MSI Wind U123 and ASUS 1000HE Show Netbook Evolution
by Wesley Fink on July 17, 2009 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
When the first low-cost "computing appliances" arrived in 2007 as solutions to the non-profit OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative, few realized a new class of computer was emerging. As frequent travelers to Asian shows and markets, many of the AnandTech staff had embraced the idea of the small full-featured notebooks that were all the rage in Asia but which were almost nonexistent in the US.
For some reason those same small notebooks that were so popular in Asia just weren't available in the US market. The notebooks available in the US were the heavy "full-featured" 14-17" models that were barely portable. Just lug one of those beasts through a few airport security lines and the small light and elegant Asian notebooks for writing, web-surfing and spreadsheets start to look like a great idea. Of course in typical notebook fashion the smaller the notebook the more it generally cost at that time. That was a hard pill to swallow, but the charms of the smaller notebook were hard to resist if you could afford the price of admission.
The first OLPC notebooks in 2007 were a different breed than the small full-featured notebooks that were so popular in Asia. The OLPC units were also small, even downright tiny, but they were much more limited in capabilities than most were willing to accept. Of course they weren't designed to even be sold in the general computer market. The $200 subcompact Intel Classmate PC was targeted at a third-world user who could finally afford a real computer or who was the recipient of one bought by an international agency as an education grant. The early models looked like toys but they were real computers aimed at education and children in the developing world.
They were called subnotebooks at first, but the idea was one that was hard to resist for many potential users outside the developing world. Provide just the computing power a user needed to do research on the web, write, manipulate spreadsheets, and do general educational computer use, and make it available at a very low price. Computing power had grown so fast in recent years, and costs had dropped so dramatically, that a pretty powerful computer could be built with a very low cost CPU and clever engineering. ASUS saw the potential and introduced the Eee PC late in 2007 to the American (and later worldwide) market. The Eee PC changed everything about the market.
The original ASUS Eee PC was a massive hit in the US and it became popular throughout the world. It was tiny, weighing just 2 lbs, with a 7" screen, built-in WiFi and regular network ports, with standard ports and an integrated webcam for a price of less than $300. The ASUS Eee proved there was a market for a small, light, less powerful, low-cost laptop and the netbook was born. ASUS has produced many evolutionary Eee netbooks since and it seems every major notebook manufacturer has since jumped on the netbook bandwagon. Two of the last PC holdouts were Dell, who finally jumped on the bandwagon with their Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 12 models, and Sony, who recently introduced the VAIO W "mini notebook".
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Ruark - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
I have an MSI notebook with buttons that seem to be much like those of the Wind.Many buttons (keyboard and touchpad) have to be pressed beyond the "click" in order for the press to register.
strikeback03 - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
When I saw this article I was hoping for a comparison to some of the low-end larger-screened notebooks available. I have been seeing Newegg deals on 14 and 15 inch notebooks for $350-400, I'd expect these to provide 3-4 times the performance of the tested netbooks but it would be a nice point of reference for those who are looking for a cheap system that doesn't need to be as portable. If you are buying for your 6th grader to do their homework, size and weight are less important than if you are flying cross-country.Also, i wouldn't say BluRay playback and gaming are the only areas unsuited for netbooks. After all, a netbook with Ion would be able play BluRay files (off a hard drive at least), but nothing short of a much after processor is going to make tasks like photo editing or video transcoding tolerable on a netbook.
KeypoX - Sunday, July 19, 2009 - link
I dont see the difference between 3 pounds and 6 pounds... Netbooks are cute but have no more functionality than a cell phone.I have seen people in school with them, they generally disappear and have a 15" laptop very soon.
jeff486 - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
Just some general comments as I agree with the above post. This article did not really answer the question about whether or not a Netbook can replace a low end Notebook you can pickup on clearance at places like newegg or tigerdirect. I am just looking for an inexpensive second system to toss in the bag when I travel and maybe something the kids can use while I am at home. The size of these would be perfect as the company I work for has our notebooks so locked down that even windows media player is no longer active. I will be lugging two systems around so weight and size is very important.I want to know how well it handles office applications, can it play movies/tv shows I transcoded for travel and how well does the wireless connection work. If I want to watch a TV show on Hulu does it offer decent enough playback quality via the wired or wireless connection. I watch most of my TV shows this way when traveling. How is battery playback when watching movies as those four hour flights showing the same movie over and over get boring.
Someone already mentioned this but do the webcams work and is skype video supported as I like to see my kids after getting back to the hotel room. How is the audio quality with a pair of headphones attached? I do not game so that is not important but it would be nice to know if Peggle or Disney Toon Town or other kids games play on it. At home I could probably trust a couple of seven year olds with the machine.
Most of the articles around here answer my questions and it is why I like visiting the website but this article left me with more questions than it answered.
AstroGuardian - Sunday, July 19, 2009 - link
So, the webcams work as intended with descent perfs. I tested a MSI U100 6 month back and webcam was great. The audio is also with standard quality and there is nothing to cry about. Most of 2D games will work on it. Even Counter Strike 1.6 works flawless with 800x600.bgold2005 - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
The image seems to show the 1000HE with an illuminated keyboard, yet no text in the article refers to this. I like this feature; shouldn't it have been at least briefly touched upon/ added to the comparisons?After all, netbooks are ultra-portable and mat be in some very shady, or porrly-lit, locales.
(although it did lead me to a merry search involving stick-on keys, glow-paint, etc). Apparently this will be a feature in upcoming Asus models (unclear whether just notebooks or also netbooks)
JackPack - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
The keys on the 1000HE do not illuminate or glow.Bolas - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
I assume this is a typo?"The N280 is essentially the same CPU as the N280"
You could have a much more thorough article if you didn't stop with just the N280 comparison... Why not compare all the CPU's to themselves?
The Core-i7 is essentially the same CPU as the Core-i7.
The Pentium 4 is essentially the same CPU as the Pentium 4.
The Phenom II is essentially the same CPU as the Phenom II.
*grin*
Bolas - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
I assume this is a typo?"The N280 is essentially the same CPU as the N280"
You could have a much more thorough article if you didn't stop with just the N280 comparison... Why not compare all the CPU's to themselves?
The Core-i7 is essentially the same CPU as the Core-i7.
The Pentium 4 is essentially the same CPU as the Pentium 4.
The Phenom II is essentially the same CPU as the Phenom II.
*grin*
Wesley Fink - Friday, July 17, 2009 - link
Typo corrected. Thanks for letting us know.