A lot of new information about 10″ MSI Wind U100 as well as sequels and where the U100 is headed came out last week in an interview conducted by Joanna Stern of LAPTOP Magazine with MSI’s Director of U.S. Sales, Andy Tung.
Among the numerous items discussed, shortages of Intel’s Atom CPUs, as well as the problem that some retailers (Amazon in particular) have with keeping 6-cell battery versions in stock. Tung claims the 6-cell version shortage will be over by the end of October.
The fabled 9-cell battery is from a third party manufacturer and not from MSI, and it could provide over seven hours of battery life.
Also, the Wind U100 will be (finally) available through a national retailer in the US this week.
Highlights of the U100:
– Available in the US at a large, national retailer sometime this week, with a 3-cell battery, Windows XP Home, and priced at $399.
– 150,000 to 250,000 sold a month (not counting rebranded Winds)
– Sales affected by supplies of Atom CPUs.
MSI Wind U120
– Maybe called Wind 2
– Will be under $600
– New look, SSD and HDD options
– 3.5G mobile broadband connectivity
– US will see it in late November or into December
– Some items will be upgraded, with pricing remaining the same or dropping
– Red U100s will be offered going into the holiday season.
MSI Wind U90
– Linux version will be in the US by the end of 2008
– Various Linux distributions are being looked at including Ubuntu
Among the information mentioned was that Linux-based netbooks are returned four times as often as Windows XP-based netbooks. Usability is apparently the main reason, according to Tung: start playing around with Linux and start realizing that it’s not what they are used to. They don’t want to spend time to learn it so they bring it back to the store.
Sometime in October, MSI plans on releasing a 12-inch notebook in the US for $699 as well.
Read: LAPTOP Magazine (Blog)