I'm glad noise has been evaluated in this laptop review as well. Lots of stuff on desktop noise, but since I can't stick a laptop in a closet and still run it, fan noise on a laptop distracts me like nothing else. Even worse are laptop fan noise coming from people sitting near me.
I'm really looking forward to a GT725, it is the uber notebook below $2000, not Gateway. My A64 3000+ is really slow and i need a computer with enough graphics power. So either i get an Phenom 2 X3 and Hd4870 based system, or get the GT725. The desktop is cheaper and more powerful, but i need mobility for my school.
I know the GT725 has some worries:
1.The keyboard, although there is a solution for it.
2.Many report that the track pad wears fast, as if i will ever use.
3.I'm worried about the thermal dissipation. The R770 seems more fit for the task.
4.Warranty and customer service.
The HD4670 equipped EX 625 is very tempting with it's $750 price tag.
Apple's batteries are custom made lithium polymer. They are not typical run of the mill lithium ion cells that most manufacturers use. Apple's batteries use all of the space in their design and have no "dead" space due to round cells packed in a rectangular battery as most win pc notebooks have. Although Apple's OS may be a little more conservative on battery usage it's got to be the mere fact that there's more capacity in their battery design, and maybe even cherry picked hardware and LED lcd displays. Win pc's could probably see better battery life with better battery designs and better part choices. Of course we would pay more for that pc notebook.
Apples batteries are rated at between 40 Whr and 50 Whr in the current models - 40 for the Air, 45 for the standard MacBook, and 50 for the Pro if I'm not mistaken. The construction and material used in a battery does not affect the rating in Whr. If something is designed to output 5200 mA at 9.6V, it is a 50 Whr battery. A lithium polymer might be lighter for the total capacity, but I'm not talking about capacity.
Given the above, it means that Apple's standard MacBook apparently consumes around 9.4W when surfing the Internet. In contrast, the ASUS U6V eats up 21W on average for the same task. I'm hoping to get a MacBook for a bit just to make sure there's nothing else going on, but Apple apparently uses less power surfing than most Vista PCs use at idle.
Lenovo indicated to me at CES that they actually turn off components that aren't in use, which is how they improve battery life (supposedly - still waiting for a test sample). It makes sense that if your optical drive is inactive, completely shutting off power makes more sense than a .5W sleep state. They said they also power off the speakers when the sound is muted or when headphones are connected (another few hundred mW). I don't know about other devices, but really I don't care if it's "cheating" - custom designed hardware that functions better than the competition is fine as long as it works properly. Windows 7 is supposed to enable some better power savings (up to 11% better battery life I've heard), so we'll see.
I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean where are the specs? If that's your question, the Sager NP9262 is a Clevo D901C chassis. Several other companies (WidowPC, AVADirect, Eurocom, etc.) use the Clevo chassis and rebrand it as their own, so I figured listing the original manufacturer in that case made the most sense.
The display on the MSI GT627 218US is apparently different, because it is listing max resolution of 1680x1050. I'd like to know if that display has better contrast ratio.
Also, any news on the upcoming MSI GT628 with the nVidia M160?
I'm not buying a new laptop until i can get one with a decent display. I agree with this review about the poor displays in most of them. I've been waiting 2 years so far to upgrade to something like a LED backlit laptop with a good screen res and image quality, or just one with a good IPS and normal backlighting even. But they're taking there time!!
The MSI Model with the faster CPU and higher resolution screen should be about $1100.
Finally, crappy keyboard and cracking chassis' WHILE IN A BAG is just completely unacceptable. I think right now the Asus is still the way to go; though I really would like to see a higher resolution screen. 1520x855 or 1600x900 like Sony offers would be GREAT!!!
That's amazing, the MSI is at the top of the list every single time; it even manages to beat out the Clevo at least once; then it's second the other times. Simply awesome! Can't believe that small overclock makes that big of a difference.
I think this is a great review for a great notebook. Never is there anything that is ever perfect when it comes to new tech in the market, but this MSI notebook can do it all. I don't know why these companies don't have the brains to use common sense and fix these little "issues" that people have with it. Don't they know that they could make a better product using better material? So what if it costs $100 more. I think that is worth the improvements that most people within this market segment is looking for.
