MSI Wind U115 Hybrid netbook gets official UK pricing

The MSI U115 Hybrid netbook has been officially announced for the UK market. It is expected to arrive in May at a price point of £499. This certainly is quite pricey for a 10-inch netbook, especially compared to the competition. However, this price accounts for a Hybrid (HDD/SDD) storage solution and Intel’s latest Poulsbo chipset.

We have certainly been impressed by the technology behind the U115 Hybrid. The UK SKU will come with a 160GB hard-disk drive and 8GB solid-state drive. The HDD can be disabled to preserve power, which some users have managed to get 13 hours of battery life of use out of it. The official announcement refers to a 12 hour battery time on its 6-cell battery. This figure is based on the SSD and LCD enabled and the HDD, WiFi, Bluetooth and webcam disabled and speakers muted.

The 10-inch (1024 x 600) LED-backlit display is powered by a low-power 1.6GHz Z530 Atom CPU and US15W (Poulsbo) chipset. This chipset provides full hardware acceleration of HD files (including H.264, MPEG2 and VC1) helping to reduce the total power consumption. It will come with 1GB RAM and a 4-in-1 card reader. Other features include WiFi (including draft n), Bluetooth, a 1.3MP webcam and three USB ports.

Despite this impressive technology, MSI may have a challenge on its hands. Whilst it has to be commended for introducing new hybrid storage technology and the impressive battery life, one is able to buy the Samsung NC10 or Asus Eee 1000HE and extra battery for less money than the MSI U115. Click through for the full U115 Hybrid specifications. Read more

MSI Wind U115 Hybrid stripped to bare bones

The guys over at UMPC Fever have taken the traditional ‘unboxing’ to new levels by stripping the Wind U115 right down to its Hybrid storage. The MSI Wind U115 Hybrid promises the longest battery life yet seen in a netbook through a combination of 9-cell battery and hybrid storage solution. Recent tests have shown that the battery life lasted as long as 13 hours on a single charge.

The model came with a 160GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue HDD and 8GB SDD, seated next to 1GB of RAM. Overall, the U115 Hybrid is believed to come in three HDD/SDD combinations. There will be 8GB SSD + 80GB HDD, 16GB SSD + 120GB HDD and 32GB SSD + 160GB HDD models planned. The model won’t be cheap though with an expected price point of €549 in Europe. Check out some more pictures after the jump. Read more

MSI Wind U115 to launch at premium price point of €549?

The MSI Wind U115 Hybrid is reported to cost €549 when it is released in France later this month according to Blogeee. This price point would put it a premium to a lot of its peers, even when you consider the Hybrid nature of its storage system.

We reported last week how the U115 Hybrid managed 13-hours of battery life from a single charge, mainly due to the combination of hard-disk drive and solid-state drive. The U115 Hybrid is believed to come in three HDD/SDD combinations. There will be 8GB SSD + 80GB HDD, 16GB SSD + 120GB HDD and 32GB SSD + 160GB HDD models planned. It is unclear as to which price point the €549 refers to.

If this price point is a true reflection of how much the unit will cost across Europe, then MSI may have a challenge on its hands. Whilst it has to be commended for introducing new hybrid storage technology and the impressive battery life, one may be able to buy the Samsung NC10 or Asus Eee 1000HE and extra battery for less money than MSI’s U115.

MSI Wind U115 Hybrid runs for over 13 hours on single charge

The MSI Wind U115 netbook was announced at CES in January with a promised battery life of 10.5 hours on a 9-cell 5200mAh battery. This long battery life was touted as a result of a combination of a 160GB hard drive and a 8GB SSD. The U115 is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z530 CPU. However, according to some battery tests by EeePC.de, it seems that those MSI battery claims may actually be conservative.

The test was run in Battery Eater Classic, which continuously calculates the decimals of Pi until the CPU is at 100-percent, as well as running 3D graphics tests. As for netbook settings, the U115 was switched to 30-percent brightness, using SSD only (rather than the HDD) and WiFi turned off. This yielded a battery life of 13 hours and 15 minutes. More tests are planned, this time testing how long it would last with WLAN turned on, which would provide more real-world results. However, given the impressive 13-hour run time, we would expect at least ten hours with WiFi switched on.

Now, from reading the article, it is still unclear whether a 9-cell or 6-cell battery was used in the test. I imagine it is indeed the 9-cell battery, although it is worth remembering that this is unlikely to be sold as standard with the Wind U115 Hybrid. However, if these results are representative of final units then even a 6-cell battery is likely to yield a battery life of over 7 hours in the real world.