Different from assertive Dell Alienware and other brands’ gaudy laptops, Msi gaming laptops have always held a unique position in users’ hearts with concise appearance and high cost performance. Powered by the latest quad-core Intel Core i7 Sandy Bridge processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics, Msi’s new laptop GT680 performs fantastic in gaming. Let’s feel the charm of Msi GT680 gaming laptop now.

Msi GT680 Appearance

Resembling previous Msi GX660/GT660, Msi GT680 comes with a modest way to express its understanding for game and entertainment. Although the black top cover looks very stylish, the plastic material decrease the whole sturdiness and it’s easy to collect ugly fingerprint as well, which is more or less a pity.

But there is no denying that the color scheme of black, grey, silver and red and the angular line design are in line with gamers’ taste, which resemble ASUS G series laptops more or less.

A set of speaker is placed above the keyboard of Msi GT680, while the Msi Logo and white-backlit power button are in the middle. It’s worth mentioning that Msi GT680 comes with dynaudio Acoustics system (four speakers and a subwoofer) supported by the THX TruStudio Pro technology, plus a 15-inch wide screen, providing more real audio effect for gamers while gaming.

Additionally, Msi GT680 is also available for LED backlighting control system. The power button is white-backlit, and two red-backlit control buttons are nearby. One of these buttons turns on orange LED backlight in the top cover and base of Msi GT680, two of which act as floodlights for whatever surface Msi GT680 resting on. From this point, Msi GT680 has already surpassed all the other Msi gaming laptops.

Msi GT680 Port Design

The Msi GT680 performs excellent in the aspect of connectivity. With a 15-inch large body, Msi GT680 has the VGA and HDMI for pronounced 1080P HD video playback, while as many as four USB ports (two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports) also highlight the generality of Msi GT680. Regarding to the audio, Msi GT680 also supports perfect 7.1 digital audio, and four 3.5mm headset jacks also satisfy the need for many people listening at the same time, while one of these functions as a digital output too.

In the rear part, besides two video ports we mentioned above, there is also an e-SATA port, a card reader and a network card slot, which all shows Msi GT680 are completely equipped in the aspect of data transmission and internet application.

Msi GT680 Details

The Msi GT680 gaming laptop comes with the fashionable chocolate keyboard, but this kind of keycap is not good for actual gaming operation. However, the specifically divided “WSAD” keys still reveals the essence of the gaming laptop.

Because the Msi GT680 we review this time is not the one with the highest configuration, no high-end blu-ray drive is available. Of course, normal DVD burner will lower the whole price of Msi GT680.

The touchpad of Msi GT680 is accord with the whole appearance style. But in actual operation, due to the area limitation of this touchpad, users need a period of time to adapt. It’s also a pity that this touchpad doesn’t add multi-touch. The buttons in the touchpad are worked into a single, brushed metal rocker switch.

Msi GT680 Screen and Speaker

The Msi GT680 features a 15.6-inch screen with 1366X768 resolution, meeting the mainstream standard. However, due to the screen mirror design, Msi GT680 has a serious reflective problem in the highlight condition.

Besides the reflective issue, the Msi GT680 screen works superb in the regular condition. Compared with normal mainstream wide screen entertainment laptops, Msi GT680 performs prominent whether in the luminance or the saturation. Moreover, the viewing angle of the Msi GT680 is also impressive. Even for big angle of inclination, there is only a bit fuzzy in the display image.

The Dynaudio-branded speakers is supported by THX TruStudio Pro technology. The sound filed produced by the professional equipment is incomparable with excellent depth and dimensionality among the same level entertainment laptops.

Msi GT680 Overall Performance

As Msi GT680 comes equipped with Intel high-end quad-core 32nm processor and Nvidia 460M graphics, the whole performance of Msi GT680 is worth looking forward to.

In actual test of PCMark Vantage, Msi GT680 gets the overall score of 8022, totally superior to that of Msi GX740 and ASUS G73Jh, which archives a newly high standard.

With the powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics, Msi GT680 has shown the competitive strength in the gaming test. In the game TrackMania Nations Forever, Msi GT680 entirely defeats the other two laptops with 164 FPS. While in the game Stalker: Call of Pripyat, Msi GT680 falls behind Asus G73Jh equipped with the Mobility Radeon 5870 graphics, but its overall performance is excellent.

