I’ve been playing around with both of these 10-inch, Intel Atom-powered netbooks, mini-laptops, or whatever you want to call them, and while both systems have much that I like, both also have some drawbacks.

Asus Eee Computer 1000

Pros:
*Sleek, glossy, Nintendo DS-like finish
*Simple, straightforward GNU Linux operating system
*Fast boot time

Cons
*The OS is essentially locked down, and adding new programs or upgrading existing software can be a chore. For example, the machine ships with Firefox 2, and I wanted to upgrade to Firefox 3. There’s no built-in update tool for Firefox on the Eee PC 1000, and I had to use this amateur tool I found on an Eee forum to get to Firefox 3.0.1. There’s a new program to upgrade to Firefox 3.0.3 (the latest version), but it sounds like that program might be a bit more finicky and I didn’t test it.
*The fan runs a bit loud.

MSI Wind
Pros:
*Windows has a reputation for being clunky and slow, but boot times are almost as quick as the Eee Personal computer 1000.
*Since it’s a standard Windows XP machine, you can download and install and update and upgrade with ease.
*Whisper quiet.

Cons:
*I had some trouble getting the system to connect to the Web via either Ethernet or Wi-Fi, but I haven’t seen other reviewers reporting this problem, so I suspect I just had a quirky network card or something.
*Not a particularly sexy machine, and the screen doesn’t seem as bright as that on the Eee.

BOTTOM LINE:
As these mini-laptops have gotten larger and equipped with more powerful processors, it’s gotten harder to ignore the limitations of the default Linux OS that ships on the Eee PC 1000. Of course, Asus also sells Eee models that come with Windows XP (such as the 1000H), and unless you’re certain you’ll only be doing Web surfing and e-mail, I’d suggest XP at this point.

Based on that, I’d recommend the Wind over the 1000, but the XP-equipped 1000H might be worth your while, as well.

UPDATE: Alternatively, if neither Linux nor Windows XP float your boat, here are instructions on how to install OS X on the MSI Wind.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 4:35 pm and is filed under General News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.