MSI GE600 coming out Early April

Loaded up "Painkiller Black Edition" last night and it looks great and plays well. No issues and best (smoothest) looking gfx I've seen to date for it. This game seems to run on almost everything, so I load it to nearly every system I own. This one is the best so far, as I would expect.

 

I can't agree with you more on the gpu capabilities of the 5730, I wish that my fairly beaten laptop of 2006 could hold another year so I could get the arrandale cpus, since the P7350 is a fairly not good processor, specially for me that run statistical software and play a ton of strategy games.

The case could be better, and I'm probably going to try to replace it with aluminum. so I can have it with more stability, but I'm thinking of buying another laptop next year.

The case problem is noticeable since I get laptops because they are mobile, so, this babe is in the bag all the day, getting to work, all day too.

One system that could replace this one with a great leverage is the acer 3820tg, that is a powerful system with the not scary price of the sony vaio z.

Now there is little to comment about people who said that the 330m was the same as the 5730, the 330m has almost the same performance as the 5650, almost. the 335m is a good comparison of the 5650.

the gts250 is the competitor of the 5700 family, and the gtx 260 is the competitor of the 5830, not the 5850.

 

Most Acer 3820's I've seen had the ATI 5470, but a 5650 would be nice. The aluminum case sounds good, I guess that is a bigger consideration if you carry it around a lot. I move mine around the house a lot, but won't travel with it much. But I would not be afraid to take it on a trip.

Thanks for your comments.

 

Hi guys, I have written a small review about this laptop, welcome to have a look at

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: MSI GE600-002 16-Inch Laptop

 

CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

 

Excellent review! Very well done. I can tell you like yours as much as I do mine.

 

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

 

In case you missed it...

As Atilla mentions in his excellent review on Amazon, MSI has posted new gfx drivers for the GE600 on their web site.

 

Hi Bron5, have you tested the Wireless LAN on this notebook yet? I have heard negative comments about this Ralink card, unfortunately haven't had the chance to test it yet.

 

Finally.. ATI graphics drivers package for the MSI GE600:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/496227-new-ati-radeon-drivers-msi-ge600-rejoice.html

 

I have not done any performance tests per se, but I have used it for web surfing and such without any problems. Have not noticed any issues.

I had another laptop with Ralink and it worked fine. I have seen the derogatory comments about it, but have never experienced any of the issues others reported in my other laptop.

 

Anyone know if there will be a refresh of the GE600 (like how the GX is going from -098us to -260us)?

 

Have not heard of anything.

 

Alright, so I just sent it in. I hope they can fix it.
Just a thought, anyone know how accurate the battery meter is or if there's some other programs that can replace it and deal with the switchable graphics properly?
I've been using Battery Bar, but the numbers seem to be way off when I switch the graphics. I've been told it needs to "learn" the battery, but the switchable graphics must mess with it for sure.

 

Well, good luck and keep us posted! Their warranty is a big selling point, so let's see how they do.

Not sure on the battery thing. I'm sure there are probably programs that measure the battery voltage/output directly, but not sure if they can tell you how much life you have left. I'll post back if I run across anything.

 

I bought the GE600 and all is well with it but for some flash problems and game resolution issues. I can't get my games to fill the whole wide screen and I can't watch flash videos using the performance graphics. I just thought I have to update the gpu drivers. Which drivers should
I get? From MSI MSI Global ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more or from AMD ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

I've been reading this thread since it began and have read about the flash problems. Anyone having the game wide screen problem?

Thanks for the help.

 

Hey there verfed, I'm currently using the drivers from the MSI site and they are running fine for me. As you can see a few pages back I also installed drivers from the AMD/ATI website that also worked fine. See if updating to the MSI release doesn't help you.

If that doesn't work, when you say the games don't fill the entire screen are they opening in a window or are they full screen with black around the edges? Is this happening for every game or just a specific one?

 

verfed apart from the 1366x768 rez make sure that you also set the aspect ratio to 16:9 .
And about this driver thing : I downloaded the driver from AMD website and installed it with that specific method and no problem occurred but whenever I shutdown the computer while on the ATI,after starting it again an error msg appears that says ATI catalyst center needs to close & blah blah ...



