MSI GT627 Notebook

Few questions.

What is the actual processor speed on this? Everywhere I look, including the MSI website, all I hear is "latest Intel core 2 duo" which is pretty useless information. I'm looking at a 2.8 GHz one most like.y

What are the rough costs?

Where can I get one in Australia?

What is the noise level like?

What is the keyboard and overall build quality like?

Would you recommend it over other things like the Asus G50VT and Clevo M860TU?

 

This notebook is newly released and doesn't have a final spec yet.
Usually manufacturers would come up with several versions for you to choose from.
For example,
GT627 V1 / GT627 V2 / GT627 V3 -> features and pricing varies.

 

Ahhh okay. Do you have any idea of a release date and if it'd be available in Australia?

 

no... but MSI has a reputation of delaying their shipment according to many users' experience here.

 

I don't know if that's true for all notebooks, but they certainly delayed their netbook -- MSI Wind -- like mad.

 

Seeing as completely computers systems is not yet MSI's priority domain, they're not yet as up to speed with other notebook companies on their models. Nonetheless, their models are very good quality from what people on NBR have said .

As for the rough costs, Amazon.com posted a pre-ordered GT627 with a P8400, a 9800M GS(1Gb GDDR3), 4Gb RAM, 320Gb HDD, DVD Drive & Windows Premium(probably 32bit) for 1,149.99$USD so I'd expect a high end model to cost maybe ~1500-1600$.

Official release date is not confirmed though, but I'm assuming it should be within the next few months. Most reviewers expect it within this quarter so March at the latest according to them.

 

$1399. A CPU with an extra 150 MHz clock speed along with extra 3MB of L2 cache, a Blu-ray drive and a higher resolution screen seems to be worth the extra $250 IMO.

 

The 8400 & 8600 are the same excepting core clock speed (multiplier), so both have 3MB of cache.

The BR DVD is what jacks up the cost so much, which I find to be a uselessly costly "feature".

 

Oops you're right, I thought the higher end one had a P9500.

Well regardless, it's still better priced than my GX620. Only a hundred dollar difference, and you get a considerably better GPU and a Blu-ray drive in return. I'm sure this will cause the GX620 prices to drop a little bit.

 

Yups, the "higher end" model of the GT627 has a P8600, a Blu Ray Drive and a higher resolution screen at Amazon. It's yet to be seen if they'll come up with other configurations for the GT627.

We'll probably see more within the next month or two once other vendors aside from Amazon start acquiring the GT627.

 

Overall, the screen is what really grabs me, and to a lesser degree the P8600, although the Asus G50VT-X6 @ newegg has a P8700 2.53GHz CPU, but only 512M on the 9800M v. 1GB on the 627... Then again Asus has that incredible warranty too...

 

I recall reading somewhere that this laptop has a 2 year parts and labor warranty with MSI that comes with the purchase of the laptop. Is this true?

If so, an extended warranty isn't needed - a huge cost savings!

 

All the notebooks with warranty info that I could find on the US MSI site say 1y warranty only, which is fairly poor, especially when compared to Asus' warranty of 1y accidental damage and 2y limited part & labor.

I haven't checked other notebook mfgs as they weren't under consideration at all, and don't recall what Apple's basic warranty is. (I bought an extended warranty for one of my powerbooks once and never had to use it, so haven't bothered with one since, but more than 1y on the basic warranty would be nice.)

[EDIT]
Almost forgot, but I've read on the MSI User-to-User forums that MSI is, apparently, somewhat flexible in servicing their products after the warranty has officially expired. No idea though what this entails, and as it is obviously an unstated policy it likely varies with rep & product.
[/EDIT]

 

Well most companies offer a 1 year built in warranty concerning parts so it's mostly standard. Anything above that is a bonus since normally you have to pay for extended warranty above 1 year. It's not like that much tech dies within 3 years. Usually it dies within the 1st year, hence the one year warranty standard.

 

heh no i think notebooks now can easily do 3 years......5 years? Not so much

 

5 Years on a notebook is like 25 years on a car, depending on the vehicle itself + the owner + fate, it could last a long time or it could die.

The mark up on blu-ray is ridiculous. In about a year (after the HDTV transition), we will be looking back and shaking our heads at paying 200 or 300 bucks for a basic blu-ray player, just like we all did when we purchased basic DVD players for 300 dollars. Then again, I still have that Toshiba DVD Player and it still runs as good as the day I bought it.

 

I hope there are some more models, I want the faster processor and better resolution but I have no use for Blu-Ray.

 

Well you could always put in your own processor and it'll only take 10 minutes

 

Couldn't replace the screen though, which is my biggest worry. 1280 x 800 is not good enough for a 15 inch screen in my opinion.

