July 21st, 2010
MSI have a CULV in their current notebook lineup, namely the X420. We haven’t seen much action on the CULV front these days, but the manufacturers still churn out the odd one. The X420 lacks an internal optical drive but of course this reduces the unit’s weight and size with it scoring a 0.95 inches on the width front. Here are the rest of the details on the MSI X420 notebook
* Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor SU7300 1.3GHz 800 MHz 3MB Cache
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
* 14″ WXGA / Glossy Type 1366×768 display
* ATI Radeon HD5430 1GB DDR3
* Internal Speaker ×2
* 4GB (2GB x 2) DDR2
* 500GB SATA HDD
* Gigabit Ethernet
* Built-in 802.11b/g/n
* Bluetooth
* 2 in 1 (SD/ MMC) Card Reader
* 1.3 MP Webcam
* USB 2.0 X 2
* Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1
* Mic-in X 1, Headphone X 1
* Battery Pack 8 cells
* 13.79″ (L) x 9.22″ (W) x 0.95″ (H)
* 4.5 lbs with (8-cell battery)
Some good specs on the MSI X420, but with an Amazon price tag of $695
we think it just misses the mark. PCMag agrees with us giving the X420 a three out of five stating old tech CPU and memory mis-management as negatives yet battery life, size and weight were all in favour of the X420. The unit gains a 7.5 editor’s rating at Computer Shopper where concerns were expressed over performance again yet the switchable graphics option and weight were considered positives.
If you happen to have an X420 from MSI then let us know what you think.
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Posted in Hardware by JB | No Comments »
May 31st, 2010
MSI have a neatly priced gaming notebook out there at the moment, the GX640-098US. The unit sports an Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor and a ATI Radeon™ HD5850 3D graphics card with GDDR5 1GB VRAM to help repell those nasty aliens. Here are some more features and specs on the MSI GX640-098US
* The GX640 uses the most advanced Intel Core i5 processor, and is the world’s performance leader among gaming laptops, giving users the ultimate experience in speed.
* MSI’s exclusive ECO Engine power management system
* Sleek brushed-metal design
* Contoured touch-style hotkeys
* Prepare to experience a riveting high-definition gaming experience with ATI Radeon™ HD 5850 graphics processors.
* Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor 2.26GHz 3MB Cache
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
* 15.4″ WSVGA+ (1680 x 1050) display
* ATI Radeon™ HD5850 Broadway Pro 1GB DDR5
* Internal Speaker x 2
* 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3
* 500GB / 7200RPM
* Super Multi DVD Drive
* Gigabit Ethernet LAN
* Built-in 802.11a/g/n
* Bluetooth
* 4 in 1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/XD)
* 2.0 MP Webcam
* USB 2.0 X 2
* Graphics Card Output (15-pin, D-Sub) X 1, HDMI X 1
* Mic-in X 1, Headphone X 1
* 14.1” (L) x 10.24” (W) x 1.22” (H)
* 6.3 lbs with (9-cell battery)
* 3-Year Limited Warranty (include 1-Year Global Warranty)
That’s a pretty impressive set of specs and features and it’s all wrappd up in a $1200 price tag. Nice! We tried to track down some reviews for you and all we could find was this one at PCMag where the GX640 gets 3.5 stars out of 5. Downsides for them are the lack of battery life, excess heat output and sticky mouse pad buttons. Of course the price tag, processor, and graphics card are most definitely pluses. Given the negatives we still think the MSI GX640-098US is very good value for a gaming laptop.
Update: The MSI GX640 is available at Amazon
for $1106.
Featured tags: laptop msi
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Posted in Hardware by JB | 1 Comment »
. As for reviews, 
for a respectable $317.
and 
Wind Boxes are on pre-order right now, but over at the 
for only $799.
