14 DAY TRIAL // Much like ASUS, Acer and almost every other netbook vendor on the market, MSI will reportedly launch a new Atom-based netbook early next month. According to available details, the company is planning the release of its first netbook to boast one of Intel's latest Atom processors, the N280. The MSI Wind U123 will boast a familiar 10-inch design and is expected to go on sale in Japan on April 11.
As most other Atom-based netbooks on the market, the new Wind U123 will ship with 1GB of RAM memory, but will provide support for up to 2GB of memory, further increasing the system's performance. The netbook's other specifications include a 160GB hard drive, a 10-inch WSVGA display, wireless 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR connectivity, integrated 2MP webcam, multi-format card reader, three USB 2.0 ports and a single VGA connector to support an external display.
The new Wind netbook will boast a 6-cell battery pack and will weigh 1.23Kg. According to the Taiwanese company, the system should be available in four color options, including blue, white, red and gray. On the graphics side, the U123 is equipped with the same Intel integrated GMA950 graphics solution.
For the time being, these are the only available details on MSI's new Wind netbook, which is expected to become available on April 11, though there is no info as to when it will be made available for the worldwide market.
With said launch, MSI appears to be adopting a strategy that is similar to that of ASUS, namely to provide its users with a number of netbook configurations that are only slightly different from one another. However, the Taiwanese company has at least one netbook that is fairly interesting, namely the Wind U115 Hybrid, which boasts MSI's Exclusive Hybrid Storage Technology, combining an SSD and an HDD, for optimum performance.