MSI Wind U120-024US Intel Atom N270(1.60GHz) 10.0" WSVGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD Netbook - Retail

Reviewed By: on 8/19/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: fast for a netbook, long battery life, mostly full size keyboard. runs ubuntu 9.04 netbook remix well with a few patches here and there. overall i got a good deal on this netbook.

Cons: the only thing i don't like is the period key on the keyboard. i always strike a little too much to the right, because the key is a bit too small.

Other Thoughts: it goes into sleep mode about five or so minutes before the battery indicator says it will, not really that big of a deal though.

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powerful machine...but lacks a bit

Reviewed By: Mr. Shammy on 7/22/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: This machine is very efficient. The 1.6Ghz is decent. Plays non HD movies smooth. Adequate size for computing. Wireless works well in XP. 160HDD. OS recovery CD.

Cons: annoying buzz from the fan when it chips in. I know I voided the warranty by opening it. I thought it was the hard drive when I first encountered the noise. Later I discovered it was the fan. Opened it up, checked the fan bearings...seems fine. Reassembled it, and still there is fan noise. The fan is just a poor design.

Other Thoughts: I think if they invested in the small things that matter more, like a reliable fan or aftermarket replacement for the fan, they would be on the top of their game. They are already better than acer since they actually send you an OS recovery CD if something goes terribly wrong with your OS or HDD.

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The best investment ever made!

Reviewed By: francsal on 7/10/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

Pros: How about everything? Well, not quite, but this little thing impressed me to a degree I didn´t thought possible. Lets start:

1. The performance under XP was extremely good. All the office applications were ok, web surfing was wonderful, system response is great, even though it "only" has 1GB of RAM, it performs better than expected.

2. After seeing this, decided to give the RC candidate version of Windows 7 a try.... half expecting I would regret it. Totally mistaken! It has practically no performance impact (practically means that there is a somewhat perceived difference). Still, for office use, web surfing, e-mail (web or outlook) is actually very enjoyable.

3. Growing ambitious, decided to install MS Flight Simulator 2004 (yes, old game and all that), and it works wonderful both under XP and 7. Absolutely playable, IF you dont have the highest expectations considering the graphics it has (GMA950 is not the best thing around for 3D, but of course we know that).

Cons: The included bag/case is practically of no use, if you intend to take the AC adaptor. No chance to upgrade the RAM could be considering a huge handicap, even if the performance is more than adequate with the 1GB supplied. Makes me wonder how much better it would be with 2GB....

There´s plenty of info on the U100, but not that much on the U120. Still, most of the info available for the U100 applies to the U120.

No bluetooth or 3G. If you want that functionality, 2 of your 3 (maybe even the 3) USB ports would be taken. Seriously suggest to get a USB hub.

Other Thoughts: Overclocked it to 1.96 Ghz, and it´s really stable, no signs of overheating at all. The performance is brilliant with the overclocking. It CANNOT be done via the BIOS, as in the U100, but with setfsb it can be done in a snap. Also, the GMA950 can be overclocked to 400Mhz. And yes, the performance improves even more. All in all, this is the best tech related investmen I have ever made.

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