I've also got a bit of problem with these touch buttons that are supposedly for multimedia and the problem is I cant put them to work in any program other than windows media player ( and I hate this windows media player to my gutts !!!! )

 

I installed the MSI drivers and now can now watch flash videos while using the gpu. But the games are still not in wide screen. I tried Age of Mythology and Unreal Tournament 2004 and neither will go into wide screen mode and the resolution is capped very low for both of them. I don't know where there are settings to change that. The game is not in a window it is full screen but there are big black spaces to the left and the right.

 

I found a website called widescreengamingforum.com and it seems that the problem was not the drivers, just the games themselves. I'm not having any other problems as of yet other than I'm completely new to Windows 7 and never even used Vista.

 

Well, you probably already have figured this out, but a lot of older games don't support 16x9, they were written for 4:3 only. They still run fine. Some games were patched later for 16x9, some not.

Many of the games I've played on my GE600 run in wide screen (16x9) fine, some will only run 4:3 which means there will be unused areas on either side of the screen. They still look fine and it's not really a big deal to me (I'm used to this from other systems). But, rest assured that many (especially newer) games will run fine using the full screen.

Glad the MSI driver update worked for you, that's what I would recommend.

I did another survey this week of available systems and the GE600 still looks like a sweet system to me for the money.

 

For someone who only plans on Playing WoW, and Star Wars: The old Republic, is this machine enough to run Ultra settings (WoW0 ) at 60+ everywhere, if i have shadows turned down a bit?

I originally had my heart set on the gx640, but I don't know if i can justify paying $300.00 more for a machine to play WoW on.

Also, how does this low resolution look? Is it okay for processing? I'm planning on using it for school as well. Will this resolution make things much harder to do?

 

Well just got my laptop back today...and it works! Yay! I'm happy now...
Apparently all they had to do was update the BIOS, which I thought I did, but apparently I failed at it, haha.
Everything's running perfectly now.

 

@Vycandrius

Yea! I'm very happy for you! I've been back to check several times to see how it turned out for you. Very glad to hear that it worked out well and now you can sit back and enjoy your awesome GE600!

 

Hi! I cannot really answer your questions. I can tell you that the performance of the ATI 5730 and the GE600 in general are very good. Not quite as good as the GX640, but close enough that it won't matter for most games. SW:TOR I am sure would not be an issue, I don't know about WoW, but I would think not. But try to find some benchmarks for other cards that are close in performance, maybe, or look for ATI 5650 benchmarks (more of them than for 5730, 5730 will be a bit better).

The 1366x768 rez is perfectly fine for me most of the time, but I would urge you to go to a local BestBuy and look at a laptop with this rez screen and decide for yourself. Lots of the Sony Vaios and others also have 1366x768 wide screens. A higher resolution would definitely help with things like spreadsheets and word. You are basically giving up some screen area for larger fonts. For $300 and great gaming, maybe you can live with it?

The GE600 is a lot lighter to carry around and a bit more compact as well.

 

Hmm... well the GE600 is not in stock anywhere, so I may just get the gx640 anyway. I'm picking it up in two weeks when I go away for my Lacrosse tournament, so if it's not instock then, I may just have to get the gx640. I'e saved money my entire life anyway, so I deserve it.

 

Well, good luck whichever one you end up with!

 

The GE600 is end of life and has been discontinued.

 

so fast??

 

Well, it's still on sale at Buy.com, JR.com, and Amazon as well as a few other sites. Still listed on MSI site. May be as you say, as MSI products do seem to have a short market life (as do ASUS and some others).

All the more reason to snatch one up before they're gone.

------------
Update 7/28 - Now showing unavailable at Amazon. Still in stock at Buy.com and JR. But looks like this is it.

Update 8/2 - Now sold out most places.

Apparently the 660 line is King now. Super nice rigs, but $400-700 more expensive, Very glad I got a GE600 while they were offered.

 

anybody know where I can get one now? OR maybe sell me yours?

 

Alas! I don't know of anywhere that still has them in stock, not even on ebay. And you ain't getting mine!

I guess the GE600 is a collectors item now. I'm sure glad I got mine when I did. I had thought about waiting to see if there was a sale near the end, but the price never dropped that I saw. They just suddenly halted production and then everywhere quickly sold out.

Too bad, as this baby really delivers a lot of bang for the buck.

