Intro, Specs, and Packaging

The MSI Wind U230 with AMD components has potential to be an Intel Atom / NVIDIA ION killer. The performance and price is right, so why wouldn’t you get one? We dig a bit deeper. What is notable from these specifications is the Athlon 64 X2 L335 CPU which is dual-core and (more or less) comparable to the Intel Atom 330. There is also HDMI out which is something that will come in handy for connecting an external display.
Better known for their video cards and motherboards, MSI’s mobile line-up has been gaining a lot of attention these days. Their product line is logically divided into four classes: Classic for general consumer models, Wind for ultra mobile products, G for gamer and high performance notebooks, and X-slim for thin systems. Today we are looking at MSI’s latest Wind 200 series wind notebook: the U230-040.

The U230-040 is interesting as its configuration takes direct aim at NVIDIA ION notebooks with Intel Atom processors. Thus, it will be interesting to see how the Wind U230 compares to the Asus Eee 1201N we reviewed not long ago

MSI Wind U230-040 Review - MSI's Atom Smasher - Mobile 37

Specifications

There are a few different models of the MSI Wind U230 with different CPU, RAM, and hard drive configurations. The one we received from MSI is the Wind U230-040 which is the top-end SKU for this model.

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What is notable from these specifications is the Athlon 64 X2 L335 CPU which is dual-core and (more or less) comparable to the Intel Atom 330. There is also HDMI out which is something that will come in handy for connecting an external display.

The 2GB of RAM will likely help in getting more out of this machine, but if you’re working with large files or running many applications simultaneously, consider upgrading to 4GB when you have a chance. Luckily, there are two RAM slots on the Wind U230, and depending on the SKU you get, only one of them may be occupied leaving one free for an upgrade.

Packaging

MSI Wind U230-040 Review - MSI's Atom Smasher - Mobile 39

The MSI Wind U230 package is fairly rudimentary: documentation, a driver disc, and the power adapter. It’s worth noting that Windows 7 reinstall discs aren’t included, so you will have to burn your own using the MSI Burn Recovery tool already installed on the system.




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