MSI has announced that its thinnest-ever Wind netbook - the Wind U160 - is now available at US retail priced from $379.99.
The system, pictured above, is said to abandon the "traditional clamshell form" in favour of something a little more sleek and refined. MSI calls it a "new era of netbook design", perhaps referring specifically to a couple of niceties - including an illuminated MSI logo on the netbook lid, a backlit power button positioned on the system's cylindrical hinge, a chiclet keyboard and a trackpad that merges seamlessly into the palm rest.
Measuring 25.4mm at its thickest point and weighing just 1kg, it's an ultra-portable with a slight hint of style. MSI has the system available in "Fancy Gold" or "Jet Black" colour schemes, and finishes the system with a "scratch-resistant enamel" that it claims will "emit a multitude of colour variations" under different light conditions.
It's clearly trendy, then, and it's suitably equipped in terms of hardware, too. Taking on board Intel's latest Pine Trail platform, the Wind U160 makes use of a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and integrated GMA 3150 graphics, coupled with 1GB of DDR2 memory and a 160GB hard-disk drive.
The 10in display offers a 1,024x600 resolution, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam is built in as standard. Three USB ports are available, as is a multi-card reader, VGA out, mic/headphone ports, Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1 and Wireless N. Microsoft's Windows 7 Starter features as the default operating system.
What's really going to tickle your fancy, though, is the six-cell battery, which MSI claims will provide up to 15 hours of use from a single charge when running in MSI's exclusive "ECO mode".
There's no official word on UK availability as yet, but a quick search suggests a larger 250GB model is on its way priced at around £350.
