MSI has updated their netbook line once again. While the U130 and U135 already packed Intel's latest Pine Trail processor, the U160 is throwing down the battery gauntlet. Fifteen hours on one charge? That's nuts.

A couple of new netbooks have hit the "just announced" pool, and while MSI's Wind models don't usually grab me, the U130 and U135 do, thanks to the inclusion of Atom's new Pine Trail processors.

MSI's Wind U110 was a solid netbook when it was released last year, but the newer Toshiba NB205 and HP Mini 5101 make it look outdated. MSI updated the netbook with a 15-hour, 9-cell battery, but is that enough?

We heard that MSI may release a touchscreen netbook with Intel's next generation Pine Trail Atom platform, and it will. According to MSI, the new Intel Atom chipset is planned to be officially launched at CES.

I'm a little torn. In even acknowledging the OpenBook Nano, I ensure that Apple will shut down Macwind, the company selling stock MSI Wind U100s preloaded with OS X for $399. But that's not the worst of it.

Why would you hack your MSI Wind's battery to add a USB port when you can just connect your iPhone or any other device to the netbook's USB port? Well, just because you can.

Some folks on the MSI Wind forums are reporting a huge increase in battery life for hacktintosh netbooks after upgrading to 10.5.7. Why would Apple care about power management on Atom-based hardware? Dunno!

Just like we've seen manufacturers like Dell push netbooks to the 12-inch barrier, Engadget China spotted a new offering from MSI that looks to follow suit.

Armed with an MSI Wind U115, 9-cell battery and some time, Johannes from Eee PC.de created what very well may be the Sting of netbooks. Stamina—er, battery life—was an astounding 25 hours.

To be honest, netbooks scare me, but nettops scare me even more. Why do I need a neutered PC that isn't portable? Well, at least the platform doesn't need much power—even with a monitor.