MSI’s new X-Slim series netbooks notebooks look like a cross between a typical netbook and a Macbook Air. They’re larger than most netbooks, with 13.4 inch displays. And they feature some sleek styling and super thin cases that make the comparisons to the Macbook Air inevitable. But unlike the Macbook Air, MSI is selling these laptops for around a thousand dollars or less.
While neither the MSI X320 or X340 are shipping in the US yet, you can find them in Germany. And Johannes at NewGadgets.de has had a chance to play with both. He’s posted a series of unboxing photos of the X320, as well as a quick shot (shown above) comparing the X320 and X340. While both sport 13.4″ 1366 x 768 pixel displays, the X340 is a bit more of a powerhouse, with an Intel Core 2 Solo CPU and HDMI output.
The MSI X320, on the other hand, sports a low power 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 CPU and a VGA output (because HDMI would be overkill given the graphics capabilities of the Atom CPU with integrated graphics). But besides being larger than a typical netbook, the X320 also packs a little more punch. It ships with 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. This means it doesn’t qualify for Microsoft’s ULPC Windows XP licenses, and it comes with Windows Vista HOme Premium preloaded.
Glad to see more netbooks/notebooks using the z5** Atoms, and presumably the GMA 500 video. I recently bought a refurbed Dell Mini 12 for $266. I love the 12″ screen, form factor, weight… But the GNU/Linux drivers for the GMA 500 video is a mess. It’s getting better though as 2D and 3D support just dropped into Ubuntu Intrepid, but still no support for Jaunty. The more of these out there the better the chance that good GNU/Linux drivers will be developed.
It sure would be nice to have one of these.
… To write a review.
Are you listening MSi?!
Love,
Tommy
“But unlike the Macbook Air, MSI is selling these laptops for around a thousand dollars or less.” This is not entirely true. The Apple store has refurbished MacBook Air computers for $999.00 in the US. A client bought one and I set it up. It looked new to me, and has a 1 year warranty, just like a new MacBook Air.
https://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air
Those Airs for $1000 certainly are tempting but I just can’t do the 80GB 4200 rpm PATA hard drive and the one USB. I’d like to see a review of the X340 and the OLD Macbook Air to see the performance of each, then I could decide. Until then I’ll stick with my tried and true 4 year old Dell Inspiron 6000.
13.4″ screens and around $1,000 and Brad used the term “netbook”?
Sorry, I was writing in a hurry. Post updated to reflect what these
things really are.
I’m hoping/expecting that the X320 could have a sub-$750 price tag
since it’s not as powerful as the X340. But I haven’t seen any
official pricing details yet.