All of them had good options and were overall decently rated on similar and different factors but I went with the...It just seemed like the better option based on the reviews by the professionals and users. I'm not dogging the Acer or the Asus because they were right there, neck and neck, with the Wind but seeing and handling the products (Asus and MSI, anyway) at the local Best Buy store helped make my decision. I didn't physically handle an Acer but the reviews were a tad lower compared to the Asus and MSI so I figured it wouldn't be one I would look into getting.
I got this puppy on Sunday, April 5th. It started up right out of the box. I didn't read any manuals or such before turning it on. It might have helped as when you turn it on it gives you a couple of options. I'm doing this from memory but I think the two options said something like "hit [some F key] to reload" and "hit [some F key] for boot options." I just glanced and hit the key to reload which I think wasn't the thing to do. It booted up and gave me the step-by-steps for XP after what I assumed was the installing of Windows XP Home.
After all the initial formalities of setting up user name, not registering with Microsoft at this time, etc., I was able to see the desktop and get things rolling. It found my wireless network while I was in the garage (I was sitting on a new patio chair I had just gotten from Home Depot) because I unloaded the chair in the garage but couldn't wait to get going and playing with the computer. Anyway, the point of that is that my wireless is up on the second floor and I was in the garage at the back of the backyard. I would say it's about 100-150 feet...not sure as I'm not good with sight distance...but it didn't have any connection issues.
After connecting to the web, I downloaded all the available Windows updates. I uninstalled the trial version of Office 2007 and installed my own version. It didn't come with virus protection so I installed Microsoft Forefront and ran updates for it. I installed Firefox as I am semi-biased to it even though some web things STILL don't work with it. I'm sure there will be more updates needed for things like Java, Flash, etc., and I will install them as the need arises.
My main concern with the MSI Wind was whether or not the windows for whatever programs would lag in open time. So far the only issue I've noticed is when I first open IE7 after reboot. When I click on the IE icon, it takes a few seconds for my home page (which is just Google). I can close the browser after this initial opening and then reopen and the home page shows pretty close to immediately. I don't know why this occurs but, as we all know, it could be just IE more than the computer itself. When using Firefox, I don't recall any issues at all with the same default home page of Google.
I've opened Word and Excel without issue. I have practice typing and all within these two programs without issue. I'm not familiar with Office 2007 as I'm using Office XP at work and I have Office 2003 on my Toshiba laptop. Things seem to run and work fine.
I haven't had too many issues with the keyboard. It's not so much the keyboard itself as it is that I work on a particular layout with my Toshiba and a desktop. The Toshiba key layout is very similar to the MSI Wind except for a few exceptions and a glaring one. The comma, period and ramp keys are smaller on the Wind because I guess someone decided that those keys are the least likely to be missed, the least used, or the most reasonable to be resized. I don't know the reasons why but I think some other accommodations could have been considered. It's not a huge deal and will take some getting used to but what keyboard doesn't these days...I'm typing on a "wave"-type keyboard right now at work and it took some getting used to when first got it. In fact, I screw up typing sometimes when I go home and use my "straight" keyboard because the keys are place slight different especially buttons like PageUp, PageDown, Delete, Home and End.
The glaring issue with the keyboard is the placement of the left Ctrl key and the Fn key. I have these keys on my Toshiba laptop and the Ctrl key is the last key on the bottom row of keys with the Fn key directly to the right of it. On the Wind, the Fn key is the outermost key with the Ctrl key to the right of it. If the designers would have thought about it more, they would have realized that the Ctrl key is used more (well in my case and my wife's case) way more than the Fn key is used, especially in touch-typing situations. Most of the time that I use the Fn key I am using one figure on one hand to hit it and then one finger on another hand to hit the corresponding key. I used the Ctrl key all the time with touch-typing for things like Ctrl+Shift+Left or Right arrow to highlight and delete or format selected text. I also use Ctrl+Home or End to go to the top or bottom of Word or Excel files. I just don't see where they thought the Fn on the outer rim would be better especially on a keyboard that isn't 100% but more like 93% (I think).
Another issue (although not a biggie) is that I am a touch pad scroller. I love the fact that I don't have to click and hold the scroll bars on a document, web page or whatever to go from top to bottom and occasionally left to right. My wife doesn't see this as an issue as she has never used this functionality. This can be easily overcome by using a mini mouse that has a scroll wheel. Not ideal but it does make it easier for me to scroll.
The mouse buttons are a little tricky to get used to for someone who has been using a larger laptop with larger mouse buttons. The are tiny comparatively, as they should be, sometimes I hit the middle of the uni-button or the wrong side of it or miss them entirely but again, I believe that's just because I've never used anything smaller than a 13.3" laptop before and the buttons on that were still fairly good sized. I think the placement of mouse buttons are still better than on the HP Mini 1000 (although it wasn't in my top three). If I recall, the HP Mini 1000 has the left mouse button on the left of the touch pad and the right mouse on the right. It wouldn't be a deal breaker for me but the placement is still a little awkward...like the Ctrl and Fn keys on the Wind. We all can deal with little things when we have to. The mouse buttons seem more sturdy than those on the Asus which seemed like they were made from a recycled aluminum can and easily breakable or bendable.
