 | MSI U210-008US 12.1-Inch Black Netbook - 5 Hour Battery Life Review Brand : MSI Model : U210-008US Overall Rating :  From : 13 Reviews Color : Black |
Technical Detail
- Athlon Neo MV-40 1.6 GHz Chipset AMD RS690 + SB600
- 2GB 200-Pin DDR SO-DIMM RAM
- 250GB SATA Hard Drive, WLAN 802.11b/g/n, 1 x HDMI Port
- Windows Vista Home Premium, Battery 6 cells (5200mAh) 5 hours (depending on usage and configuration)
- LCD Type 12.1" HD WXGA 16:9, LCD Resolution 1366x768, VGA, AMD Radeon X1250
Product Description
MSI U210-008US 12.1' Netbook (AMD Neo MV-40 1.6Ghz, 250 GB Hard Drive, 2 GB RAM, HDMI Out, 802.11 b/g/n, 1.3 MP Webcam, 5 hours) [...]
Customer's Reviews (All-Reviews)
MJB ( Cali ) I purchased the MSI U210 notebook in white on 12/13/2009. I considered purchasing the MSI L2100, which has the exact same hardware, but comes with Windows 7 pre-installed instead of Windows Vista. The L2100 is only available in black however, and after checking it out at the local Fry's I decided to order the white U210 from Amazon and upgrade it to Windows 7 later with the free upgrade program.
This is my first netbook size computer, and so far I have been extremely happy with the U210. It has become my main computer out of three including an older full-size Dell laptop and desktop.
Some pros/cons:
Performance - I was surprised how fast this computer is. For web browsing, using MS office, and watching downloaded .avi files it performs extremely well. As others have mentioned however, while streaming videos from YouTube and Hulu are very smooth when viewed in a window, there is a lot of stuttering in full-screen. I have ordered the Broadcom HD decoder card (~$20 from Ebay) that others have mentioned and will update this review when I have a chance to install and test it out. The WiFi range is excellent. I also think the sound quality is more than acceptable from a computer this size. The screen is beautiful and the webcam performs well. Another pro is that the computer stays pretty cool and is not uncomfortable when used on your lap. The computer also runs Vista very well, and as my first experience with this OS, I have had no problems.
UPDATE: I bought and installed the Broadcom HD decoder card in 5 minutes. It goes into the empty mini PCI slot. It seems to -have improved YouTube HD and the HDMI output is now very smooth (I never tested HDMI before the decoder card), however, I still cannot watch Hulu in high-res (480p) at full-screen without significant stuttering.
No Bluetooth - My U210 did not come with an internal Bluetooth antenna, even though it has a Bluetooth light, Bluetooth software loaded on the system, and "Bluetooth RFCOMM" listed in device manager. I suspect this is why some reviewers have stated that their U210 included Bluetooth, but mine did not and I would not expect other U210's from Amazon to include it. Apparently an internal Bluetooth antenna can be purchased from Ebay and plugged into the U210's motherboard for about $20.
Appearance and build quality - I like the white color and overall the computer looks very nice. As others have noted, the keyboard does have a small bulge centered over the letter "K" key. Other notebooks/netbooks I have seen do appear to have a more solid feel, but I'm guessing that the "flimsier" feel of the U210 is what helps to keep it's weight down, and there is no indication to me that my U210 won't last several years.
Windows 7 upgrade from MSI - I followed the instructions and ordered the upgrade the day I received my U210, but have not received anything from MSI yet. UPDATE: I received the upgrade DVD from Microsoft exactly 1 month after submitting the request to MSI, doing all the steps as fast as possible. It took MSI about 3 weeks to send the coupon, and Microsoft was very fast, sending the DVD to my house within a week. Windows 7 is running smooth.
Overall the U210 is a great small notebook and I'm very happy with it.
This is my first netbook size computer, and so far I have been extremely happy with the U210. It has become my main computer out of three including an older full-size Dell laptop and desktop.
