Advent 4211 netbook computer

MSI’s Wind has proved to be a very popular 10in netbook, so much so that there are a few rebranded ones to choose from in the marketplace.

Advent’s 4211 is one such beast, the only differences being the change of paint scheme, no carry case and, in the case of our review sample, a smaller 80GB hard drive.

It also comes with only a one-year warranty instead of the two-year version offered with the Wind. The upshot is it’s cheaper.

Our review sample suffered from having the smaller three-cell 2,200mAh battery installed, so to make the most of the limited battery life available you’ll need to use the Eco utility, which drops the CPU speed to 700MHz and reduces the screen brightness when the 4211 is using battery power.

As with the Wind, it uses Intel’s Atom N270 (1.6GHz) processor supported by 1GB of PC2-5300 memory running at 667MHz, which is enough power to run all the everyday apps that the netbook was designed for. The same applies to the graphics, which are powered by Intel’s integrated GMA950 core, part of the 945GME chipset which, on the 4211, can share up to 64MB of the system memory.

Output from the GMA950 powers a good-quality 10.1in screen with a 1,024x600 resolution. And, thanks to the 10in screen, you get the advantage of a larger keyboard that extends right to the edge of the chassis, making typing easier than on the Eee PC 901. The keys are responsive when typing; the only thing that may put you off is the slightly awkward layout, but it doesn’t take long to get used to. Despite the large keyboard, however, the trackpad is tiny. On the plus side, it is responsive without being too sensitive and the two mouse buttons feel solid and secure.