
MSI Wind U120
Consumers holding out for a newer version of the MSI Wind netbook need wait no more. Amazon shows that the U120-002US, an evolutionary successor to the U100 I own, is available and in stock. The actual device I see available at this will ship from J&R, not direct from Amazon. In fact, searching J&R directly shows several configurations of both the U100 and U120.
What does $469.99 get you as compared to a U100? With this particular model, not all that much is different to what I have today. It adds support for the faster and larger range 802.11n flavor of wireless networking and offers a two-tone chassis. This model also includes a 6-cell battery and integrated Bluetooth. One unique aspect of the U120 is the inclusion of MSI’s EasyFace Login, which is a facial recognition application. You configure it with a photo of your face and can then log in to the netbook using the software and webcam. Lastly, the mouse buttons are indeed buttons, with an “s”; instead of the single button bar I have on the U100, MSI has turned this into two buttons. Other than that, this is the same Intel Atom-based unit with 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive that I’m running Windows 7 on right now.
We’re expecting, but don’t yet see, a version of this device with integrated 3G and SSD options. At this point, there are few compelling reasons to upgrade to this particular U120 model if you already have a solid netbook solution. It’s not offering much of anything new that isn’t already available on the market that I can see. When the SSD and 3G configurations come out, it might be a different story though. Thanks for the tip, Ron!
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