MSI X-Slim X340 Compared to Lenovo X301

If you were curious about the size of the upcoming 13-inch MSI X-Slim X340, compared to a mainstream “slim” ultraportable such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X301, look no further than NewGadgets.de, a German website that has posted a photo comparison of the two (along with an iPhone 3G).

The X340 is one of the first ultraportable laptops based on Intel’s Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) platform. It is considerably thin, especially when sitting next to, or back-to-back with the X301. In defense of the X301, it could and should be argued that it is oriented towards a different market and maybe a little more durable (because of the chassis), and you do pay a price for that. It’s also got a dual-core CPU while the X340 is sporting an Intel Core Solo.

On the other hand, the X340 is going to cost around half as much as the X301.

Read/view: NewGadgets.de (Translated into English)
via SlashGear

MSI Wind U123 in Japan on April 11

Akihabara is reporting that the MSI Wind U123 will be available in Japan on April 11 at a price of 49,800 yen ($507 USD). It was announced/mentioned earlier this month. It’s powered by the new 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280, the same CPU that powers the Asus Eee PC 1000HE, which is known for its longer battery life (although the 1000HE also has a high-capacity battery). It also comes with a six-cell battery as the standard option, but no mention of whether it’s a high-capacity battery or not.

The U123 will come in four colors - red, white, blue, and gray (originally it was going to be black instead of gray). 802.11a/b/n wireless networking plus Bluetooth 2.0 look to be a standard feature. There’s also a 1.3MP Webcam (it would be great if all netbooks/ultraportables came with at least 1.3MP) and MSI has included facial recognition software.

After criticism that other MSI Wind netbooks in the U12x series were not upgradeable as far as the memory, MSI makes a point on the 123’s website that you can upgrade it to 2GB of RAM. There is a bottom cover/hatch that allows for the memory upgrade.

No worth on a North American or European release.

Read:
- MSI Japan (Translated - English)
- Akihabara News
via SlashGear

MSI Wind U115 - Up To 15 Hours

This is certainly surprising - some European sites have gotten their hands on some pre-release models of the upcoming 10-inch MSI Wind U115. That part isn’t surprising (although it’ll be a while before it hits the US). The surprising part is the battery life.

These sites are reporting around 13-15 hours of battery life.

Keep in mind, there are some things that differentiate the MSI Wind U115 from other netbooks in it’s class.

It’s got an Intel Atom Z530 (1.6GHz like the N270), however unlike the N270, it’s Thermal Design Power (TDP) rating is 2W, as opposed to the 2.5W of the N270. 20% difference right there, but other netbooks are using Z530, such as the 10-inch Dell Inspiron Mini 10.

Just as important (possibly more), it’s got two different drives for storage. It’s got a conventional/mechanical 160GB (2.5″ SATA) drive for data storage. More importantly, it’s got an 8GB Solid State Drive (SSD) for the operating system and other applications. That’s going to reduce the heat somewhat, but also the battery requirements. It can apparently turn off the 160GB HDD when it’s not needed, which saves on battery life.

EEE-PC.de mentions that they were able to get 13 hours with the 6-cell 5200mAh battery (a higher-capacity battery than most devices in this class offer). nvision (a Polish site) claims between 5.5 - 15 hours, depending on use.

There are also several pictures detailing the interior of the U115. As liliputing points out, it looks like most of the normal options that people like to upgrade can be upgrading, including both the SSD and HDD (and as they mention, it’ll probably void your warranty).

Read:
- EEE-PC.de (German) (translated - English)
- nvision (Polish) (translated - English)
via liliputing

Qualcomm, Freescale to Launch ARM-Based Netbooks at Computex?

DigiTimes is reporting that Qualcomm and Freescale will both be launching ARM-based netbooks/ultraportables at the upcoming Computex Taipei.

As recently as January of this year (CES 2009), Freescale was showcasing it’s netbook platform.

Back in November, it was reported that ARM was working with Canonical on an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution for ARMv7 platforms, using the ARM Cortex-A8 and A9. The press release from ARM stated that this distribution would be available next month (April 2009). At the time, LAPTOP Magazine mentioend they were interested in 8.9-inch and 10-inch netbooks.

One of the two models will be utilizing Freescale’s i.MX51 which is based on an ARM Coretex A8 CPU, with manufacturing provided by Pegatron Technology. The other will be based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, with manufacturing of the device handled by Winstron.

Whether these will be branded as Qualcomm or Freescale machines remains to be seen - Asustek has already been looking at Qualcomm-manufactured devices, as well as Micro-Star International (MSI). The report from DigiTimes seems to imply that they will be branded as Freescale and Qualcomm, at least for demonstration purposes.

Read: DigiTimes

MSI X-Slim X340 Hands-On (SlashGear)

SlashGear has posted a hands-on look at the new 13-inch MSI X-Slim X340 with several photos. They’ve also included the press release from MSI, where MSI better explains how the X340 differs from the X-Slim X320 which shares a similar size and design.

