower rating for this reason. Do they not read the specs or research at all before buying?? You can purchase an external optical drive if you must have one, but another option is to network your netbook and your desktop, then share the desktop's CD drive with the network. That's what I did, works perfectly and cost me $0. It's not quite as convenient to require the desktop for installing software from a CD, but its cheaper (free) and one less thing to haul with me on a plane. You can also use a flash drive to move files.
I'm extremely pleased with my Wind U100-279. It's exactly what I wanted, very portable and plenty efficient for my needs. I definitely recommend it. My only complaint with MSI and their product in general is the lack of comprehensive, written instruction. Not everyone buying one of these is tech-savvy (myself included). Even the "manual" (pdf format) contained very little information. The good thing is, the information IS out there on the net if you look for it. Otherwise, in regards to functionality, this machine is great!
