Netbook Battle: MSI U230-040US Vs. Asus 1201N

Netbook Battle: MSI U230-040US Vs. Asus 1201N

Chance Stevens 9 March 2010 6,867 views View Comments

MSI is doing it’s best to kick dirt on Asus anyway it can. It’s already trying to use it’s U160 netbook as a way to give Asus the middle finger to their 1005PE. They are looking to do something similar in the 12 inch netbook space with their U230-040US model. Below is a chart comparing the specifications of each netbook.

	MSI U230-040US	Asus 1201N
Screen	12.1 inches	12.1 inches
Resolution	1366 x 768	1366 x 768
OS	Windows 7 HP	Windows 7 HP
Processor	AMD Neo X2 L335	Intel N330 Atom
Hard Drive	320GB	250GB
Memory	2GB	2GB
HDMI	Yes	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes	Yes
Graphics	ATI HD3200	Nvidia ION
Ethernet	10/100/1000	10/100
Battery	6 Cell	6 Cell
Price	$479	$479

It looks like the U230-040US beats the 1201N in more places than it loses. It offers a larger hard drive as well as faster ethernet. Both have keyboard which should make typing easy but MSI has a MSI Ergonomics De-Stress (EDS) keyboard which may make typing faster and easier. The on place where the 1201N wins is when it comes to battery life. When comparing it to a notebook, the prospect of getting 4 hours of battery life sounds great but it isn’t that remarkable when compared to other netbooks. Having a more robust processor and graphics definitely takes it’s toll on the battery of the MSI netbook.

Speaking of processors, a lot has been made of Intels 330 dual-core Atom processor but the L335 is a faster chip, at least when it comes to benchmarks. Using the Passmark CPU Mark test the Intel 330 scored a 632 while the L335 scored a 876.

At the time of this post being written there are no reviews of the U230-040US so it’s hard to say if the difference in specs means that it’s actually faster when compared to the 1201N.

For more information on the MSI U230-040US – here.
For more information on the Asus 1201N – here.

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Sir_Ters

Since when did 12" become a netbook? 10" is a LARGE netbook.
ddv2005

I found that CPU work on half CPU speed on battery
(http://www.call-o-call.com/msi.... You can see that
CPU loaded on 100% but it still work on 800Mhz.
According MSI "maximum clock of 800MHz @ Battery Mode"!!! It is slow as 10 years old computer!!! You can't watch video on battery because CPU to slow and AMD chipset don't support acceleration for many video codecs (like WMV9, DIVX). Better take netbook with Atom CPU and ION chipset because it can use full power on battery and required much less power for that.
awesome

You can disable the power now feature in the BIOS.
ddv2005

Without PowerNow feature it will be like 10 years laptops with 1 hour battery life. PowerNow MUST work in any mode (AC and DC).I want dynamically switch between 800Mhz on idle and 1600Mhz when I need more power. Why any Atom netbook can do it but MSI U230 can't?
Mike

There're also the matters of battery life and temperatures, where the Intel si superior. I don't know about you, i for one just wouldn't go for an AMD laptop anymore...
Chance_Stevens

Agreed. I know a lot of people who don't use their netbook on their lap and use a desk. They wouldn't care about the difference in heat. Besides a firmware update could help with thermal policy the same way that Asus does for their line of Intel netbooks. Can't argue about battery life - AMD decided to make their processors in between a CULV and Atom chip which just makes them look inferior.