MSI Wind U123 netbook gets unboxed

The 10-inch MSI Wind U123 netbook, which was officially announced at the beginning of the month, has been unboxed by Portable Monkey. It seems that MSI provides no access to upgrade your hard-drive or RAM. This is a strange move especially as the U123 supports 2GB RAM, but only ships with 1GB. I imagine, you would have to send it back to MSI if you want the RAM upgrade or open it yourself and void the warranty.

The white MSI U123 came with a 10-inch (1024 x 600) display powered by a 1.66Ghz N280 Intel Atom CPU and 945GSE chipset. Graphics are served by Intel’s GMA950. Other features include WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.0, 1.3MP webcam and a 5-in-1 card reader (the US SKU comes with a 4-in 1 reader). It also comes with a 6-cell battery (5200 mAh) as standard. The unit weighs less than 1.4kg (2.98lbs) including the 6-cell battery.

In Japan, the U123T and U123H models are also due which will include a TV tuner and 3G modem respectively. However, judging from the US press release, the Wind U123 will come with a TV tuner as standard. The MSI Wind U123 comes in a choice of four colours (white, red, blue and grey). The unit is not due to launch in the US until May, but releases in Japan tomorrow. There is no confirmation on pricing or availability in other regions. Click through for some pictures of the MSI Wind U123 being unboxed.

Update: Apparently all MSI Wind netbooks come without access panels on the back. However, the bottom casing can be easily unscrewed to access the HDD and RAM.