While for the most part the
MSI Wind looks like a pretty decent ultra-portable notebook, there's no denying that the standard
3-cell battery is its weakest link; and if you want to upgrade to the
6-cell version, you’re going to have to spend
at least $50 more.

Based on
Engadget's report, it should only amount to
$549.99 as opposed to the 3-cell battery edition which cost $499.99. That’s according to an MSI representative, but prevailing market prices on the internet show a higher selling price ranging from
$559 to an absurd $599. To make matters worse, those who were able to sneak in their orders at
Buy.com for the
$499 selling price got
cancellation notices. It just goes to show the things people would do to sneak in a profit or two, but the bigger issue at hand is what manufuctarers are willing to do to lower the price.
I guess its a little bit presumptuous to think that such an affordable device can be completely flawless, but let's face it, if you're going to cut corners, do it in places that won't hamper productivity that much. Being a portable device,
battery life is key and it doesn't make sense to bundle any device with such an underperforming power source. Granted that the Eee PC itself isn't a stellar performer in terms of battery life, at least it isn't as expensive as the Wind either. The point I'm trying to make is that since
when did affordability take precedence over functionality? Unfortunately, that is the message that is being sent across by the rise and popularity of the netbooks of today.