11/02, 4:25pm
MSI Wind12 U230 gets Windows 7, AMD Athlon Neo X2
While there was no official announcement, MSI will soon offer a new netbook-class Windows 7 portable, according to a product page for the Wind 12 U230. The PC has AMD's new 1.6GHz Athlon Neo X2 dual-core processor, which is paired with ATI's Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics chipset. Other specs are common to the current U210 notebook, including a display that's sized at 12.1 inches and with 1366x768 resolution.
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10/29, 4:50pm
MSI shows 16-inch CR610 notebook with Windows 7
MSI on Thursday announced the upcoming release of the CR610, a 16-inch notebook PC running on AMD's Tigris platform with an Athlon II processor. Also, the PC ships with Windows 7 preloaded onto its 2.5-inch hard drive, which can be had in 250, 320 and 500GB capacities. Up to 4GB of RAM can be specified, with graphics handled by an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 chipset.
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10/27, 8:35am
MSI reader due first half 2010
MSI is developing an e-book reader that would use NVIDIA's Tegra processor at its core, the company's chairman Joseph Hsu says today. Confirming an earlier rumor, the executive admits that a device with the fast graphics and ARM chip combo is in progress but has "some problems" that have pushed a formal unveiling back until sometime in the first half of 2010. Other details will likely only be supplied closer to the actual release.
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10/05, 10:30am
MSI GT740 gaming notebook gets Windows 7, Core i7
MSI on Monday said it will soon follow up its first quad-core Core i7 powered notebook, the 15.4-inch GT640, with the larger 17-inch GT740 gaming notebook. Like the smaller PC, this new one will also ship with Windows 7. Another shared feature is the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M 3D graphics chipset, which should give it added performance beyond just the faster Intel processor.
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10/01, 3:00pm
MSI intros GT640 gaming notebook with Core i7
Taiwanese PC maker MSI has recently announced a new addition to its G Series of gaming notebooks with the 15.4-inch GT640. It ships with Intel's mobile quad-core Core i7 processor, though which models aren't known. The portable represents one of MSI's first Windows 7 systems and will have relatively quick visuals through a GeForce GTS 250M for graphics. Hard drives can be had in 250GB, 320GB or 500GB capacities, but MSI only promises up to 4GB of RAM.
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09/23, 1:10pm
Will allow pairing of disparate video cards
Taiwan's MSI has uncovered the Big Bang, an upcoming PC motherboard. The hardware is based on Intel's P55 platform for Core i5 and i7 processors, but is most notable for integrating the Lucid HYDRA 200 chipset. The technology copes with a recurring problem in video cards, which prevents ones from different manufacturers from being used simultaneously.
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09/21, 4:25pm
MSI Wind U110 in US with 15-hour spec
MSI this afternoon grew its American roster of Wind netbooks by importing the U110 Eco. The new model is the only one based on Intel's newer Z500-series Atom chips and uses a 1.6GHz example that gives it a much longer claimed runtime of up to about 15 hours with its standard nine-cell battery pack. Unlike the version announced earlier in the year, though, the US version uses the GMA 500 graphics inherent to the Z500 line than a much faster dedicated chipset.
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09/21, 11:25am
MSI X610 uses low-power AMD CPU
MSI on Monday announced the upcoming release of the X-Slim X610 ultrathin notebook, an AMD-powered version of its currently available X600. The same 15.6-inch, 1366x768 resolution screen is used, though the Intel Core 2 CPU and related mainboard are replaced with AMD's Congo platform with an Athlon Neo processor. Other specs are shared, including the 1-inch thickness, 4.6lb weight and standard six-cell battery.
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09/17, 9:15am
MSI X410 now official
MSI this morning took the X-Slim line into AMD's territory by officially launching the X410. The crossover, 14-inch ultraportable uses the lower end of AMD's Congo ultrathin platform and uses both an Athlon Neo processor and the newer chipset to reportedly get twice as much battery life as a regular 14-inch notebook, although MSI is silent on actual numbers. The system uses the older Radeon X1250 for integrated graphics but claims its power is enough to decode 1080i video smoothly.
