I downgraded from a 15-inch Compaq powered by T2370 and 2 gigs of RAM running Windows Vista, to a MSI Wind—Atom N270 and 1 gig of ram. Why? Because portability and size are more important to me right now. Besides the Compaq was only used for netbook tasks. The most performance I needed from it was when I ripped CDs.
I settled on the Wind because of several favorable reviews online. It supposedly had the 2nd best keyboard next to the HP Mini, standard netbook innards and a fair price.
It's been 3 days and I like it so far. I initially installed the Windows 7 RC on it but replaced it with XP after a day. The performance felt sluggish, much like how my previous laptop performed with Vista and only a gig of ram. The Atom, the 1 gig and Win7 just didn't do it for me.
XP is a much better experience. Using the Wind as a netbook doesn't feel like running a gimped CPU. The last time I used XP was with an Athlon64 3000+ with 2gb ram. The Wind seemed just as fast.
Besides the upgraded portability, the screen quality is also an upgrade from the Compaq. It has better viewing angles and is much brighter and it's matte surface has less glare than the Compaq's glossy screen.
Just 2 things I didn't see mentioned in all the reviews I read. One is the annoying placement of the left CTRL key. Its placement has been switched with an Fn key. And 2 is the HD noise—it sounds more audible than my previous laptop. The cause might simply be the quieter fan of the Wind which doesn't mask the HD noise. The loudness is comparable to the HD noise of my 120gb iPod Classic, if not slightly louder.
So do I recommend the Wind? Yep. Just remember you're using a netbook and not a laptop.
Here are some of the reviews I looked before I bought my Wind:
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