MSI Wind U120
Specifications
Price comparison
Average of 8 scores (from 10 reviews)
Reviews for the MSI Wind U120
Source: Netbookboards Archive.org version
From a strictly technical perspective, the MSI Wind NB U120H is a welcome update to a successful formula. Nothing has really suffered in this version, and anyone who purchases the netbook will be happy with it. The real problem here is money. Sure, they added 3.5G, but they also added to the price tag. The netbook will stay alive for a good 3 hours, which is decent for standard use, but you end up paying for a 6-cell battery that should really be giving you two or three more hours of work time. Considering that the Wind U100 only costs $350 at Best Buy right now, I doubt it will be worth it to consumers to spend $250 more just for mobile connectivity.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/01/2009
Rating: price: 40% mobility: 40%
Source: Comp Reviews Archive.org version
The MSI Wind U120 isn't so much as an upgraded 10-inch netbook from the company but more of a redesign. The case has more squared corners and mixed color scheme that give it a sleek design. Many of the features remain the same though including the very well designed keyboard that is comfortable to use. The main purpose of the redesign was to reduce costs and the Wind U120 is very affordable, but that price also comes with RAM that can't be upgraded and a battery life that is on the lower end of six cell netbook models.
60, Preis 90, Mobilität 40
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 03/03/2009
Rating: Total score: 60% price: 90% mobility: 40%
Source: Laptop Mag Archive.org version
An update to the original MSI Wind, the U120 boasts a snazzier chassis and an aggressive price—but the competition has caught up. MSI skyrocketed to the top of the mini-notebook field last June when netbooks with 10-inch displays were rare and when no other netbook, regardless of size, could tout more than five hours of battery life. The MSI Wind U120 is a solid netbook with a comfortable keyboard and a more stylish design than its predecessor. It’s also more aggressively priced. At $379, the U120 costs $70 less than the U100. However, the older U100 lasts 45 minutes longer on a charge, and both the Samsung NC10 ($449) and the HP Mini 2140 ($529) last more than 2 hours longer, although both systems are more expensive. If you care more about price than endurance, then the U120 is worth considering.
70, Preis 80, Leistung 80, Mobilität 50
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/30/2009
Rating: Total score: 70% price: 80% performance: 80% mobility: 50%
Source: Hexus Archive.org version
Built firmly on the foundations laid down by the original Wind, MSI's new netbook baby, the Wind U120H, is more of the same, but with a slight twist. Everything that was good about the erstwhile MSI netbook standard-bearer is here too, including super-bright screen, decent keyboard and above-average build quality. MSI adds to this by including an HSDPA card, internally, that when paired with an appropriate SIM, provides go-anywhere connectivity. The Wind U120H represents a minor update from the incumbent. It's better in some ways (HSDPA) but not as good in some (lack of RAM expandability), but choice is always a good thing for the consumer.
76%, Display gut, Mobilität gut
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/01/2009
Rating: Total score: 76% display: 80% mobility: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: PC Welt DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 06/08/2009
Rating: Total score: 76% price: 70% performance: 68% features: 52% mobility: 100% ergonomy: 70%
Source: Computerbild - 6/09
Comparison, , Long, Date: 05/01/2009
Rating: Total score: 83% price: 90% performance: 74% features: 81% display: 90% ergonomy: 81% emissions: 97%
Source: PC Welt DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 04/24/2009
Rating: Total score: 53% price: 70% performance: 90% features: 35% mobility: 28% ergonomy: 58%
Source: c't - 3/09
Comparison, , Long, Date: 02/01/2009
Rating: performance: 40% features: 80% display: 80% mobility: 90% ergonomy: 70% emissions: 80%
Source: Notebookjournal DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 12/30/2008
Rating: Total score: 90% price: 80% performance: 70% features: 30% display: 90% mobility: 50% workmanship: 70% ergonomy: 70%
Source: Portablegear NL→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 02/01/2009
Rating: Total score: 70%
Comment
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 is an integrated (onboard) graphic chip on Mobile Intel 945GM chipset. It is a faster clocked version of the GMA 900 and supports no hardware T&L (Transform & Lightning) accelleration (which is required for some games).
These graphics cards are not suited for Windows 3D games. Office and Internet surfing however is possible.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
Intel Atom: The Intel Atom series is a 64-Bit (not every model supports 64bit) microprocessor for cheap and small notebooks (so called netbooks), MIDs, or UMPCs. The speciality of the new architecture is the "in order" execution (instead of the usual and faster "out of order" execution). Therefore, the transistor count of the Atom series is much lower and, thus, cheaper to produce. Furthermore, the power consumption is very low. The performance per Megahertz is therfore worse than the old Pentium 3M (1,2 GHz on par with a 1.6 GHz Atom).
N270:
Power efficient, cheap and slow Netbook single core CPU. Because of the in-order execution, the performance per MHz is worse than Core Solo or Celeron M processors.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.10.20":
This is a standard display format for tablet computers or small convertibles. You see more on the screen than on a smartphone but you can't use big resolutions well. On the other hand, mobility is not a problem.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.MSI: Micro-Star International (MSI) was founded in 1986 in Taiwan. MSI is especially known as a manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards for PCs, but also offers computer accessories, complete systems, motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktop PCs, monitors and other components. However, the Microstar brand name in Germany belongs to the Medion company. MSI is known for its gaming products and has developed a wide range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. The company is also active in workstations, servers and industrial automation. MSI has offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
72.25%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.