Thanks to Expansys last week, the UK prices and specs for the MSI Wind were revealed but the only US prices we had until now were import prices. Today, LAPTOP magazine has revealed the US-local specs and pricing and rather than charging similar prices for both the Linux and Windows versions of the Wind as in the UK, the MSI US marketing team are choosing to offer an Eee PC 900 12G (Linux) competitor at $399 with the 80GB drive, 512MB and Novell SUSE Linux. If you want XP you’ll be paying $150 more and getting an additional 512MB into the build. It doesn’t seem to be worth $150 but there could be additional specifications that  haven’t been revealed  through the LAPTOP magazine article. I’ve been using Suse Linux for about 8 years and have always been very happy with the desktop interface and the ‘YAST’ system management tools. I even ran it on my work-supplied Pentium 1Ghz notebook with 512MB RAM for 2 years and only went back to Windows when I started  getting into UMPCs. [more after the break]

Read the full story

Expansys have put their pricing up for the 10″, XP and Linux versions of the MSI Wind.

The XP Home version based on the 1.6Gz Diamondville (assumed) Atom processor, 10″ LED-Backlit, 80GB (2.5″) hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Wifi, Bluetooth and a 1.3MP WebCam is available for pre-order for 350 pounds. The Linux version is 30 pounds less. By Expansys pricing, this puts it at only 70 pounds (about 25%) more expensive than the 4GB Eee PC. The XP version of the wind is even the same price as the Linux version of the HP 2133!

Looking across Expansys Europe, the German price (for the UK, XP Version) is 459 Euro’s which makes the Packard Bell Easynote look expensive at 499.

Update: US price (UK version export through expansys-usa) is $610.

At these prices, I think the MSI Wind might take the cheap mininote crown, especially with the girls! Interested parties can make their way over to Expansys. (Affiliate link.)

Specifications and details available on the MSI Wind product page.

What is there to say about the Eee PC 900 that JKK hasn’t already covered yet? It’s mobile, productive and people absolutely love it. The big question is, do you need a small, lightweight, good value mobile computer like the Eee PC 900 or do you want a mini-laptop like the HP2133 and MSI Wind, devices that are trying to balance themselves between ultra mobile and sub-notebooks. There’s not much between all the netbook devices which makes it a difficult choice. Hopefully this 35-minute info-packed video will help you decide!

Source: JkkMobile.

More information, links and specs in the EeePC 900 summary page.

UMPCPortal have been fortunate enough to be able to build some good relationships with resellers over the last few years which means there’s a nice two way channel for information that can go to and from potential customers.

For example, yesterday I contacted Gigabyte about the rumored 912, 8.9" netbook and I should be getting some official news very soon. In the other direction, came the following information for UK and Australian customers…

Read the full story

As expected, The Phone House, France, has put the Airis Kira into their catalogue and is expecting it to be available in Mid May. The Airis Kira is a 350-Euro, VIA-based device that uses a 1 Ghz VIA C7-M, includes 1GB of RAM and a 40GB drive. Its said to have 4.5 hours of battery life too which means it probably gets shipped with a double-capacity battery. Apart from the 1Ghz CPU, the specs echo almost exactly, the Packard Bell XS20 but the price is around 150 Euros cheaper. Its only 50 Euros more expensive than the Eee PC. 50 Euros isn’t a bad price to pay for Windows, 40Gb of storage and 512MB of RAM but at 1Ghz, the VIA C7 isn’t going to keep many people happy for long. This is definitely one to take a closer look at if you’re looking for a browser-only device and are in the vicinity of a ‘Phone House’ Keep an eye out for it in other countries too because they might have struck an EU-wide deal. Image after the break.

Read the full story