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09/15, 1:35pm
MSI AE2200 arrives for the US
MSI this afternoon gave its US audience the Wind Top AE2200, the most advanced version of its all-in-one desktop. It gets a 21.6-inch touchscreen with MSI's own interface for apps, editing and games, but it's also treated as a media center with its own TV tuner and HDMI input. Helping the goal along are parts that put it above nettops and let it decode HD, such as a 2.7GHz Pentium dual-core and GMA 4500 video.
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08/31, 11:05am
ASUS CULV notebooks due
ASUS is planning on releasing two new ultra-thin notebooks powered by Intel's CULV chips, including the 45nm Celeron 743 and Core 2 Solo SU2300 early in September, Digitimes said on Monday, citing unnamed sources in the industry. The report goes on to say initial shipments of the portables will begin on September 7th and go to Taiwan, China and Europe at first. US details weren't mentioned, though some sort of American launch is unofficially expected.
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08/27, 9:25am
ASUS to Make E Book Reader
ASUS chief Jerry Shen today said his company would produce its first e-book reader before the end of the year. He didn't provide many details but said the device would fall under the Eee line normally reserved for ASUS' low-cost allin-one computers, like the Eee PC netbooks or the upcoming Eee Keyboard. Any device is likely to need a mixture of support for protected and unprotected e-book formats to succeed and may need a 3G or Wi-Fi connection to compete with readers like the Amazon Kindle or the Sony Reader Daily Edition.
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08/26, 4:00pm
MSI WindTop AE2010
MSI today added a larger, faster version of its WindTop all-in-one desktop to its American lineup. In addition to a larger 20-inch touchscreen with a higher 1600x900 resolution, the easel-like PC is also the first for the US to use a processor faster than an Atom and uses a low-power, 1.5GHz AMD Athlon X2 that gives it enough power to run Windows Vista and eventually Windows 7. Switching to the new platform also gives MSI a much faster Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics chipset for better 3D and HD processing.
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08/25, 10:50pm
Mobile Core i7, touch Win
MSI has confirmed the introduction of mobile Core i7 processors with several of its upcoming Windows 7-based notebooks . The company is set to ship 15.4- and 17-inch notebooks based on the Core i7 7200M, Core i7 8200M, and Core i7 920XM CPUs. Along with the high-end notebooks, MSI is also set to release a Wind U150 netbook featuring a touchscreen and Intel's next-generation Pine Trail platform.
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08/24, 4:25pm
MSI X600 notebook now out
MSI’s ultra-low voltage 15.6-inch notebook PC, the X600 can now be purchased and is priced at $800. Part of MSI's ultra-slim X-Slim series, the X600 features a 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo CPU, a six-cell battery, a 320GB hard drive with Windows Vista Home Premium and a 15.6-inch LCD with a 1366x768 resolution, in a package that's less than one inch thick and weighs about 5.5lbs.
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08/21, 11:00am
MSI Wind12 U200 official
Taiwan-based computer maker MSI has officially announced the 12.1-inch, CULV-based Wind12 U200 ultraportable. Labeled as the first 12.1-inch notebook powered by Intel's Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) line, it comes with a 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo that gives it much more performance than a netbook but without as much of a jump in price or power use as a full-size system. Accordingly, it weighs less than 3.1lbs with its stock 3-cell battery.
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08/19, 12:25pm
MSI drops price of X340
Taiwanese computer maker MSI has recently addressed some shortcomings in its 13.4-inch X-Slim X340 notebook PC, which is powered by Intel's CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processors. Apart from a price drop to $799 from $899, the notebook also gets an 8-cell battery instead of the previous 4-cell battery, which more than doubles its operating life, now rated at nearly 9 hours. The battery does add half a pound of weight to the package, which now climbs up to 3.4lbs.
