MSI launches complete line of X-Slim laptops

MSI drew quite some attention during the CeBIT convention last March. There, the company introduced its X-Slim 340 notebook. This broke the idea that only Apple was able to construct stylish and thin notebooks. MSI's slogan "Lighter than Air" seems to both adress the 1,3 kg weight of the laptop, as well as parodize competitor Apple's product.

During the Computex conference early next month, the company will expand the X-Slim series of notebooks with a 14" and a 16" model. Last week, MSI already showed their new notebooks during a pre-launch in Frankfurt. Like the current X340, the new X400 and X600 notebooks feature a stylish design and owe their flatness and weight to the use of special ultra low voltage (ULV) and small form factor (SFF) versions of several Intel chips. These speciale versions of the Core 2 Duo processors andm atching GS45/ICH9M chipset and wireless module are almost half the size of those in conventional notebooks. This again shows similarity to Apple, as it were these smaller components that made the Macbook Air possible.

The X400 has a 14" LED-screen with a 1366x768 HD-resolution. With a 4-cell battery, the machine weighs approximately 1,5 kilos and is no more than 24 mm thick. 802.11n Wireless LAN, Bluetooth 2.0 and a webcam have been integrated. The X400 will be available in both black and white. The X600 has a 15,6" screen and with its 2,1 kilograms is the lightest notebook in the world to feature a screen of this size. This machine had room for a seperate ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics chip, to ensure decent 3D-performance as well.

The X-Slim models aren't the only models in which MSI uses Intel's SFF-chips. The company will also launch a 12" laptop in the Wind-series. The U200 will be small and light, but perform better than smaller netbooks thanks to its Core 2 Duo processor.

Though exact pricetags for the new notebooks have not yet been given, they are sure to depend on the choices local MSI-distributors make regarding processor frequencies and hard disk capacity. MSI reports that the notebooks will feature competitive prices. Initially, the notebooks will be released with Windows Vista, but MSI claims that they've been already been validated for Windows 7 as well.

The X-Slim notebooks as shown in Frankfurt

The X-Slim 340 that was introduced on the CeBIT

The new X400 with 14" HD-display.

The X-Slim X600 is the lightest 15.6" notebook in the world.

The trick to make notebooks this small: special SFF-versions of Intel's chips (right)

Tags: bluetooth cebit computex ddr2 netbook radeon vista windows7 core2 apple

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