MSI Force 1761 from XoticPC

Anyone actually own this laptop?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I searched forums and google and cant find much info on them other than one poster saying the screen is grainy whatever that means.

Anyone can give advise on this model? Should I stay away and look more at Sagers? The price seems very cheap for a laptop including a 17inch 1080p screen and a GTX570m vid card.

Any annoyances or major issues with it people would care to share?

 

One thing I can think about is warranty issue.

If you buy Sager laptop from Xoticpc, Sager will be the one who provide the warranty service.

If you buy Xotipc Force 1761, the warranty service will be provide by Xotipc (sorry, not MSI).

 

The 1761 is a MSI Barebones System. It has everything that the GT780 has except with a different chassis and 1 year warranty where as if you ordered a MSI Namebrand through Xotic, you would get the full 3 year warranty just like the poster above mentioned regarding the Sager.

My 1761 configuration saved me $300 over the MSI name brand and $400 going with the Sager. I wasn't about to spend $400 more on the Sager. The 1761 has much much better speakers and a better cooling system than the Sager.

In the end, you just have to ask yourself if a longer warranty and a different chassis is worth the extra $300 for the MSI GT780. The amount you save will be dependent upon your configuration.

Lastly, I would check out Gentech. Call them and talk to Ken. He will match anyone's price and I promise he will provide you with better customer service than any other re-seller. He also posts here a lot so it's very easy to get your questions answered. In fact, I just had someone PM me to tell me he went with Gentech because they were willing to take the extra step to get his business. He wanted Windows 7 pre-installed and Xotic wanted to charge him $50 for it. Gentech did it for FREE.

 

I got my Force 1761 about a week ago. I went with the i7-2670QM and the rest default options. I would suggest getting a SSD or faster drive. The one in the system is noticeably slow. But it will work for now.

For the price it has awesome specs when compared to the other options, but the main thing as already mentioned is the warranty/service. I usually don't care about warranties because I usually don't want to deal with it, so I am OK with that decision.

XoticPC as a company is OK. They answered my upfront questions quickly, but I also didn't get a feeling of delight if I would've purchased one of their systems. In the end it all came down to price for me, and theirs was considerably cheaper, without have to call someone.

On to the laptop...I am very happy with it. I got the free upgrade to the IC Diamond thermal paste (well, I should have anyway, no way to really tell I guess?). My temps have been good, even though it has one fan. I idle around 40* C for both GPU and CPU, and BF3 maxed them in the 70*C range. Oh, about the free BF3...I had to email them after I got the laptop to ask for the key...they "forgot" to put it in the box.

I also bought the system without Windows, and the driver CD they included would not work in the laptop or my desktop. I believe the label they put on it is too thick...it would struggle to spin up (laptop) or eventually stop copying files (desktop). I finally was able to use my wife's $250 HP black friday special laptop to get the files onto a USB drive. Every feature on my keyboard works once I got everything installed (had to go to MSI's website, too and install the S-Bar and stuff).

The screen...I went with the matte "default" option. I was rather upset when I first saw it. There were green and blue dots that were pretty noticeable, from the coating. After a while you get used to it and turning up my brightness seems to have helped. It looks amazing in games though. By the way, my friends said I was a baby for whining about the screen. So if you're not as critical as me then you might not even notice.

Performance...even with the 570M, I am a bit underwhelmed by the performance of this laptop, but hey whatever. I prefer >60fps in every game I play, so to do that with high quality settings, I seem to have to play at 720p which is OK.

The build on the laptop seems very nice. The keyboard feels great to me, and I love the sleek, brushed plastic look of the shell.

 

I suggest you check out the owners lounge thread for the gt780dxr. They are basically the same and many of the barebones owners have posted in the that thread.

 

Yeah I like my laptop. I also don't notice any "matte" discoloration. Had some kids at my chess club going nuts over super street fighter 4 AE

Anyway I have a serious question for anyone here.
Any of you know how I can buy the steelseries backlit keyboard? I didn't choose it when I bought the laptop, and xotic doesn't sell the keyboard separately. Any advice?

 

The stock price is cheap because there's lower end parts in it and no Windows 7 x64 Home Premium.

Once you upgrate with an OS,better CPU,better primary drive,warranty and possibly a better wireless card the unit's price starts to approach branded models.

If you have your own OS and can upgrade most of the parts yourself the Whitebooks are good buys.

Do the math.Configure a 1761 and a GT78x with as close to the same hardware and software as possible and see where you stand.

Then talk to the dealers you are considering to buy from.Hear what each has to say.

The biggest difference is where it gets serviced if the need arises,MSI or the reseller.