King of The Castle

MSI's new netbook offers performance which has been cleverly hidden away. It

looks like any other conventional netbook (only larger, with a 12.1-inch screen,

where others topped out at 10-inches). The AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor clocks

at 1.6GHz, and is coupled with 1GB RAM. This may sound less, but remember, it

has Windows XP pre-installed, which is not as resource hungry as Vista. The

machine feels faster than other netbooks under normal usage- web browsing,

watching movies, listening to music as well as using multiple applications at a

time.

However, the biggest bunch of surprises comes now. Instead of the boring (and

underpowered) integrated Intel graphics we have been used to, this baby comes

with the ATI Radeon Xpress 1270 graphics. So, even though gaming may still not

be possible, the graphics capability means that you can play HD files without

jerks. Also, there is an HDMI port, which will let you hook it up to a flat

screen television, something older netbooks are not capable of. Another surprise

is that the screen is 12 inch LED, which is a big plus for those who have to

constantly strain their eyes to see. The battery life is about 3 hours, meaning

that it won't be a full day companion, but likely won't run out of juice just

when you need it the most. There are 3 USB ports, plus the usual plethora of

ethernet, headphone and memory card reader slots.

Something, which makes this a winner (apart from the better processor and

graphics) is the keypad and the touchpad. Due to the slightly more space

afforded due to the 12 inch screen, the keys are quite large (much like those on

full-sized notebooks), and the touchpad has more real estate space making it

more responsive and comfortable.

Overall, this is an excellent netbook to buy, simply because it is far

superior as compared to its rivals. Having Windows 7 and 2GB of RAM would have

made it unbeatable. All the same, highly recommended!

Vishal Mathur