 

What happened to GE700?
Bt I guess it had to happen, msi went over agressive in product launches and launched too many in close price range.

 

Yes, I think you are right. Too many new products in too short a time. The new products are certainly exciting, but the GE600 hits the sweet spot for me with the switchable graphics and the ATI 5730 at a lower price.

The battle seems to be for the absolute highest end GFX card at a higher price. For me, the 5730 is awesome and all I need. And the GE600 sound is nice. It strikes a good balance all around.

Loving mine, that's for sure!

 

it being balanced is why im set on it. too bad my pos hp had to died at the end of the ge600's life cycle. i guess ill have to pay a big premium for one.

 

Maybe not. There always seems to be somebody who wants more...maybe someone will offer theirs at a reasonable price. I hope so. Good luck!

 

from the review of notebookcheck: "The graphic card sits on a MXM module. It is thus changeable." Can you therefore change it to a 5870 if you want?

 

I don't really know, but I doubt it. It draws a lot more power than the 5730, so I doubt the GE600 cooling would be enough. Maybe someone with more hardware expertise will answer. I'm more of a software guy.

 

rk computers actually sells the bare bone version. is this config worth it? i am set on this model because i want battery life, supposedly it reaches 4 hours with the switchable graphics. i'm not a gamer but will like to play Crysis and probably won't be able to tell difference past 30 fps and anything minimal of PS3 graphics. the only difference from this config and the retail ge600 is i5-450, upgrade thermal compound, 500gb hd, Intel Ultimate-N 6300, and one year rkc warrenty. Also is it a good idea to pay more for the 3 year warrenty?

Display-WXGA HD: 16" WXGA HD LED 1366 x 768 16:9 Super Glossy Display
Video Graphics: ATI Radeon™ HD 5730 1GB DDR3 + Intel® HD Graphics
Optical-DVD Or Blu-ray: Integrated DVD Super-Multi-Dual Layer Drive
Core i3-i5 Processor: Intel Core™ i5-450M Processor-2.40Ghz-2.66Ghz Turbo-3MB L3
Compound-Heat Sink: IC Diamond Premium Performance Thermal Compound (CPU/GPU)
2.5 Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate SATA II 7200 RPM 3Gbs 16MB Cache
Memory-DDR3: 4GB Crucial Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz PC3-10666 - 2 X 2GB
Wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 802.11 a/b/g/n 3x3 MIMO
Bluetooth: Integrated MS-3801 Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Module
HD Webcam: Integrated 720p-30fps HD Webcam
Warranty Options: 1 Year RKC Standard Barebone Warranty-RKC Tech Support

total w/o shipping: 1155.99

 

I don't think you'll get 4 hours, maybe if you don't do anything on the laptop. Internet browsing, and all the power savings enabled, should give you a bit more than 3 hours. Around 2 hours when watching a HD movie.
The Crucial memory is interesting, the official version has some unknown brand. I'm having no issues with the included wireless receiver, it goes good so far. The HDD is a good upgrade though.

As far as I know MSI offers a 3 year warranty by default, not sure how a vendor can limit that.

Altogether, for that price I may look for something else.

 

If you want it, it's worth it.

Not sure how the MSI warranty applies to barebone units -- might want to ask RKC or MSI to be sure. You are paying a little extra for a hand-crafted custom rig. Price isn't everything. Getting exactly what you want is sometimes worth a premium. And I doubt the $250 more (vs. stock GE600) will matter to you 6 months from now.

You get a bigger hard-drive, tiny bit better processor, maybe actually a little bit less battery life, but should still be over 3 hrs as Atilla says. If you really, really want a GE600 may be the only way. If you can wait, you may find something in the new line...but you might not.

For me, the switchable gfx is an awesome feature and well worth it. Re:warranty -- if not too much extra, peace of mind is nice to have. But you could take your chances. Ask RKC what their flat rate repair charge is and mull it over. Negotiate. Good luck!

N.B. The stock wireless card in my GE600 is an excellent performer, no issues. So I can corroborate Atilla's experience.

P.S. If you're not into red trim, flashing lights and stuff -- that's another reason to go with the GE600. I really like the looks of the GE600. Fairly conservative (except for the bright blue lights), sleek and nice looking in my opinion.

