MSI gets second Wind

 

Gallery

By Barry Collins

Posted on 2 Sep 2008 at 15:03

MSI has revamped the line-up of its Wind netbooks.

In what amounts to a reversal of Asus's strategy with the Eee PC, MSI is reducing the screen size of its second generation device and making the laptop cheaper.

The new MSI U90X-007UK boasts an 8.9in screen, in contrast to the 10in screen of the original MSI Wind U100. However, it appears to retain the original 10in chassis, with a thick black bezel now running around the perimeter of the screen.

The smaller device also sacrifices Windows XP in favour of SUSE Linux, while retaining the original hard disk size of 80GB. The 8.9in Linux edition will cost £269 inc VAT.

The 10in U100 has also been refreshed with a new Pink case option for £319, while a 120GB hard disk option is being sold for £329.

The Wind revamp comes as a netbook bearing the Commodore brand has been spotted at the IFA trade show.

The snappily named UMMD 8010/F (it's no Commodore 64, is it?) sports a VIA C7-M processor, 10in screen, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard disk.

It's not entirely clear which branch of the now splintered Commodore brand is responsible for the device, however.