A crowded ultramobile arena did not deter MSI from blowing in their own entry, the MSI Wind. The Wind weighs less than 3 pounds and comes in a design that won’t win any awards. It has a 10-inch screen and sports a 92 percent keyboard. The mouse buttons, on the other hand, are very small and narrow, making it hard to find in the dark and even press. It comes with an 80GB spinning drive instead of an SSD drive. It has the usual netbook ports including 3 USB ports, a four-in-one media card reader, VGA-out, an Ethernet port, and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. The 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor helps the unit to stay comfortably warm instead of scorching hot. It is also a better performer, garnering a video-encoding score of 5 minutes. Battery life is restricted, providing the MSI Wind a score of 2 hours 24 minutes on MobileMark 2007. Despite some quirks, the MSI Wind has the best feature-to-price ratio when compared with other UMPCs currently in the market.

With the arrival of the MSI Wind NB, a fresh breeze entered the arena of mini-notebooks. Weighing less than 3 pounds, the Wind NB can be easily carried, placed in an oversized handbag or in a slim briefcase. It has the usual ports, though the reviewer noted the lack of an ExpressCard slot. While other mini-notebooks offer miniature keyboards, the Wind NB’s layout is close to the full size and offers a good amount of feedback when typing. The reviewer, on the other hand, stated that the touchpad is disappointingly small and that the mouse button feels mushy. The 10-inch screen capable of displaying a native 1024 x 600-pixel resolution is easier on the eyes. While the vertical angles were decent and there were no motion blur, horizontal angles were poor. The Atom processor provided enough power for multi-tasking. Benchmark scores were almost at par with traditional ultraportables. And if the stock power isn’t enough, the Wind NB comes with a 1-touch TurboDrive button for overclocking. Battery endurance is also excellent, providing 5 hours and 30 minutes of use. By providing a complete package for only $499, the Wind NB is indeed an excellent mini-notebook.