The screen is pretty good. It's smaller than my Toshiba but functions and looks just as good. I was able to compare this to the Asus at Best Buy and found that I liked the Wind much better. I didn't play with it too much but I think the Asus had the same resolution but the icons seemed bigger than the Wind.
That's about my extent of using this little guy as my wife has taken it over. My initial thoughts about purchasing this were to have a very portable "laptop" for me while I kept the powerhouse laptop at home, at my desk, or in my backpack. I was getting tired of lugging my Toshiba to class along with my no-reason-for-being-so-thick class books. It cause so much weight and stress on my bag that I have to use a paper clip to hold the zipper shut. Partly this is because the backpack is very used and is like fifteen years old but mostly because the books, laptop and essentials are bulky and stretch the zipper to its limit. So, that was my initial reasoning...ME!
Then I started thinking about the wife. She has a Toshiba too but hardly takes it anywhere. Why, I don't know because what else is the point of getting a laptop? Women, go figure! So, I thought maybe this little bugger would be small enough and yet functional enough for her to be a little more portable with her work and such. It would also make buying this an easier sell if I got her on board versus her thinking I just wanted another "toy."
She then came up with the idea of her using it for a bit and seeing how it works. If she liked it, then we would get one each for our two kids. WTF? I went from buying one for me to making this a possible family affair! It did sound like a reasonable idea even with the economy in the shitter but I was still a little hesitant. Portability for my wife to do email, Powerpoint, Word, Excel, and Internet would be acceptable on this but what if the kids didn't find it powerful enough to handle what they wanted it for...which what that is I really didn't know.
I know my kids like to play flash-based web games online. They type stories for their school work. They create drawings in Paint and flier-type things in Publisher. Sometimes they create videos on their digital cameras and try to make videos in Movie Maker but most of the time it isn't stuff that requires a powerful laptop/computer. I have them an old, old Sony Vaio 14" that they use right now but it's so old that it takes so long for some things to load up that they would much rather just not use it at all. But then they get that it takes patience and they'll wait and will be able to enjoy the laptop and whatever they are doing on it. They don't really load any games from a CD onto it although they did in the past and the most recent is they like Roller Coaster Tycoon which isn't graphic or processor intensive.
As mentioned, my wife has been using it since after I got all the updates and some other software loaded. I've teased her about returning it just to be sure she likes it. She says, "I love it. It's so easy to just put in my purse(bag) and take it with me. So far it works for everything I've needed it." She too hates the placement of the Ctrl and Fn keys as well as a few issues with the shrunken comma, period and slash keys even with her "womanly" fingers.
My oldest kid says, "It's pretty good." While the youngest said, "It's awesome. I want one now!" I told the oldest if it was just "pretty good" then why get one? It was responded by a "No, I want one! I just don't know how much I'd use it." What kind of kid says that about a new 'toy'?
So, the verdict is still out on whether or not I like it completely or not. I assume the more I am able to use it the more I can give my final decision. My main reservation is that I will be giving up power for ultraportability. That's not so much of a bad thing because I will always have my desktop and maybe even a newer laptop (my current one is two maybe three years old...I can't remember which for sure). The problem arises for me at the times when I may need or want that higher end power but I will be stuck with the limited strength of the netbook. Again, not a huge occurring problem but the future is cloudy, ever changing it is.
I have been looking at the powerful, well-rated Asus G50Vt-X5 over at Best Buy. It's also gotten good ratings at CNET and other laptop review sites. The cover is a little outlandish and the flashing LEDs may be an occasional nuisance but I think the power and semi-portability could be worth it. It will be way faster than my current Toshiba and it's about the same size. The only thing I don't like is the built-in number pad, while could be useful, pushes the keys slightly to the left so typing on this bad boy would be a little askew. I'm not sure how much I would like or want to deal with that but it seems like a pretty decent computer price and power-wise. We'll wait a little longer and see I guess. A new laptop is not a necessity as I still have my old one and it still is under my service agreement which I've used a few times to get my money's worth. Furthermore, the economy blows donkey dicks and it may not be a good time to spend a grand or two on a couple of new computers (notebook and netbook). Sometimes I like to take a chance but other times not so much. As mentioned, we'll have to see.
Finally, I really do like the idea of ultraportability and will probably eventually get me a netbook. It may or may not be the MSI Wind. I have been looking at the Samsung N110 for many reasons so it may be the netbook purchase for my using. As in all things, we'll have to wait and see. I am getting antsy though...very, very antsy!
Just in case you are wondering, here are pictures of all the netbooks and one notebook I referenced in this post:
