NbC: MSI Wind U135 Review
March 29, 2010 at 12:14 pm
The MSI Wind U135 netbook is interesting for a number of reasons. It is one of the company’s first Intel Pine Trail offerings, it moves away from the usual bland MSI Wind design, it’s reasonably fully featured in terms of specifications, provides good battery life and, best of all, is priced at a reasonable price point.
We have put the Wind U135 netbook through its paces and overall we were left with positive impressions. Yes, we did find a few niggles, but couldn’t complain too much given its keen pricing at £280. Click through for our in depth review, along with our customary performance and battery tests.
Positives:
– Solidly built with attractive design
– Good battery life
– Nice bright, vivid glossy display
– Comfortable chiclet keyboard
– Textured touchpad with smooth scrolling
– Feature rich specs includes 1.3MP webcam & Wi-Fi draft-N
– Good value price-point
Negatives:
– No access to components (void warranty if do so)
– Glossy lid, fingerprint magnet
– Speakers are loud, but quality is poor (little separation, muffled at high volumes)
– Small right shift key
– No multi-touch gestures on touchpad
MSI Wind U135 Technical Specifications:
- Processor: Intel Atom N450 processor (1.66GHz)
- Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Starter
- Chipsets: Intel NM10
- Graphic: GMA 3150 (Share with System Memory)
- Memory: DDR2 667 support up to 2 GB (1 DIMM slot)
- LCD Display: 10” (1024 x 600) WSVGA LED
- HDD: 160 GB or above (2.5” SATA)
- Card Reader: 4 in 1 (support SD, MMC, MS, XD)
- I/O: D-sub
USB 2.0 x 3
Mic-in
Headphone
RJ45 - Battery: 3 cells / 6 cells
- Wireless: 802.11 b/g/ draft n
Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR - Webcam: 1.3 MP Webcam
- Sound: HD Audio
Stereo speakers - Dimension: 260 x 180 x 19 – 31.5mm
- Weight: 1.2 Kg (with 3 cell battery)
- Price (at time of publication): £279.99 (Amazon.co.uk
), $329.99 (Amazon.com
), $309.99 (Newegg.com
)
The MSI Wind U135 is one of four Pine Trail netbooks that the company has released. The new processors aren’t the only thing that is new though, MSI has made much more of a concerted effort on the design of these new Wind netbooks. The older Wind design was certainly solid and functional, however with manufacturers pushing the envelope in making ever-more attractive netbooks, it was important that MSI were not left behind.
The Wind U160 is the most attractive, with its slim chassis and quoted 15-hour battery life. We haven’t heard much of the Wind U140 apart from a few photos and then we’re left with the U130 and U135. Both the U130 and U135 are very similar but the U135 has a 20 percent larger touchpad as well as chiclet keyboard. Apart from that both have a 10-inch (1024 x 600) screen armed with a 1.66GHz N450 Pineview Atom processor, 160GB/250GB HDD options and Windows 7. Other features include Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.0, a 1.3MP webcam and a 4-in-1-card reader.
MSI has also said that power consumption is only 5.5 watts, battery life has been increased by 15 percent and performance is up by 10 percent using Intel’s new platform. As with other MSI netbooks, the company’s ECO engine is also present to prolong battery life.
We previously covered the unboxing here. Inside the box you will find a power supply, battery, some documentation (user manual & warranty card) and a recovery disc. You won’t find a netbook sleeve, but given the low price, it’s not really expected.
May 9th, 2010 1:16 PM
I think it needs to be pointed out that the touchpad DOES in fact support multi-touch, scrolling, etc. You just need to grab the Sentelic Multi Touchpad driver from http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=nbdriver&maincat_no=135&prod_no=1973
May 26th, 2010 8:14 PM
Please include a close-up of the two MSI labels on the right underside. These labels show the wireless chipset used in the laptop. I would not touch the U135 if the chipset was Atheros ! too many problems with this chipset. Realtek is the best.
July 8th, 2010 2:43 PM
i have just bought one and the only thing i dnt know how to turn on is the bluetooth dse any one know how to
July 9th, 2010 10:15 PM
I am trying to find the user manual for my MSI wind U100. Not in the box and searched online to no avail. There are many things I do not know about my Netbook, so just do without!! I found a lot of manuals for the Asus Netbooks online, but shame on MSI/Proline for the lack of customer services.
My problem is — I do not know where to set the Webcam, it is not working, can anyone assist please. Thx E
August 3rd, 2010 2:43 PM
Hi,
I also don’t know how to make bluetooth work or my webcam…
can anyone tell me how?
August 4th, 2010 11:08 AM
My problem is — I do not know where to set the Webcam, it is not working, can anyone assist please. Thx E
For U100, Fn+F6 can turn on the webcam.
August 6th, 2010 7:01 PM
hi to turn the webcam on you need to press the fn button and the f6 button at the same time dose anyone know how to switch bluetooth on
October 19th, 2010 4:55 PM
Eli,
The english user manual for the Wind U100 can be found at the address below.
Copy and paste it into your browser.
Josh
http://download1.msi.com/files/downloads/mnu_exe/01_MS_N011+N811_v1.0_English.zip
January 6th, 2011 11:25 PM
hi, i was wondering if anyone could help because i got the netbook for christmas so i can stay in contact with family etc on skype but cant seem to figure out how to make the webcam work
January 17th, 2011 1:33 PM
Hi Guys,
I have bought the Wind U135 just today and the sales guy explained that the netbook doesnt have a built-in Bluetooth. You need to use a bluetooth plug-in/ device.
May 7th, 2011 11:00 AM
hiya i just bort the msi u135 netbook the webcam works an it sayss i have a built bluetooth i dont know ow ta switch it on it says to press fn +f11 togeva that only switches on the wireless can anyone tell me pleasee thanks
May 23rd, 2011 2:39 PM
Please can somebody advice me on how to turn my webcam on and is a built on webcam U135 laptop. it seem when i press the fn and f6 key it comes up but says error or bad signal so please advice