MSI GX600 Performance Laptop Review

Mobile/Laptops & Netbooks by jmke @ 2008-04-02

MSI laptops are becoming more popular with good reason, offering excellent performance at competitive prices. Their latest gaming laptop comes with retro style Turbo button which overclocks the CPU on the fly. Equipped with 8600M GT and 2Gb ram this multimedia power house aims to impress.

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GX600 Close Up

GX600P Up Close

The GX600 Performance is a compact notebook, and not a desktop replacement, the 15.4” display allows the total size to remain diminutive. With a 6-Cell battery the overall weight is not exaggerated, slightly under 3kg.

MSI chose for a piano black finish for their design, and while it looks very good, it attracts thumbprints easily. They do include a cloth to remove those smudges...

Madshrimps (c)


The top panel is very reflective, in the middle there is a fancy red MSI logo:

Madshrimps (c)
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Looking at the front of the GX600 you can see line-out, microphone and headphone connectors, on the left is the memory card reader; and slightly higher is the latch for the screen.

Madshrimps (c)
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The right side of the laptop has most of the in/out connections, from left to right: PCMCIA slot,eSATA, MCX Antenna (not used here), Firewire 400, 2x USB 2.0, HDMI, Video-Out, VGA out, Power Plug.

Madshrimps (c)
(click to zoom)


The left side features Kensington lock, RJ45, RJ11, 2x USB2.0 and the DVD +R DL writer.

Madshrimps (c)
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The backside features the exhaust vent for cooling, and provisions for another Kensington lock.

Madshrimps (c)
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A quick look inside next ->
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Comment from jmke @ 2008/04/02
my first lappy review, what is missing, what can I do better in the future?
Comment from Massman @ 2008/04/03
I like it, compleet, good pictures, good benchmarks ... I have nothing to comment on (yet )
Comment from thorgal @ 2008/04/04
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmke View Post
my first lappy review, what is missing, what can I do better in the future?
Like the review very much, read the whole thing

Only thing that I'd like to be more elaborated are the battery tests, or rather "a" battery test, if possible a repeatable one.
Comment from jmke @ 2008/04/04
this test is repeatable
running 3DMark06 in loop until system shuts down isn't very hard
Comment from thorgal @ 2008/04/04
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmke View Post
this test is repeatable
running 3DMark06 in loop until system shuts down isn't very hard
Not really light use hey A battery test should consist out of two or three scenario's : for example: wireless browsing while listening to music (1), watching a DVD (2), gaming (or 3D06 if you like) (3).
Comment from Massman @ 2008/04/04
in two different test environments: Power saving and at full speed.
Comment from jmke @ 2008/04/04
Quote:
Originally Posted by thorgal View Post
Not really light use hey A battery test should consist out of two or three scenario's : for example: wireless browsing while listening to music (1), watching a DVD (2), gaming (or 3D06 if you like) (3).
scenario 1 & 3 are mentioned in article
Comment from thorgal @ 2008/04/04
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmke View Post
scenario 1 & 3 are mentioned in article
You said it : "mentioned". Put an exact figure (minutes) on it to compare in future laptop reviews.
Comment from jmke @ 2008/04/04
Balanced
2.2Ghz (stock) 3Dmark06 loop: 49min
2.2Ghz (stock) Idle browsing: 120min
Comment from geoffrey @ 2008/04/09
At work, we test batteries by loading them with a heavy duty resistor. A pc browsing the net will average at around X current, while heavy load will make it consume Y current. You can simulate X and Y situations by using different resistor configurations. Not exactly a real time benchmark, but you do get exact results this way. Downside, you might kill the battery when running it completely empty, you need an automatic stop circuit, for example when the battery voltage drops below 11V (no idea how much is really need to make the PC shut down). Nothing too hard to build, costs nearly nothing too.
Comment from jmke @ 2008/04/09
drop me a line when you're up to the challenge

 

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