Get Communication Anytime, AnywhereThe U123 has the 802.11 b/g , you can enjoy the convenience of accessing the internet at home or out with U123.
The Excitement of Instant Communication Equipped with high resolution webcam, high-performance 2 channel stereo speakers, and microphone, all fitted perfectly within the framework design, expressing the slickness of technology and the elegance of modern fashion. Web-chats can be broadcasted instantly not missing one exciting moment. The photo taken is very sharp in resolution and brilliant in colors, capturing precise imagery both indoor or out, adding more fun to instant messaging.
Comprehensive Multi-Media Application InterfaceU123 offers a complete entertainment interface, which includes the 4 in 1 card reader, so it may meet the standards of the mainstream memory cards, making it easy to upload digital files into the notebook computer. Also connecting to the U123 Series through USB 2.0 Port.
Product Details
Product Length:
7.08 inches
Product Width:
10.23 inches
Product Height:
1.2 inches
Product Weight:
2.6 pounds
Package Length:
12.5 inches
Package Width:
9.3 inches
Package Height:
4.8 inches
Package Weight:
5.7 pounds
Average Customer Rating:
based on 20 reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: ( 20 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 30 found the following review helpful:
MSI Wind U123 first impressions May 14, 2009
By Brian J. O'donnell
"Bass Player"
Just got the Wind today in the mail. Very nice little computer.
Took about 14 minutes to get all booted up initially but it starts up very quickly after that.
So far I have surfed the internet, played online poker, and messed with the settings. Nothing too amazing. It handles everything well, not discernably different from my 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo macbook. I'm not going to attempt too much with this anyways. Youtube worked fine, but netflix instant movies wasn't working tonight. I don't know what the deal is with that, whether it's the comp or the site. **Update, Netflix was messed up. The Wind plays Netflix instant view movies just fine.**
Graphically it's ok. The 10" screen isn't going to make me faint or anything. Everything looks fine with the brighness at all levels. The application windows get a little choppy when I move them around, but that happens in every Windows machine I've used.
It is quiet, the fans come on every now and then. I don't mind. My girlfriend is watching netflix on her MacBook Pro and it is way louder than the Wind.
The hinges are sturdy, in fact, the whole machine is sturdy. And it's attractive. The blue shell has little sparklies. The mouse buttons are chrome, which I like (in tasteful amounts).
The webcam is ok, and the speakers are ok too. Ok is actually an overstatement. So far they are pretty junky. But I wasn't expecting much.
The internet response is plenty fast. However, it seems like it only has wireless b/g. This version DOES NOT HAVE wireless N. That's disappointing, the specs do note that it has g/n on the Amazon site. Again, no wireless N.
The box says no bluetooth but the hardware info in windows says yes. I haven't tried to verify which one is correct.
Typing is not a problem. I would rather have regular sized comma and period keys than a full sized shift bar, which the Wind has. It's taking a bit of adjustment, but I can type pretty fast on it after just a couple hours.
Brightness at the lowest level is fine on my eyes. It's very bright all the way up, which I appreciate when it's plugged in.
Battery life seems to be about 5 hours with wireless on and brightness all the way down. We'll see if that changes.
It is a little rear end heavy, but so are Porsches. It balances fine so far, I haven't tried it in every situation. I mean, you gotta watch out
if the screen is open and you're setting it on an uneven surface, but it's fine in my lap and on the table. Just be extra careful when you are setting the Wind down.
**In response to comment 4 - 3 USB ports, VGA for monitor, the 4-in-one card reader, ethernet, headphone jack. No firewire/hdmi :( I will try to hook it up to my 22" LCD tonight and see if it can handle it.**
**I read some reviews at another site, apparently the U123 uses 800Mhz RAM, and the upgrade requires a 2GB stick to max it out. I have not confirmed this, but I've got a 2GB in my MacBook. I'll do a switcheroo and see how it works.**
I really like the trackpad, but only after downloading the Synaptics drivers. Make sure to do that right off the bat (http://www.synaptics.com/support/drivers)!! You can get scroll function and corner tap functions, i.e., when I tap the bottom left I have it set to go back in the web browser, and when I tap the upper left it minimizes the window. Awesome! Almost like expose in OSX, but different (We can't have everything). It's definitely the best Windows XP navigating experience I've had so far.
I plan on installing OSX on this, but I need to do more research on how to do it. Apparently I need an external DVD drive, which I'm not prepared to shell out the $$ for. **Update, there seems to be a way to do it via USB stick. So now I gotta get myself a legit copy of OSX and an 8GB stick, and I'm golden.**
As shipped, right out of the box, with the 1.66 Ghz processor and 1GB RAM, I am very impressed.
Remember to press Crtl + F11 to activate the wireless!
Very nice little machine.
I will update as time goes on.
Let me know if you need any answers, i.e., have any questions!
16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
4.5 stars May 27, 2009
By Pearson Wung After comparing the various currently available netbooks, I had a toss up between the 6-cell MSI Wind U123, Samsung NC10, and Asus Eee PC 1000HE. Although I liked the longer battery life of the Samsung and Eee PC, I wound up going with the U123 because it's lighter and more compact than the Eee PC (2.6lbs vs 3.2lbs), and has a newer processor than the Samsung (Intel Atom N280 vs N270). It didn't hurt that the U123 is slightly less expensive than the Samsung NC10 and Eee PC 1000HE. I also briefly considered the U123's predecessor, the U120, but decided against the U120 because its 1GB memory isn't upgradeable.
