AMD is still making headway in the consumer ultraportable market. This time, MSI has introduced a new member of its X-Slim family with an Athlon Neo X2 processor and Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics.
The X-Slim X430's 14-inch, 1366x768 display makes it a touch bulkier than other consumer ultraportables, but MSI has still managed to keep it thin and light—the firm quotes a weight of 3.3 lbs and a thickness of only 0.96" at the machine's thickest point. Internally, the new X-Slim also features 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a choice of 320GB or 500GB hard drives, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows 7 Home Premium, and a battery with either four or eight cells.
We'd wager the quoted 3.3-pound weight applies to the four-cell battery, but still, that's a pretty slender system considering the internals. The Radeon HD 3200 has an HDMI output, and it should have no trouble running semi-recent games or decoding Blu-ray movies via the optional external Blu-ray drive. Also, assuming MSI went with the Athlon Neo X2 L325 (it doesn't specify the model), then folks will get a pair of 1.5GHz K8-derived cores to play with—more than enough power for a home PC these days.
