MSI Megabook S271 - Review

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MSI Mega Book S271

MSI's notebook range is expanding rapidly. At the moment, this manufacturer offers 12, 14, 15 and 17 inch notebooks. One of the newest offerings in this range is the Mega Book S271, which we already looked at briefly in a test against its direct competition: the Mega Book S262. That particular model is based on Intel Centrino Duo technology, while the S271 covered in this article in equipped with an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor. 

The most important advantage the AMD processor has to offer is 64 bit support. Until it releases the Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile at the end of this month, Intel can not compete directly with AMD in this field. The Turion 64 TL-50 we find in our Mega Book S271 operates at 1.6 GHz and is equiped with two times 256 kB cache memory. Performance is very similar to that of the Intel Core Duo T2300 (1.67 GHz).

In MSI's S271, AMD's processor is coupled to an ATI Radeon XPress 1100M. As we started work on this laptop, it soon became clear that this chipset (codenamed RS485M) bears more than a passing resemblance to its predecessor, the Radeon XPress 200M. In certain locations, even the chipset's driver still refers to it as 200M. Considering the fact that this chipset has an integrated graphics processor, the Radeon XPress 1100M still provides reasonable results. The difference between this and Intel's 945GM chipset is especially noticable in the new 3DMark tests.

The great advantage the MSI S200 series has to offer is a compact design at a reasonably affordable price. Not a lot of other brands manage to deliver a 12 inch notebook at this price level. The disadvantage of these models is the weight, which is on the heavy side for a notebook of this size. Our Mega Book S271 weighs 2.1 Kg, due to the relatively heavy 4400 mAH battery. This battery provides a lifespan of around four hours (!).

In terms of features, there's no complaining about the Mega Book S271, as it has a card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, firewire, one slot for an Express Card (successor to the PC Card) and of course a DVD nurner. The model we tested was also equipped with 1 GB of memory, which occupies one of the two available expansion slots. Sadly this voids dual channel memory access, but it does allow for easy expansion at a later time. It must be said, however, that adding RAM is a bit more difficult a task with the S271 than with some other notebooks.

Conclusion

MSI offers with the Mega Book S271 a well-performing dual core notebook based on the AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50. The big advantage over the Intel Core Duo is 64 bit support. Intel will only offer this soon with its Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile. Just like the other notebooks in the Mega Book S200 series, this model is nicely compact and well-priced. With a battery life of four hours, this notebook is an excellent choice for the mobile user. Sadly the weight -partly due to this excellent, heavy-duty battery- is quite high for a notebook of this size. Once again, this all adds up to a Hardware.Info Silver Award.

Click the link below to compare the MSI Mega Book S271 (AMD Turion 64 X2) and the MSI Mega Book S262 (Intel Core Duo) with other notebooks.