AMD-Powered MSI Tablet Finally Arrives in the U.S.
Although the tablet officially shipped early last month, retailers are just now stocking MSI's Fusion-powered Windows 7 device.
In early July, MSI said that it was shipping the AMD-powered WindPad 110W tablet to North America, but online retailers like Newegg and Amazon have since listed the device as "this item has not yet been released" or something similar. Now just over a month later, reports are indicating that both Newegg and ExcaliberPC are finally showing the device to be in stock, but as of this writing, Amazon is still waiting on its supply to arrive.
As reported earlier, the MSI tablet features the first AMD "Fusion" APU dedicated to tablets: the 1 GHz dual-core Z-01 ("Desna"). The SoC includes a discrete-class Radeon HD 6250 core clocked at 276 MHz which supports DirectX 11, Adobe Flash Player video acceleration, HD video playback, IE 9 hardware acceleration and even support for Windows 7 Home Premium visual effects.
Beyond the APU, the new tablet provides a 10-inch capacitive multi-touch IPS screen with a native resolution of 1280 x 800. It also has 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 32 GB SSD, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR, a USB 2.0 port and mini-HDMI output. There's also an SD card slot, a 2-cell 4200mAh battery, a front-facing 1.3MP camera and a rear-facing 1.3MP camera. The overall dimensions are 10.66 (L) x 7.20 (W) x 0.61 (H) inches and 1.87-lbs.
"Bringing Windows 7 and AMD's newest generation processor together is a significant step forward for MSI's tablet line," noted Andy Tung, vice president of North American sales for MSI. "Our business customers want portability and multimedia entertainment on the go, and the new hardware and latest software gives us the ability to deliver that experience in a tablet form factor."
The MSI tablet is now available (really) for $599.99 USD. Would consumers just be better off buying a $600 Windows laptop instead?
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MSI has never failed on me before lets hope this tablet lives up to that reputation
Nice specs. Waiting for reviews.
My work is wanting to replace crap with iPads but with windows on this.. if you can hook monitors to it think if you could take the HDMI and split it between two monitors then you could have a truly portable desktop..
AMD rulez!
Dump comment by the end of the article. Should put your opinion out of it. Lack of details such as this tablet can run Win7 as well as Android
I'm not sure $600 is a bad deal. It's got a 32GB SSD, 4GB of DDR3, and should have good battery life. There's still going to be a "tax" on tablets for the time being anyway so it could be worse.
no its not considered you cant even do flash on the ifag, been waiting on acer to come out with a windows 7 tablet with fusion.
we need reviews. That's why Tom's exists.
This could be a very interesting device. I wouldn't compare it to a netbook at all, its got a SSD tons of memory (for a tablet) and is a touch screen. And while you can get netbooks with SSD's and 4GB of memory, the touchscreen sets it apart.
This would be really compelling with a user replaceable SSD & Windows 8, the latter I hope we'll see at the Build Conferance in September. IMHO this hardware was ment for Windows 8. Well it was is Win 8 lives up to the few peaks under the covers we've had so far.
This design paired with a keyboard dock like the Transformer would make the perfect device, touch tablet for media/simple use and a full Windows installation and keyboard for when more is needed.
... fusion is starting to pay of... AMD Fusion FTW!!!
Great specs, but 848g is pretty heavy for a tablet. I'll get it when MSI manages to lower the weight to at least 400g.
this will surely be the fastest tablet of them all.
2 cell battery?! That's terrible!
There needs to be a direct comparison of this Windows7 tablet vs Android and iPad.
Its not the same as two AA batteries like in a notebook... Its TWO flat batteries.
An iPad2 has 3 batteries.
Love the specs. Might jump on the bandwagon for generation 2. I wonder if there are limitations on what software it will allow you to install. is it still app based, or because it runs windows 7 can you install anything (despite some programs obviously being a bad idea for its hardware capabilities)?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6834215081
Why get that tablet when there is this? --- It has half the RAM, but the processors and everything else I can see is practically the same. This comes with a $50 Newegg gift card and is priced at $504.99 with a keyboard dock. (I'm in no way connected with Acer BTW)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6834215081Why get that tablet when there is this? --- It has half the RAM, but the processors and everything else I can see is practically the same. This comes with a $50 Newegg gift card and is priced at $504.99 with a keyboard dock. (I'm in no way connected with Acer BTW)
The C-50 has weaker battery life than the Z-01.
I understand the 1.3mp (rear?) facing camera, but the front facing camera should be at least 5mp
The C-50 has weaker battery life than the Z-01.
Yes, but performance wise they will be practically the same. Acer says their table will go 6 hours on Internet Browsing and 4 hours watching HD video. What does the MSI do? And I think these are reasonable numbers...... They aren't 10 hours like an iPad, but these tablets can also do a lot more than an iPad too.
Yes, but performance wise they will be practically the same. Acer says their table will go 6 hours on Internet Browsing and 4 hours watching HD video. What does the MSI do? And I think these are reasonable numbers...... They aren't 10 hours like an iPad, but these tablets can also do a lot more than an iPad too.
Power drops from 9W (C-50) to 5.9W (Z-01), or basically by 1/3, which is pretty good. There's also the weight issue from the battery as well as heat buildup (9W isn't a lot but you have to think about materials that they use for thermal conduction, and their respective thickness and weight - and Acer isn't known for making systems with reliable materials....).
Between the two, I'd still rather take the MSI, knowing the (lack of) quality of Acer junk.
Overall, I'd have to say that there will likely be better brands available later. Lenovo will have a ThinkPad Windows tablet after the IdeaPad one is launched later this year. I would hope that they don't stick a lame Atom in it though. I'd like to see the equivalent of my x120e in a slate tablet.
no its not considered you cant even do flash on the ifag, been waiting on acer to come out with a windows 7 tablet with fusion.
Acer Iconia Tab W500 running the AMD C-50 APU. I have one it rocks, but the battery life of the MSI is better due to the lower power Z series APU. The Acer has a full sized HDMI output which is a plus over the MSI's mini HDMI, and the battery life is about 5 hours playing back 1080p video and outputting to an HDTV.
It also has 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. Nice.