Initial thoughts on GS70

So I got it today!

First off, I currently have.. well HAD an Alienware M17x R3, was a great computer have nothing against Alienware at all, I could have easily afforded a new M17, but I wanted to try something new and different... I knew I would start going on the road more and wanted something slightly more portable, so I was looking at this and the Razer Blade Pro, when it came down to it... the GS70 had the Razer Blade Pro beat SO HARD! haha I really don't see how people are choosing the RBP over the GS70 at all, but to each their own, I myself was really close to getting it too until I saw this was it's competitor. Glad I did see it in a google search!

Initial thoughts on this laptop, as I type this on it... I will try to keep it short and try to keep it simple.

Looks(Size, weight and appearance) - I love the size of this thing! For a 17" laptop, this thing is super light and on top of that super thin!!! I like the subtle looks of it, with the lit up dragon head and keys. Slight miss the Alienware's keyboard placement(further up\closer to the screen) to allow for a tad bit more area for hands to rest while typing and using the mouse, but all in all.... this thing really looks awesome and the weight is less than half of my old AW!!

Screen - The matte screen looks very good! I knew it would look good since one of my dual monitors is matte and it always looks awesome. The colors and brightness is perfect in my opinion. Also the washout is amazing, almost get a full 90 degree angle from the screen before I can't see it.

Keyboard - The keyboard is slightly different from my AW as far as spacing size and layout goes... but it really isn't all that of a deal. As far as the keys them selves, it seems like some need more light than others, but there is another guy on here who said his are the exact same way(specific keys and all) so it must be a manufactured light arrangement. The key press is very good and pops right back as I am going from key to key, no sticky keys. I also like the font choice they went with for the letters, numbers and symbols. As far as solidness/stiffness though, it is perfect, no warping at all.

Speed(CPU, GPU, Storage, RAM and Wireless) - This new i7 4700 is pretty beast compared to my older i7, should have no problem handling Photoshop no problem, speccialy with the GTX 765M abd the 16GB of RAM. My boot time is around 7-8 seconds... haha kind of ridiculous! These SSD's are super fast! The GPU looks to handle games pretty well from other videos I have watched... haven't really gotten time to start downloading all of my games yet... soon! The wireless card in this is pretty damn sexy! haha It is quite the card compared to my old AW's wireless card, loads YouTube videos pretty well compared to my old AW...

Trackpad - Hate it, I never have really used trackpads... but this one I can clearly tell isn't good at all... haha. It is almost like it has a mind of it's own sometimes... clicking on things I am just hovering over and what not. If I were you, I would invest in a wireless mouse. Specially if you don't like Windows 8!

Windows 8 - You know... I can see where they were going in a "streamline" kind of thinking with W8... to make their computers, tablets and phones all mesh together much smoothly compared to how it was. But yeah, it helps with quick boot times so it has that as a positive... really though, W8 isn't terrible... as far... but it really needs more work.. and better navigation.

Overall, this is a great laptop thus far, and this will definitely be put through its paces when I am doing Photoshop, Google SketchUp and Web Development all at one time. I would so far recommend it to others as it seems very solid!

That should be it for now... will update this post.. or just post new info as I go on with the new lappy!


Edit: 9-24-13 So the more I am looking at these keys... in the dark.. they are kind of hard to see since they are so dim... I tried to turn up the brightness with the keys on the right hand side of the laptop, but it doesn't do anything but make the lights turn some jacked up whiteish/pinkish color... and also the buttons are backwards as far as turning the brightness up and down... like I had said in another thread... one of my main things is kind of the keys and how they are light wise at night... currently they are rather hard to read since they don't get any brighter... sucks. :/

Edit: 9-25-13 Been installing all the new drivers... the more I go through some of the navigation... W8 isn't actually all that bad! Last night I did a fraps recording of some Diablo 3 playing(uploading to YouTube still!!!) Will post a link to the video fo my moronic later... lol But yeah, D3 ran great on max settings. Will try and get some BF3 today...

 

So I just got off the phone with MSI technical support trying to fix my LED's on my keyboard... what a crappy service they have! lol The guy was more busy with something else completely it was ridiculous.. haha. Then at the end, when I was asking him something else, he straight up hung-up on me in mid sentence.. lol Guy was a bag of .

Anyways... I will be sending this in for a return most likely. Sucks... but what ever, would rather have a working keyboard to where I didn't have to squint every time I would look down to know what I was pressing.

Will keep you updated.

 

Got the RMA in... should get a new one soon. I hope.

 

Got shipped out and today, and shoudl get there around Monday... Hoping to get it back by next Friday...

Really cannot wait! haha

Just using it for those few hours, I really loved the weight and portability of it. Hoping the next one has proper lighting!

 

I wonder if this Laptop will be updated for the Holiday's? Not necessarily externally but internally (SSD, Graphics, newer Haswell processor) not really sure if Intel has introduced newer since the original Haswell i7's were made available in June. If I am not mistaken when intel introduces new processors it usually follows up sometime in the fall sometime with updated versions correct me if I am wrong or if they have introduced newer Haswell i7's since they were introduced in June.

 

how do u feel the durability for the notebook is? do you feel it can stand for the next 6 years of heavy usage?

 

It sucks that you had to RMA so soon, but the good thing is that it is in process already and you should have it back soon!

The GS series definitely struck a chord with a lot of mobile gamers. I personally go for the high end GPU lately but I can see the appeal of a balanced, portable, thin and light gaming notebook.

The whole windows 8 thing depends on users. Power users absolutely detest it when they first try it, because it changes a lot, limits a lot, and it is basically learning everything again. Multitasking feels much different, it feels limited specially if you use "apps" as they tend to be full screen, and you switch between full screens. Overall, some users won't mind at all Windows 8. Personally, I believe it was conceived with the wrong ideas for desktops, even if it works better for tablets or lower end devices. It takes me more clicks and time to do everything, than with win7.

 

Honestly, if they upgrade the GPU, they will need to work on their cooling BIG TIME.

My new GS70 reached JUST under 300 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday under only an hour of play time.

It would be cool to have a GTX 780M in this badboy... but the heat from it would melt this thing in half.

It's 100% more solid than an Alienware M17x R3... which had terrible build quality. And it was a HULK! haha You would think for something that is so big it would have been built like a tank, but it wasn't...

I'm not saying this is 100% solid by any means... but it feels really good when typing and carrying around.

Seeing this new one, I guess MSI does some serious photo editing to theirs pictures to make it seem like the LED brightness could light a room. But it does NOTHING of the sort. And when I go to "turn up the LED brightness" it washes the colors out and gets dimmer than the dimmest setting. VERY annoying.

Sucks about the heat and the LEDs.. because the laptop is seriously awesome other than those two flaws...