MSI X340 218US - Core 2 Solo SU3500 / 1.4 GHz CULV - RAM 2 GB - HDD 320 GB - GMA 4500MHD - Gigabit Ethernet - WLAN : Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, 802.11b/g/n (draft) - Windows 7 Home Premium - 13.4" Widescreen TFT 1366 x 768 ( WXGA ) - camera - black

Comment: I have the 021 model which is identical to this one except it has the 4-cell battery, Vista vs Win 7, and more flex in the keyboard. This model was updated to fix the flex and add additional battery life and Win 7. Virtually the same, otherwise.

Summary: This is an excellent value in an "ultra-thin" notebook and performs well for the "super-netbook" category.

I was looking for something light and handy for everyday use (email, web, etc.). I already have a gaming laptop so I was OK with no gfx card for this unit. I have a netbook which is nice, but the small screen was becoming an issue for me. I felt this 13.4 inch screen, still fairly compact design would hit the sweet spot for me for web surfing and such. And it does.

The build quality seems fine for the price. Plastic surfaces yes, but nice appearance even so. Everything seems sturdy enough -- not "rugged" by any means, but fine for its intended use. The unit looks very nice and is well designed. I like having the vents on the angular wall of the case, as this means they won't easily get blocked when you set it down. It seems to run cool. It gets warm, but not hot anywhere.

Performance is definitely good enough for something in the near-netbook/ultra-portable category. I open lots of tabs in Firefox, often multiple windows with lots of tabs, and it does fine. I would not do video editing on it, but for general use, no problems.

It has a good complement of ports and they are well located. The display is bright, sharp, colors fine. Viewing angles typical for this class (i.e. OK, but not great). There was very little bloatware on mine (thankfully).

All in all, it seems very well suited for my intended purpose which is basically a "better netbook" -- I wouldn't be so happy at the original price (not enough processor) but at current prices, I think this is a very good deal. The ultra-thin design and the nice 1366x768 13.4" display are the high points. Its ultra-thin, sleek, sexy design is without peer at this price point.

Comment: This is the updated X340-218 with the improved keyboard and standard 8 cell battery.

I bought this knowing that an(other) update is imminent in the X350 (core 2 duo vs core 2 solo processor), as I needed an update to my netbook ASAP. I have the eee pc 1005ha and, while a great little netbook, it just couldn't handle video as well as I had hoped and the 10" screen was really starting to feel cramped.

The X340 is quite the specimen. With the 8 cell battery, it really has some heft (feels like a solid machine), but it is still amazingly thin and very light. Holding it in your hand, it feels like no other computer except for possibly the Macbook Air. It handles 720p HD video with minor stutter (only at the beginning), and it can multitask enough for my purposes. I installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 Ultimate on it immediately, and it runs exceedingly well. Battery life so far seems excellent; I got approximately 6-7 hours on a full charge of mixed use (using wifi/browsing, screen at 75% brightness, listening to music/itunes, and syncing my iPhone). The 13" screen is razor sharp and the perfect size (I had considered buying the 15", but now I'm really glad I didn't).

Negatives? I kinda wish they would've thrown in the 4 cell battery as well (when you want as little weight as possible), and the duo processor would've been nice for snappier multitasking. Also, the trackpad, while not a deal breaker, could be improved (downloading the driver from the manufacturer really helped a lot, though). Silver color in this configuration would've been nice, too.

All in all, for a computer this eye-catching at this price, I am thrilled with this purchase, and I would completely recommend it to anyone who wants style without sacrificing performance (too much) at a really affordable price.