Well, I can't say without testing in person, but take http://www.samsung.com/global/business/lcdpanel/pr...">Samsung's current laptop LCDs as a starting point. Their 17" option with WSXGA+ resolution lists a 45% color gamut (blech!), 300 nit brightness, and no contrast ration. There's a good chance that it will be a 500:1 contrast or higher, but no guarantee. If you walk down the aisles at Best Buy, Office Depot, or a similar store and look at the displays, you will likely notice that around 60-75% have poor contrast ratios, and all of them are TN panels.
i'd be careful with dell. they've been known in the past to do 'panel lottery' so you might not get the same kind of lcd panel that they have in it now
I'm pretty sure if you get one of the Dell laptops with a high color gamut RGB LED backlit LCD, the panels will all come from the same source (i.e. no lottery). I only know of one manufacturer doing RGB LEDs right now, at least (Seiko Epson).
hmm i wonder if maybe down the road we'll see some e-ips panels from laptop manufacturers. they seem to be quite competitive vs tn/pva, well at least the desktop version. (can get a 22in for around $200)
I was kind of curious about the keyboard - I don't know of too many other 15" (or so) laptops that have a full 104 key keyboard. Are the keys standard sized?
They're very close. I think they might be just barely smaller, but the size of the keyboard never bothered me. The "touch" of the keyboard is a different matter, obviously.
That's one reason why I was contemplating an HP Elitebook or a ThinkPad as my next laptop purchase - I do so little gaming on my laptop anymore (that's what my desktop is for), that I'm looking for the 2 things that this new laptop apparently lacks: SOLID keyboard (I dont' really care about having an included number pad, but the FEEL of the keyboard is absolutely key), and a good quality, high resolution screen.
Those are 2 things lacking on this laptop, unfortunately, which means I won't be able to get this one.
What's my ideal laptop? In decreasing order of importance:
* high resolution (minimum WSXGA+)
* 15" (I suppose widescreen, but I don't care that much about it),
* IPS (like my 2475!)
* non-glossy screen
* solid keyboard feel
* discrete graphics card (makes external monitors a breeze to set up)
* Relatively good battery life
* uhh - dual cores?
Everything else is secondary.
Yes, I would really like to see a quality screen on a laptop. I had read somewhere that one of the ThinkPads used an IPS based panel, but I can't confirm that any more.
Thinkpads used to offer an IPS panel under the Flexview name, I have a T43 with one. It is indeed a nice screen (though some people complain they don't go bright enough). I believe they dropped the option during the time of the T60 though, so there are used T60s that meet all your requirements (though battery life probably tops out between 5 and 6 hrs with the 9-cell and UltraBay batteries), but I don't know of any currently shipping systems that do.
Though I have a discrete graphics card in my T43 (ATi X300), it is a pain to use external monitors. The original driver didn't support widescreen resolutions, and the most recent one does, but resets the screen to 1024x768 if you close the lid, and once you reset to native (1400x1050) won't let you use space outside the 1024x768 box.
Why are the Macbooks listed in some of the benchmarks where they dominate absent in the other sections? I can understand having a problem with a software benchmark like x264 playback (though, in that case there is certainly a media player for Apple that will play those files) but for things like the display quality the Macbook should be present. Seems like the only spot the Macbook is in this review is where it is at the top compared to everything else.
Anand tested the MacBooks - he's the Mac person around here - and outside of battery life there really aren't any tests we can run on the Macs without installing Vista. As mentioned in the past, MacBooks running Vista also have battery life problems (they get about half the battery life they achieve under OS X). So why are they in where they excel? I thought it would be obvious: we want the Windows vendors to catch up to Apple, whatever it takes. If Apple can do it with a certain set of components, others can do the same thing.
There's little point in installing Vista on a MacBook just to run all these tests. Frankly, you can look at the specs of a notebook and generally guess within a few percent how it will perform. A MacBook with a P8400 CPU is going to be about the same as a Vista laptop with the same CPU.
If I can get Anand to part with one of his MacBooks for a week or two.... :-D (He's in North Carolina; I'm in Washington. We typically see each other maybe a couple days a year.)
Nice review, seems like a well rounded notebook for the price but I wouldn't mind paying a little extra 100$-200$ for a decent screen I mean its not even LED backlit.