 

Chances are other configurations will come out. I mean, the GX620 has like 5-6 different configs so I wouldn't be worried

 

The only concern that I had about the warranty was the past problem with nb mbs which did NOT show up typically until over 1y later. That along with all of the dead nv 8XXX parts which, also, typically died after a year are a concern, although I'm going to do a little educated guessing and guess that it was as much the fault of builders not adding enough thermal control as much as nv's change in fab process. The newer notebooks seem to mostly run a bit cooler with the less than very top end parts, i.e. 9600Ms and below.

From sound of things on the MSI u2u forums it sounds like MSI might replace components that failed for one of the above reasons as long as it wasn't too long after the official warranty expired, and I think particularly if it were a supplier fault, e.g. bad caps, poor thermal specs on parts (GPU), etc.

BR: Gotta agree. BR is a costly extra, that just is plainly NOT worth it ATM especially that considering this time in DVD life I could get computer/nb drives for significantly less than the c. $200 markup that BR is still pulling. Admittedly these are writers as well, but write capability has become a MUST have in the intervening time period. So how much are blank BR disks going for? $10 a piece or more like DVD when it first came out? I can't even remember seeing any at the big electronics chain stores, but I'll have to try to remember to look when I go see what BB's G50VT version is like. Although I must say for the for example, $50 price difference between newegg and Amazon for a G50VT-X6 v. GT-627 I'd still be inclined for the MSI IF it were coming out soon. (Going back to one of my older notebooks(the only one with a functional fluorescent tube ATM), I'm finding it uselessly slow and mainly just using it to port data which could just as well be done via a USB flash memory adapter of some type.)

Also had been seriously considering another GX620/1651, since I'm not so sure that I want to be a guinea pig for the 627, as even if it were to come out next week it'd probably be a month or more before a pro review (with temps -- considering summer usage where it may also be used in non-airconditioned environments for period of time when air temps could be 85 - 100F) showed up. (The 1651 seemed like it would've been able to handle those temps if not overly stressed, so I'm worried about moving to a greater heat generator that the 9800M would be...)

 

It should be ok temp wise, the CPU is rated at 25W, and there is just one HDD; however, I'd think the problem will be that 4850 mobility will generate far more heat than MSI 735 with 3850, stuffing that amount more transistors in similar volume while both using 55nm process is asking for trouble.

Anyone getting one please upload a review in the future.

 

Funny that you should mention it, but I actually did really look at the specced dimensions of the 620/627 v. the 725 and found that the 725 is ~.8" wider, ~.5" deeper and the same height as the 620/627 case, so I'm now considerirng that as well. Also it's $50 cheaper(the lower end 725) than the 627 top end from newegg.

 

You can now buy the GT 627 from frosty computers for about $1,200.

www.frostycomputers.com

I'm going to buy one, but I think I'll also wait until mid-february to do so, so that I can hopefully read up on some reviews. I am always worried about overheating issues, and since my version will have a Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 Processor as well as the 9800 GS GPU I wat to be sure it won't have troubles.

 

The two on Frostys appear to be the same as Amazons, except that Frostys lower end model has a 1680 x 1050 resolution compared to Amazons 1280 x 800 at around a $60 difference.

 

I believe that Frosty's specs are incorrect, and that he he only has has the same models as Amazon and everyone else has, as I've seen no signs of a brebones chassis release and I seriously doubt that they'd do a special build for a low volume seller, unlike Asus with the newegg G50VT-X6...

 

How do you know the MSI GT627-218US has a blu-ray burner? And would you happen to know what speed it is?

 

when you say "buy" you mean you can pre order this laptop ? as its yet to be release.

 

As far as I know, the GT627 hasn't yet hit the open market so Frosty's probably refers to a pre-order.

 

Well, I've actually already spooken with Ben at Frosty Computers about all this, in fact here is a copy of my most recent e-mail with him, asking him to customize a GT627 for me. If you read the site material, you'll see that he is actually an ex-MSI employee, and it makes sense that he would know how to get the systems quickly.

Let me know what you all think, haven't placed the order yet, just worked out tech issues.

"

Mike,

I'm calling you Mr. Extreme. The MSI GT627 will probably be in-stock by
this Saturday, as the first shipment is coming in from China around that
timeframe. I should have it next week. I'll have to special order your
CPU since its actually very rare. Here are the specs:

> Display-WSXGA: 1680x1050 (yes)
> GPU: NVIDIA 9800M GS 1GB DDR3 (yes)
> Disk drive: 2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive (yes)
> Core 2 Duo Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme 45 nm X9100 3.06Ghz 6MB 1066MHz (yes)
> Compound: Arctic Silver 5 CPU Thermal Compound (yes)
> Hard Drive: 320GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache - Free Fall Sensor (yes)
> Memory: 3GB DDR2 800 (2 SODIMMS) Dual Channel (yes)
> Wireless: Intel WiFi 802.11 AGN, wireless card will be the MSI AGN same thing really (yes)
> Bluetooth: Integrated (yes)
> OS: Windows XP Professional With SP3 / Vista Home Premium With SP1 32-bit (yes) Dual Boot
> Warranty:2 Year Warranty (yes)

Also you get:
-9 cell extended battery (yes)
-Gaming backpack (yes)

Now, thats the most extreme notebook I've ever seen!