Some pros/cons:
Performance - I was surprised how fast this computer is. For web browsing, using MS office, and watching downloaded .avi files it performs extremely well. As others have mentioned however, while streaming videos from YouTube and Hulu are very smooth when viewed in a window, there is a lot of stuttering in full-screen. I have ordered the Broadcom HD decoder card (~$20 from Ebay) that others have mentioned and will update this review when I have a chance to install and test it out. The WiFi range is excellent. I also think the sound quality is more than acceptable from a computer this size. The screen is beautiful and the webcam performs well. Another pro is that the computer stays pretty cool and is not uncomfortable when used on your lap. The computer also runs Vista very well, and as my first experience with this OS, I have had no problems.
UPDATE: I bought and installed the Broadcom HD decoder card in 5 minutes. It goes into the empty mini PCI slot. It seems to -have improved YouTube HD and the HDMI output is now very smooth (I never tested HDMI before the decoder card), however, I still cannot watch Hulu in high-res (480p) at full-screen without significant stuttering.
No Bluetooth - My U210 did not come with an internal Bluetooth antenna, even though it has a Bluetooth light, Bluetooth software loaded on the system, and "Bluetooth RFCOMM" listed in device manager. I suspect this is why some reviewers have stated that their U210 included Bluetooth, but mine did not and I would not expect other U210's from Amazon to include it. Apparently an internal Bluetooth antenna can be purchased from Ebay and plugged into the U210's motherboard for about $20.
Appearance and build quality - I like the white color and overall the computer looks very nice. As others have noted, the keyboard does have a small bulge centered over the letter "K" key. Other notebooks/netbooks I have seen do appear to have a more solid feel, but I'm guessing that the "flimsier" feel of the U210 is what helps to keep it's weight down, and there is no indication to me that my U210 won't last several years.
Windows 7 upgrade from MSI - I followed the instructions and ordered the upgrade the day I received my U210, but have not received anything from MSI yet. UPDATE: I received the upgrade DVD from Microsoft exactly 1 month after submitting the request to MSI, doing all the steps as fast as possible. It took MSI about 3 weeks to send the coupon, and Microsoft was very fast, sending the DVD to my house within a week. Windows 7 is running smooth.
Overall the U210 is a great small notebook and I'm very happy with it.
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Speed ( Texas ) This is an excellent Netbook. I also have a Dell mini 10 and this one is far more powerfull. Installed Win 7 which works great.
Things to note. This does not have 2 memory slots as advertised by Amazon - it only has one. I upgraded to 4 GB with no problems. There are reviews that HD video does not work; I hooked up a bluray player via usb and the video does stutter, but I have ordered a BroadCom BCM70010 BCM70012 HD Decoder Mini PCIe card for $25, which should correct this, if so, well worth it. Also note that this netbook does not come with bluetooth installed but also can be added for around $25. Agree with other reviews about the pros of this netbook, just wanted to add a few extra comments that may help you in your decision in reviewing this product.
Things to note. This does not have 2 memory slots as advertised by Amazon - it only has one. I upgraded to 4 GB with no problems. There are reviews that HD video does not work; I hooked up a bluray player via usb and the video does stutter, but I have ordered a BroadCom BCM70010 BCM70012 HD Decoder Mini PCIe card for $25, which should correct this, if so, well worth it. Also note that this netbook does not come with bluetooth installed but also can be added for around $25. Agree with other reviews about the pros of this netbook, just wanted to add a few extra comments that may help you in your decision in reviewing this product.
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Orton Bui ( US ) Let me start off by saying that I did quite a bit of research before deciding on this little guy.
The main requirements I had when browsing were
(1.) It had to have a usable keyboard/touch-pad without requiring too much readjustment. I've use too many netbooks where the keyboard, while usable, drove me almost crazy with the amount of types I'd eventually amass just typically typing as I do on an average keyboard.
(2.)Decent battery life. I've owned several laptops, but half the point of these "netbooks" is battery life isn't it?
(3.)Screen Real Estate(Screen Size). It was a must that it struck a good balance between portability and the proper screen size for my multimedia/web browsing needs.
(4.) Not frustratingly slow. Being a bit spoiled by my 24" screen and desktop, I always have always had a few windows of this and that open and while I knew pretty much the whole point of these low priced netbooks was portability and battery life at the price of performance, a guy can dream right?
