MSI Introduces 12-inch Wind U230 “Netbooks” with AMD Inside

MSI is about to start a new round of  the “How Should We Define Netbooks?” debate with its new Wind U230 machines. The company is calling the 12-inch replacements for the  Wind U210 netbooks, but they have awfully ultraportable-ish leanings.

To start, they have 12.1-inch screens — not unheard of for netbooks, but rarer than the more typical 10-inch LCD. Then there’s 2GB of RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium (instead of Starter), and, oh yeah, the dual-core processor inside. Not a dual-core Atom as we saw on the Eee PC 1201N, but an AMD chip coupled with an ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics chips are responsible for processing all images sent to your computer?s display.
Learn Moregraphics card.

I can hear fights breaking out already. “Netbook!” “Notebook!” “Dessert Topping!” “Floor Wax!”

These new Winds, whatever they are, come in two models: the U230-033 has an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 CPU and a 250GB The storage device that holds your OS, programs, and data.
Learn Morehard drive; the U230-040 has an AMD Athlon X2 L335 CPU and a 320GB drive. Otherwise, the two models are identical from their HD displays (16:9, 1366 x 768 WXGA), b/g/n wi-fi, 1.3MP webcam and 6-cell batteries. And, of course, HDMI out amongst the usual ports.

Lest this sound too exciting, there’s a fly in the ointment as concerns that battery: it’s rated for only 4 hours of life by MSI. I imagine that size display combined with the power-hungry AMD chip makes for an ultraportable that won’t want to stray too far from an outlet.

The MSI Wind U230-033 will set you back just $429 and the beefier Wind U230-040 ups the price to $479. They’re available now at Newegg.