14 DAY TRIAL // Asustek's Eee PC continues to determine other system manufacturers to release their own version of this ultra portable low-priced computer. Micro-Star International is the next major manufacturer to begin selling an Eee PC-like portable computer. Details about the company's next product release have surfaced and, by the looks of it, we will be seeing it in US stores sometime in June.
It appears that the notebook will be released in US with two different versions. One of these versions is expected to run a Microsoft Windows XP operating system and to come with a price tag of $549. The MSI product will feature a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, a larger screen size and six-cell battery, which should provide the notebook with no less than six hours of power. These features alone set MSI's version of the Eee PC computer apart from its competitors. The notebook is also expected to give users 80 GB of storage space, featured on a flash memory-based Solid State Drive.
Asustek's latest version of its successful Eee PC, rival to MSI's Wind, will only provide its users with an 8.9-inch display and up to 20GB of storage space.
The lower version of MSI's Wind, which will also be released in the US, will have a price tag set around $400, a good $150 lower than its Windows XP-capable version. This version will run a Novell SUSE Linux operating system, sharing the same screen size, HDD and CPU as its bigger counterpart. The lower price tag has been reached by building this notebook with only a three-cell battery, that will only be good for 2.5 hours of working time. The Linux version will also not be Bluetooth-enabled and will bring less DRAM memory.
Both MSI Wind notebooks will have wireless 802.11 b/g support and will provide their users with a 1.3 MP webcam and three USB ports. It appears that a smaller screen sized version of the Wind notebook will only be commercialized elsewhere in the world (outside the US).