MSI is releasing a new Wind netbook which will sport AMD's dual core processors. Coupled with ATI's Radeon HD 3200, it should still pack decent performance. There are actually two models MSI is launching. The lower model will use the AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 and the higher-end model will use the Athlon X2 L335. Both will be availble at $430 and $480. eWeek.com claims that the MSI Wind will come shipped with Windows 7.

Both models, like the unit they replace, feature a 12.1-inch display, specifically a high-definition display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 1,366 by 768 pixels. These are paired with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics chips, which MSI officials said combine to deliver “a bright widescreen visual experience with exceptional color saturation and crisp imagery.”

As applications become more powerful, I want more capability and potential from notebook, not less. I want a notebook that is slimmer, faster, with a great keyboard and large, bright screen. I want to enjoy the upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate with all of their video playback and multi-tasking features and capabilities. With an UltraThin notebook, I have those capabilities in a slim, nicely designed notebook.

It goes with out saying, that these are not the same as netbooks.

When I ran Windows Experience Index, the processor got a rating of 3.2. This is 0.1 higher than the same Athlon MV-40 on the ThinkPad X100e (WEI: 3.1) because I installed 64-bit version of Windows 7.

It manages to achieve its low price point by using an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor - a single core chip with 512KB of L2 cache, clocked at 1.6GHz. To complement this, there's 2GB of RAM and a Radeon HD 3200 graphics chip. Understandably, performance is a bit of a mixed bag and the X100e lies somewhere between a netbook and a CULV-based laptop.

You can buy one here for $510.

The full Directx11 support is provided via an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB of dedicated graphics memory, powering a 15.6-inch 1080p display.