MSI X-Slim X320

Exterior
When asked, MSI representatives didn’t deny that inspiration for their X320 was Apple MacBook Air notebook. If we ignore MSI tags on chassis and cover, MSI X320 can be, easily, identified as MacBook Air. Whole chassis is black while cover is made out of shiny black plastic with discreet metallic flavor. At first glance that “black metallic paint” detail is unnoticeable, but it actually looks like a clear night sky if it’s looked a little bit closer. Rest of the chassis is matte. Monotony of black matte surfaces is broken by MSI logo on cover and chromed plastic frames around side connectors. When it comes to exterior of this notebook it is not likely that it will pass unnoticed, but at the same time it will not look like some tacky accessory.

One of the first features of MSI X-Slim X320 that will strike you will, most certainly, be its “slimness” – just 20mm (2cm=0.79inch). Sloped edges only contribute to visual effect of slimness. Of course dimensions alone don’t mean much if they’re not paired with low weight. MSI X-Slim X320 with 12.4inch display weighs only 1.35kg. As comparison, MSI Wind U90 << http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Notebooks/MSI-Wind-U90.html  >> with 8.9inch display weighs 1.1kg. Display with LED backlight has 16:9 ratio and decent picture quality.

Big difference in price between MSI X-Slim X320 and Apple MacBook Air implies that X320 falls behind its “role model” in more than few details. Chassis of MSI X-Slim X320 is pretty elastic and bends more than MacBook Air. Keyboard is good but key strokes are little bit too shallow and noisy. Touchpad is discreetly embedded in palm rest. For a change, touchpad is big and precise. Touchpad rocker buttons are not our favorite solution, but we must admit that “dead zone” in the middle is very small, so we didn’t have too much problems with touch pad buttons.

Interior
MSI X320 has some new components that we didn’t see so far. Instead of usual Atom N270 CPU, this notebook is based on Atom Z530 that was developed under code name “Silverthorne” which has even lower power consumption than its predecessors. It operates at 1.6GHz so difference in raw CPU power compared to usual netbooks it not that great. On the other hand difference in chipset is very significant. Netbooks are, in most cases, based on 945GSE chipset, while in X320 we found US15W version that is meant to be used in MIDs (Mobile Internet Device). US15W variant was significantly lower power consumption as you all assumed. Base of MSI X320 has TDP of 4.3W while most of the other netbooks has TDP around 8-11W. Thanks to this MSI X-Slim X320 has very low power consumption. Despite low power consumption X320 can get very warm, especially around touch pad. Since we tested this notebook during hot summer days, and didn’t found touch pad, in any given time, to be unpleasantly hot, you shouldn’t worry about this.

US15W chipset has new integrated graphics card: GMA 500. Interesting detail is that core of GMA 500 wasn’t developed by Intel, but instead was licensed from Imagination Technologies.  GMA 500 is slightly better solution than GMA 950 if we look at specifications, because GMA 500 supports wider range of advanced technologies, but in real world GMA 950 offers better performance levels. Since GMA 950 cannot be used for much more than 2D pictures and GMA 500 in this category offers the same, slightly lower performance levels are not that important. 

 

 

We were pleasantly surprised by speakers and their power output. Sound quality has good, and even low frequency (bass) sound was noticeable. Wireless adapter has great signal quality and we enjoyed in good and stable file transfers in our local wireless LAN. This wasn’t the case with some other notebooks that we tested lately. On the other hand webcam offered very average picture quality.

Despite the fact that MSI considers X-Slim X320 as notebook, it has connectors like any netbook model.  VGA, LAN and one USB are located at left side, while two USB and audio connectors are located at right side. Card reader is also located, very inconveniently at left side.

Flat and wide battery is nicely fitted in chassis, but it has low capacity. Luckily, thanks to low power consumption, autonomy is, actually, very decent.

One of the peculiars of this model is the fact that this is the first notebook based on Atom CPU that comes with Windows Vista OS preinstalled. MSI X-Slim X320 can cope nicely with this OS since it has 2GB RAM. Transition to Windows 7 will most definitely have positive impact on performances since we tested that combination also.

 

 

MSI X-Slim X320
CPU	Intel Atom Z530 @ 1.6GHz
Chipset	Intel US15W
Memory	2GB DDR2
HDD	320GB
Optical drive	none
Graphics card	Intel GMA 500
Display	13.4inch (1366x768)
Connectors	2xUSB, VGA, BlueTooth, Wireless 802.11b/g/n, card reader
Weight	1.35kg

 

 

MSI X-Slim X320 - Results
HD Tach [Average]	53.7MB/s
BatteryEater [Min/Max]	2h 27min / 4h 20min

 

Conclusion
Decent quality and expected performance levels will satisfy many, especially those users that prefer bigger displays. Attractive design comes, in that case, as free bonus.