MSI Wind price hikes- orders cancelled
The MSI Wind captured a lot of reviewers hearts when it was first introduced a few months ago due to its great design and low price point. Then shipping delays started leading many to wonder if MSI was having trouble producing the mini-notebook for the low price points advertised. The answer is beginning to become clear and it seems that indeed MSI has discovered they cannot produce the Wind as cheaply as they originally thought. Laptop Magazine has spoken with MSI and indeed the Wind with the 6-cell battery is selling for higher prices across the etailer space. They found the netbook online for anywhere from $549 to $599, much higher than the originally quoted price of $499 which had everyone excited. This price increase doesn’t sound like much on the surface but that’s a 10 – 20% increase which is bigger when you look at it that way. Laptop is also reporting that consumers who had pre-ordered the Wind from Buy.com for $499 have seen their order cancelled due to the price increase.
This gets into the area that we’ve warned about before, OEMs of these mini-notebooks are having a hard time producing these netbooks as cheaply as originally thought. The single biggest draw of the original EEE PC, the mini that started this whole genre, was the $300 price tag. People are willing to lose functionality if the netbook is so cheap but once you start adding costs to them that willingness begins to disappear. I went through that thought process recently when purchasing a notebook for a kid going to college and I went with a $600 laptop from HP because there was simply no need to accept reduced functionality at that price point. That’s the uncharted waters netbook OEMs are entering as prices go up, they are going to drop sales and quickly.
I am one of those people who had my $499 order for the 6-cell Wind from buy.com canceled.
I was dead-set on buying it, but with the price hike I will now consider other options such as the upcoming Dell “E” minis.
MSI probably lost my business with this price hike!
I believe there’s been a shortage of the six-cell batteries, too, which has probably increased MSI’s costs. Notably, in the UK, PC World (which rebadges the Wind as the Advent 4211) is supplying it with a three cell battery, with the promise of an optional six cell sometime in the Autumn.
Meanwhile the Acer Aspire One really is shipping for $379 from Newegg.
I would like to open an e-tailer that is selling it for $1000 for a 6 cell. If I had 20 of them I bet I could almost sell them all. I think the retailers are seeing a demand for the 6 cell, so they are gouging the consumers. Imagine the price of gas if more would only be released in autumn.
I love my 3 cell wind and can’t wait untill the 6 cell is released.
I was a huge MSI Wind fan, but have ordered two Eee PC 1000h laptops. One for me and one for my brother for college. Found it for 564 each with shipping. MSI lost me at price and the lack of features compared to the 1000h.
What lack of features compared to the 1000h? Is that 1000h running Linux or XP? I look at these 10″ers this way: Apple doesn’t do a MacBook that size. If I buy one, I’d rip off the OS and put OS X on it. Microsoft has lost me. Video is now nearly-unviewable on my XP system (funny, the same way it became under Win98!!!).
1000h running XP. Its the small things that add up, 6 cell is included up front, N wireless, durable chassis, durable hinge, dolby speakers. These small things add up when you compare the two 10″ computers that are now relatively the same price. I also can upgrade the ram on the 1000h without breaking warranty and the Hardive is accessible if later I want to upgrade.
I actually plan on buying a 399 linux MSI Wind to play with and install OS X when it becomes available. Just a fun project. The 1000h will be my computer that will be moving around alot and working on alot. I dont want to depend on a hacked OS X computer as my everday computer with sensitive info that I could lose if something were to happen. I’m a business guy so you look at probability and taking the safest route.
Not sure what you meant by video is unviewable on XP, what video. youtube? Dvd?
His XP machine won’t play video. I’m guessing some malware is slowing it down. Just a guess what could be wrong.
So what $600 HP did you pick out for that student you mentioned JK?
I was originally drawn to the netbook idea by the Eee’s $299 price point. I eventually bought a 1000H. I know I could get a more powerful laptop for $600 from HP or Dell, but the 1000H is half the size and weight. The battery life on the 1000H is also double what the $600 HP likely gets. That counts for a lot. Netbooks will live on their size and battery life even though their costs are now equivalent.