MSI’s X-Slim X340 is getting a lot of good press lately as more and more folks are getting a chance to play with it. Soon to begin selling for less than $1000 and sporting looks that match up with Apple’s groundbreaking slim laptop, it’s fair to say that this notebook may just be worth holding out for.
On the hardware side, the X340 ultra-portable fits a 13-inch LED screen with a 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio, an Intel CULV Core 2 Solo 1.3GHz SU3500 processor, HD-capable graphics chipset and 2GB of RAM. It weighs a mere 1.3 kg and measures just 1.98 cm at its thickest point – yep, it’s as thin as a packet of tissues. Despite the size, MSI saw fit to be generous with the connectivity, packing the device with HDMI, VGA, ethernet, audio I/O, a memory card slot and two USB ports.
Early hands-on shows that the rig performs capably with Vista onboard, racking up considerably higher points on Geekbench compared to machines that, on paper, feature similar capabilities. Media playback is pretty good, with full 1080p rendering and decent side-viewing angles. Battery life is not too bad, allowing for up to 3 hours on a 4-cell unit and 6 hours on an 8-cell.
MSI is showing off a host of their new machines right now at Mobile Focus, though it’s no surprise that the MSI X-Slim X340 is garnering the most attention. It brings stylish computing at an affordable price and will likely find plenty of takers when it hits the market later in the year. According to the company, interest has been positive for the device and they’re already looking at rolling out 15.6-inch and 11.6-inch models to go along with the current 13-inch ultra-portable.
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