MSI Wind PC with Linux

I was looking for an Internet PC for surfing and email writing which runs under Linux. "Normal" PCs are oversized for this. These demands matched against the MSI Wind PC. Here in Germany the PC is sold as MSI Wind PC 2723.

The computer has 2 GB RAM, an Intel 1600 MHz Atom processor and (beside card reader and VGA) only USB interfaces. The external power supply consumes only 35 W.

Suse Linux 10 was installed originally. On booting a prompt for user and password appeared which were not documented. Therefore I could not test the Suse installation. The printed documentation was minimal and so a normal windows user without Linux experience would probably have a lot of difficulties running the Suse system.

In a first try i installed Debian Etch and deleted the Suse Linux. The installation from DVD did run smoothly, but the network chip was not discovered. In a second try with Debian Lenny finally a valid LAN driver was found. Burner and card reader were up to now not used, so I can't say if they work properly.

Lenny is now running for around a year without problems on the machine which can't be heard when running. Via rc.local a small iptables firewall is loaded on booting. The computer has only a VGA plug. A connected TFT monitor from BenQ (G2010WAP) has however even with a resolution of 1600 x 1200 in KDE 3.5 a pleasant and flicker-free image. The machine has only USB interfaces but should be connected to an old analog modem with serial plug. An ATEN UC232A USB converter cable saved my day. The modem was accessed via wvdial without loading any new drivers.

Conclusion: If you a searching for a small, silent and low cost Internet PC on Linux, then take a look at the MSI Wind PC.