MSI GS70 over the P35k - upcoming owner

I've lurked these forums and have to say, I see a lot of praise for a certain fellow named Ken Lee from GenTechPC. And... it's true. It's all true. How could that be??
Well my story goes like this... I was browsing for laptops that could meet my criteria:
-Portable
-Discrete graphics
-Good build / aluminum (brushed FTW)

The first laptop that had intrigued me was the Gigabyte P35k. It met all the criteria:
+Looks decently built w/ black aluminum
+Portable 15"
+Discrete graphics
+mSSD + swap-able ODD bay for more storage/DVD drive
+Looks like the designers had put good thought to it
+Dual fans
+Dolby Home Theater v4
+IPS!
-No brushed aluminum. Sad face.
-Typical space bar centered touchpad

I was ready to purchase, but wait, why is it being delayed so much?

So in the meantime, I browsed around for other laptops that fit my needs. And behold! The MSI GS70.
Upon discovering and learning about the GS70, my heart had changed in a heartbeat and I was all over the GS70 like an ant colony on an open bags of chips left overnight.

Why the GS70?
+Aluminum all around baby! (except monitor bezel)
+/-Portable 17" (hopefully that 1 pound doesn't add to TOO much compared to P35K)
+Discrete graphics
+mSSD + HDD
+Dual fans
+Better placement of keys and touchpad so it wont hit my palm
+Built-in audio amp (can anyone confirm?)
+Bling factor
*Customizable LED keyboard
*Gold plated audio jacks
*Carry sleeve
*HDMI + 2x mini DP ports (I have an apple cinema display and a 120hz monitor at home, and seeing the 2 mini DP ports, I dreamed of endless possibilities)
+Accidental Damage Cover
-Touchpad issues
-MSI hinge problems according to a few based on previous MSI laptops
-Decent monitor. Don't even know if it's 73% Color Gamut, but Ken informed me that it should be.
-Looks quite long and wide for a 17" laptop
-Not black (more blue greyish according to reviews)

The P35K is still a great laptop. Their back vents will definitely help get rid of fan noise as well as the hinges may be much more durable compared to MSI laptops (hope it isn't an issue on the GS70).
However, I didn't like their placement of the touch pad, I didn't like the plastic on the bottom, and I don't see myself carrying a DVD drive around with me, so the sleekness of the GS70 was definitely a +1.

But as of now, the pricing for USD remains a mystery and it might be much cheaper. But like they say, you only live once, so.... spend it all?

So there I am shopping for MSI GS70 and quickly found 2 potential retailers I was willing to contact: GenTechPC and XoticPC.
Being the stingy Californian, I was leaning towards the non-CA tax XoticPC.

Upon reading some other people's negative experiences on here when dealing with defects, I decided the risk was not worth it and ran a background check on GenTechPC.
Nothing but good experiences so far. Have the bad reviews been deleted?

Curious as to how that could be possible and as to what 'the' Ken Lee experience is like, I messaged GenTechPC hoping to get a reply from him.
2 minutes, and BOOM! A reply. What? Seriously? That's incredible. *Open email, scroll down* Thanks, Ken.
Oh snaps, this must be that legendary Ken Lee I've been reading up on notebookreview.com. Wow that was fast.
I quickly reply asking him a few questions about the laptop, warranty questions if customized by GenTech, and if there are other recommendations.
2 minutes later, another reply. I thought to myself: Wow it's like he's reading my mind as I type... Or as if I'm live chatting him, but faster than Dell's response times.


And so the conversation goes on. Not all replies were within minutes since some would take hours. But that's okay since he must be helping other needy customers such as myself (I read a review where he was on the phone with a customer for 1 hour trying to fix some GPU issue. That's dedication to your customers right there).

In the end, I turn into a fanboy (sorry Ken, I just increased your fanboy count. Any fangirls yet to balance it out?), and decided this is the retailer I will purchase through even if taxes will burn a hole in my pocket. I have dealt with customer service nightmare from BHphoto and Newegg where I would have to send in my defective hardware before they can even send out a replacement. This meant a 2 week longer wait period for BHphoto.
I felt that if push comes to shove and I have any problem with my laptop, Ken will be there to promptly respond and address my issues; this feeling is something that's hard to come by in customer service these days.
I told him I had a great experience talking out my potential build with him and praised him for living up to his legend in this forum; he gave me a cool signature image to spice up my blank signature box .

 

Hahaha it's nice to hear you had a positive experience Whe do you receive your new laptop??

And yeah, Ken Lee rocks

 

I'm not sure but I was informed production will complete by early next week. Super excited.
Come to me already GS70!

BTW did you get tracking info (assuming you opted for free shipping)?

 

I always get my tracking info from Gentech If free shipping is a standard ground service, yeah you will. Why don't you confirm it with Ken?

 

I thought I'd make it public and share the knowledge with other customers. We must convert them to Ken! haha.

 

Hahaha don't worry, Ken himself does a good job himself handling work It's better to focus the forum on solving issues or giving support to each other.