MSI U210-008US 12.1-Inch Black Netbook - 5 Hour Battery Life | 
| Brand: MSI
Category: Personal Computer
List Price: $429.99
Buy New: $419.02
as of 3/10/2010 03:03 PST details
You Save: $10.97 (3%)
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 1218
Color: Black
Media: Personal Computers
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Vista Home Premium
CPU Manufacturer: AMD
CPU Speed: 1.6
System Bus Speed: 1600
Battery Type: Lithium Ion
Hard Drive Size: 250
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Modem: None
Free Memory Slots: 2
Display Size: 12.1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 11.7 x 1.2
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: U210-008US
Model: U210-008US
UPC: 816909062595
EAN: 0816909062595
ASIN: B002LZUHNW
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Features:
| • | Athlon Neo MV-40 1.6 GHz Chipset AMD RS690 + SB600 | | • | 2GB 200-Pin DDR SO-DIMM RAM | | • | 250GB SATA Hard Drive, WLAN 802.11b/g/n, 1 x HDMI Port | | • | Windows Vista Home Premium, Battery 6 cells (5200mAh) 5 hours (depending on usage and configuration) | | • | LCD Type 12.1" HD WXGA 16:9, LCD Resolution 1366x768, VGA, AMD Radeon X1250 |
|
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
MSI paired the Wind U210's 12.1" HD (1366 x 768) 16:9 aspect ratio LCD with ATI Radeon X1250 for crystal clear graphics. The combination delivers a bright widescreen visual experience with exceptional color saturation and crisp imagery.The Wind U210 series also features MSI's EDS (Ergonomic De-stress) keyboard with keys that are 51% larger than those on a standard keyboard. The larger keys greatly improve finger contact range, which reduces stress on fingers and wrists to provide a more comfortable typing experience.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 Great small notebook/netbook January 3, 2010
MJB (Cali)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I purchased the MSI U210 notebook in white on 12/13/2009. I considered purchasing the MSI L2100, which has the exact same hardware, but comes with Windows 7 pre-installed instead of Windows Vista. The L2100 is only available in black however, and after checking it out at the local Fry's I decided to order the white U210 from Amazon and upgrade it to Windows 7 later with the free upgrade program.
This is my first netbook size computer, and so far I have been extremely happy with the U210. It has become my main computer out of three including an older full-size Dell laptop and desktop.
Some pros/cons:
Performance - I was surprised how fast this computer is. For web browsing, using MS office, and watching downloaded .avi files it performs extremely well. As others have mentioned however, while streaming videos from YouTube and Hulu are very smooth when viewed in a window, there is a lot of stuttering in full-screen. I have ordered the Broadcom HD decoder card (~$20 from Ebay) that others have mentioned and will update this review when I have a chance to install and test it out. The WiFi range is excellent. I also think the sound quality is more than acceptable from a computer this size. The screen is beautiful and the webcam performs well. Another pro is that the computer stays pretty cool and is not uncomfortable when used on your lap. The computer also runs Vista very well, and as my first experience with this OS, I have had no problems.
UPDATE: I bought and installed the Broadcom HD decoder card in 5 minutes. It goes into the empty mini PCI slot. It seems to -have improved YouTube HD and the HDMI output is now very smooth (I never tested HDMI before the decoder card), however, I still cannot watch Hulu in high-res (480p) at full-screen without significant stuttering.
No Bluetooth - My U210 did not come with an internal Bluetooth antenna, even though it has a Bluetooth light, Bluetooth software loaded on the system, and "Bluetooth RFCOMM" listed in device manager. I suspect this is why some reviewers have stated that their U210 included Bluetooth, but mine did not and I would not expect other U210's from Amazon to include it. Apparently an internal Bluetooth antenna can be purchased from Ebay and plugged into the U210's motherboard for about $20.
Appearance and build quality - I like the white color and overall the computer looks very nice. As others have noted, the keyboard does have a small bulge centered over the letter "K" key. Other notebooks/netbooks I have seen do appear to have a more solid feel, but I'm guessing that the "flimsier" feel of the U210 is what helps to keep it's weight down, and there is no indication to me that my U210 won't last several years.
Windows 7 upgrade from MSI - I followed the instructions and ordered the upgrade the day I received my U210, but have not received anything from MSI yet. UPDATE: I received the upgrade DVD from Microsoft exactly 1 month after submitting the request to MSI, doing all the steps as fast as possible. It took MSI about 3 weeks to send the coupon, and Microsoft was very fast, sending the DVD to my house within a week. Windows 7 is running smooth.
Overall the U210 is a great small notebook and I'm very happy with it.
What I needed! December 28, 2009
N. Allen (AZ USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This net book was purchased to alleviate the issues I had with my Mac Book Pro. Namely size and portability. This machine manages to satiate all of my needs. Light weight, long battery, low heat, while maintaining power and function.
My only qualms are the feel of the keyboard and the actual HD abilities of this machine.