To further test the true power of Msi GT680, we run Crysis in the highest special effects. We can see that these laptops work exactly the same result. Although Msi GT680 ranks second with 35.7 FPS, it’s still blameless.

Msi GT680 Battery Life

Msi GT680 gaming laptop definitely has strong performance via above tests. Then, what about the battery life of Msi GT680?

Msi GT680 is equipped with a 7800mAh/87Wh 9-cell Lithium battery. By the perfect power consumption control of Intel Sandy Bridge processor, Msi GT680 can last for 3 hours and 46 seconds, and totally defeats all the mainstream entertainment laptops.

Additionally, Msi GT680 also lasts for 2 hours and a half for DVD playback, which is rare to happen in current entertainment laptops.

Msi GT680 Conclusion

From the above tests, Msi GT680 gaming laptop performs very satisfying in each aspect. The superb screen and special speakers are impressive. But it is worth mentioning that as an outstanding gaming laptop, pronounced performance is needed, but only the one which can also offers adequate battery life is the best. Msi GT680 nearly 4 hours battery life cover the shortage of most gaming entertainment laptops, which is commendable.

Msi GT680 Gaming Laptop Specs

• Intel Core i7 2630QM processor, Intel HM65 high-speed chipset
• 8GB DDR3 Memory
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics
• 15.6-inch Wide Screen
• 500GB*2 7200rpm hard drive
• WiFi+Bluetooth
• 9 cells Li battery
• Windows 7 OS
• 2 USB 2.0 ports, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, VGA, HDMI, Audio input/output port, RJ45, all in one card reader

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MSI FX400 Laptop Review

Consumers may very familiar with MSI Gaming series laptops that feature powerful performance and Wind series netbooks feature portability. As for MSI FX400 laptop, it features outstanding performance with stylish appearance. Now let’s have a review on MSI FX400 laptop in detail.

MSI FX400 laptop features raised totem seal coating for fingerprint proofing.

MSI FX400 laptop comes with 14-inch backlit display with 1366×768 pixel with a ratio of 16:9.

MSI FX400 laptop sports sink-style screen rotation shaft that can be rotated up to 135°.

MSI FX400 laptop comes with a groundbreaking speaker design by the world leader in sound design-THX that can provide the users with smart surround sound to maximize the multimedia experience for the users.

The metal MSI logo printed on the FX400 cover. And the logo will glisten various colors according to different light conditions.

3D totem coating film on MSI FX400’s cover. Soft and comfortable touch feeling.

MSI FX400 laptop weighs 2.164kg.

MSI FX400 laptop weighs 2.571kg when comes with AC adapter and cable.

Reasonable interface arrangement

MSI FX400 laptop comes with VGA port, HDMI interface, AC adapter interface, RJ-45 network interface, heat dissipation vent, ESATA interface and USB2.0 port on MSI FX400 laptop left interface.

Heat dissipation vent on MSI FX400 left side face.

Data and video output interfaces on MSI FX400 laptop.

DVD driver, laptop lock, all in one card reader, two USB2.0 ports and headset jacks are on the right interface of MSI FX400 laptop.

Compact interface design.

DVD driver indicator light is active and will show yellow light when the driver is working.

There are 7 distinct indicator lights on the front of MSI FX400 laptop that can be seen clearly, but I think the case indicator light had better to be placed at the right face of MSI FX400 laptop.

After opening the bottom coating, we can see the CPU, RAM expansion bin, fan and some other hardware clearly. So it is very easy to disassemble the MSI FX400 laptop to clear dusk on its fan or replace the processor.

Chocolate keyboard and broad palm-rest area

On one hand, MSI FX400 laptop applies middle-end graphic card, as a result, it gets powerful gaming performance. On the other hand, the operating experience is also very important, MSI FX400 laptop equipped with black chocolate keyboard that will give you neat and exquisite impression.

MSI FX400 laptop comes with black chocolate keyboard that is very popular among the consumers especially the female. As for the game fans, the moderate 19mm margin between keys is quite necessary and helpful that will reduce the error operating dramatically. At the same time, the Ctrl key is located on the left of Fn key that is quite accord with RTS game users’ demand. All of them will maximize the typing experience for the users.

