Reseller Expansys has released pricing for one of the year’s hotly-awaited notebook launches, the MSI Wind. Now that cheap ultraportables are in vogue thanks to the Asus Eee PC, MSI’s Intel Atom-based marvel is sure to cause a bit of a stir alongside the VIA-based HP Mini-Note 2133.
The latter runs Vista Business, but MSI has stuck to XP and Linux for their 10-inch LED backlit ultraportable. You can preorder the 1.6GHz XP Home model with an 80GB hard drive, 1GB of memory and a webcam plus Wi-Fi for £350. Linux fans can get their version for £320. White, black and pink variants will be sold.
These models are expensive up against the older 4G Eee PC – especially the newer £250 XP variant, but compare more favourably to the EeePC 900, especially when you consider the newer generation processor. The EeePC 900 Win has a 12GB SSD and Windows XP installed, while the EeePC 900 vanilla version has Linux and a 20GB SSD.
Both are £329, so the choice of Windows bizarrely costs you storage space – unlike with the standard 2.5-inch drive-bearing Wind.
If you live in the US, you can get an export version of the Wind for $610 (via Expansys-usa). The Wind will also ship in an 8.9-inch version.