MSI WindPad parps its way on to tablet scene with Android and Windows 7
MSI, Taiwanese purveyor of reasonably priced gaming laptops, has applied its legendary tin ear for naming conventions and come up with the MSI WindPad *parp*. Excuse us.
It's only day two of our exhausting exhaustive coverage from Las Vegas and already we have a strong contender for the exalted CES Product Name that Makes Us Giggle Like Schoolboys award. MSI, Taiwanese purveyor of reasonably priced gaming laptops, has applied its legendary tin ear for western naming conventions and come up with the MSI WindPad *parp*.
The WindPad *trump* is a 10-inch touchscreen tablet computer with front and back cameras for video calling and a mini-HDMI port. There's 16-64GB of solid-state storage, and the option of Android or the touchscreen cyanide that is Windows 7, with MSI's own 'Wind Touch' *pffft* user interface. Open the window will you, it smells in here.
We got wind *brrrp* of this back in June, and it hasn't improved much. The Android option will use an unnamed ARM processor while the Windows version is running on a lowly 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, last seen in a flimsy netbook near you. There's 2GB of RAM onboard, but even so that seems rather lightweight to be running hi-def video to your telly -- clearly the point of the HDMI port.
Both models will have Wi-Fi, but only the Android version will have 3G, as an optional extra.
The touchscreen itself is 1,024x600 pixels, much lower than the slightly smaller iPad. That comparison is totally valid: MSI is pricing the WindPad *toot* exactly the same as Apple's take on the tablet, with options (depending on the amount of storage you want) starting at $499 (£320).
Oh, and its chassis is completely made of plastic. A lack of power and a duff UI might be acceptable if this was around the £200 mark, but at iPad prices, why not just get an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab?
UK pricing and availability is unannounced. We'll let you know if our sight-unseen prejudicial rantings prove entirely on the money when our in-depth hands-on coverage starts flooding back from Vegas.