I mostly use my laptop for programming work and the screen (apart from battery life - I like the freedom of working anywhere) is a major concern for me, the manufacturers tend to neglect its importance making it a premium/luxury of top of the range laptops (i.e. Apple's macbook pro 15 and 17 - this later being the only with matte option, Asus U2, Dell), all being over the ~2000$ mark.
Anyway, nice, balanced feature set (the overclock button is a nice touch), might consider buying one given its competitive price to do some gaming.
The Macs start at $2K!!! At least with PC you get choices, and more customization and better compatibility. Also anandtech did a review of a laptop not too long ago with the best laptop screen they'd ever seen; pretty sure it was from dell.
Well I personally think the 32 bit vista is a big no-no at this stage. I don't care if some apps still have problems working under 64 bit vista, I want to use the extra gig of ram and I want to be able to upgrade the RAM and use it w/o having to swipe the OS.
Does MS offer a free upgrade of 32 bit vista to 64 bit vista on machines like this one? Or does one have to fork out the cost for the 64 bit OS?
I received a free copy of Vista Ultimate last year at a Microsoft "Heros Happen Here" event. Tried to get the 64bit disc for it but was told by MS the SKU I have is not entitled for 64bit media.
Judging by that alone, I highly doubt MS will offer 64bit upgrades in the future as they did with XP in 2005. Their 64bit coming out party really is Windows 7.
I had a desktop that came with Vista 32-bit installed, and at some point the installation became corrupted. Just for kicks, I decided to try installing Vista 64-bit instead, using the RTM DVD. That worked fine with the code on the box. I don't know if that would work in other instances, though.
either seem to be very similar to the msi, except the asus comes with 512mb on the gs as opposed to 1gb with the msi. also as you can see the asus is a tad cheaper.
I'd be more than fine with it. I'm using a cyberpower laptop with a 9600m gt @ 1280x800 and I'm more than happy with the resolution. On a laptop, since performance isn't going to be equal with a similarly priced desktop, I'll take a slightly lower native res if I can still run the game at higher graphical settings. If the game runs smooth, you can always crank on AA to negate the "lower res" disadvantage.
After all, this is what these laptops are designed for - gaming.
I have been anxiously waiting on a review from a legitimate site of this laptop as well! The link you provided though is for their older model. The newer model, which in fact is not much different, is here:
Yeah, I agree. I'd really like to see a review on both of those laptops; the Asus and MSI. Though I'm more interested in the "older" model with the P8400 than the 7450... And it'd be nice if instead of that crappy 1366x768 resolution they gave us a screen with a resolution of 1520x855 or at least 1440x810; especially since the 16:9 aspect ratio already reduces the height of the screen; they shouldn't also reduce the vertical resolution.
I think that Asus with the P8400 and 8800GS GPU is the best laptop you can get for the money; good blend of battery life and size and performance. I'd like to see how that MSI notebook with the HD4670 stacks up.
Anything beyond an 8800GS notebook GPU is overkill for a laptop and uses too much power for a notebook. And 1366x768 is just not a high enough resolution; minimum on that aspect ratio should be 1440x810!!
He did mention it in the second link. Not really sure there is much difference in the two. From what I read one has a bigger battery and and lots of colors on the case, while the other has a faster cpu.
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fwacct4 - Saturday, May 2, 2009 - link
I'm glad noise has been evaluated in this laptop review as well. Lots of stuff on desktop noise, but since I can't stick a laptop in a closet and still run it, fan noise on a laptop distracts me like nothing else. Even worse are laptop fan noise coming from people sitting near me.Rolling Camel - Friday, May 1, 2009 - link
I'm really looking forward to a GT725, it is the uber notebook below $2000, not Gateway. My A64 3000+ is really slow and i need a computer with enough graphics power. So either i get an Phenom 2 X3 and Hd4870 based system, or get the GT725. The desktop is cheaper and more powerful, but i need mobility for my school.I know the GT725 has some worries:
1.The keyboard, although there is a solution for it.
2.Many report that the track pad wears fast, as if i will ever use.
3.I'm worried about the thermal dissipation. The R770 seems more fit for the task.
4.Warranty and customer service.
