Tech Diversions

I’ve had my eye on the new nettop category of “all-in-one” touch screen systems.  First the Asus Eee Top was interesting at a good price, but when the MSI Windtop came out around $530 with DVD+RW, it seemed too good to be true.  I watched Amazon and as soon as they had one, I snatched it up.  Free shipping, no tax, can’t beat the price.

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Unboxing

It shipped from Amazon in it’s original box, not packed within a larger box.  It looked pretty beat up and had been opened.  I opened it up and was pleased to see everything in order.  Unpacking the system was straight forward.  The computer was well protected, wrapped in poly packing and wedged with 2 Styrofoam ends.  There were two other boxes, one for the keyboard and another for the accessories.

Setup

As with most computers these days, plugging everything in was straight forward and even a little easier since it’s an AIO system.  Booting the system up gave the following setup screen where you had to pick a language.

After selecting English it took about 20 minutes for XP to finish installing, after which you went through the normal Windows XP Home setup screens.

Once the system rebooted, XP came up and auto launched the MSI Touch Interface.  The system seemed pretty speedy for the specs.  There are two model, this being the low end with:

• Intel 1.6GHz Atom 230
• 1 GB RAM
• 160 GB HD
• WiFi N and 1 GB LAN
• DVD RW
• 1.3 Webcam
• 4 in 1 Card Reader
• 18.5” Touch Screed (16:9)

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The MSI Wind series is taking aim again at the Asus Eee.  This time it’s “top” versus “top”.  The MSI AE1900 edges out the Eee Top in features and price.  The Wind Top adds a DVD writer and starts at $529.  I can’t find it online yet but Amazon has the Eee Top for $549.  So theoretically you can get more for less.  You can find out more at the MSI site and at engadget.  Let the nettouch wars begin!

We’re starting to get all “touchy feeling”, even in netbooks.  First the Asus T91 and T101H and now the Gigabyte T1028M.  Unlike the Asus T91, this has a 10” touchscreen, which makes it compete directly with the T101H.

The T1028M is atom powered, so it is in the netbook family.  No word on pricing or release date for the US, but if you base it on the Euro price it would be around $625.  You can find out the details at UMPC Portal.