 

i googled and found one in stock right now at futurepowerpc.com for $913.89. pm sent.

too bad this is end of the line. i still stand by by my positive comments earlier in this thread. last month i needed to use my old laptop since i needed to run some XP programs, and i felt like i went back to the flintstones.

since steam has had some great sales, i have been playing more 2010 games with my ge600, and they all run very well.

 

Good find. They seem to have nearly every MSI made.

Yea, it's hard to understand why MSI would introduce such a nice notebook and then discontinue it so soon. As I said earlier, sure makes me glad I snatched one up right away -- and thanks to you, buddy, for helping me make that good decision!

There are so many nice things about this notebook -- like having the USB ports spread around on both sides and the rear. I love that.

It has enough power to keep me happy gaming-wise -- the 5730 is a sweet card -- for a good while.

Cheers!

 

I have a problem. I did something stupid, I didn't open up everything as soon as I received the notebook and now I see and only now after nearly two months that I did not receive a Windows 7 disk. I don't know why I was confused and thought that a Windows 7 disk would arrive bundled with the MSI GE600 that I bought from J&R computers through Amazon.

Not only that but the Windows sticker at the bottom of the laptop is all smudged and I can't recognize any numbers or writing on it. I did see that when I first opened the computer but didn't think much of it until now when I can't seem to even find my Windows 7 activation key. Tomorrow I will call J&R and see if they'll help. I don't think MSI can help since I also didn't register my laptop within 30 days of purchase. Yeah I guess pretty newbish mistakes but this is the first laptop I've ever bought personally.

When I bought this laptop I thought that I wouldn't have to make restore disks since I would have a Windows 7 disk, but now apparently I'll have to make them. All I want is a Windows disk. Is there any way I can make one now, like some kind of restore disk? And does anyone know where I can find my activation key within the computer or out. I have all the packaging and wrappers but all there was concerning Windows 7 was a little manual that I thought was the disk since it was wrapped in plastic and had the activation key on it minus the characters replaced by Xs.

Thanks

 

I don't have time to reply in full, but there is a tool/program on your computer that you can run to create your restore disks, so that should not be a problem. Also, there are ways to recover your windows key from your laptop. Finally, even though you did not register, you still have warranty coverage and you can call MSI for help, though you may not need to in this case.

So, I think there are fairly simple solutions to all your issues. I'll try to get back tomorrow to follow up, but others here may respond even sooner.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Bron5, I used a keyfinder program called the Magical Jelly Bean to get my Windows 7 key. now I just need to find a way for Microsoft office to unrecognize the other key I put in for it so I can put in the real activation key.

In control panel I found the backup and restore file and in there and I see two options. One to create a system image and one to create a system repair disc. Is this what I'm looking for, it sounds right? Which option though should I use. I like the idea of system restore disks although I backup all my files outside the laptop anyway, but what I would really like is a disk that I can use to wipe the laptop clean and reinstall Windows if I have to.

 

Verfed,

Here is the path to the MSI tool I used to burn my Recovery Disks: C:\Program Files (x86)\msi\BurnRecovery\BurnRecovery.exe

You can also find it by looking under MSI via the Windows "All programs" Menu. (The icon was on the desktop on my GE600 as well.)

This tool worked very well for me and even gave me the option to create an ISO image on the hardrive which I copied to an external USB HDD so that I could do a recovery from there if need be. The Recovery disks allow you to create a "fresh" system just as received from MSI.

You need to have 3 or 4 blank DVD-R's on hand (I forget the exact number needed) when you start. Everything was straightforward and pretty easy.

Hope this helps!

 

Alright I made the recovery disks after two tries. I'll probably make that iso image like you did also. Can I start up with these disks, boot directly from them before Windows starts?

 

THe GE600 has been phased out probably in favor of the new chassis the FX600.
The gpu is slower I know, but with some tweaks you can always but something better in there

Another guess is that the GX640 is end of life as well, and its going to be replaced with the GX660

this is probably a move to differentiate between the gaming line and the entertainment line

 

Wow I'm surprised how fast this went, I've been watching the GE600 since a month before it was released. I'm glad I ordered one when I did.

I have a small question. I want to loosen the hinges. But before I go ripping off the rubber pads next to the two hinges in search of a screw I wanted to ask here if that is where I can find them?