"

So yeah, looks like it'll be ready by next week and can be customised already...

 

Did he give you a price on that yet, M-Brane? Now I wonder if I would be able to order the cheaper version of the GT627 customized with a 1680x1050 screen instead. If it would be worth it that is.

Side note: Yay for GT627s probably being available next week!

 

Amazon seems to have accurate specs on the 725 compared to the MSI US & global sites, plus the GX620 came in the same two options and I expect that the GT627 will be replacing the GX620 so...

Anyways, odd, the GT725 is now in the MSI US site, but the GT627 is still NOT listed...

[EDIT]
OK, now I've got a question: Has anyone here bought anything from Frosty's before?

I did read the company info way down at the bottom where it said he had been a salesman for MSI for 2y, then left and started Frosty's. I'm still not sure about his specs though as IIRC he had the GX620/1651 specs wrong and his video of the GX620 was wrong(said it had GDDR2 and NOT GDDR3)...
[/EDIT]

[EDIT2]
Hmmm... no toll free #, how annoying...
[/EDIT2]

 

Why not? Actually if you can source one that fits, replacing the screen isn't hard.

 

Yup, it will cost US$2,525

I reckon that's pretty decent.

 

when you say next week what date are we talking about. if frosty dont have this laptop in stock now than he would nt get untill first week of feb
as you know its chinese new year everything wil be close for 10 or so days even MSI are close till 2/1/09

even if he is msi ex employee he might know when it will be release but getting them b4 anyone else i doubt it the laptop will be release same time for everyone i dont think he will get a exclusive for a week or so hard to believe

 

Chinese New Year(traditional) is Monday, but we're talking about MSI USA here. Chinese New Year is NOT a holiday here, although I think that some Chinese still celebrate it, but not to any extent that it affects business here.

The problem was if MSI had NOT gotten those units shipped by this weekend, they'd've likely been stuck in China for an extra week or so... but it appears that they've already been shipped and sounds like MSI USA will be receiving them today, and then, likely, shipping them out to re-sellers Monday. (Unless they let Frosty sneak in and nab a few today... which they might if he's still on good terms and close by to their warehouse... saves them bothering to ship them...)

 

see i was right about when the msi gt627 will come out

 

This post. Although since we don't know exactly when the email was sent, I suppose that he could also mean next saturday, which would mean the following before they're available... I wish that he'd've used dates...

 

I'm not quite sure if there's a X9100 in it, i'll send an e-mail to my contact person at MSI.

It could be that there's a difference between the US-version and the EU-version.

 

well that email was from frosty not from MSI so i don’t really believe that, it’s same in UK Microanvika (MSI reseller) told me they will have GT725 in stock within two weeks and that was back in December.

None of the reseller know 100% my guess is its going to be late Feb or even march would not surprise me.

I am giving up hope now.

 

Makes me laugh when I remember people were getting hyped about it being released back in November. Hopefully that won't happen again.

 

Sorry about that, didn't think the date was THAT important, lol.

That e-mail was received on Jan 23, so it's probably already there.

Hope that helps

 

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/26/msi-gets-official-with-gt627-gaming-laptop/#continued

for your enjoyment

 

awesome only 5.8 pounds which is amazing and makes me believe that other gaming laptops can do it to

 

That's really light!

I doubt a 6-cell battery will fare well with the 9800M GS though, hopefully we can get our hands on some 9-cells.

 

So, is this the model that basically IS the 1651/GX620 just with a new mainboard with 9800MS support and DDR3?

If so I'd seriously consider buying that mainboard so I could keep my matte display.

 

No system RAM is still DDR2, the 9800M GS has 1GB GDDR3 though, just like the old 1651/GX620 had the 9600M GT with 512MB GDDR3.

o.w. from what I read somewhere it's basically the same as the 1651 with a slightly updated motherboard(supposedly supports quad cores now too) and a 9800M instead of the 9600M. (Sort of like the Asus G50 v. the G50VT...)

BTW: Frosty's says ships in 24-48h on the GT627s now, the GT725s still say 2-3w. Amazon still says pre-order on both.

The high-end model comes with a 9cell battery according to Amazon & frosty's.

RKComputers say in stock as well, so I'd assume that every vendor that had an order in must have stock by now or very soon...

[EDIT]
The GX620/GT627 also use the same BIOS and apparently email queries to MSI about the 1651 resulted in confusion as apparently the barebones version of the 627 will ALSO be called a 1651, which further re-inforces the info above that the 627 is the 620 with an updated GPU and a slightly revised mb(apparently for quad core support, likely also a mfg cost reduction).
[/EDIT]

 

For the question about quad core support and the whole naming fiasco, refer to this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=343704

 

Where did you hear they would update the MS-1651?
I'm not suspect, just really happy to hear that.


EDIT: Ahh nevermind, just found the info in the aforementioned thread.