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08/18, 8:20am
MSI First with Pine Trail
MSI plans to preempt the rest of the market by launching the first netbooks based on Intel's Pine Trail Atom platform, according to PC industry tips. Still maintaining that the smaller, much more integrated processors may not be officially ready until early 2010, DigiTimes has heard that MSI intends to ship portables in December rather than wait for the rest of the market. The lead time would let it avoid competing on price for weeks or more.
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08/13, 5:10pm
MSI adds C-series laptops
MSI Computer on Thursday announced it has now released five previously introduced notebook PCs to its Classic series, with the CX600, CX700, CR600-013, CR600-017 and CR700. The three 600 models sport 16-inch screens with 1366x768 resolution, while the 700s have 17.3-inch screens with 1600x900 resolution. MSI touts the 600s as much thinner than conventional notebooks, at just 1.18 inches thick. They weigh just 5.4lbs, while the 700s weigh just over 6lbs.
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08/07, 2:35pm
More tablet PCs coming
ASUS, Dell, HP and MSI will soon release a wave of new tablet netbooks, according to industry sources in a Friday DigiTimes report. The first is expected to come from MSI at the start of 2010 in the form of a 10-inch tablet, with an HP-branded and Inventec-built netbook due in April or May. They are both expected to run on Intel's upcoming Pine Trail-M platform. While no new details were unveiled about a Dell netbook tablet, a 5-inch device was rumored from the company recently.
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07/31, 8:55am
Intel Canceling Atom Z500
Intel may be shutting down production of its Z500-series Atom chips early, a source from the PC industry says. Unnamed contacts for DigiTimes say the processor developer won't accept any more orders "soon" and that the only processors it will ship past a certain point this year are from at least the three key supporters of Atom-based systems, namely Acer, ASUS and MSI. Supply of the Z500 line should stop altogether by the end of the year for everyone.
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07/17, 4:20pm
MSI CX700, CR700 notebooks
Taiwan's MSI on Friday announced the last pair of notebook PCs that make up its newly-formed Classic series, with the 17.3-inch CX700 and CR700. These join the recently-introduced 16-inch CX600 and CR600 duo, which, in turn, followed the debut of the 14-inch CR400. While exterior styling is shared by all five notebooks, the CX700 and CR700 are meant for multimedia enthusiasts, with both sharing 2.1-channel speaker systems, an HDMI output and the same LED-backlit, 1600x900 resolution display.
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07/15, 11:45am
MSI adds 16-inch notebooks
The recently introduced Classic series of notebooks from MSI, which kicked off with the 14-inch CR400 notebook last week, was just expanded with the promised arrival of the 16-inch CX600 and CR600. Either is wedge-shaped and sports 45-degree edges, as well as the same imprint finish as the CR400. The 1366x768 resolution displays are LED-backlit, while the touchpad buttons are brushed metal. Where they begin to differ is in their graphics processing powers, as the CX600 runs an ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 3D card with 512MB of RAM, while the CR600 has NVIDIA's GeForce 8200M G GPU that shares system memory and adds an HDMI port.
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07/13, 12:10pm
Acer dual OS netbook due
An Acer netbook with both Windows XP and Android, which gives users the option of booting into either operating system, is due to ship sometime this August, DigiTimes reported on Monday. First announced at the start of June, the netbook's main specs are unknown at this time, but prices aren’t likely to be lower than Windows XP-exclusive netbooks, as Acer still needs to pay license fees for the Microsoft operating system.
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07/10, 12:35pm
MSI Classic notebooks
Taiwanese PC maker MSI has introduced the 14-inch CR400 notebook, which is the first of a new Classic series of portable PCs that will also eventually include the 16-inch CX600 and CR600 along with the 17.3-inch CX700 and CR700. The series will be marked by high-end design and quality builds, MSI claims. The CR400 has a uni-body design with 45-degree angled edges and is coated in MSI's Color Film Print that reveals new patterns depending on the angle at which it's viewed.
