MSI Wind U160 Review Roundup

MSI Wind U160 Overview
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The MSI Wind U160 is one of the newest netbook model from MSI that runs on the Intel Pine Trail platform. Compared to its sibling, the MSI Wind U135, this 10-inch netbook has a much better endurance — an impressive 15 hours battery life. Other than that, it has mostly the same set of specs as the U135. Below is the rundown of U160′s specification:

  • 1.66GHz Intel N450 Atom Processor
  • 1GB DDR2 667 Mhz SO-DIMM RAM (1 Slot) upgradable to 2 GB MAX
  • 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive
  • Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
  • 4-1 Card Read (XD/SD/MMC/ MS)
  • 10″ 1024×600 LCD Display
  • 1.3MP Webcam
  • Bluetooth
  • Window 7 Starter
  • 6 Cell Battery (15 Hours of Battery Life)

Review roundup

Overall, the MSI Wind U160 gets most of the thing right — good build quality, long battery life, and decent performance. According to Laptop Magazine’s test, it scores 1,406 on PCMark05 and 163 on 3DMark06. Both are above average compared to other netbooks with similar specs. In terms of battery life, although MSI claims that it has 15 hours of battery life, it lasted for around 8.5 hours in both LaptopMag’s and NotebookReview’s battery test. It’s still above industry average although not as great as the 12 hours endurance that we get from the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE (which is currently the best in the netbook market).

Like many other netbooks, the MSI Wind U160 has a chiclet style keyboard. While the folk at notebookreview find the keyboard to be quite comfortable to type on, those from LaptopMag think its keys are a little cramp. Also, some user may not like the protruding battery that makes the netbook looks bulkier although it really weigh just 2.6 pounds which is lighter than most other 10-inch netbooks out there.

Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 >> Read Customer Reviews

Video Reviews

Here’s an unboxing and overview video of the MSI Wind U160 by Newgadgets.de:

Availability
The MSI Wind U160 is available in brown and black color, both cost $379.99 on Amazon currently.

Conclusion
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If you are interested in picking up a MSI Wind netbook, the U160 is a pretty good choice. It has a long battery life and strong performance although the keyboard and battery design is something that some users might not like. If you are not particularly interested in a MSI netbook, we think the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE or the Toshiba Mini NB305 will be a better choice.