You should take another look at it! I have an Acer Aspire One and specifically chose it because it was one of the FEW netbooks that a touch-typist could actually use effectively... Add in the 7 1/2 hr battery life (using 5800mh battery that only the early shipments came with) that I myself measured while using WiFi the whole time under Fedora 10. (The Windows XP it came with was unacceptable to me) Excellent machine... Also at $350 price point including shipping...

Both devices are cheap and the plastics is just average.
Yes you could have a better machine in terms of build quality and the materials quality. I would like to wait for LED backlit screens and ultra low profile keyboards - like Mac's.
I don't care if I would have to use my 2,5 kg laptop for 6 months longer, just to get a premium quality machine.

The Acer Aspire One (AA1) was discounted because its keyboard was too small? That's just nuts! I've seen and tried all three - the 1000H, Wind and AA1 and the Aspire One has the best tactile feel keyboard of the lot with a respectable keyboard size. Others who have tried the various brands have commented that the AA1's keyboard was best for typing.


Well, if the reviews of Inquirer is as such, I think the real market results should show which netbook is really the preferred choice. Wind netbook is a sold out in the 4 days COMEX, with 2 of the color versions sold out on the 2nd day. Though many booths offer ASUS eeePC U1000 but was... no pun intended. 

In Digital Life SG reviews to let 6 people from all age group and walks of life to choose the netbooks of their choice (Total of 8 netbooks, including ASUS, Acer, HP etc), 3 choose Wind, 1 choose ASUS, 1 choose HP, 1 choose Acer. The results are obvious once again.

Of course that ASUS is the first to start the netbook hype but MSI takes the crown in the eyes of many.

As the review already mentioned, apart from the OS, the rest are 90% similar. Though N wifi adpater is the latest gadget add-on for ASUS, but truely, a G wifi adapter is good enough. Don't see the jingles and bells here.

On the other hand, now the Wind comes with a 160GB HDD so where does it leave the eeePC 1000 now? Still struggling with the same small capacity HDD? The real need is not only ultraportability, but also convenience on the move with the essentials. You do not want to bring around another 2.5" HDD around with you, do you? The answer is definately obvious once and again.

6 cells battery on the Wind last me 5hrs 42mins, just 18mins shy from 6 hours. Low heat and low fan noise are also the plus points on the Wind.

Anticipating the 9 cells battery if it's official by MSI.

My 2 cents here.

Proud owner of MSI Wind with Love Charity Edition.

My wind lasted about 3 weeks before giving up the ghost :( (no power up, just light in power LED)

I hope Asus build quality is better, if so a switch might be in order ;)
Also the newer Winds have a Sentelic touchpad(instead of Synaptics which they originally shipped with) which has also gotten a lot of flak for being 'subpar'.


Also dont forget the MSI Wind has the edge over the Advent in a few other areas too:

MSI = 2year global warranty
Advent = 1year local

MSI = Carry Bag
Advent = nout

MSI = 120Gb HDD now
Advent = 80gb

So i would say the MSI is prob just worth the extra £50 ish

Advent and Medion weren't available to me when I bought my Wind (I live in Texas) and I'm not sure where I would get one now if I needed to. I whined and pulled strings like a distraught four-year-old screaming for candy to get the Wind a couple months ago, and I'm actually really happy I did.

Funny, isn't it, that the things you like about the Eee and don't like about the Wind are the things I like about the Wind and don't like about the Eee. I like the big shift key and don't mind the smaller punc keys. The three cell battery is enough for me and the weight does matter. I have to use Windows in order to be semi-compatible with my work laptop, and I was overjoyed to make MS Office and its cronies walk the plank and download all open source apps. 

MSI customer service was kind and friendly to me, too, and I've heard about problems with the customer service with Asus, which makes me feel like I dodged a bullet.

Well although the EEE PC has been in the market for longer the Wind has a bigger following in the short time it has been with us. I have a MSI Wind and love it. I took out the Windblows OS and replaced it with linux (oh btw download unetbooting it makes the linux install a breeze .... that 3 hours prior to finding this tool will be lost for ever :(

Anyway for a great site check wiki.msiwind.net it gives the whole lowdown on this beautiful device.

9-cell hack here I come ;)

Hi,

As MSI Forum administrator, I must say.
The wind is simply better :-)

Bas.

Why not a head to head with the Advent 4211 instead of the real MSI Wind same laptop £50-70 cheaper. Where does that put the Asus then?

"However, at the time of going to press the hard drive versions of both the eeePC 1000 and the Wind were selling for round about the same price of about £350"

Buying one of the much cheaper MSI Wind clones (Advent or Medion) would seem to make more sense and also makes the 3-cell battery seem more reasonable.

Not sure why this isn't even mentioned ?

Well, the Wind isn't exactly 1kilo - it's 1.25k with the 3cell battery. 
And the Asus is "only" 1.45 to be truthfully.
So yes the Wind is lighter - but only because of the smaller battery. And a smaller battery means you can let the power brick at home - which easily saves you 200g does it?
But at the end I agree 1.45kg is quite a lot and for their next generation netbooks both should focus on making them lighter.
Cheers
M.