14 DAY TRIAL // After the highly anticipated Wind 2, set to debut as the Wind U120, has recently held all the headlines, it seems that Micro Star International holds yet another ace up its sleeve. The Taiwanese manufacturer is now expected to introduce two more models, part of the Wind netbook family, which will provide users with a much different specifications list from that of current small-sized, low-power systems. The U110 and the U115 are both set to debut sometime in 2009, although no specific date is available at this time.
The obvious difference between the company's current Wind netbook model and the upcoming U110 and U115 is that these will be powered by a different Atom processor. While most netbooks on the market are featured with Intel's highly successful N270 processor, the U110 and U115 have been designed to incorporate Intel's Atom Z530. Also, thanks to their SCH US15W chipset, codenamed Poulsbo, these two netbook models will be capable of running on 2GB of DDR2 533MHz memory, a much needed improvement over previous-generation netbooks.
Both systems are to be equipped with a 10-inch display, capable of outputting images at 1024 by 600 pixels, a 4-in-1 card reader, wireless 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth v2.0, 2MP webcamera, stereo speakers and a 6-cell battery option. With storage, things get a bit interesting, as this is where the two netbooks take separate paths in terms of specifications. Both systems can support high-capacity SATA hard disk drives, with the U110 being capable of providing users with a maximum storage capacity of 250GB, while the U115 can only go to 160GB. However, the U115 compensates for the lower capacity support by providing an additional 8GB/16GB or 32GB SSD option, which will be meant for the system's operating system.
Basically, the combination of an SDD and a 2.5-inch HDD, branded by MSI as Hybrid Storage, will provide users with a much faster boot time for the netbook's OS, while important data can be stored on the larger-capacity HDD. This could definitely boost MSI's Wind netbook sales, as the new models appear to provide a much needed change from what the majority of netbooks have to offer. Still, there are users out there who will be looking for more wireless network connectivity options.