* The U123's construction is solid. The glossy lid looks nice but attracts fingerprints (no surprise here).
* The battery is fatter than I had expected. With the battery attached, the U123 is around 1 3/4" high in the back. Balance-wise, it makes the U123 somewhat back heavy and easy to tip over if you have the display angled back far enough.
* The 6-cell battery is rated 5200 mAh. In normal mode, I am averaging a little over 5 hrs with wifi on while doing mostly web browsing. The U123 has a battery-saving "Eco" mode (Fn + F10), which I usually forget to use. The U123 doesn't seem to remember that it was in "Eco" mode the next time you start up or come out of standby or hibernation.
* The keyboard is a good size with good feel. The layout is standard except for one quirk: the Fn and left Ctrl keys are reversed from their usual positions in most non-Mac notebooks.
* The U123 runs fairly cool. Even at peak activity with the fan running full, it never gets uncomfortably warm.
* The speaker sound quality is bad, as expected in a netbook.
* The U123 comes with 1GB of memory. To upgrade the memory, you have to remove the entire bottom cover. This involves removing 10 screws, one of which is covered by a scary-looking "Warranty Sticker Void if Tampered" sticker. (I've read posts elsewhere that report that the warranty is *not* void if you're just upgrading the memory.) My U123 came with a Transcend 1GB DDR2 800 SO-DIMM in the single memory slot. I will be replacing it later this week with a 2GB stick that I've ordered. Having to remove the bottom cover to upgrade memory is a hassle because of all the side ports (USB, headphone, mic) that have openings in the cover, but it's something you'll probably only need to do once or twice. Still, it would've been nice if the U123 had an access panel like the Samsung NC10 or Asus Eee PC to get at the memory.
* No Bluetooth (or at least I couldn't figure out how to turn it on). Interestingly, the U123 does have Bluetooth drivers and settings software installed, but I guess this is meant for other U123 models. A little disappointing since I had incorrectly assumed that any netbook these days would automatically have Bluetooth. However, not a deal killer for me since I don't use Bluetooth that much anyway.
* When starting up the first time, the U123 spent quite a bit of time installing Windows. I lost track, but I'd guess it was around 10 min. Later, I had a minor scare when the U123 couldn't find any wireless networks. It turns out the wireless was disabled. I had to actually read the documentation to figure out how to turn on the wireless: Fn + F11.
I give the MSI Wind U123 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5 stars for the ratings system).
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
runs great with UBUNTU 9.04 Jun 01, 2009
By Potomac This is a nice choice if you are traveling a lot. Battery life is long lasting and the performance under WINDOWS XP SP3 is good enough for web and office use. Entertainment (audio and video) during long flights and in waiting areas of airports is possible but due to the weak audio performance a little bit difficult, even with earphones. It is much faster with UBUNTU 9.04 but not stronger in audio output, so you can only solve the audio problems with an amplified headset. UBUNTU runs without problems and after a short time of learning I switched completely to this LINUX operating system, it comes with all the office and multimedia software you need for the netbook and it's FOR FREE. The MSI Wind U123 is upgradeable in RAM and you can change the hard drive to a bigger one! MSI support told me, that the upgrade doesn't void the warranty, only the use of wrong parts and the causes of that does it. So, if you want to upgrade the netbook with memory or disk space to get better performance, no problem! Please, if you buy this product, don't think that it is a substitute for a high end PC! You will be happy with it, for sure, if you don't like to carry a much heavier notebook with less battery life. The MSI Wind netbook is easy to handle and carry, so it is always there to use it.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
good but not great Jun 08, 2009
By Michael J. Jacobsen I am traveling around the world with this netbook and overall i'd say it's a good product but not great. Love the screen, size, weight, and speed of it, however the keyboard while ok has two faults i have issues with. 1 the period key is to small and scrunched so when typing almost everytime you need it you'll hit another key. 2. while typing the cursor has a tendency to jump around to other sections of a paragraph and if you are not paying attention will delete something you have already typed. if i didn't have these issues i'd rate it an A+
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
MSI Wind Hackintoshable? Sep 20, 2009
By johndoe I recieved my U123 on 9/15/09 and so far it has been working great! Obviously I've only had it a few days but it has proven to be very useful and reliable. I actually converted this netbook into a hackintosh and have found it quite refreshing compared to windows xp. The 6-cell battery lasts around 4:30 running OSX which is good enough for me as I am typically not away from a power source longer than 3 hours. I upgraded the ram to 2g just for a nice performance boost since I usually run lots of applications simultaneously. As others have said this model comes with NO BUILT IN BLUE TOOTH or N wireless. While many may not care its good to know since lots of places list all u123's as having these features. The only issue I have had has been that trackpad scrolling doesn't work which has been a problem even when XP was installed. Im guessing faulty trackpad at the moment but I've dealt with it because its not a big deal to me and I didn't feel like rma'ing since I needed a working netbook for the next couple of days. Over-all a good netbook that is hackintoshable.
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based on 20 reviews
MSI Wind U123 first impressions May 14, 2009
By Brian J. O'donnell
"Bass Player"
good but not great Jun 08, 2009
By Michael J. Jacobsen
