MSI vs. Eee PC 901, the Battle Begins on July 7 or 8?

June 27, 2008 26 Comments

MSI Wind was supposed to come out today in the US but for no apparent reason, MSI Wind decided to delay its release until July 7. In the meantime, we also heard that the Eee PC 901 is about to get its US release on July 8. Whether this is coincidental or MSI intentionally delayed the release of the Wind U100, the fact still remains that this two netbooks are about to clash head on, and that the inevitable is about to happen – Asus will no longer dominate the ultraportable low-cost PC department.

Of course, we must also remind you that the MSI wind will be cheaper by $200 than the Eee PC 901. But, the Eee PC 901 will have a better 6-cell battery than the MSI Wind which would only come with the 3-cell battery model.

So, whose side are you on? If you are to get yourself an ULPC on July, which one would you choose?

Via [Liliputing]

Twitter Digg Delicious Stumbleupon Technorati Facebook Email
9inch, ASUS, MSI Wind
  • fredknex

    901 for me. mostly cuz i don’t want a traditional HDD like in the wind. or the slightly bigger size.

  • http://bama4u.org mel brown

    I need the MB so the MSI is my choice.

    http://www.bama4u.org/heaven.htm

  • Sarah

    I think it’s going to be a Wind for me. I prefer the styling and a large hard disk is essential for my requirements – I guess I could get a 901 and an external drive, but I don’t want to drag around lots of accessories.

    The Wind has the price advantage too. I will wait a couple of months to see if a 6-cell model emerges though, as a 5 hour battery life would definitely be worth the wait.

    I have my eye on the 1000H and the Acer Aspire One as well, but the wind is my current favorite.

  • Dunstan

    I prefer the Wind due to the drive capacity. Presumably, one can pick up an extra 6 cell battery as tey become available, so that’s not an issue.

    An Aspire One with an 80GB hard drive would make me change my mind in favor of Acer.

  • Dave

    MSI Wind for the keyboard.

  • pratfall

    Neither. This niche is just developing, and its only gonna get better. The $300 7″ EEE wasn’t compelling enough for an impulse buy (if it had stuck to the original $200 price, that would have been a different story), and the $550 9″ is too expensive. The Wind and the 1001H are bigger than I want, and don’t have SSDs.

    My Macbook has another year and a half on its warranty, so I’m gonna lug it around for a while longer and see where the market is then.

  • Peter

    “for no apparent reason, MSI Wind decided to delay its release until July 7″ -> shortage of bateries is no apparent reasons?

    I am still undecided between EEE 901 and Wind, but I will propably go with Wind.

  • http://www.foyleman.com/ foyleman

    I am still on board for the Eee … 901 is my choice for size. The slightly smaller size… hey, it’s the point of the whole ultra-light. You want a real laptop, none of these are right for the job. I want small, light and I think 901 has what it takes at this point in the game.

  • Paul

    Agreed with above – it’s the size of the 901 that appeals. If you go any bigger then just get a normal laptop.

  • Adam

    I agree with the above aswell, it is the size that is the main reason to buy!

  • http://www.ling.pl pundit

    I totally don’t care about Wind – ultraportables are all about moving around, and HDD is by far too fragile for that. Also, quick start-up is an additional boon (I, like most people, much more often read data than save them – and while saving to SSD takes longer, reading seems more important to me).

    I had Eee 700, the drive was definitely too small, and the screen was pathetic. I’m writing this from Eee 900, which is sort of OK (after putting 2GB into it), but the drive is still very small (I also have a 16GB SDHC and an external 300GB MyPassport, but SSD is just quicker).

    In my buying choice I’m split between Eee 901 and 1000. I need 2GB RAM, but I can have it on 901. However, 40GB SSD on 1000 is something I may be interested in. The size definitely also matters, but 10 inches may be still small enough.

    Does anybody know 1000 release date in the US?

  • http://jrocas.com.ph jhay

    I still have to hots for HP’s Mininote. :D

  • http://www.moonlightjade.com Tim

    I think it’s going to be the 901 for me. The battery point is a huge thing for me since I want it for the mobility. I don’t need a large hard drive because it’s not my main pc. It’s purpose will only be when I go to classes. Plus I’ll be using GNU+linux on it, so 20gb is just perfect for me. I would not complain if there was more though.

  • http://street-r.com rainbow

    I totally agree with you, pundit. It’s the whole point of portability; expect some major compromises but it’s worth it. I’m sick of people complaining about the Eee’s keyboard size; live with it, we can all grow accustomed to it, like when Microsoft released Window’s Vista, a big step up from XP but people grew used to it and now look at the popularity.

