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We take a look at yet another netbook, this time MSI’s Wind U135. U135 caters to the student/business segments and features Intel’s NM10 chipset along with an Atom N450 processor clocked to 1.66GHz. This is accompanied by 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive, all in just a 10 inch device. But can U135 outperform its vast amount of competitors in the tough netbook market? Strap yourself in and read along.

The product was kindly lent to us by MSI

Specifications

Category
Students - Business

Processor
Intel Atom N450 – 1.66 GHz - 1x 512 KB L2 Cache

Chipset
Intel NM10 Express chipset (Tigerpoint)

RAM
1x 1024 MB SO DIMM 200-PIN DDR2 667 MHz SDRAM

GPU
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 – Shared memory

Storage
1x 250 GB Fujitsu MJA2250BH G2 2.5" HDD - 5200 RPM

Display
10 inch LED backlit display - WSVGA (1024 x 600px) - reflective

Sound card
Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio

Optical drive
None

Battery
MS-N014 Lithium Ion - 6 cells - 11.658V - 11466 mWh

Connectivity
1T1R Mini Wireless Adapter WLAN - 300 mbps
RealTek PCIe Family Controller LAN - 100 mbps
Bluetooth V2.1EDR

I/Os
3x USB 2.0
1x RJ-45
1x headphones out
1x microphone in
1x VGA
1x Kensington lock slot
1x Card reader (MultiMediaCard / XD-Picture Card / SD memory card / Memory Stick)

Operating system
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter (build 7600)

Weight and dimensions
Height: 3.2 cm
Width: 18 cm
Depth: 18 cm
Weight: 1.2 kg

Price
About £220


Package contents


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Along with the computer comes the most standard accessories like charger, installation media, manuals and warranty certificates.

Construction & Design

First impression


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MSI Wind U135 closely resembles the other models in the Wind series, but is distinguished by its black colour below the keyboard. The computer is grey against black and comes in a very simple design that makes it easy to handle, with things like nicely rounded edges. Fingerprints also seem to be well hidden, something yours truly greatly appreciates!

The lid


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The lid is grey with a minor striped pattern. MSI’s logo is imprinted in the middle – quite mandatory from MSI.

The front


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There is little of interest at the front, except for the barely discernable diodes.

The rear


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At the rear we have only the 6-celled battery, and you can see that the computer actually rests on it. This is why the computer is a bit taller at the rear, but it is not something you tend to notice during general use.

The bottom


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The only thing that appears to be easily accessible is the battery. You can see the speakers located in the two bottom corners.

The right side


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On the right side we have a USB port, card reader, audio jack-in, audio jack-out, VGA port and an RJ-45 port for Ethernet LAN.

The left side


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On the left we have the Kensington lock slot, DC-in for the charger, a vent and two USB ports.

Buttons/Diodes


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The only button of interest in power button, located just above the keyboard to the right. It lights blue when the computer is turned on.


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The diodes indicate the status of Bluetooth, WiFi, power, battery, capslock, numlock, scroll lock and hard drive activity. All diodes glow with a dull, green light, except Bluetooth which glows blue.

Keyboard and Touchpad


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The keyboard is nice and stable, with no flex at all. The space between the keys is relatively large, although it is not something you notice when typing away. The letters are nice and clearly printed on each key, and everything works well.


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The touchpad reacts quite well, and the surface itself is easy to move around on. The two mouse buttons are integrated into a single button, which unfortunately means you can only press at the outer edges. There is also a small and slightly annoying edge that separates the touchpad and the buttons.

Display


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The display measures 10 inches and is LED-backlit with a WSVGA resolution, i.e. 1024 x 600 pixels. The display panel itself is from Hannstar, model number HSD100IFW1. The panel is reflective, which is slightly annoying in daylight. There are 9 levels of brightness that you can toggle through via the FN shortcuts.

If you view the display from the side, the picture remains clear and the lighting even. From above it gets brighter but still clear. From below the colours and brightness dim, but the picture is still somewhat clear. The backlighting is homogenous, meaning evenly distributed across the display.

I/Os


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Special Features

Webcam


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The integrated webcam boasts 1.3 megapixels and can take pictures in a resolution of 2560 x 2048px interpolated. It comes with ARcSoft WebCam Companion software, which allows you to add effects to pictures and such.

