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As a laptop brand, MSI may not have caught
on with consumers, but its gaming notebooks have impressed us in the
past with their performance. Last year’s model, the GT780 provided good
specifications at a reasonable price. The stakes are higher this time,
with MSI building on the strength of its Compatible Parts like Asus K50ID Keyboard
by adding an enthusiast-class network card. In Singapore, the local
MSI distributor is selling the GT70 0NE from S$4,299. Although Windows 8
has been launched, the company told us that it is bundling the laptop
with Windows 7 Home Premium at the moment, but consumers can switch to
Windows 8 Pro with Microsoft’s upgrade offer. Some accessories , such as
a backpack and the new Assassin’s Creed III game, are also included.
Design We didn’t like the look of the MSI GT780. Unfortunately, the company has stuck with that design and it hasn’t grown on us the second time round. Besides being bulky even for a desktop replacement, the all-black chassis of the GT70 0NE is built using various materials, from a brushed aluminum cover surrounded by matte plastic to a fingerprint-friendly layer keyboard deck. The small touchpad, too, has a slim border of glossy plastic that is easily smudged like the Samsung NP300V5A Keyboard with Touchpad and C Shell . It’s not exactly ugly, but this laptop lacks personality. We may not agree with the over-the-top designs of its rivals, but unlike the GT70, they are more memorable.
An advantage of its mostly plastic construction is that at around 3.9kg, the GT70 is lighter than many 17.3-inch desktop replacements in the market. For instance, the Asus G75VW is 4.5kg while the Alienware M17x weighs around 4.2kg. However, Toshiba showed everyone how it’s done with its latest X870 tipping the scales at just 3.42kg. Given that these laptops are unlikely to travel much, we doubt that consumers will be too concerned.
One of the major features on this MSI laptop is the keyboard, which is designed by SteelSeries, a well-known gaming peripheral brand. The island-style keyboard like the Toshiba Qosmio X500 (Black Matte) Keyboard is a delight to pound on and as it’s able to register up to 10 simultaneous key presses, you don’t have to worry that your commands aren’t recorded, even during an intense gaming session. Other small, but nice touches include shifting the Windows key to the right of the keyboard, where it’s less likely to be pressed accidentally while in a game.
However, there’s quite a fair bit of seemingly wasted space on both sides of the keyboard–we would certainly have preferred a more distinct gap between the number pad and the rest of the keys. The directional arrow keys also blended in too well with the rest of the keyboard, which made it difficult to press. Like most gaming laptops, the backlight on the GT70 can be customized to your favorite color. You can even have a mix of colors and effects, such as alternating between two shades. The Synaptics-branded touchpad, however, looks tiny compared with the large ones found on Ultrabooks. While it works pretty well and supports multitouch gestures, most users are likely to attach their own gaming peripherals instead.
Above the keyboard is a row of touch-sensitive shortcut keys for essential functions, such as toggling the Wi-Fi and an eject button for the optical drive like the Asus K Series K50ID Keyboard . There’s also a Turbo button that claims to speed up the performance of the laptop, a feature that’s also found on the previous version.
Design We didn’t like the look of the MSI GT780. Unfortunately, the company has stuck with that design and it hasn’t grown on us the second time round. Besides being bulky even for a desktop replacement, the all-black chassis of the GT70 0NE is built using various materials, from a brushed aluminum cover surrounded by matte plastic to a fingerprint-friendly layer keyboard deck. The small touchpad, too, has a slim border of glossy plastic that is easily smudged like the Samsung NP300V5A Keyboard with Touchpad and C Shell . It’s not exactly ugly, but this laptop lacks personality. We may not agree with the over-the-top designs of its rivals, but unlike the GT70, they are more memorable.
An advantage of its mostly plastic construction is that at around 3.9kg, the GT70 is lighter than many 17.3-inch desktop replacements in the market. For instance, the Asus G75VW is 4.5kg while the Alienware M17x weighs around 4.2kg. However, Toshiba showed everyone how it’s done with its latest X870 tipping the scales at just 3.42kg. Given that these laptops are unlikely to travel much, we doubt that consumers will be too concerned.
One of the major features on this MSI laptop is the keyboard, which is designed by SteelSeries, a well-known gaming peripheral brand. The island-style keyboard like the Toshiba Qosmio X500 (Black Matte) Keyboard is a delight to pound on and as it’s able to register up to 10 simultaneous key presses, you don’t have to worry that your commands aren’t recorded, even during an intense gaming session. Other small, but nice touches include shifting the Windows key to the right of the keyboard, where it’s less likely to be pressed accidentally while in a game.
However, there’s quite a fair bit of seemingly wasted space on both sides of the keyboard–we would certainly have preferred a more distinct gap between the number pad and the rest of the keys. The directional arrow keys also blended in too well with the rest of the keyboard, which made it difficult to press. Like most gaming laptops, the backlight on the GT70 can be customized to your favorite color. You can even have a mix of colors and effects, such as alternating between two shades. The Synaptics-branded touchpad, however, looks tiny compared with the large ones found on Ultrabooks. While it works pretty well and supports multitouch gestures, most users are likely to attach their own gaming peripherals instead.
Above the keyboard is a row of touch-sensitive shortcut keys for essential functions, such as toggling the Wi-Fi and an eject button for the optical drive like the Asus K Series K50ID Keyboard . There’s also a Turbo button that claims to speed up the performance of the laptop, a feature that’s also found on the previous version.
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