MSI FX400 laptop comes with Ctrl key in quite reasonable position.

Full-scale direction keys on MSI FX400 laptop keyboard.

MSI FX400 laptop comes with sufficient shortcut keys to provide convenient typing experience to the users. We can press Fn+F3 to forbidden the touchpad function.

MSI FX400 laptop comes with broad palm-rest design.

The touchpad of MSI FX400 laptop that can be disabled by shortcut key.

Core i3, dual graphic cards, one key accelerating function

MSI FX400 laptop equipped with core i3-350M processor, HM55 chipset, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 640GB hardware, DVDRW. As for FX400 laptop’s graphic card, it applies intel HD integrated graphic card and NVIDIA Geforce GT325M independent graphic card. In the meantime, MSI FX400 laptop supports 802.11b/g WiFi, Ethernet card and Bluetooth v2.1 in network connection aspect.

Core i3-350M is one of the most popular processors on the current laptop market. Compared to Core i3-330M, Core i3-350M equipped in MSI FX400 laptop gets higher GHz, more powerful performance, although Core i3-350M don’t support accelerating technique, 32nm craftsmanship, Hyper-Threading technology,SSE4.2 order set, built-in integrated graphic and 3MB sharing cache attract many consumers’ attention.

Core i3-350M processor’s parameter standard diagram.

During the CINEBENCH R10 processor performance test, core i3-350M single-core get 2439 operating scores, multi-core gets 5806 scores. Its test result is close to Core i3-330 processor, after all, the update on the GHz is little that is from 2.13GHz to 2.26GHz.

MSI FX400 equipped with its own brand TDE Drive Engine technology. Gently press the keyboard as long as at the top of the Turbo (P1) shortcut, you can instantly improve the performance. So let’s have a test on MSI FX400 laptop’s this performance.

Firstly, please press the P1 button on the top of the keyboard.

The screen display Turbo Overlocking.

Before the Turbo Overlocking R10 multi-core: 5806 scores.

After the Turbo Overlocking R10 multi-core: 6000 scores.

3DMARK VANTAGE graphic card’s performance test result.

In general, dual-graphic cards laptop often equipped with integrated graphic and independent graphic card, and MSI FX400 laptop is not the exception, which equipped with Intel HD integrated graphic card and NVIDIA Geforce GT325M independent graphic card. So it is easy to achieve hot swap for MSI FX400 laptop. 3DMARK VANTAGE test result shows the independent graphic card gets a 9868 scores’ GPU mark.. So MSI FX400 laptop can display HD video and play some main stream 3D video game clearly and smoothly will out of question.

PCMARK VANTAGE comprehensive performance test result.

PCMARK VANTAGE can be able to access a laptop’s overall performance, after a half an hour, MSI FX400 gets 4315 total scores. We can see the performance of music,communication and productivity performs excellent.

3D video game experience, heat dissipation test

We take the popular 3D video game as an example.

Test condition: 1366×768 pixel, no Accuview Antialiasing, and shadow, modeling as well as texture effect switched to the high or highest level.

3D video game-Street Fighter 4 playing effect in HD condition.

3D video game-Street Fighter 4 test result.

During the test, we get 56.03FPS average frame and B overall merit. So we can conclude that MSI FX400 laptop’s gaming performance is so good that can support almost all the main stream 3D Video game playing.

Heat dissipation test

MSI FX400 laptop surface temperature.

MSI FX400 laptop bottom temperature.

We use FLUKE thermal imager to observe the surface and bottom temperature of MSI FX400 laptop. We can see from the image that the right palm rest area getting little heat and the bottom of MSI FX400 gets higher temperature. But the overall heat dissipation performance of MSI FX400 laptop is quite good.

Summary

MSI FX400 laptop equipped with Core i3 processor with high cost performance, NVIDIA Geforce GT325M independent graphic card and combined with one key Drive Engine performance. All of the above ensure MSI FX400 laptop to satisfy the majority of users’ game playing demand. At the same time, MSI FX400 laptop comes with 640GB high-capacity hardware that can save more HD movies and some great game like WLK.

