The Wind U135 is the one of the newest netbooks from MSI in the 10-inch form-factor. Packed with the Intel Pine Trail platform this netbook promises increased battery life and performance compared to models still using the previous Intel Atom chipset. Our longest lasting notebook to date is the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE, clocking in at over 12 hours with average use. In this review we put the MSI Wind U135 through its paces and see how well it stacks up against the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE which offers a nearly identical hardware configuration.
MSI Wind U135 Specifications:
- Windows 7 Starter Edition (32-bit)
- 10.1-inch diagonal WSVGA (1024x600)
- Intel Atom N450 Processor 1.66GHz (667MHz FSB, 512KB Cache)
- 1GB DDR2 SDRAM onboard (1 slot available)
- Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphics
- 250GB Seagate 5400.6 Hard Drive
- 802.11BGN 1T1R Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- 4-in-1 media card slot
- Dimensions: 10.24"(L) x 7.09"(D) x 0.74"~1.24"(H)
- Weight: 2.87lbs(not including weight of AC adapter)
- 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (5200mAh, 58Wh)
- Retail Price: $329
Build and Design
The MSI Wind U135 offers a simple design with a clean, high-contrast color scheme. The screen is covered with a “Color Film Print Technology” that closely resembles the Imprint finish on HP notebooks. It offers greater durability than a simple painted glossy surface while still allowing artwork to be worked in with the design. MSI went with a very simplistic weave pattern on the U135 that blends in well with the features of the netbook. The pattern is also copied inside the notebook over the touchpad surface. MSI keeps the painted silver look inside the notebook, but instead of keeping the weave pattern, it shifts to a textured silver paint. It has the look of a matte finish while still maintaining the smooth feel of a glossy paint job. The glossy black screen bezel and keyboard tray look great with the silver and move the mirror-finish glossy parts away from where your hands and palms will always be smudging.
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Build quality is average compared to most netbooks, with a durable outer shell when the cover is closed and plenty of screen protection. The glossy finish is scratch resistant to a degree but would still show damage if abused. For the average user stuffing it into a backpack between classes or using it for travel it should keep a scratch-free look for a long time. The keyboard and palmrest show some flex under strong pressure but it doesn’t interfere with normal typing.
Users looking to upgrade any components will be in for a surprise when they notice there are no access panels on the bottom of the U135. To swap out the wireless card, hard drive, or add a stick of memory you need to split the case in half. One advantage the U135 has over other netbooks is its open memory slot. The 1GB of base memory is soldered in place, so it leaves one slot open for future upgrades. Netbooks like the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE need to have the 1GB stick swapped out for a 2GB stick which costs significantly more for the same end result.
Screen and Speakers
The Wind U135 offers a 10” glossy LED-backlit display that rates below average compared to other similarly sized netbooks. On our review model we noticed significant backlight bleed around all the edges when the brightness is near the top of the scale. During the boot sequence this is especially visible when the backgrounds are black. Turning the backlight down to 50-70% reduced the bleed, but it was still slightly visible if you were in a dark room watching a movie. Color and contrast are comparable to other competing netbooks thanks to the glossy screen surface. If the backlight bleed was lessened it would be a great machine to watch movies on while traveling. At peak brightness the screen is easy to read in bright office conditions and outdoors if you are in an area that the sun wasn’t reflecting off the screen. Viewing angles are average with the vertical viewing range spanning 15-20 degrees forward or back before colors started to invert. Horizontal viewing angles are better, keeping colors looking true even at steep angles.
Speaker performance is average compared to most netbooks on the market, meaning that they lacked volume and any hint of bass compared to a full-size notebook. For most users the speakers are great if you want to watch a quick streaming video clip or listen to some music in the background, but if you intend on watching a movie, headphones are the preferred option.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the MSI Wind U135 is a near carbon-copy of the keyboard seen on the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE. They are Chiclet-style keyboards and share the same layout, key size, and key shape. The only visible differences are the printed labels which appear bolded on the MSI version. Comparing both models side-by-side the U135 feels more solid and attached to the frame, whereas the keyboard on the 1005PE bounces slightly. Tactile feedback is nearly identical with the same key strength and noise when fully pressed.