The HD4670 equipped EX 625 is very tempting with it's $750 price tag.
ira176 - Friday, May 1, 2009 - link
Apple's batteries are custom made lithium polymer. They are not typical run of the mill lithium ion cells that most manufacturers use. Apple's batteries use all of the space in their design and have no "dead" space due to round cells packed in a rectangular battery as most win pc notebooks have. Although Apple's OS may be a little more conservative on battery usage it's got to be the mere fact that there's more capacity in their battery design, and maybe even cherry picked hardware and LED lcd displays. Win pc's could probably see better battery life with better battery designs and better part choices. Of course we would pay more for that pc notebook.JarredWalton - Friday, May 1, 2009 - link
Apples batteries are rated at between 40 Whr and 50 Whr in the current models - 40 for the Air, 45 for the standard MacBook, and 50 for the Pro if I'm not mistaken. The construction and material used in a battery does not affect the rating in Whr. If something is designed to output 5200 mA at 9.6V, it is a 50 Whr battery. A lithium polymer might be lighter for the total capacity, but I'm not talking about capacity.Given the above, it means that Apple's standard MacBook apparently consumes around 9.4W when surfing the Internet. In contrast, the ASUS U6V eats up 21W on average for the same task. I'm hoping to get a MacBook for a bit just to make sure there's nothing else going on, but Apple apparently uses less power surfing than most Vista PCs use at idle.
Zan Lynx - Friday, May 1, 2009 - link
From what I've gathered about it, Apple "cheats." They can turn hardware on and off and do clock scaling that isn't available via ACPI.JarredWalton - Friday, May 1, 2009 - link
Lenovo indicated to me at CES that they actually turn off components that aren't in use, which is how they improve battery life (supposedly - still waiting for a test sample). It makes sense that if your optical drive is inactive, completely shutting off power makes more sense than a .5W sleep state. They said they also power off the speakers when the sound is muted or when headphones are connected (another few hundred mW). I don't know about other devices, but really I don't care if it's "cheating" - custom designed hardware that functions better than the competition is fine as long as it works properly. Windows 7 is supposed to enable some better power savings (up to 11% better battery life I've heard), so we'll see.The0ne - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
If you're going to game on it why not just get one with 17" LCD? Better yet, get one with 1900x1200 and everything is just beautiful :)It's great that the article addresses the LCD issues. I mean come on, it's one of the main components when considering a laptop.
Rob94hawk - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
Where is this Clevo901c laptop?JarredWalton - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean where are the specs? If that's your question, the Sager NP9262 is a Clevo D901C chassis. Several other companies (WidowPC, AVADirect, Eurocom, etc.) use the Clevo chassis and rebrand it as their own, so I figured listing the original manufacturer in that case made the most sense.GoatMonkey - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
The display on the MSI GT627 218US is apparently different, because it is listing max resolution of 1680x1050. I'd like to know if that display has better contrast ratio.Also, any news on the upcoming MSI GT628 with the nVidia M160?
B3an - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I'm not buying a new laptop until i can get one with a decent display. I agree with this review about the poor displays in most of them. I've been waiting 2 years so far to upgrade to something like a LED backlit laptop with a good screen res and image quality, or just one with a good IPS and normal backlighting even. But they're taking there time!!Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
The review laptop needs to be $900 or less, simply look at this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ...The MSI Model with the faster CPU and higher resolution screen should be about $1100.
Finally, crappy keyboard and cracking chassis' WHILE IN A BAG is just completely unacceptable. I think right now the Asus is still the way to go; though I really would like to see a higher resolution screen. 1520x855 or 1600x900 like Sony offers would be GREAT!!!
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
That's amazing, the MSI is at the top of the list every single time; it even manages to beat out the Clevo at least once; then it's second the other times. Simply awesome! Can't believe that small overclock makes that big of a difference.Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I'm referring to the gaming test in the above comment; just to be clear.Mikey - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I think this is a great review for a great notebook. Never is there anything that is ever perfect when it comes to new tech in the market, but this MSI notebook can do it all. I don't know why these companies don't have the brains to use common sense and fix these little "issues" that people have with it. Don't they know that they could make a better product using better material? So what if it costs $100 more. I think that is worth the improvements that most people within this market segment is looking for.http://www.dumpsternationwide.com/">roll off dumpsters and containers>
crimson117 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
How do you think the screen will be on this one? 17", 1680x1050, and claims to include "MSI vivid image enhancement technology"http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?c...">http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?c...
JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Well, I can't say without testing in person, but take http://www.samsung.com/global/business/lcdpanel/pr...">Samsung's current laptop LCDs as a starting point. Their 17" option with WSXGA+ resolution lists a 45% color gamut (blech!), 300 nit brightness, and no contrast ration. There's a good chance that it will be a 500:1 contrast or higher, but no guarantee. If you walk down the aisles at Best Buy, Office Depot, or a similar store and look at the displays, you will likely notice that around 60-75% have poor contrast ratios, and all of them are TN panels.crimson117 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I guess what I really want is a Dell Studio XPS 16 with a better graphics card (such as a AMD Mobile 4850).IlllI - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
i'd be careful with dell. they've been known in the past to do 'panel lottery' so you might not get the same kind of lcd panel that they have in it nowJarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I'm pretty sure if you get one of the Dell laptops with a high color gamut RGB LED backlit LCD, the panels will all come from the same source (i.e. no lottery). I only know of one manufacturer doing RGB LEDs right now, at least (Seiko Epson).IlllI - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
hmm i wonder if maybe down the road we'll see some e-ips panels from laptop manufacturers. they seem to be quite competitive vs tn/pva, well at least the desktop version. (can get a 22in for around $200)JarredWalton - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
We can only hope. [Crossing fingers....]IlllI - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
still a tn panel thougherple2 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I was kind of curious about the keyboard - I don't know of too many other 15" (or so) laptops that have a full 104 key keyboard. Are the keys standard sized?JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
They're very close. I think they might be just barely smaller, but the size of the keyboard never bothered me. The "touch" of the keyboard is a different matter, obviously.erple2 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Clearly :)That's one reason why I was contemplating an HP Elitebook or a ThinkPad as my next laptop purchase - I do so little gaming on my laptop anymore (that's what my desktop is for), that I'm looking for the 2 things that this new laptop apparently lacks: SOLID keyboard (I dont' really care about having an included number pad, but the FEEL of the keyboard is absolutely key), and a good quality, high resolution screen.
Those are 2 things lacking on this laptop, unfortunately, which means I won't be able to get this one.
What's my ideal laptop? In decreasing order of importance:
* high resolution (minimum WSXGA+)
* 15" (I suppose widescreen, but I don't care that much about it),
* IPS (like my 2475!)
* non-glossy screen
* solid keyboard feel
* discrete graphics card (makes external monitors a breeze to set up)
* Relatively good battery life
* uhh - dual cores?
Everything else is secondary.
Yes, I would really like to see a quality screen on a laptop. I had read somewhere that one of the ThinkPads used an IPS based panel, but I can't confirm that any more.
Jackattak - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
My XPS1530 has the best keyboard feel of any laptop I've ever typed on, hands down.strikeback03 - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
Thinkpads used to offer an IPS panel under the Flexview name, I have a T43 with one. It is indeed a nice screen (though some people complain they don't go bright enough). I believe they dropped the option during the time of the T60 though, so there are used T60s that meet all your requirements (though battery life probably tops out between 5 and 6 hrs with the 9-cell and UltraBay batteries), but I don't know of any currently shipping systems that do.Though I have a discrete graphics card in my T43 (ATi X300), it is a pain to use external monitors. The original driver didn't support widescreen resolutions, and the most recent one does, but resets the screen to 1024x768 if you close the lid, and once you reset to native (1400x1050) won't let you use space outside the 1024x768 box.
SeeManRun - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Why are the Macbooks listed in some of the benchmarks where they dominate absent in the other sections? I can understand having a problem with a software benchmark like x264 playback (though, in that case there is certainly a media player for Apple that will play those files) but for things like the display quality the Macbook should be present. Seems like the only spot the Macbook is in this review is where it is at the top compared to everything else.DJMiggy - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
It's a conspiracy......JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Anand tested the MacBooks - he's the Mac person around here - and outside of battery life there really aren't any tests we can run on the Macs without installing Vista. As mentioned in the past, MacBooks running Vista also have battery life problems (they get about half the battery life they achieve under OS X). So why are they in where they excel? I thought it would be obvious: we want the Windows vendors to catch up to Apple, whatever it takes. If Apple can do it with a certain set of components, others can do the same thing.There's little point in installing Vista on a MacBook just to run all these tests. Frankly, you can look at the specs of a notebook and generally guess within a few percent how it will perform. A MacBook with a P8400 CPU is going to be about the same as a Vista laptop with the same CPU.
