MSI Wind U115 Hybrid review

Take a long, hard look at MSI's U115 Hybrid and you'll have trouble seeing any differences to the original MSI Wind U100. Unlike Samsung and Asus, MSI has made no attempt to tart up its one and only netbook chassis; unless, that is, you count the grey glossy lid.

Elsewhere, however, it's much as we remember it. The two-tone silver and black design is inoffensive but, particularly when set against the new crop of stylish netbooks, more than a little bland. Build quality is beginning to lag behind the best, too, with a weak screen hinge and a creaky chassis blotting the copybook from the off.

Beneath its surface though, plenty has changed. The once ubiquitous Intel Atom N270 processor makes way for the pricier, more efficient Z530 processor and, as the name suggests, MSI has crammed in a hybrid storage system.

Comprising of an 8GB SSD on which the operating system is stored and a 160GB HDD for mass storage, the aim is to improve battery life. It's a reasonably successful gambit, too, with the MSI lasting 10hrs 30mins away from the mains. That might not trouble the Samsung N110 with its amazing 11-hour life, but when you consider that the Wind U115 gets by with a smaller 5,200mAh battery, it's a pretty impressive party trick.

Factor in the Z-series Atom processor and hybrid storage, though, and the Wind isn't going to come cheap. Draft-n wireless and Bluetooth soften the blow a little, but at £391 exc VAT, this MSI is firmly at the upper end of the netbook market.

Alas, the MSI just doesn't do enough elsewhere to justify that price tag. Its ergonomics are solid but still behind the best in the field, and at this price we'd expect nothing short of perfection.

Author: Sasha Muller