I can just palm a basketball so my hands are closer to large than small, but I manage to type without much issue. Though, I do notice the the keyboard tends to feel a bit cheap, specifically on the right hand side (J through " area). It sort of sags in, feels soft. My other problem is the HD playback. It can playback dvd quality video no problem, but it will not play a 720 quality video without some skipping. Audio stays in sync, but it appears to skip some frames during playback. I tried a few different files and through the HDMI out, but always lagged. Non the less, not really an issue.
Poor HD playback is the only reason I didn't give a 5. Excellent NON HD media net book.
Pros:
lightweight
cool
long battery, not quite 5hrs though
solid performance
hard drive space
Cons:
Saggy keyboard
Poor HD playback
Great Netbook for a Great Price, but upgrades help. November 22, 2009
Speed (Texas)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an excellent Netbook. I also have a Dell mini 10 and this one is far more powerfull. Installed Win 7 which works great.
Things to note. This does not have 2 memory slots as advertised by Amazon - it only has one. I upgraded to 4 GB with no problems. There are reviews that HD video does not work; I hooked up a bluray player via usb and the video does stutter, but I have ordered a BroadCom BCM70010 BCM70012 HD Decoder Mini PCIe card for $25, which should correct this, if so, well worth it. Also note that this netbook does not come with bluetooth installed but also can be added for around $25. Agree with other reviews about the pros of this netbook, just wanted to add a few extra comments that may help you in your decision in reviewing this product.
Great little netbook/laptop at a great price. November 15, 2009
Orton Bui (US)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Let me start off by saying that I did quite a bit of research before deciding on this little guy.
The main requirements I had when browsing were
(1.) It had to have a usable keyboard/touch-pad without requiring too much readjustment. I've use too many netbooks where the keyboard, while usable, drove me almost crazy with the amount of types I'd eventually amass just typically typing as I do on an average keyboard.
(2.)Decent battery life. I've owned several laptops, but half the point of these "netbooks" is battery life isn't it?
(3.)Screen Real Estate(Screen Size). It was a must that it struck a good balance between portability and the proper screen size for my multimedia/web browsing needs.
(4.) Not frustratingly slow. Being a bit spoiled by my 24" screen and desktop, I always have always had a few windows of this and that open and while I knew pretty much the whole point of these low priced netbooks was portability and battery life at the price of performance, a guy can dream right?
I am glad to say that the MSI U210-006US 12.1-Inch White Netbook - 5 Hour Battery Life fit all of those requirements and then some.
The keyboard was amazingly easy to use and surprisingly, required very little readjustment. I think MSI did an amazing job designing the overall body of the netbook, while giving the keyboard just enough room to make it feel pretty much like an average sized one. The touchpad works like it should and *it has an off/on toggle. It is also flat and flush with the bottom of the netbook and it has a tactile feel and is not at all like those terrible slippery glossy ones that started popping up in laptop/netbooks.
*The touchpad also does not have a side-scroll, but that can be remedied with a different driver from synaptic(Do a google search on synaptic drivers).
The screen is the perfect size. I sat it next to my 24" Benq monitor and the u210 screen really stood out with its brightness and color reproduction.
As for the battery, I'd say I get just around 3.5-4 hours of use on average with probably 70% web browsing and 30% watching videos([...]). After uninstalling some of more useless stuff and disabling some of system services that I know I'd never use, I consistently got around 4-4.5 hours on the system.
In terms of speed, it more than surpassed my expectations both for a netbook and the price range. I am able switch between a few google chrome windows and whatever small programs I'm running without any real bothersome slowdown.
Something of note also while I was doing my research about this netbook, I found out it apparently is an admirable performer when it comes to overclocking(I made a funny face too when I was first reading about it). The idea of overclocking has always made me a bit uneasy and even more so with portables that have limited heat dispersion. But luckily, the process was fairly straight-forward as I read it on the forums at [...] and I managed to get a boost in battery life as well as cpu performance.
*On a side note, I noticed when comparing the specs both on amazon and other vendors of this netbook that the gpu would be the AMD Radeon X1250 yet the product I received from amazon, to my delight, was the slightly more powerful AMD Radeon X1270. I also have bluetooth on this unit which again was not even listed. :)
Overall I give this netbook top marks. It fulfilled all of my requirements and does so at a very affordable price. When comparing this with the other netbooks I was looking at, the HP Mini 311, Acer Aspire 1410, and the ASUS Eee PC 1101HA the u210 ended up being the best of all my requirements without compromising too much in battery life. If you are in the market for a netbook and would prefer something a little bit zippier than the 90% of all the other netbooks equipped with an atom processor and don't mind sacrificing a bit of battery life, the u210 is a definite buy.
Edit:
I've been using the u210 almost daily for a solid month now and I am still very impressed. I just thought I'd inform anyone still on edge about this unit. Contrary to what some other reviewers have stated, I found the wifi chip in this to be very effective, much stronger and more reliable than the other three laptops(Dell, Toshiba, ABS) being used by my family members(intel chips and a broadcom). The u210 has consistently been able to obtain a relatively strong reliable signal where my other laptops failed.