I am glad to say that the MSI U210-006US 12.1-Inch White Netbook - 5 Hour Battery Life fit all of those requirements and then some.
The keyboard was amazingly easy to use and surprisingly, required very little readjustment. I think MSI did an amazing job designing the overall body of the netbook, while giving the keyboard just enough room to make it feel pretty much like an average sized one. The touchpad works like it should and *it has an off/on toggle. It is also flat and flush with the bottom of the netbook and it has a tactile feel and is not at all like those terrible slippery glossy ones that started popping up in laptop/netbooks.
*The touchpad also does not have a side-scroll, but that can be remedied with a different driver from synaptic(Do a google search on synaptic drivers).
The screen is the perfect size. I sat it next to my 24" Benq monitor and the u210 screen really stood out with its brightness and color reproduction.
As for the battery, I'd say I get just around 3.5-4 hours of use on average with probably 70% web browsing and 30% watching videos([...]). After uninstalling some of more useless stuff and disabling some of system services that I know I'd never use, I consistently got around 4-4.5 hours on the system.
In terms of speed, it more than surpassed my expectations both for a netbook and the price range. I am able switch between a few google chrome windows and whatever small programs I'm running without any real bothersome slowdown.
Something of note also while I was doing my research about this netbook, I found out it apparently is an admirable performer when it comes to overclocking(I made a funny face too when I was first reading about it). The idea of overclocking has always made me a bit uneasy and even more so with portables that have limited heat dispersion. But luckily, the process was fairly straight-forward as I read it on the forums at [...] and I managed to get a boost in battery life as well as cpu performance.
*On a side note, I noticed when comparing the specs both on amazon and other vendors of this netbook that the gpu would be the AMD Radeon X1250 yet the product I received from amazon, to my delight, was the slightly more powerful AMD Radeon X1270. I also have bluetooth on this unit which again was not even listed. :)
Overall I give this netbook top marks. It fulfilled all of my requirements and does so at a very affordable price. When comparing this with the other netbooks I was looking at, the HP Mini 311, Acer Aspire 1410, and the ASUS Eee PC 1101HA the u210 ended up being the best of all my requirements without compromising too much in battery life. If you are in the market for a netbook and would prefer something a little bit zippier than the 90% of all the other netbooks equipped with an atom processor and don't mind sacrificing a bit of battery life, the u210 is a definite buy.
Edit:
I've been using the u210 almost daily for a solid month now and I am still very impressed. I just thought I'd inform anyone still on edge about this unit. Contrary to what some other reviewers have stated, I found the wifi chip in this to be very effective, much stronger and more reliable than the other three laptops(Dell, Toshiba, ABS) being used by my family members(intel chips and a broadcom). The u210 has consistently been able to obtain a relatively strong reliable signal where my other laptops failed.
This netbook also works pretty well with Vista, though they do offer you a "free" upgrade to Windows 7 provided you pay the $10 shipping... which then puts you through a few loops. You register and pay $10 shipping for your Win7 code and wait a good deal of time for that to arrive, and then register again at Microsoft's website only to have to fill in more info and then enter a code given by them back into their site and finally wait for your Windows upgrade CD to arrive. They even have a cute flow chart for it on their website.
*I paid my shipping fees about three weeks ago and have yet to get my upgrade form.
Something of note too was the RAM situation. This unit only has 1 upgrade slot and not 2 like Amazon has listed, and to be able to access that, you have to break the little flimsy sticker that voids your warranty...
The main requirements I had when browsing were
(1.) It had to have a usable keyboard/touch-pad without requiring too much readjustment. I've use too many netbooks where the keyboard, while usable, drove me almost crazy with the amount of types I'd eventually amass just typically typing as I do on an average keyboard.
(2.)Decent battery life. I've owned several laptops, but half the point of these "netbooks" is battery life isn't it?
(3.)Screen Real Estate(Screen Size). It was a must that it struck a good balance between portability and the proper screen size for my multimedia/web browsing needs.
(4.) Not frustratingly slow. Being a bit spoiled by my 24" screen and desktop, I always have always had a few windows of this and that open and while I knew pretty much the whole point of these low priced netbooks was portability and battery life at the price of performance, a guy can dream right?