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07/08, 5:15pm
MSI intros 14-inch EX460
MSI will soon add to its Entertainment-series of notebook PCs with the 14-inch EX460. The system is relatively advanced with an LED-backlit display and ships with a 512MB version of ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics chipset, giving it better than usual video in the class. General processing power is courtesy of an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, though its clock speed is not specified. It's not known how much RAM the EX460 ships with, but the twin DDR2 slots can hold up to 4GB.
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07/02, 9:05am
CULV NBs Too Cheaply Made
Many of the Windows PC makers building ultraportable notebooks based on Intel's low-cost CULV platform are learning first-hand that their cheaper case designs aren't enough to sustain the systems, a research note from AmTech analyst Doug Freedman says. Many of the companies design the systems with plastic shells to keep their prices down but are discovering that the cases are cracking, often forcing major replacements. Which companies are affected aren't mentioned, but Lenovo and MSI are some of the first making systems in the category with the IdeaPad U350 and X-Slim line respectively.
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07/02, 7:50am
MSI X-Slim X400 Detailed
MSI today rounded out the hardware specs for the last of the current wave of X-Slim ultraportables. The 14-inch X400 will be the more colorful model of the group with "personalized" color bezels around the lip of the frame and its trackpad. It's also billed as one of the thinnest, lightest systems at its screen size at under an inch thick and 3.3 pounds.
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06/12, 1:30pm
MSI X600 specs revealed
MSI's flagship X-Slim series notebook, the MSI X600, has received specs for two of its variations today through a new leak. The company has previously only released teasers of the specifications for the notebook PC, which is meant to compete with the MacBook Air. The 15.6-inch notebook sports a 1366x768 resolution and is powered by Intel's CULV platform, in a package that is less than one-inch thick.
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06/03, 3:55pm
MSI outs Ion-based WindBOX
At the Computex show currently taking place in Taiwan, MSI has shown off its WindBOX nettop PC powered by NVIDIA's Ion chipset. The computer's presence at the show indicates MSI is the latest to jump on the NVIDIA Ion bandwagon, with Acer and Lenovo confirmed to be releasing Ion-based PCs, with ASUS, Foxconn, Pegatron and, most recently, Dell and HP, rumored to be releasing their own as well.
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06/02, 1:50pm
NVIDIA Ion HPs, Dells due
Computer makers HP and Dell will both launch netbooks and all-in-one desktop PCs running on NVIDIA's Ion platform sometime between the start of July and the end of September, says a Tuesday Digitimes report. The unnamed industry sources claim the two manufacturers will join ASUS, Foxconn, Lenovo and Pegatron in providing Ion-based computers, all of which have been linked earlier to the hybrid graphics and system chipset. Models and their features aren't mentioned in the slip.
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05/29, 1:40pm
MSI WindBOX DE200 spotted
A new version of the MSI WindBOX nettop PC, the DE200, was spotted in Europe recently. The main and most significant change of the DE200 from lesser WindBOX nettops is its use of an ATI Radeon HD 4350 graphics card with a dedicated 512MB of RAM instead of the integrated Intel GMA 950 chipset. Otherwise, the new WindBOX shares the same 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 CPU, 1GB of RAM and Wi-Fi.
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05/27, 3:20pm
MSI Ships X340 to US
MSI this afternoon said it has started shipping the X-Slim X340 within the US. The ultraportable initially surfaces in a single, $900 spec ($800 at Amazon) with a CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo for its processor, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive. 802.11n Wi-Fi, a 1.3-megapixel webcam and Bluetooth are equally stock, as is a 4-cell battery. MSI doesn't provide an estimate for battery life but says the Intel chip uses a sixth the energy of a regular notebook and so doesn't need a larger battery pack.
