First impressions of the MSi X-Slim X600

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Hey, hey. Look what the Fedex man dropped off! Why it’s the sexy MSi X-Slim X600. His big, white truck is like Santa’s sleigh to me. Anyway, I just unboxed the svelte notebook, shot some pics, and came away with these impressions. [PSGallery=aoijra108ex]

Things I like:

  • The matte black finish
  • The bright 15.6-inch screen
  • The full size keyboard including number pad
  • The 4.5 hour battery life according to Windows (untested)
  • The multi-touch trackpad
  • The MacBook Air inspired design
  • The small-ish power adaptor
  • The HD video capable ATI Radeon 4350 GPU
  • The USB/eSATA port
  • The flat 6-cell battery

Things I don’t like:

  • Windows Vista
  • It gets toasty
  • The large, glossy black bezel around the screen
  • Some keys have been shrunk in size to make room for the number pad
  • Some of the included MSi apps that auto-start are corny
  • The flat – physically and acoustically – down-firing speakers
  • The small trackpad buttons
  • 47sec Vista boot-up time

The first point is my biggest gripe so far. This notebook is screaming at me to install Windows 7 on it – or OS X if possible. I don’t know how long I can ignore its cries either. I’ll probably end up doing two reviews on the X-Slim X600: one would be just the way it ships and the other with Windows 7 or OS X installed. But even Vista can’t totally ruin the X600. I can’t wait to spend more time with this capable MacBook Air clone.

But while I have you, is there anything you wanna know about it?