I am glad to say that the MSI U210-006US 12.1-Inch White Netbook - 5 Hour Battery Life fit all of those requirements and then some.
The keyboard was amazingly easy to use and surprisingly, required very little readjustment. I think MSI did an amazing job designing the overall body of the netbook, while giving the keyboard just enough room to make it feel pretty much like an average sized one. The touchpad works like it should and *it has an off/on toggle. It is also flat and flush with the bottom of the netbook and it has a tactile feel and is not at all like those terrible slippery glossy ones that started popping up in laptop/netbooks.
*The touchpad also does not have a side-scroll, but that can be remedied with a different driver from synaptic(Do a google search on synaptic drivers).
The screen is the perfect size. I sat it next to my 24" Benq monitor and the u210 screen really stood out with its brightness and color reproduction.
As for the battery, I'd say I get just around 3.5-4 hours of use on average with probably 70% web browsing and 30% watching videos([...]). After uninstalling some of more useless stuff and disabling some of system services that I know I'd never use, I consistently got around 4-4.5 hours on the system.
In terms of speed, it more than surpassed my expectations both for a netbook and the price range. I am able switch between a few google chrome windows and whatever small programs I'm running without any real bothersome slowdown.
Something of note also while I was doing my research about this netbook, I found out it apparently is an admirable performer when it comes to overclocking(I made a funny face too when I was first reading about it). The idea of overclocking has always made me a bit uneasy and even more so with portables that have limited heat dispersion. But luckily, the process was fairly straight-forward as I read it on the forums at [...] and I managed to get a boost in battery life as well as cpu performance.
*On a side note, I noticed when comparing the specs both on amazon and other vendors of this netbook that the gpu would be the AMD Radeon X1250 yet the product I received from amazon, to my delight, was the slightly more powerful AMD Radeon X1270. I also have bluetooth on this unit which again was not even listed. :)
Overall I give this netbook top marks. It fulfilled all of my requirements and does so at a very affordable price. When comparing this with the other netbooks I was looking at, the HP Mini 311, Acer Aspire 1410, and the ASUS Eee PC 1101HA the u210 ended up being the best of all my requirements without compromising too much in battery life. If you are in the market for a netbook and would prefer something a little bit zippier than the 90% of all the other netbooks equipped with an atom processor and don't mind sacrificing a bit of battery life, the u210 is a definite buy.
Edit:
I've been using the u210 almost daily for a solid month now and I am still very impressed. I just thought I'd inform anyone still on edge about this unit. Contrary to what some other reviewers have stated, I found the wifi chip in this to be very effective, much stronger and more reliable than the other three laptops(Dell, Toshiba, ABS) being used by my family members(intel chips and a broadcom). The u210 has consistently been able to obtain a relatively strong reliable signal where my other laptops failed.
This netbook also works pretty well with Vista, though they do offer you a "free" upgrade to Windows 7 provided you pay the $10 shipping... which then puts you through a few loops. You register and pay $10 shipping for your Win7 code and wait a good deal of time for that to arrive, and then register again at Microsoft's website only to have to fill in more info and then enter a code given by them back into their site and finally wait for your Windows upgrade CD to arrive. They even have a cute flow chart for it on their website.
*I paid my shipping fees about three weeks ago and have yet to get my upgrade form.
Something of note too was the RAM situation. This unit only has 1 upgrade slot and not 2 like Amazon has listed, and to be able to access that, you have to break the little flimsy sticker that voids your warranty...
......................................................
Accessories
- Targus PA055U 4 Port USB 2.0 Ultra Mini Hub
- Targus PAUM01U Ultra-Mini Retractable Optical Mouse
- Targus PAUK10U Ultra Mini USB Keypad
- Cables To Go 28230 USB Notebook Light
- Cables To Go - 30534 - USB 2.0 to SVGA Video Adapter
Related
- Kroo Retro Glove Sleeve for Netbook up to 12-Inch (Black)
- Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive for Mac and PC SE-S084C/RSBN (Gloss Black)
- Verbatim 96781 Nano Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse - Black
- Buckyballs Magnetic Toy
- Belkin Slim Backpack (Black/Light Gray)
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