MSI readies netbooks with HDDs and SSDs
Hybrid Storage
MSI has turned to Intel's other Atom processor, the Z series, for its next netbooks.
Announced in France last week, the U110 and U115 are both based on the 1.6GHz Atom Z530 - the same CPU Dell's using in its 12in netbook the Inspiron Mini 12. The Z530 was designed for handheld internet tablets.
The U110 has 1GB of 533MHz DDR 2 memory, a 1024 x 600 10in display, Bluetooth 2+EDR, 802.11n Wi-Fi and all the ports and components you'd expect from a typical Small, Cheap Computer.
MSI will offer the machine with 120, 160 and 250GB of SATA hard drive capacity, and while some models will come with a 1.3-megapixel webcam, others will have a 2Mp job. The 1.1kg unit measures a 260 x 180 x 19-31.5mm, according to snaps of MSI presentation slides posted by French-language site Netbook 3G.
The U115 has the same basic spec, but adds a 2GB variant and offers a different storage scheme: an 8, 16 or 32GB SSD and an 80, 120 or 160GB HDD. The latter's presumably for bulk data storage, the SSD for the OS and key apps, the better to load them quickly and keep the power consumption down.
That said, both machines come with a six-cell battery good, MSI claimed, for 8-10 hours of untethered runtime, so it's hard to see MSI's "hybrid storage" facility as anything more than a gimmick for now.
COMMENTS
Wot? No internal 3G/HSPA?
Another "Netbook" with no internal 3G/HSPA? Nothing much to see here then. Moving along as nothing at all to see here ...
Paris, 'cos she likes it internal too
Pity they didn't use the dual core part.......
Its just a pity they didn't use the Atom 330 processor instead of the Z530- and gotten a dual core system with very little price differential. Admittedly- its an 8 watt part- rather than the 2 watt pcp for the Z530- but if you can get a 45% performance improvement with simulated hyperthreading on a Z530- imagine what you'd get from the 330?
Nice to see more netbooks out there though. Wonder how this will compare to the Samsung NC10?
U115
Smart move and I can see this becoming the mainstream for netbooks as well as laptops here in the near future. It just makes too much since. And I can see this being the norm for a while until SSD's come down in prices comparable with standard HDD's.
The pride of Mandella
Great to see netbooks coming from South Africa!