    Asus have targeted a very demanding audience with the Eee series, this audience demands spacious keyboards, large screens, long battery life, big storage and high processing power, which is a no can do to what makes the Eee Pc, the Eee Pc. So I’m glad that Asus expanded on the Eee range by adding the 1000 series, which offers larger storage, larger screens and most importantly, the 92% keyboard, it’s just the price I’m not too keen on. I’ve made my mind to get a Linux port of the 901, which is apparently $649AU which is a bit too much for my pockets but I expect a price drop when the Wind comes into play. I mean, c’mon it’s $150 cheaper and offers pretty much the same specs as the Eee 901.

    Pundit, it’s been rumored that the release of the 901 and 1000 is on July 8th for the US and maybe Australia, which is coincidentally 1 day after the release of the Wind, which will ship with a crappy 3 cell battery :P

    Pundit, I say you go for the Linux version of the 901; Not only does it come with more storage, but you can open it up and replace the 16GB SSD with up to a 32GB SSD, from what I hear. Also the 4GB SSD that holds the OS isn’t soldered onto the motherboard this time, so I assume it can be replaced with something bigger ;)

  • evvk

    I want a tolerable keyboard, so the wind seems to be presently the only choice. Even the eeepc1000 has an odd kb with its right shift key arrangement. The screen should be as big as fits in the chassis — preferrably with little borders at all. eeepc700′s tiny screen in a comparably big chassis is a joke. SSD would be preferrable, but 8GB isn’t enough — 20GB might suffice — and it isn’t documented whether the card readers support SDHC or such that could be used as additional storage space.

    Even with a sizable keyboard, the device could perhaps be made even smaller depthwise by ditching the _awful_ touchpad, and providing a much more comfortable nipple mouse instead. (Possibly lack of palm resting space in front of the keyboard would, however, make it less convenient to type on.)

    Anyway, I’m waiting for the second generation.

  • evvk

    Another thing wrt. keyboards that I’ve thought about, is that perhaps a V-shape “ergonomic keyboard” layout would make even small keyboards more usable, as you wouldn’t have to twist your hands to align with the small device. The touchpad should fit in the space between the two flanks of the keyboard.

  • http://biscuitq.blogspot.com/ laq

    where is the best place to buy one, what are the best prices out there?

  • Pingback: july 7

  • Pingback: MSI Starts Shipping the Wind with Windows XP and 3-Cell Battery only | Eee PC - Blog

  • champ016

    It’s all about the size and the battery life for me to. Of course the 80 is more space but when you’re buying a laptop this small it’s in the idea that it won’t be you’re primary computer. It’s something usually that you carry around for convenience. Well this is how I feel anyway. Eee PC 901 it is then!

  • http://www.computerrepaircentral.com.au Michael J

    Is there a comparison of boot times for the MSI Wind V Eee PC 901?

  • Ozzie

    If the only choice was an Eee, then I think I’d opt for the 900 16G (4GB SSD + 12GB SSD) instead of the 901. You can get it at newegg for $399 with Linux (and add Windows XP later if you want). The 8.9″ screen is far better then the 701′s 7″. I have even seen some hacks available to get 1024×768 resolution using some of the drivers from the 901. I know I could get Windows XP and MS Office on the 4GB drive, which leaves 12GB for data, and you could always add a SDHC card (8GB or 16GB) if you need more space — or carry a couple of cards with different flavors of data (videos, mp3s, work, etc.).

    My only concern with the Eee is the size of the keyboard. I know it is smaller then the Wind, but the Wind is smaller then the Dell I carry around now.

    Then there’s the storage. 80GB vs 16GB. We all know a HD isn’t indistructable, but I have been using notebook computers with HDs for years and haven’t killed one yet due to my negligence. In the end, since this would be mostly a ‘toy’ for me, I think I’ll have to wait and see what I can buy for $300 in a few months.

  • Curious

    Looks like if you buy an MSI Wind you’re getting a Eee PC 1000H, but at a substancial ($500 vs. $700) discount. Same processor (1.6 GHz Atom), same RAM (1 GB DDR2), same HD (80 GB), same screen size (10″) & resolution (1024×600). What do you think?

  • Whazup

    too bad, if MSI has an option of SSD I will most likely get it. Better keyboard, only slightly bigger than Eee 901. MSI w/ SSD is the most ideal IMO, though I have heard people trying to install SSD in the Wind with no avail, too troublesome for non-technical ordinary user like me =D

  • http://www.computerrepaircentral.com.au Michael J

    I’ve bought the eee PC 901, but have sold a MSI Wind to a customer. Comparing the two I think that I would now get the MSI (with the larger battery). It doesn’t look that much bigger but the keyboard is just big enough to be typed on comfortably. Also unless you are a nerd (and move the temp directories to a RAM drive etc), a normal customer will run out of disk space on the eee PC pretty quickly.

  • Dave Fozz

    The WIND’S keyboard is USABLE for significant amount typing.

    The 901′s keyboard is NOT USABLE for any significant amount of typing.

    nuff said.


Similar Posts: