MSI Wind Top AE2220 All-in-One Desktop PC

Full Review

The MSI Wind Top AE2220 is a 22-inch all-in-one desktop PC from the Taiwanese manufacturer. It is ideal for a stylish home computer for entertainment use and some of its highlights include a full-HD screen with touchscreen support, slim attractive form factor, wireless keyboard-mouse combo, and the Nvidia ION graphics chipset.

Design
The MSI AE2220 borrows heavily from the design of its 19-inch predecessor, the Wind Top AE1900. The sleek all-in-one desktop computer sports an all-white exterior, and it has a solid plastic strip all around its screen bezel that also morphs into the Wind Top AE2220's two front stands. The front stands are supported by a single stand on the back that allows the desktop to tilt backward. The MSI Wind Top AE2220's build quality is one of the best I've seen in all-in-one desktop PCs, and it doesn't feelt cheap or inexpensive but stylish and premium.

Left: Servicing the MSI AE2220's RAM slots; Middle: The set of menu buttons on the MSI AE2220's right edge; Right: Size comparison with a Sony mini-DVD.

Just below the bottom screen bezel are the MSI Wind Top AE2220's two onboard speakers. The on-screen menu and volume control buttons reside on the desktop's right edge, while a DVD drive and connectivity ports are placed on its left edge. A 1.3MP webcam is grooved into the top screen bezel. Another important highlight of the Wind Top AE2220 is it allows you to service and upgrade its internal hardware (eg: RAM slots) -- an aspect often neglected by most all-in-one desktop PC manufacturers.

The MSI Wind Top AE2220 has the most rich feature set of all the All-in-One Desktop PCs in our Top 5.

Usability
One of the Wind Top AE2220's top highlights is undoubtedly its screen's multitouch input support. I've been skeptical of touchscreens in the past (re: Dell Studio One 19, Asus Eee PC ET1602), but I have to say I'm mildly impressed by the touchscreen experience on the MSI Wind Top AE2220. I forced myself to use only the desktop's touchscreen for most of the past week, and apart from being frustrated with the lack of a large, functional on-screen keyboard (even the Apple iPad doesn't have one), my time tied to the Wind Top AE2220's touchscreen wasn't bad at all. Whether it's clicking on windows, scrolling through websites, manipulating photos, etc., it's a much better experience overall compared to touchscreen all-in-ones of the past -- credit also to Windows 7's out-of-the-box touchscreen support. For those of us with chunky fingers, do not worry as the MSI Wind Top AE2220 also comes with a stylus to better interact with its touch-enabled screen.

The MSI Wind Top AE2220's 22-inch screen is glossy in nature and supports a full-HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels -- larger than what the Dell Studio One 19 offers. The screen has very good viewing angles and is great for watching movies, especially. Any flaws? Yes, fingerprint smudges -- blame it on the touch input support. Both the wireless keyboard and mouse connect via Bluetooth -- a USB Bluetooth dongle needs to be connected first. The keyboard sports isolated, chiclet-styled keys and is quite slim -- typing on it is pretty good. The wireless mouse is nice and small, and switches itself off automatically when not in use to save battery.

Hardware Specs
The MSI Wind Top AE2220 comes with a nice set of hardware features. It runs off an Intel Pentium DualCore T4300 2.1-GHz processor, has 2GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, and comes with an Nvidia ION graphics (with 256MB RAM). In terms of processing power, the MSI AE2220 is slightly inferior to the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 and the Dell Studio One 19, but not by much. However, the MSI Wind Top AE2220 comes with a rich feature set on its back panel: four USB ports, HDMI, eSATA, VGA-out, TV tuner, audio jacks, and SPDIF support. Not to mention with Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11n, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, the MSI Wind Top AE2220 has the most rich feature set of all the All-in-One Desktop PCs in our Top 5. 

The MSI Wind Top AE2200 all-in-one desktop PC reinstates its fact as a family entertainment device with its TV Tuner support and bundled fully-functional remote control. You can launch Windows Media Center with the press of a button, play-pause-skip through a video track, access a DVD's menu, increase-reduce volume -- the whole nine yards. The remote has a range of about 10 meters.

Performance
The MSI Wind Top AE2220 is a pretty good performer, given its reasonably decent hardware specs. A WorldBench 6 score of 85, PC Mark 05 score of 4150, Cinebench score of 4017, and a 3D Mark 06 score of 1293 is the third best amongst our Top 5 All-in-One Desktop PCs. However, we had no problem working with day-to-day apps and tools on the MSI Wind Top AE2220 -- things like surfing the Web, watching DVD flicks, working with productivity suite, video encoding, etc., went along smoothly without any serious bottlenecks.

Just like the Acer Aspire Revo, the Nvidia ION graphics on the Wind Top AE2220 isn't meant for gaming, but they manage to run HD videos just fine. In fact, both 720p and 1080p videos played very well on the AE2220, and its full-HD 22-inch screen displayed very good cinematic visuals. Also, the Wind Top AE2220's accompanied by better-than-average onboard speakers. The speakers (placed at the front) are loud and clear even at full volume and good enough for a mid-sized room. Coupled with the fact that the MSI Wind Top AE2220 comes with an in-built TV tuner and remote control, it can dual up as a full-fledged television in your living room, too.

Bottom Line

The MSI Wind Top AE2220 sells for Rs. 48,000. Compared to the Dell Studio One 19, the Wind Top AE2220 has a 22-inch widescreen display with very good touch input support, and it can dual up as a television as well. The choice couldn't be more simpler: if you want the best home entertainment-cum-PC device, buy the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600. If you want a fast-performing all-in-one desktop PC, buy the Dell Studio One 19. Otherwise, if you want the best value for money, go for the MSI Wind Top AE2220.