We got some precious hands-on time with the MSI Wind yesterday, competitor to the Asus Eee PC 900.

It has an exceptional feature list, starting with a 10in screen, 1.6GHz Intel processor (that's all we're allowed to say... for now), 1GB Ram, an 80GB 5,400rpm hard drive, a 1.3megapixel webcam, and a much bigger keyboard than the Eee PC.

The processor is overclockable to 1.9GHz, which MSI's UK marketing manager, Richard Stewart, says is a unique feature for such a small-form factor notebook.

It weighs 1kg with a 3cell battery, packs all the usual goodies like Wifi, Blutooth, XP Home, a card reader and three USB ports and its price is something special: £329 inc. Vat.

The screen is LED backlit and has a 1,024x600 resolution. That's a small step behind the HP Mininote 2133, which has a superior 1,280x768 resolution, but it's still an impressive display for the £329 price point.

Richard Stewart's comment: "demand will undoubtedly outstrip supply", is a bit of an understatement in my opinion.

Asus has already had problems building enough Eee PC 900s (my uncle ordered two a few weeks ago and they still haven't arrived) and rumours suggest that Intel is struggling to keep up with demand for its current and upcoming ultra-mobile CPUs.

But while supply will be a problem, demand is equally a factor, since the Wind breezes past the competition in terms of feature list, value for money and possibly even performance too.

Stewart also confirmed an 8.9in version of the Wind, due for launch at a later date with Linux instead of Windows, and a desktop version of the MSI Wind is also in the works. The desktop version will have a similar price and similar components (the same processor), but lose the battery and display in place of an optical drive.

Dell's mini laptop, Acer's Aspire One MiniNote, Medion's 10in wonder which PCW saw at Cebit08, HP's Mininote 2133, Via's Openbook (possibly to be sold through Belinea and Packard Bell), Acer's new Eee PC 901 (based on the Atom rather than the 900 based on the Celeron 353), Acer's 10in Eee PC and even Elonex's £99 notebook make this a crowded and, happily, a competitive market.