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05/22, 3:05pm
MSI Wind U115 Ships to UK
Complementing the US launch of the U123, MSI today started supplying the Wind U115 Hybrid to UK shops. The netbook is the company's first system to use Intel's Atom Z500 line and uses a 1.6GHz example of the lower-powered chip along with a unique hard drive and solid-state drive combo to extend battery life. Unofficial tests show the system lasting as long as 13 hours on its standard 6-cell battery and 25 hours on a 9-cell pack.
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05/22, 12:10pm
MSI Wind U123 Ships to US
MSI on Friday started shipping its Wind U123 netbook to the US. The 10-inch system we tried at CTIA is MSI's first with the slightly faster 1.66GHz Atom N280 and centers on battery life; a relatively large 6-cell pack is stock, and an optional 9-cell unit extends its battery life to over 8 hours. Lid colors are less conservative with blue and red as options.
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05/15, 10:45am
MSI GX723 Game Notebook
MSI chose the end of the week to launch its newest flagship gaming notebook, the GX723. The 17-inch desktop replacement centers on a 512MB GeForce GT 130M graphics chipset good enough to run modern games smoothly as well as MSI's characteristic Turbo Mode, which lets owners overclock the Core 2 Duo processor inside as long as the system is on AC power. The PC creator also manages to tuck five speakers into the limited space to produce Dolby sound without an external setup.
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05/14, 7:45am
MSI X-Slim X400 X600 Tease
MSI this morning claimed a further foothold in ultraportable PCs by providing early details of two larger X-Slim notebooks. The 14-inch X400 and 15-inch X600 are meant to improve not only on the 13-inch X340 but to offer a still-larger alternative to systems like the MacBook Air; despite their sizes, both are less than an inch thick and weigh far less than other systems in their class at 3.3 pounds for the X400 and 4.6 pounds for the X600. Both also use Intel's Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processors to provide better performance than a netbook but with less cost and battery use (as well as less performance) than the Core 2 Duo S used in Apple's system.
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05/13, 4:40pm
ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GHz
In a rare move of its own, AMD today launched a factory-overclocked version of its ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics chipset. The move takes the 850MHz core clock speed of the standard edition and boosts it to 1GHz, rendering the new version the first graphics processor of any kind to reach the milestone. AMD claims that the simple shift boosts the peak computing power from 1.36 teraflops to 1.6 and is theoretically faster than NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 285.
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05/13, 11:05am
MSI Wind U200 Leak
MSI's first true ultraportable to use Intel's CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) platform has likely been leaked a day ahead of its actual launch. Put into the Wind netbook family, the U200 as found by Engadget will be closer to a notebook with a CULV processor (presumed to be the 1.2GHz Celeron M 723) and a 12-inch, 1366x768 LED-backlit display. It will also have much more in base specifications than netbooks with 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and GMA 4500 video that can drive HD video playback.
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05/12, 9:00am
Intel 2H09 Notebook Plans
A leak of Intel's notebook processor plans for the second half of 2009 show the company moving aggressively into its new platforms during the summer. Those within notebook builders tell DigiTimes that the Nehalem-based notebook processor line, Calpella, is still on track for summer and is slated for mid- to high-range notebooks costing about $1,200 or more. Whether or not this will involve only quad-core processors, as recently rumored, isn't known.
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05/08, 8:50am
MSI Syren Audio
MSI today stepped into audio devices with the launch of its Syren line. The series is headlined by the SyrenSound X-Fi, one of the few non-Creative sound cards to use X-Fi hardware. It uses the same technology as Sound Blaster cards to restore missing detail in compressed audio as well as to introduce EAX effects, and supports up to 7.1-channel sound while reducing the CPU overhead versus integrated sound chipsets. The PCI Express-based board currently requires Windows XP or Vista.
