MSI To Present Netbooks And More At CES
Taking a step up from the Netbook to better fill the gap between them and larger notebook computers, MSI are launching the MSI X-Slim Series X320, a 16:9, 13.4″ ultra portable with a thickness ranging from 1.98cm to a tapered low of 6mm and weighs in at 1.3kg.
The battery life is quoted at a “we’ll believe it when we see it” massive 10 hours and the X320 is available in “Champagne Gold”, “Pearl White” or “Jet Black.”
Adding to the U series of netbooks will be the MSI U115 “Hybrid” that takes a new and slightly puzzling direction for netbooks. It includes not only a standard hard disk, but also a solid state drive which apparently will work in harmony to achieve excellent battery life and performance… well probably not both at the same time.
With its power saving technology active, and a 6-cell battery it’s touted as having a run time of up to 12 hours although what you can actually do with the computer during this run time isn’t stated. I can hazard a guess that playing videos would cut it short pretty quickly.
The OS itself is installed on the SSD to reduce boot time and increase the efficiency of day to day OS tasks. During the “ECO” power saving mode the classic SATA drive will shut down completely, thus eliminating a power-hungry device from the equation.
This, I assume, means that you can work with small documents, browse the web and perform regular OS tasks with the hard disk turned off, but if you want to access and play your media or work with larger files/applications you’ll have to (excuse me) “spool it up” and sacrifice battery life.
Alongside the U115 comes the similar U120 which is both 3.5g and WiMAX ready.
The new G series gaming notebooks will include the GT725 and GT727, the first two in the history of MSI gaming notebooks to break the 10,000 3D Mark barrier.
Finally, MSI are making an entry into the All-In-One market with their curiously named “Wind NetOn” lineup that includes a 22″ and 19″ iteration. The 19″ Wind NetOn AE1901 is the first All-In-One to include a Dual Core Atom CPU for usable performance on a low power budget. The much beastlier AE2203 boasts full 1080p HD on a 22″ display and includes “Advanced AV and entertainment functions.”