The new MSI Wind U160 is a fairly standard netbook in most respects, with its battery life being one of its few standout features.

The extended battery life is thanks to its six-cell battery, which MSI claims offers up to 15 hours of performance. (Though this quoted figure of course depends on how you’re using the computer - more intensive applications will not give you 15 hours of battery life.) Unfortunately, the battery adds a fair bit of bulk to the back of the unit, which is somewhat of a contradiction when you consider most people buy a netbook for the portability factor.

On the inside, the U160 isn’t vastly different to other netbooks. It features a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and GMA 3150 graphics card, plus a 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM and the Windows 7 Starter Edition operating system. Similarly, there’s nothing too remarkable on the outside either - the screen measures 10.1-inches with 1024×600 pixel resolution and connectivity consisits of a VGA port, three USB connection and an SD card reader.

The MSI Wind U160’s Australian RRP is $549.

Buy a cheap MSI netbook on sale in Australia

By Caroline Warnes