MSI Wind U135

Product: MSI Wind U135
Website: eu.msi.com
Specifications: Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz CPU, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB SATA HDD, 10-inch 1024x600 LED backlit glossy screen, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, SD slot, 6-cell battery, 1.3kg, Windows 7 Starter
Price: £280 (inc VAT)

WITH TABLET PCs garnering the majority of headlines in 2010, Micro Star International decided to start the year by launching the trio of U130, U135 and U160, their first models based on Intel's Pine Trail platform.

The end of the decade saw people fall out of love with the netbook form factor that had revitalised sales for a number of OEMs and brought others into the public consciousness. Netbooks were introduced to serve a simple purpose but were being edged towards machines that could do it all, both in terms of physical characteristics and price. With the Wind U135, MSI seems to have gone back to basics with a redesigned chassis to accommodate the new silicon from Intel.

The Pine Trail platform was Chipzilla's Centrino-esque solution for netbooks moving the memory controller and graphics into the processor package. One of the well documented problems with the Diamondville platform was the use of the 945GC/GSE chipset, a chipset that had as much hunger for power as a tin-pot African dictator. The lower power consumption could have been used in two ways, clocking the processor higher or for better battery life. Thankfully Intel chose the latter and it shows.

MSI chose this year's CES to unveil its first major update to the hugely popular Wind netbook series with the U130, U135 and "high-end" U160. The new chassis not only brought the Pine Trail platform but put other key features like 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a quality webcam and a new Chiclet-style keyboard. Effort has been taken to make the U135 a little less bargain basement with the exterior available in dark colours and even a pinstripe. The attention to detail is quite admirable with stylish, not garish, touches found when opened up. The trackpad has a sandblasted look, the single mouse button isn't from Apple's reject bin - it actually has two buttons underneath - and there's even a fancy asterisk light on the power button should you forget your Wind is running. Overall the build quality is good and while it's undoubtedly plastic, it feels a whole lot tighter than an el-cheapo Macbook, which is not bad for a machine which costs almost 75 per cent less.

These Wind models are based on the Atom N450 processor running at 1.66GHz with HyperThreading enabled. The chip itself can support 64-bit, however as MSI decided to include Windows 7 Starter Edition, you're left with 32-bit. This is coupled to 1GB of DDR2 and a 250GB WD Blue SATA disk with tests showing an average 57MBps read rate. The specification is very similar to Asus' Eee PC 1005PE except for the higher quality webcam. Intel's N450 does have DirectX 9 support but drawing the frames by hand would provide a better gaming experience. The 10-inch 1024x600 screen first championed by MSI is now pretty much the standard across the board but this particular unit is more acceptable than most. Thanks to the LED backlighting, brightness and contrast are above average for netbook screens. There's also good connectivity with three USB 2 sockets, Ethernet, headphone and microphone jacks and VGA output. Removable storage comes in the form of an SD Card slot.

The Pine Trail platform enticed us with the ability to go all day without charging and MSI try to push home that fact by including a bulging 6-cell battery causing the U135 tip the scales at 1.3Kg. The upshot of this is good stamina but also a gentle tilt, helping typing posture. Utilising the CPU at 100 per cent and running a graphics and disk intensive test we managed just two minutes shy of four hours. Obviously this is far from typical use and in a work-like setting with web browsing, email, viewing videos and occasionally getting in some real work we managed closer to seven hours. During our intensive tests the cooling of the U135 held up well, with the fan, although audible still produced a less annoying noise than many an X-Factor contestant. It also helped keep the underbelly merely lukewarm rather than skin searing hot.

Watching videos is one place where MSI's faith in Intel is misplaced. Thanks to Adobe's announcement that GPU accelerated Flash will be available, albeit in the second quarter of this year, the Pine Trail platform will be left for dead by Nvidia's ION GPU in this important netbook task. Viewing BBC iPlayer or YouTube streams at full screen on the U135 consumes all the N450 has to offer. Aside from mediocre video playback performance, the two speakers positioned underneath the wrist rest produce acceptable sound for such small drivers. While your other netbook tasks may be dispatched with ease, viewing Flash videos won't be.

Those looking to upgrade the RAM or hard drive will be disappointed to learn that there are no one screw hatches that open up the innards of the U135. Access can only be had by completely removing the base plate held with nine screws, one of which is covered by a warranty sticker.

MSI decided to stick Windows 7 Starter edition on all its new Wind unit and even with the perceived benefits of Windows 7 over the previous Windows XP incarnation, it's hard not to believe that more could be done with Linux installed. Thankfully MSI didn't load the U135 with much useless software, with Norton Internet Security being the only real blemish on an otherwise clean preload. However software to enable multi-touch or even screen scrolling on the touchpad is absent until you pull them off MSI's website. With such a large hard disk, there's nothing to prevent dual booting Windows 7 and one of the many specialist netbook Linux distributions.

If this all sounds tempting to you then both the Wind U130 and U135 have almost identical specifications. It's surprising then that the U130 costs £50 less, coming in at £230 with the only perceived difference being that it's devoid of the design flourishes that adorn the U135.

The Wind U135 represents a maturing of the MSI netbook platform. We're starting to see grown-up features coupled with a genuinely useful chassis design that can sustain a long haul flight or an entire work day. The U135 packs good connectivity, a decent screen and an even better keyboard, all in a case that doesn't look like a child's drawing board.

The Wind U135 is priced at £280 which is nearing the upper-end of netbook pricing but then again you're getting a decent chunk of machine for that money. Would it take our money? Maybe, but with the similarly kitted out U130 available offering similar functionality and performance at a more netbook-like price point we'd rather take the 50 extra beer tokens.

In Short
MSI's Wind U135 is a middle of the road notebook encompassing the latest technology from Intel in a nice design. The problem is that the U135 is usurped by its little sibbling, the U130. If you want a fancy exterior then the U135 is great but given the lack of technical differences between the two we'd recommend saving the £50 and going for the U130. µ

The Good
Good design and build quality.

The Bad
The U130 offers better value for money.

The Ugly
Video playback performance.

Bartender's Score
7/10