Netbook or laptop? MSI's X-Slim tries to be both

Intel's Atom processor, originally designed to power netbooks, is making its way onto a variety of computers, from so-called net-tops to larger laptops. The latest entry comes from MSI. Its X-Slim line is a series of 13-inch laptops that feel like the MacBook Air, but unfortunately the resemblance stops there.

We took a first look at the MSI X-Slim (X320-037US, $600), a 13-inch laptop that weighs just 2.9 pounds and measures a skinny 7/8-inch thick. It's an easy system to carry around, and battery life in our preliminary tests was also respectable. With Wi-Fi on, it lasted 3.75 hours, including running 30 minutes of CNN video.

Once you start trying to do anything substantive with the X-Slim, however, the Atom's limitations start to show. That's not surprising, since we've said from the start that netbooks aren't good for much more than surfing, e-mailing, and light word processing.

For example, MSI includes a Webcam application on the system, but it overtaxes the processor and makes the program difficult to use. Ditto for the suite of multimedia applications that's included with the X-Slim. The touchpad has a sluggish response to quick touches that made it difficult to move the cursor around the screen unless you use a smooth finger-sweeping motion, and there's no scroll area, nor can you turn off the "tap-to-click" feature.

It took an hour for the system to initialize the first time we turned it on, and nearly another hour to run the large number of Windows Updates and software installations required.

On the plus side, the X-Slim has a sufficiently large keyboard, touchpad, and wrist rest. It's got 2GB of RAM, and the system we bought had a 320GB hard drive, 3 USB ports, and Microsoft Works.

The only reason you'd buy this system instead of a typical netbook is for the larger screen. But we think you're better off saving your money and opting for a smaller netbook. The screen won't be as large, but the processing power on the MSI X-Slim simply isn't sufficient for doing the kind of tasks you'd need a larger screen for. —Dean Gallea and Donna Tapellini