14 DAY TRIAL // A new mobile personal computer from Micro-Star International has been revealed, one that indirectly exposes one of the strange quirks of ultrabooks, even though it doesn't qualify as one.
Ultrabooks are a strange breed of creatures. While their makers have been trying to bring them to more affordable prices, there is always that lingering thought that, as thin and light as they are, they deserve to cost a bit more than normal notebooks.
Missing the ultrabook thickness mark by about a centimeter means that the word Intel invented may not be used to refer to it.
By extension, the inherent price premium of ultrabooks cannot be applied, which is why the 13.3-inch S30 has, or will have, a price of under $700 / 525-700 Euro.
Sub-$700 is where everyone has been hoping Ultrabooks will fall, but the notebooks aren't quite there even now. But we digress.
The MSI S30 has an HD screen (resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels) and a CPU integrated graphics chip running it.
Speaking of the CPU, an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 central processing unit lies beneath the hood of the laptop.
All chip options are dual-core models based on the 22nm Ivy Bridge Micro-architecture and featuring controllers for DDR3-1333 MHz RAM (random access memory). The top DDR3 capacity is of 16 GB.
Other specs include a 64 GB mSATA SSD (optional), or a 500 GB HDD, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, an SD/MMC card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, THX TruStudio Pro audio, USB 3.0, an HD webcam and an HDMI output.
Needless to say, the operating system pre-installed on the MSI S30 is Microsoft's Windows 8.
All the above are packed inside a frame of 324 x 227 x 22.8 mm / 12.75 x 8.93 x 0.89 inches. The product page, located here, has all this information and more.