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Msi GT680 Gaming Laptop Review

Today we talk about MSI Wind U110, as we know, MSI impresses us with its long battery life,the battery life of the MSI Wind U100 is up to 5 hours when the average netbook get to 4 hours. While the U110 offers up to 12 hours of life with its 9 cell 7800mAh battery. How impressive the battery life is!

The MSI Wind U110 features the familiar 10-inch LCD Screen, 1024×600 pixel resolution, with LED Backlight. The  MSI Wind 110 measures 260mm x180mm x 19mm – 31mm, and it weighs 1.1kg (3.2 lbs), ligheter than the U100.

The MSI Wind U110 is equipped with Intel Atom Z530 working at 1.6GHz. Features on the MSI Wind U110 netbook include 1GB of RAM (can upgrade to 2GB), 160GB hard drive, Bluetooth, 3 USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader for storage, Bluetooth,802.11b/g/n WLAN,as well as a 1.3-megapixel webcam built into the LCD bezel and Intel GMA500 graphics.

The keyboard of the MSI Wind U110 feels a little cramped while it is still acceptable. Though the keys are on the small side, they’re springy and offer good feedback. We can type in a normal speed after a few minutes of use. The touchpad has a slightly rough surface so it is not very easy for us to get the cursor across the screen.

The U110’s large nine-cell battery endured for 12 hours and 28 minutes runtime. While it offers not only 9 cell battery but also available with 3 cell and 6 cell battery options.

The MSI Wind U110 specs:

• 1.6-GHz Intel Atom Z530
• 2.5 inch 160GB SATA Hard Drive
• 10 inches (1024 x 600) LCD
• 1GB DDR2 533MHz RAM(upgradable to 2 GB)
• MS Windows XP Home Operating System
• 12 hours and 28 minutes runtime of 9 cell battery( has the options of 3,6 cell battery)
• Integrated Wifi-802.11b/g/n,Bluetooth 2.0
• Three 2.0 USB ports
• Ethernet, Headphone, Lock Slot, Microphone, VGAvideo output
• 1.3 MP webcam
• 3.2 pounds

MSI impresses us with its long battery life, the battery life of the MSI Wind U100 is up to 5 hours when the average netbook get to 4 hours. The MSI Wind seems to be the most promising one with its best balance of price, features and portability. It stands out in an crowded market with its long battery life and its low price.

The subnotebook experience is almost the same to what you would find on a regular notebook. Programs like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Word, and Excel all can work as well as the normal computers.

The MSI Wind U100 features a 10″ LED backlit display with the resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. And thanks to the LED backlighting, it provides impressive brightness. The MSI Wind has dimensions of 10.2″ x 7″ x 1.3″ . It is light and just weighs 1.3 KG.

The MSI Wind U100 is powered by the latest Intel Atom N270 which is clocked at 1.6 GHZ and offers 512KB L2 cache.  Key features include 1GB of RAM (upgradable to 2 GB), an 80GB 2.5-inch hard drive, 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth 2.0, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA-Out, Ethernet, and outstanding audio. It has a very low TDP of 2.5W.

The keyboard of the The MSI Wind U100 is close to a full size laptop keyboard with good key spacing, it takes up almost every inch of space side to side to have the largest possible keys on such a small device so it is large enough for your hands to type on. There is some protective material covered on the keyboard to protect it. The touchpad features a bar at the bottom for the left and right mouse buttons. It is slightly recessed from the palmrest by about 1mm, giving a defined lip around the entire perimeter which can help you keep your finger inside the detection zone, and not slipping out.

The MSI Wind features a 3-cell 2200 mAh battery which offers which offers up to 2 hrs 40 mins runtime, and its battery can be extended to 6 cell with up to 5 hours runtime.

MSI Wind U100 Specs:

• Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHZ
• 80GB 2.5″ SATA hard drive
• 10″ WSVGA (1024 x 600) LCD
• 1GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM(upgradable to 2 GB)
• Linux / Windows XP Home Operating System
• 3 Cell 11.1v 2200mAh Battery (up to 6 Cell battery with 5 hours)
• Integrated Wifi-802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• VGA video output
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• 80% full-size keyboard