Out of the box the touchpad is disappointing, lacking any specific driver or utility support. Just like the X-Slim X340, MSI didn’t include any sort of manufacturer-specific touchpad support out of the box, instead relying on the basic Windows drivers. The end result is a laggy touchpad with no scrolling or multi-touch capability.
Turning to the internet we found Sentelic touchpad drivers listed on the MSI website for the U135, but they were not originally included on our review model or recovery partition. After installing the software the touchpad sprung to life and even offered various two-finger multi-touch features. The touchpad surface was better than average with a matte finish that was easy to slide across, compared to some of the glossy touchpads we have seen on the latest notebooks. The touchpad buttons shared the same rocker-style switch, but the button was flexible enough that both sides could be pressed at the same time with minimal effort.
Ports and Features
Port selection on the MSI Wind U135 is comparable to competing netbooks, offering three USB ports, audio jacks, VGA-out, Ethernet, and an SDHC-card reader. For security a Kensington Lock slow as also included.
Front: Indicator lights
Rear: Battery
Left: Kensington Lock slot, AC-power, two USB
Right: One USB, SDHC-card slot, audio jacks, VGA-out, LAN
Performance and Benchmarks
System performance for day-to-day activities is good for a netbook but still falls short of a lot of the new ultra-portables coming out with the Intel CULV processors. The trade-off has always been power consumption, with increased battery life on netbooks. We didn’t have any problem surfing the web or going to sites with flash content, including YouTube. HD streaming content is still a problem but SD content showed no stuttering problems. Locally played HD videos in resolutions lower than or equal to 720P played fine, with 1080P content pushing it over the edge. Boot, shutdown, and standby times were very quick, letting you close the lid and pop it into your backpack without the concern that it is going to stay running while packed away. Compared to most netbooks we feel a lot of the speed increases for normal activities came from Windows 7 and not necessarily the faster Pine Trail platform.
wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):
PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):
HDTune hard drive performance test:
Heat and Noise
The MSI Wind U135 handled heat remarkably well but at the cost of the fan continuously running. Even when left idle for long periods of time the fan on the U135 would stay running at a slow but constant speed. The air blowing out from the exhaust vent was roughly room temperature, making us wonder why the fan wouldn’t just turn off with it being so cool internally. For users with sensitive ears or those who might be working in a small quiet classroom the fan noise is just loud enough to be heard by those directly around you. It is at or very near the volume of a whisper.
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Battery Life
With the last Pine Trail netbook managing over 12 hours of battery life, we had high hopes for the MSI Wind U135. Sadly this is not the case, even though they shared the same hardware except for the wireless card and battery capacity (The U135 is 5Wh less). In our battery test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 set to the “Balanced” profile the system stayed on for just 6 hours and 30 minutes. During the test the U135 consumed between 7.5 and 8.5 watts of power. During the same test the Eee PC 1005PE stayed on for 12 hours and 1 minute, consuming 4.5 to 4.7 watts of power. To bring the systems to an equal playing field we even swapped in the Atheros Wi-Fi card from the 1005PE to see if that was the culprit, but power consumption stayed the same. Our guess is the level of hardware tweaking on the MSI Wind isn’t as extensive as it is on the Eee PC 1005PE, showing that even with identical hardware you can have significant and tangible differences between netbook models.
Conclusion
The MSI Wind U135 fell short compared to the competition in terms of software support and battery life. Out of the box the U135 was missing any sort of touchpad software--including on the restore partition--greatly reducing the features. We later found the drivers included on the MSI support website, which brought multi-touch options, as well as simple features like scrolling. Another huge downside to this particular netbook is the battery life, having half the battery life of the ASUS Eee PC 1005PE with the same hardware and only a slightly larger battery. This massive difference in battery life comes from the increased power consumption: The U135 draws almost 8 watts at idle and the 1005PE uses less than 5 watts. Overall the MSI Wind U135 lacked a great deal of polish, but with improvements in power consumption and software out of the box, it would be a great little netbook.
Pros:
- Good design
- Capable touchpad with proper drivers
- Nice keyboard
Cons:
- Half the battery life of other Pine Trail netbooks
- Missing touchpad software out of the box
