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I’ve always been a big gadget junkie. I love electronic toys (no… not that kind, you pervert), so when one of the sales guys at work had two mini laptops (ACER Aspire One and MSI Wind U100) on demo for a customer, I couldn’t help drooling a bit.

It was nice to have them side by side to do some comparisons, though a real honest comparison couldn’t be done since the MSI had 1GB memory and windows XP on a 80GB hard disk, where the ACER had 512MB memory and some form of Linux on a 12GB Flash Drive.

Speed: They both have the same CPU, but the ACER definitely has some more speed in it. This is most likely due to the fact that the ACER runs a trimmed down Linux distribution, and the MSI runs a fully fledged Windows XP.

Sound: Both are quite soft, but that’s no surprise. After all you can’t stuff big speakers into a small laptop. But overall, I think the MSI has slightly better sound.

Webcam: The ACER wins here, without doubt. The webcam on the MSI was too bright for my taste, which resulted in an off-colored image. I looked more like a zombie than a human being, and as far as I know that’s not the case (…yet).

Screen: The MSI has approximately 1 inch more screen surface, but has the same resolution as the ACER (1024 x 600). The MSI has a matte non-glare screen, where the ACER does have a glossy screen. The MSI has a much brighter screen, as you can see on the photo, but still the ACER wins as far as I’m concerned. The screen is less bright, but due to the glossy coating and the smaller size, it just looks sharper somehow.

“zOMG how cute!”-Factor: Without doubt, the ACER wins here simply due to the fact that it’s also available in baby pink; and that’s indisputable.

Extra features: The ACER has a built-in 3G modem, which means you can get a mobile internet subscription and stuff the simcard right into the laptop. No USB plugs, no Bluetooth receivers... you just stuff the card into the laptop and you got high speed mobile internet just about anywhere.

All in all, I liked the ACER more than the MSI, due to its features and finish. I’m not too sure I like the Linux distribution too much. For most users it does its work perfectly… but I’m not a normal user, I’m a geek. So I want somewhat more functinality. Fortunately, the ACER also comes in a version with 1GB memory and a 120GB hard disk with Windows XP on it. I’m very curious about that one.