Atom CPU used in this configuration also supports HT so in Windows Task Manager you will see four cores despite the fact that there are only two present beneath CPU heat spreader. MSI advertises this model as ultra low power that will consume only 35W and in a year it will lower power bill in amount that this nettop would pay itself, of course compared to traditional desktop configuration.  Well, we tested these claims and yes, this nettop indeed has power consumption of 35W which is lower than consumption of one 40W light bulb! Beside chassis, in package that we got from MSI, we also found power adapter, CD with drivers, manual and stand that allows this nettop to be positioned in vertical position. Interesting detail is presence of Windows XP drivers on supplied CD although Windows Vista was preinstalled. This is very important in case you plan to use Windows XP on this nettop. Manual is small and it is obvious that is intended for few models since it mentions Windows XP Recovery console. Recovery DVD is not included in package but instead there is hidden HDD partition that is used for Vista recovery. This partition has 6GB of capacity so there is enough space for bookmarks, mail backups and other important data in case of emergency recovery.

When we unwrapped device first thing that we noticed is protective transparent foil on black front side. This, of course, means that front side has piano finish so be prepared to use cloth from time to time. On front side are present two USB, speakers and microphone connectors but also SD/MMS/MS/XD card reader, power button with blue LED and red LED for HDD activity. There is no reset button which we found to be odd decision. On lateral sides are ventilation openings. On back side are present 4 USB connectors, LAN, VGA connector, six audio connectors and wireless antenna. During tests neither chassis neither power adapter showed tendencies toward heating up which is result of low consumption. In most cases fans inside chassis didn’t produce noticeable noise and even when we put this nettop under full load, noise levels were very low. Optical device didn’t have any distinctive markings on it, but thanks to info from Windows Device Manager we concluded that LiteOn Multi Recorder DVD device was used in our model.

Performances of this model are in expected range and it will do most of jobs without any problems. Only test that this nettop had problems with was rendering in Cinebench but this nettop isn’t configured as rendering workstation so these results cannot be accounted as big problem. The area where this nettop showed its true office character was games. Even older games like Prey were horrible experience even on lowest resolution and settings. World in Conflict showed better performances but framerate was still unacceptably low. 

When it comes to multimedia performances this configuration is enough for almost all content except for 1080p videos. We tested 720p video that was played without any problems and with CPU at 30% usage. Lower 1080p videos with lower bitrate can be played without chopping (drops) but full 1080p video is almost unwatchable. We tried the same video in MPC HC overlay and some other players but the results were the same. Obviously there are some problems with graphics drivers that should be solved in the future because CPU has enough power to support all media formats.