14 DAY TRIAL // MSI is one of ASUS' main competitors as regards several products, including motherboards, graphics cards, notebooks, and even the newly emerged netbooks. Both companies are currently offering small-sized, Atom-powered portable computer systems to all users out there who are interested in acquiring such a device. As a matter of fact, ASUS can pride itself with having one of the largest lineups on the market, whereas MSI provides considerably fewer options for its Wind netbook.
Fortunately, the Taiwanese manufacturer has decided that it is time for a much-awaited change, and that it should operate it by starting with the Wind's battery. As most of Wind users know, up until now, you could only purchase a 3-cell battery for your Wind netbook, whereas ASUS' Eee PC already has 4-cell and 6-cell battery options. Apparently, all this is bound to change sometime in September, following several delays on behalf of MSI.
However, that's not the only modification we're going to see in MSI's Wind lineup, as the company is also set to release a higher-capacity storage option for its 10-inch netbooks. Since its release a couple of months ago, the Wind has been equipped with a maximum storage capacity of 80GB, which was actually a first in a context where lower capacity SSDs ruled the market. However, the company will double it to an impressive 160GB, by means of a new hard drive.
Useless to point out, the new options will raise the netbooks' pricing, for both the higher capacity battery and the HDD. Unfortunately, at this point in time, we can't really say how much more expensive the netbooks will be, but we should soon find that out, since September is just around the corner and, as already noted, this is when they're said to hit store shelves.
Considering the high number of manufacturers that have announced the availability of their own netbooks, MSI's actions of improving its lineup are more than explainable, as it is trying to provide a more competitive product.