Benchmark

CPU-Z & GPU-Z


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Comparison

The device is pitted against the Asus Eee 1005P, which is similar to MSI Wind U135 in many ways with regards to hardware. Asus Eee 1005P has the following specifications:

Intel Atom N450 – 1.66 GHz - 1x 512 KB L2 Cache
Intel NM10 Express chipset (Tigerpoint)
1x 1024 MB DDR2-SDRAM - PC2-6400 - ASint Technology
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150 - 8 MB
Seagate ST9160301AS - 160 GB
10.1 inch TFT 1024 x 600 ( WSVGA )
Lithium Ion battery - 47520mWh - 12.646V
Microsoft Windows 7 Starter (build 7600)

Asus Eee 1005P costs about £250

Read the review here

Windows Experience Index


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The base rating is determined by the lowest sub-rating, in this case "Processor – calculations per second", which obtains a rating of 2.3. The highest rating is "Primary hard disk – disk data transfer rate" at 5.9.

Boot time and out of standby


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Wind U135 starts up in 40 seconds; though 5 seconds longer than Eee 1005P, it is still quite acceptable. The device takes about 4 seconds to get out of standby, which is equally acceptable.

Battery life


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Idle test settings
Brightness: 1/9, HDD standby after 10 minutes and WiFi active.
Classic test settings
Brightness: 9/9, HDD standby after 10 minutes and WiFi active.

When it comes to battery, U135 does not live up to the expectations. Wind U135 can only lasts for about half of what Eee 1005P manages in idle – since they pretty much offer the same functionality, you would expect more. It lasts about 5.5 hours in idle, which is not bad. However, it is not too impressive relative to other netbooks that typically reach over 10 hours on idle.

Processor

wPrime 2.0


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The computer goes through the test in 117 seconds, slightly better than 1005P. Both have the same CPU and chipset, so the difference should not be substantial. It is possible some programs running in the background affected the scores somehow.

SisSandra Processor Arithmetic & Multi-Media


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In the Arithmetic test, the program calculates in MIPS (Million instructions per second) and Mega Flops (One million floating point operations per second) in Multi-Media. In both cases, bigger is better.
Here we see some relatively close results as expected, although U135 deviates by a few percent below 1005P. Still, the overall picture is that they are similar.

RAM


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Once again a very even result. The two are much identical in performance, as well as they should be.

Overall

PCMark 05


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Asus Eee 1005P scores 65 less points in the PCMark 05 than MSI Wind U135, which again might be due to some programs running in the background. Anyway, 65 points are peanuts on this scale.

Graphics

3DMark


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In 3Dmark, 1005P exhibits the same tendency to harvest just a few points more than Wind U135. The difference is minor though, as the similarity in hardware extends to graphics as well.

Hard drive


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When it comes to the hard drive, Wind U135 leads with almost 15 MB/s more than Eee 1005P. Both results are nice though.

Conclusion

MSI Wind U135 is yet another netbook among many, with many of the same features as the previous models in the Wind series. Intel’s new platform boosts performance significantly in comparison to older models, but still does not quite deliver the dream of a fast and smooth working environment.
Wind U135 failed to deliver the expected battery life in numerous tests, with Asus’ Eee 1005P lasting almost twice as long. Wind U135 was also slower to go through a number of benchmarks, which was a bit surprising.
Beyond these points, however, the device delivers the required power to run programs like the Office package and such, which is probably something students will focus on. The webcam, 250GB hard drive and the small size might also come in handy in the long term, and the computer can probably fill the needs of most in that segment. However, we recommend that alternatives at the very least be considered, as Asus 1005P for example had certain advantages at only a slightly higher price.

Pros:
Simple design
Cheap

Cons:
Expected battery life
Irritating touchpad

Battery:	2,5 / 5
Graphics:	1,5 / 5
Construction:	4 / 5
Mobility:	4,5 / 5
Software:	3 / 5
CPU Performance:	2 / 5
Innovation:	2,5 / 5
Connectionspeed:	3 / 5
Price:	4,5 / 5
Accessories:	3 / 5
Design:	3 / 5
Weight:	3,5 / 5
Performance:	2 / 5
Overall:	3 / 5