The , based on its hardware configuration, didn't surprise us with its performance. A WorldBench 6 score of 36, PC Mark 05 score of 1429, and a 3D Mark 06 score of 166 are all in line with our expectations -- mainstream netbook performance. We had no trouble multitasking with up to three programs simultaneously -- browsing the Web, listening to music, and working on Office productivity suite -- which is pretty good for the Wind U160. Reading text on the screen was fine, so was watching the occasional DVD or YouTube video. We found the MSI Wind U160 played 480p HD videos streamed off YouTube just fine, but it couldn't quite handle 720p HD playback.

Also the Wind U160's onboard speakers, placed along the front edge, aren't loud enough for a small room -- plug in a pair of headphones and they're just as good as any other netbook's speakers. The Wind U160's six-cell battery lasted an admirable 4 hour 31 minutes on our battery benchmark test (at high performance preset and full-screen brightness). This places the Wind U160 second only to the Eee PC 1008P in terms of the best battery life in our . Expect close to 8 hours of browsing the Web over Wi-Fi on power safe mode on a single charge on the MSI Wind U160 -- now that's mighty impressive.

The is the best 10-inch MSI Wind netbook till date. It has good looks, decent features, nice keyboard and touchpad, and very good battery life. For Rs. 23,999 (US$518), we recommend the Wind U160 over the because of its lower price point and its extra RAM and hard drive space -- unless you don't mind spending extra on the Eee PC 1008P's unique faux-reptilian skin exterior.