This netbook also works pretty well with Vista, though they do offer you a "free" upgrade to Windows 7 provided you pay the $10 shipping... which then puts you through a few loops. You register and pay $10 shipping for your Win7 code and wait a good deal of time for that to arrive, and then register again at Microsoft's website only to have to fill in more info and then enter a code given by them back into their site and finally wait for your Windows upgrade CD to arrive. They even have a cute flow chart for it on their website.
*I paid my shipping fees about three weeks ago and have yet to get my upgrade form.
Something of note too was the RAM situation. This unit only has 1 upgrade slot and not 2 like Amazon has listed, and to be able to access that, you have to break the little flimsy sticker that voids your warranty...
Good little netbook November 6, 2009
HAZBONES
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I did my research on netbooks because this was my first one to purchase. What I was looking for was something small enough to fit on that small airplane tray table you get in coach, has a screen big enough that won't make me go blind after a few hours of use, and that has keys that were big enough to use without needing to grow out fingernails to enable a clean stroke on the keys. I only needed the netbook for doing work projects using office suite software. I did not need it for watching movies, using voip, or playing games so this review is only written with what my needs were. I decided on this MSI U210 due to the screen size (12in), large keyboard, and connectivity. I was not disappointed.
Pros:
>Comparative setup and features of other netbooks
>Screen- Larger screen (12in compared to 11in of other netbooks). Supports a second monitor through either a monitor port or a HDMI port.
>90%+ keyboard size as compared to 80%+ in others (that extra room makes alot of difference)
>Connectivity- bluetooth, wireless AND hard LAN connections
>Storage- 2 hard drives (1 50GB primary 1 200GB secondary). Now I don't have to move my docs, pics, music, etc when I want to upgrade or replace the primary HD.
>SD Card Reader- works with Readyboost to add more RAM
>Heat- Fans blow out sideways, not down and doesn't get hot sitting on your lap even after hours running. The fan is also very quiet.
RAM- 2GB. Plenty for what I need it for and it is more than what you get with some other netbooks plus you can use Readyboost to give it an extra umphff when needed.
>Casing- the layout of the keys, overall size and weight are great. The battery pack does make the netbook sit at a slight 1 inch incline that some people do not like but I like it because it makes typing more ergonomic and the incline is great when you have to type on your lap.
>Multimedia- Though not what I bought it for, I tested the netbook with YouTube and CD/DVD playback. It has 720p HD and works great for Youtube and other online streaming media. CD's played well and DVD's looked as good as they do on my primary home laptop. Of course your experience will differ depending on your ISP and type of external CD/DVD drive you buy.
>VOIP- again, not what I bought it for but does work great with SKYPE. The built-in web cam works good with Skype as well. Tested it with the wireless and LAN port but not tethering with any phones or other devices.
Cons:
>Processor- Even though the AMD MV40 is comparable to the Atom N270 I would have liked to have something more closer to the N280 in my netbook.
>Battery- The claim is 5 hrs battery life. I am testing the battery power now as I type this. I had a full charge and all I have done is transfer 2gb of music from a USB onto the HD, poked around the Control Panel a few minutes and the rest of the time it has been running unplugged on battery and Idle for about 2 1/2 hours on "High Performance" power settings. The current battery power is now at 48%. I have not tested it actually running a database file or designing a powerpoint presentation but I would assume this would chew some serious battery power on "High Performance". There are 2 other lower power settings so I guess when I am actually doing heavy work I will need to turn down the power settings. Might need to invest in an extra battery for long haul trips.
>CD/DVD- the netbook does not come with one so I had to buy a $50 CD/DVD external drive. That brings the total cost of my netbook to $500! You could use a USB to install an OS or other software if you know how to and that will save you from having to buy an external CD/DVD drive. Using the DVD player takes a chunk out of your battery power so be warned. It is same for any other netbook.
>OS- unfortunately my netbook came with VISTA. I get the "free" Win7 upgrade but I have found that the process for getting that upgrade through the mail is a tedious and time consuming process. There are many steps you need to take to actually get the upgrade disk in your hands and you'll really need patience and strong desire to have Win7 to allow the process to take its course. I would recommend getting this netbook WITH Win7 already installed. I am sure that once I change OS my battery power might improve as well.
>Crapware- yes, it is packed with all the crapware you'd normally get when installing VISTA plus all the MSI crapware that they feel you need to operate the netbook. This is easily fixed by deleting all this stuff but who likes HAVING to to that in the first place? I will replace everything with my favorite software later.
>Touchpad- not a biggie for me but there are those that hate the fact that there is no scroll bar on the touchpad.
Overall I love this netbook. For the price I paid I think I got a good deal. This netbook was in the top 20 rankings of several web review sites as of 10/09 when I bought it. It should hold me off until the next gen netbooks start hitting the shelves.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
|
|
|
