8. MSI Wind U100

Widely regarded as one of the biggest rivals to 10 inch netbooks form Asus, the Wind U100 series from MSI has gained a lot of traction since its introduction in 2008.

Handling & Connectivity

The U100 comes in a choice of three colors--black, white and pink--all of which have a case that's glossy on the outside but matte on the inside.

In terms of looks, then, it's impossible to miss the similarities between this MSI model the Medion E1210, a netbook offered over in Europe. Right down to the level of the keyboard, everything seems to be the same, including the Ctrl and Fn in the wrong place, exchanging places at the bottom left of the keyboard.

It's the same with the touchpad, which once again feels far too small for the size of the computer.

There are some differences though. Some keys are slightly larger on this netbook, including chunkier arrows and an evening out of the letters at the right-hand side of the keyboard which aren't as squashed as on Medion's version.

The webcam produces much more natural colors, but the internal microphone is disappointing. There's a lot of very obvious feedback, including random glitches and breaks in the sound quality. VOIP conversations are difficult even with a good Internet connection.

In terms of connectivity, the only difference separating Medion's netbook from the MSI's offering is the inclusion of a Bluetooth module in the U100 series.

Elsewhere, all of the ports are exactly the same: 3 USB, an Ethernet port, a VGA output, a memory card reader and pair of mini-jacks for headphones and a microphone.

You'll probably find yourself using these jacks too, as the speakers are as ropey as the microphone, giving a very weak sound that comes nowhere near the crisp, powerful results of the EeePC series from Asus we've tested.

USB port and memory card reader	Touchpad
Webcam	Mini Jack, VGA

Processor Power

It takes 55 seconds to boot the U100, meaning you'll be waiting for twenty seconds longer than you would have done with Asus's 901. 

Indeed, this slow boot time would put the U100 at the bottom of the table when it comes to speed, but a solid performance from its hard drive improves matters.

According to the HdTach benchmark, the U100 reached speeds approaching those of Asus 1000HE, performing particularly well at reading files to copy to an external hard drive.

The U100's Atom processor from Intel gives it enough power to read the majority of video files and launch applications quickly.

It's fine for classic netbook applications (surfing the web, VoIP or word processing for instance), but more demanding tasks like encoding audio and video or complicated design work takes two to three times longer than it does on a traditional laptop.

Battery Life & Portability

The most disappointing thing about MSI's U100 is definitely its battery life.

When we tried our standard test of looping a video file with the headphones plugged in and the screen brightness set to 100 cd/m², the battery only lasted 1 hour 42 minutes. That's a long way behind Asus' series of EeePCs, which regularly get close to 5 hours. 

The fact that you can improve performance by upgrading to a more powerful 4900 mAh battery in place of the standard 2200 mAh option is less reassuring when you discover it costs around $125.

At almost 13 ounces, the charger for the U100 is not the heaviest netbook charger we have seen, but not the lightest, either. While some believe the weight of the charger isn't very relevant, you'll almost certainly need to carry it around with you given the poor battery life, and you'll soon begin to curse the extra weight.

It's impossible to deny the similarity of Medion's Mini Akoya E1210 to this model, but there a few differences nonetheless. Whatever you think of these near-clones, they still don't present a very serious threat to Asus' EeePC series.