Techie
3:04 AM | Tuesday | 16 March 2010

Looking for a netbook? I was like you several weeks ago, eventually settling on a 12-inch MSI Wind U210, bought from PC Corner in New Manila for P24,000. 

Why? Save for a few caveats, the Wind U210 represents a good mix between portability, power, and – most importantly – battery life. 

First off, the specs:

• CPU: AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 (1.6 GHz)
• Chipset: AMD RS690 + SB600
• RAM: 2GB
• Hard drive: 250GB 5400rpm
• Display: 12.1-inch WXGA (1366 × 768)
• GPU: ATI Radeon X1250
• USB: 3 x 2.0
• Video connectivity: VGA, HDMI
• Audio connectivity: 3.5mm audio out, 3.5mm mic in
• Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
• Ethernet: 10/100/1000Mbps
• Webcam: 1.3 megapixels
• Card reader: 4-in-1 (SD, SDHC, MMC, MS)
• Battery: 9-cell, 11.1V 7800mAh 87Wh BTY-S13

My Wind U210 can last for around 5-6 hours on a single charge, with the screen at medium brightness and with Wi-Fi on. The larger battery creates a lump underneath the netbook, making it a little less portable, but this also gives the U210 a built-in stand that makes typing easier. 

Speaking of which, like the HP Mini and the Dell Mini, the Wind U210 has a large keyboard relative to its size – large enough for your typical adult to type on without any difficulty. That's because the keyboard is nearly as wide as the netbook itself. Despite this, however, the U210 is light enough to support with one hand as you type with the other, weighing around 1.5 kilos. 

My only concern with the keyboard is that it feels a bit flimsy towards the right side. Typing furiously causes that area to actually depress a bit, but after intensive daily use, the keyboard still performs well, even if it does a good job of absorbing oil from my fingers! 

The track pad, on the other hand – while pretty sizeable for a 12-incher – is still too small for regular use. It has rarely felt my fingers, especially since I keep my Bluetooth mouse handy. 

Without integrated Bluetooth, I had to spend an additional P400 for a mini-USB Bluetooth dongle for use with my phone and mouse. Not too much of a problem, as the U210 still fits into its included carrying case with the dongle attached, but it would've been better if all your standard laptop features were integrated out of the box. 

Despite the larger-than-usual battery and the lack of Bluetooth, I still consider my Wind U210 a good buy. For anything short of playing 3D games, the netbook has enough power to run tens of browser tabs, your favorite media player, and office software at the same time. Things slow down if there are several YouTube videos active, and the hard disk's relatively deliberate speed becomes obvious when you're copying files to an external drive. For the most part, however, the Wind U210 never slowed me down. 

Convinced? One thing to keep in mind before you take the Megatren to Wilson station, a stone's throw away from PC Corner: The Wind U210 sold by the store comes with no OS. Upon purchase, technicians install a copy of the Windows 7 release candidate, which effectively expires come March 2010. That should be enough to save up for a retail copy of Windows 7, yet this is something eager buyers should be aware of! 

Images via The Gadget Blog