MSI describes the ultra-thin X340 as “Light, Slim, Aesthetic” and it’s definitely slim - its thickness measures from 0.24 - 0.78 inches (6mm - 19.8mm). The ultraportable/ultra-slim device also weighs in at less than 2.9 pounds (1.3kg). There will be three colors available: Splendid Champagne Gold, Elegant Pearl White and Stylish Techno Black

MSI explains that the X320 (based on Intel Atom/Menlow) is designed for those seeking longer battery life, while the X340 is intended for those who want something around that size, but who have multimedia requirements. As such, the X340 is based on Intel’s Centrino Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) paltform. With that, they claim the X340 still consumes one-sixth the power of other notebook notebooks (obviously not Atom-based notebooks/netbooks).

Among those multimedia-specific features, an HDMI port is included, and the LED-displaydisplay has an aspect ratio of 16:9.

As far as release dates and final pricing - that’s up in the air, although pricing should be under $1000 USD.

Read: SlashGear

MSI Wind U115 in March, U123 in April

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything significant about the 10-inch MSI Wind U115. It was officially announced back at CES in January of this year. LAPTOP Magazine is reporting that the U115 will be released towards the end of March, and will feature an Intel Atom Z530 CPU (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB) and will sell for over $500 USD.

The U115 is being called a “hybrid”. It’s going to have both a mechanical HDD hard drive, and it’s also going to feature a Solid State Drive (SSD) in the same chassis. From what’s been mentioned in the past, you’ll have a choice of a 120GB or 160GB 2.5″ Serial ATA (SATA) HDD (you can probably upgrade it later on) along with a built-in 8GB or 16GB SSD. The SSD will have the operating system, while the HDD side will basically function as mass storage and possibly the install location for some of your software.

Next month, MSI will also be releasing the 10.2-inch MSI Wind U123. It’ll feature the same CPU as currently shipping in the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE, the Intel Atom N280. While it will undoubtedly share many of the same attributes as the MSI Wind U120, one thing it won’t be sharing is the U120’s memory limitations. Unlike the U120, the U123 will be upgradeable to 2GB of RAM. There will be four colors, blue, white, “metallic black”, and “burgundy red”, and will have six-cell and nine-cell battery options.

As far as anything larger than the 10-inch Wind lineup, MSI’s Director of U.S. Sales, Andy Tung, had this to say: “there are rumors of 11.6 and 12 inch solutions from other companies. We have that in development and can bring that out of the gate.” Tung pointed out that for now, they consider the 10-inch market to be their main focus.

Read: LAPTOP Magazine

MSI and Asustek to Showcase CULV Laptops at CeBIT

We’ve known about the MSI X-Slim X320 since CES 2009, although not too much, at least as far as pricing and release dates. We also know that MSI has been showing off the X-Slim X340 and X600 ahead of next week’s CeBIT 2009 in Germany.

What we didn’t know before now, and this is information from DigiTimes, is that Asustek would also be showing off a similar laptop/notebook.

All four devices are based on Intel’s Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) platform. The CULV platform is designed for ultra-thin and ultra-portable devices. Apparently, at least in the case of MSI, the X340 and X600 and maybe the X320 fit into Intel’s plans for CULV, as far as breaking the CULV platform out into three distinct segments. As far as the X320, it’s been listed as having an Atom, and Intel’s lowest tier of the CULV platform is centered around a Celeron. It could be that the Atom takes the place of that, however, the Celeron and Core 2 Solo and Core 2 Duo CPUs available for the CULV are all compatible with the same CPU socket, whereas the Atom has a different architecture.

However, DigiTimes mentions that Intel has listed around 20 different configurations, and that Hewlett-Packard (HP) will also be joining Asustek and MSI in the CULV market.

The article (and DigiTimes’ sources) make a good argument that the CULV platform may end up having an impact on the netbook market, since the 10-inch netbook market is quickly heading towards very low prices (the Asus Eee PC 1000HE and 10.1-inch Acer Aspire One come to mind with their sub-$400 prices). For those manufacturers that want to compete with ultraportable laptops, but don’t want to get into a race to the bottom with the 10″ netbooks, the CULV platform makes a lot of sense.

Read: DigiTimes

LAPTOP Magazine Updates 10-inch Netbook Face-Off

LAPTOP Magazine has updated their 10-inch netbook face-off with a couple of new models, as well as well as updated models of previous netbooks they have reviewed.

In the original face-off, the MSI Wind U110/U100 and the Samsung NC10 came out on top when it came to battery life tests.

This time around, the HP Mini 1000 and Samsung NC10 came out on top with keyboards (no surprise, the NC10 is The Netbook when it comes to the keyboard).

Netbooks/Ultraportables compared:
- Acer Aspire One 10-inch
- ASUS Eee PC 1000HE (Update of Eee PC 1000H)
- HP Mini 1000
- Lenovo IdeaPad S10
- MSI Wind U120 (update of Wind U100)
- Samsung NC10

A major focus of the Eee PC 1000HE was battery life - that’s the main selling point in addition to the chiclet-style keyboard, and it came out on top in the tests. The 1000HE and the 10-inch Acer Aspire One came out on top as far as value.

Read: LAPTOP Magazine

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