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05/04, 3:40pm
MSI Confirms X-Slim X400
MSI late last week confirmed its plans for larger X-Slim notebooks through a quiet release at a Japanese event. In addition to the 13.4-inch X340, the company also says its larger 14- and 15.6-inch versions will be labeled the X400 and X600, each of which arrives in the "near future." Their specifications are still unknown but should include other variants of Intel's CULV ultraportable processors and display resolutions of 1366x768 or higher.
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05/04, 10:35am
MSI intros two notebooks
PC builder MSI on Monday announced the upcoming release of a pair of gaming-oriented notebook PCs, the 15.4-inch GX623 and GX633. The GX623 uses an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and ATI's Radeon HD 4670 3D graphics processor with 512MB of video RAM, while the GX633 runs on AMD's Turion X2 dual-core CPU paired with NVIDIA's GeForce GT 130M with its own 512MB of video RAM. Either uses MSI's power management feature that switches between five modes suitable for different tasks by pressing a button.
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04/29, 4:45pm
Acer Android devices
In addition to working on a smartphone running on the Android operating system due for a fall release, Acer is also working on a number of other Android devices, according to a Wednesday report. The executive noted that the company was trying out Android on many "different solutions" but stopped short of committing to any particular device types, including Acer's defining netbook line.
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04/28, 8:10am
Averatec Android Netbook
Averatec is poised to make a significant change to its netbook strategy with Google's Android as its likely foundation, based on an interview with company chief Tae-Hyun Cho. While not naming it explicitly, he indicates to CNET that the TriGem sub-brand's upcoming 10-inch system will have a "surprise" OS that is a "merger of cell phone and PC technology;" Android is one of the few platforms to match the description. The design itself will also be more noticeably upscale and, in a teaser shot, is seen as particularly thin.
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04/23, 3:30pm
MSI Android netbook coming
MSI is planning on introducing an Android-based netbook at the Computex 2009 show in Taiwan at the start of June, according to a Thursday DigiTimes report. The Taiwanese hardware maker will take the opportunity offered by the show to secure orders from computer retailers. While MSI wouldn't comment on the report, the development of the netbook was done together with Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry (III).
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04/22, 4:25pm
Compal scaling back MIDs
DigiTimes reported on Wednesday that Compal Electronics reduced the budget and other resources for mobile Internet devices (MIDs) as the company believes the future of the market segment is uncertain. The report cites unnamed industry sources for the information, and Compal itself has confirmed that some of its MID focus was shifted into netbook development. It will continue to ship MIDs in smaller volumes.
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04/21, 3:45pm
MSi X340 arriving in April
MSI on Tuesday announced the first notebook PC using Intel's CULV platform, the
X-Slim X340, will become available in the US later this month. Introduced early this month, the notebook features a 13-inch LED-backlit LCD display, weighs 2.9lbs and is just under 0.8 inches thick. The 1.4GHz Intel CULV CPU consumes just 5.5W of power, according to MSI, but performs more like a traditional notebook than a netbook. The notebook also has the option of a WiMAX mobile broadband module but doesn't include an optical drive to reach its slim profile.
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04/21, 11:20am
MSI Wind U100 Plus
MSI today unveiled a last real update to its starter netbooks in the Wind U100 Plus. The new version trades up to the 1.66GHz Atom N280 and its faster, 533MHz system bus. It also brings two new colors, midnight blue and rose champagne (light pink) alongside the existing black, red and white. MSI claims 7 hours of battery life for the system on a 6-cell pack.
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04/20, 2:40pm
MSI Wind Top announced
PC maker MSI on Monday has officially announced specs, pricing and availability for its eco-friendly Wind Top AE1900 all-in-one PC for North America. The PC features a built-in 18.5-inch touchscreen with 1366x768 resolution, while processing power comes from a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU and 1GB of RAM. Graphics processing comes courtesy of an integrated GMA 950 chipset. The standard 2.5-inch, 160GB or optional 250GB hard drive is preloaded with Windows XP Home operating system. MSI claims the AE1900 consumes 80 percent less energy than a traditional desktop PC, and no more than 50W of power at full operation.
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