MSI Announces WindPad 110W With New AMD Z-01
by Dustin Sklavos on July 7, 2011 4:26 PM ESTThe tablet market is expanding every bit as rapidly as netbooks did when they first arrived, and then some. MSI has announced their entry into the market today, and it's a very different breed of tablet compared to the largely Android-based units available. The new WindPad 110W has a heck of a lot going on under the hood, including some new kit from AMD.
Unlike the Android-based tablets that have been multiplying in the market, the WindPad 110W is running a full-on Windows 7 Home Premium installation, and a peek under the hood reveals a beastly amount of hardware for a tablet.
At the center of the 110W is the AMD Z-01 APU, a 1GHz dual-core processor with a TDP of just 5.9 watts. Essentially a lower-clocked, much lower-power version of the E-350 we're so fond of, the Z-01 brings with it Radeon HD 6250 graphics with 80 stream processors clocked at 276MHz. Strapped to the single-channel memory controller is 4GB of DDR3, which should be more than enough for what the WindPad is intended for.
The rest of the 110W is no slouch either, with a 32GB SSD integrated, 802.11b/g/n networking, and Bluetooth 3.0 support. The 10" screen is an IPS panel with a 1280x800 resolution. External connectivity is handled by a mini-HDMI port, an SD card reader, and a single USB 2.0 port. If there's one place where the WindPad falters compared to other tablets, though, it's the integrated cameras: both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras are only 1.3 megapixel, miles behind the rest of the pack.
MSI ships it with a two-cell, 4200mAh battery, a Trusted Platform Module, and personalized software for ease of use with touch control. That's important since Windows 7's touch-based controls still leave something to be desired. At 1.87 lbs. it's not too heavy but will definitely be noticeable.
Presales are starting now at Newegg and Amazon, for a reasonable MSRP of $599.
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munky - Friday, July 8, 2011 - link
I've been tracking this one for a while. Instead of spending $600 for oversized phones, I'd rather get something like this with real capabilities.ouchtastic - Friday, July 8, 2011 - link
Would Anandtech consider looking into a roundup of bargain basement ~$100 tablets?I see brands such as Eken, MID and Genica offering 8" tablets based on VIA hardware which can run Flash videos (at least according to Youtube vids of some of these devices). Resistive touchscreens for sure but the pricing puts them closer to ebook readers, and I'd be interested to know what the positives are to picking a cheapo tablet over a Kindle for instance. Almost an impulse buy.
ppeterka - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
A friend bought one from China. Actually the second one worked. And sucked big time... It is a $100 7" Android device, but I'd consider it at its price for $40... It did actually work, but it was no fun in using it...Zap - Friday, July 8, 2011 - link
Finally someone is making a netbook without a keyboard, LOL.funkdat - Monday, July 11, 2011 - link
I'd like to help with a few issues people seem to have about this tablet.1. Space: 32GBs isn't alot of a windows tablet. There will be a 64GB model coming out most likely, but for those who don't want to wait just buy a SD card. 32GB class 10s aren't even that bad price wise and ussually you get charged $100 for ever storage upgrade on a table model anyways.
2. Windows + Touch Screen = Bad: Not alot of articles are pointing it out but this model has a optical mouse that supports right clicking build it. Not much harder to use then a touch bad on a laptop. This is the main reason I'm buying this one over the Acer like it.
3. Can't Right Click: Yes you can. See comment # 2.
With this have a dualcore APU w/ DX11, flash, and HD video support, it blow away everything intel has out right now for netbooks and tablets. You not limited to crappy apps since its has Windows. You can run any program you want. I plan to use it for multimedia and run quickbooks on it so I can take mobile payments and keep track of records easily. Also going to come in handing for easily viewing PDF manuels while doing onsite repairs. The full size usb port and Windows native device sport are also a blessing. Try getting a Android tablet to work with any device you want to hookup to it. For busness users like me, this is a life saver. I'll leave Android and iOS to my cell phone.
Visual - Friday, August 12, 2011 - link
"Windows + Touch Screen = Bad"I disagree, I have used Windows 7 on tablets ever since early beta (on a M912X) and am now using it on a TM2, it works great. But I won't go about this again here, I've repeated myself enough in many other posts already. I just wonder, have you ever used it yourself to form an opinion?
And about the optical trackpad of the 110W, yeah that's a nice idea. I don't like the "rightclick" by click and hold though, thats the same way as the rightclick by touch and is not usable in games or other apps that require faster rightclicks. It wouldn't have killed them to add a dedicated button for it and would have improved usability so much more...
boenxx - Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - link
Windows 7 with AMD z-01, is it much power to drive win7?