IlllI - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
i like the laptop display quality tests, would it be possible to also test the quality of the macbook display and post the results?JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
If I can get Anand to part with one of his MacBooks for a week or two.... :-D (He's in North Carolina; I'm in Washington. We typically see each other maybe a couple days a year.)Hulk - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I agree with you 100%. We need quality displays on laptops!Thank you for pushing this issue.
andrezunido - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Nice review, seems like a well rounded notebook for the price but I wouldn't mind paying a little extra 100$-200$ for a decent screen I mean its not even LED backlit.I mostly use my laptop for programming work and the screen (apart from battery life - I like the freedom of working anywhere) is a major concern for me, the manufacturers tend to neglect its importance making it a premium/luxury of top of the range laptops (i.e. Apple's macbook pro 15 and 17 - this later being the only with matte option, Asus U2, Dell), all being over the ~2000$ mark.
Anyway, nice, balanced feature set (the overclock button is a nice touch), might consider buying one given its competitive price to do some gaming.
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
The Macs start at $2K!!! At least with PC you get choices, and more customization and better compatibility. Also anandtech did a review of a laptop not too long ago with the best laptop screen they'd ever seen; pretty sure it was from dell.niva - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Well I personally think the 32 bit vista is a big no-no at this stage. I don't care if some apps still have problems working under 64 bit vista, I want to use the extra gig of ram and I want to be able to upgrade the RAM and use it w/o having to swipe the OS.Does MS offer a free upgrade of 32 bit vista to 64 bit vista on machines like this one? Or does one have to fork out the cost for the 64 bit OS?
Lord 666 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I received a free copy of Vista Ultimate last year at a Microsoft "Heros Happen Here" event. Tried to get the 64bit disc for it but was told by MS the SKU I have is not entitled for 64bit media.Judging by that alone, I highly doubt MS will offer 64bit upgrades in the future as they did with XP in 2005. Their 64bit coming out party really is Windows 7.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I had a desktop that came with Vista 32-bit installed, and at some point the installation became corrupted. Just for kicks, I decided to try installing Vista 64-bit instead, using the RTM DVD. That worked fine with the code on the box. I don't know if that would work in other instances, though.IlllI - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
maybe one day you can review one of these http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ... or http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ...looks like they are the same except one uses a P7450 and the other a P8400.
either seem to be very similar to the msi, except the asus comes with 512mb on the gs as opposed to 1gb with the msi. also as you can see the asus is a tad cheaper.
crimson117 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
1366 x 768 no thank you.tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I'd be more than fine with it. I'm using a cyberpower laptop with a 9600m gt @ 1280x800 and I'm more than happy with the resolution. On a laptop, since performance isn't going to be equal with a similarly priced desktop, I'll take a slightly lower native res if I can still run the game at higher graphical settings. If the game runs smooth, you can always crank on AA to negate the "lower res" disadvantage.After all, this is what these laptops are designed for - gaming.
tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I have been anxiously waiting on a review from a legitimate site of this laptop as well! The link you provided though is for their older model. The newer model, which in fact is not much different, is here:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ...
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Yeah, I agree. I'd really like to see a review on both of those laptops; the Asus and MSI. Though I'm more interested in the "older" model with the P8400 than the 7450... And it'd be nice if instead of that crappy 1366x768 resolution they gave us a screen with a resolution of 1520x855 or at least 1440x810; especially since the 16:9 aspect ratio already reduces the height of the screen; they shouldn't also reduce the vertical resolution.I think that Asus with the P8400 and 8800GS GPU is the best laptop you can get for the money; good blend of battery life and size and performance. I'd like to see how that MSI notebook with the HD4670 stacks up.
Anything beyond an 8800GS notebook GPU is overkill for a laptop and uses too much power for a notebook. And 1366x768 is just not a high enough resolution; minimum on that aspect ratio should be 1440x810!!
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I meant 9800GS, not that it makes a difference really.sc3252 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
He did mention it in the second link. Not really sure there is much difference in the two. From what I read one has a bigger battery and and lots of colors on the case, while the other has a faster cpu.Another laptop I would like a review of is a even cheaper msi model that has a 4670.
MSI Ex625-227us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
looks pretty nice for $750, but really haven't seen many(any) reviews.
tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Woops I thought that was one big link!