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MSI’s X-Slim series of laptops are thin and light machines that take more than a few design from the uber-expensive Macbook Air. But unlike the Air, the X-Slim laptops tend to be reasonably affordable. Of course, in order to keep the price down, MSI uses cheaper parts like slower processors. And now it looks like MSI is shaking things up a bit more by playing with the specs a bit.

Take the MSI X-Slim X610, for instance. It’s virtually identical to the pricier X600 on the outside. But on the inside, the X600 has an Intel Core  Solo SU3500 processor while the X610 has a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon MV-50 processor. Unfortunately, while the AMD chip helps bring down the price, the X600 gets better battery life and overall performance than the X600.

Meanwhile, MSI is also giving a bit of a spec bump to the X340 notebook, with a new 8 cell battery that should double the battery life to nearly 9 hours. The machine will still have the same 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500 ULV processor, but MSI is dropping the price from $899 to $799. If you already have an X340 with a 4 cell battery, Laptop Magazine reports you’ll be able to pick up a higher capacity battery for $99.