MSI MS-1651 Montevina BTO Notebook Barebone

They're for the modem, but unless you have dial up you probably don't need them.

 

Does anyone know how to program that nifty P1 (user definable button)?

@Wisedude: press the satellite disk-like button between the bluetooth and the P1 button to turn on the wireless.

 

It took me like an hour to figure that out. Is that even a standard symbol?

 

Does your screen bleed light?

 

This is my first laptop, i'm not even sure what that means...I think it bleeds a bit of light.

The only concern I have about this thing is the keyboard. There's quite a lot of flex...

 

Also can someone explain to me how the memory card slots work?

 

To test light bleed, take a look at your screen when it is completely dark. Notice that when my screen is dark, there is that retarded light on the bottom . That's the bleed. As for the keyboard, how much does yours flex? Mines barely flexes . I have to put like A LOT of pressure to make it flex

 

Yeah, theres some light bleed. I don't really mind though. Is light bleed even avoidable?

 

All LCDs have it. Some have less than others though. I can't even see the light bleed on my Dell, but I suppose that's just a lucky one.

 

does anyone think the prongs on the charger are too long? They don't go all the way into my socket, so a bit is exposed. Kind of dangerous...
Also, I remember a while back paladin said the touchpad could be toggled off. How?

 

The prongs all the way into my power outlet.

 

All LCDs have it. Some have less than others though. I can't even see the light bleed on my Dell, but I suppose that's just a lucky one.[/QUOTE]
I was looking at my dad's Dell Latitude D620 and found that it's keyboard has almost no flex, even when pressed quite hard. This MSI is really not like that. Other than the keyboard, I have no major problem with it.

 

It seems yours have an abnormal amount of flex. The flex on mines is almost 0

 

Just so we're clear, we're talking about the amount by which the whole keyboard goes down when one of the middle keys ( for instance "G") is pressed down hard. You're saying it doesn't happen with yours?

 

mine has a bit of flex... not very noticeable. Though yeah, when I press the middle of my keyboard it dips a bit

 

Yeah. it only sinks a teeny bit when I press really hard. Could you take a video of yourself pushing it?

 

The built in cam doesn't aim that way. I'll dig up my other camera and take a vid in a while.

 

Just out of curiousity ... when "Typing" ... why would you press hard down the keys !?!?

G!

 

I don't know . I guess it's just like how we don't really go around flexing screens either. It's a way to test quality

 

vista rated my computer a 2, saying that the graphics card earned 2.0 for regular tasks, a 3.6 for gaming. I tried running spore, and it sucks. What the hell? I used the latest drivers from MSI for the gx620

 

How does it score on 3Dmark?

 

i just restarted and that fixed it. are there any useful utilities on the driver cd? also, how do you toggle the touchpad. also, is it possible to turn off the screen?

 

price drop of MSI MS-1651 at rjtech.com

 

Am I missing something, or is rkcomputer.net totally cheaper, even with the price drop?

 

I wouldn't loose sleep over your WEI score. There are ways to tweak the score up ... so that tells you how much faith you can put in it!

I wonder if anyone has tried the Drivers at http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

G!

 

Another question: when the card reader is properly installed will it show up in my computer as a drive letter, even when no card is in? I have no card to test, I installed the reader, but see no drive letter

 

Hi icehell,

Are you sure you are comparing apples to apples!?!?

Have you noticed that RJTech only has WXGA screen!?!?

G!

 

Not sure if anyone commented on this yet (catching up on thread now); those are pretty darn good temperatures...all well within the safe range. This laptop is looking better and better.

 

WuJohn,

If you order this lappy ... get it with WSXGA+ screen ... the laptop looks much sharper with Black look.

G!

 

Also, does anyone know what the "eco" button does on the row of touch sensitive buttons? Pressing it does nothing for me

 

I do not have this model in front of me now but it should be the Fn key + F2 / F3 Keys. there should be a picture of the touchpad and the screen on each key in blue.

 

You're right. It's Fn+F3 to toggle the touchpad.


Also, do you know what Fn+F2 does? My screen just turns off and on again when I do that.

 

Indeed; although I would get the WSXGA+ for the resolution anyway. It has been killing me seeing everyone on NBR getting a new lappy. My laptop is 6 years old and dying a slow death. Just gotta convince myself to spend the money...but priorities often get in the way...

 

that is probably used to toggle between your lcd and an external screen. Does it have anything in blue that could resemble a monitor?

 

Anyone have good suggestions for quality laptop cases that are cheap for this notebook? Haven't been bringing mine places because looking for a quality case that won't break the bank but will protect the notebook. Any suggestions?

 

That toggles between LCD and external display or both.

 

Ahh, now if only I knew what the "eco" mode on this laptop means? Is it any better than just setting vista to power saver?

 

Well right now it doesn't do anything on mine. P1 at least lights up, eco doesn't even do that. Also yeah, theres what I thought was a box on F2.

 

Hmm.. is your eco touch sensor broken? My ECO lights up even in the bios when I poke it

 

Did you install your own OS? The system control manager must be installed. If you have Vista X64 you will have to download the new SCM from the MSI web site.

 

ECO have 5 different power modes/settings, the turbo battery works much better than vista power saver.

 

does it over ride whatever you have it set to on vista?

I don't understand why there is no documentation for any of this....

 

If you have the SCM(System Control Manager) installed you can press the Eco button to cycle through the options. With that installed the P1 button works, too.

 

Correct, the SCM controlls all the softkey functions.......

 

Yes, the ECO mode will override the current vista power management plan.
Vista only has 3 plans which can be customized, this has 5 pre-set plans and is quicker to access/use than changing the vista plans.

 

I'm guessing thats the thing on that CD that I didn't install...

 

Look for your manual there as well.

 

I have to say, the engineers who worked out the cooling system in here really earned their pay. I was playing COD4 (maxed out) for half an hour, the temp barely rose at all. That was without a cooling pad, on a desk.

 

I finally got mine late today. I have been using it for a while now and these are my comments:

- The screen is absolutely gorgeous
- The performance is great. I haven't played any very demanding games yet, but I have been able to multitask a lot with no problems at all (antivirus scan, disk defrag, firefox with lots of tabs, office 2007, email client and music playing)
- The looks are amazing, its lighter than I expected and the brushed aluminum looks amazing.
- Overall, the notebook is pretty solid. There is a minimum of wobbling of the screen and the frame feels very stiff.

I, on the other hand, did note the following:

- The keyboard flexes a bit too much. I am getting used to it though
- I also have issues with the SCM. I downloaded it from the MSI website and everytime I push P1 I get a "please set up the program to be opened" message. Anyone had this problem as well? The Eco button does work though.
- The touchpad is, generally speaking, great. It does feel a bit weird while using the virtual horizontal scroll though, but I'm sure its a matter of playing with the synaptics' settings for a while.
- The speakers are, on a scale of 1 to 5, a 3. Not great but not horrific like the ones in the Dell Studio 15 and XPS 1530.

Another thing, I got inside the Bios and found an option to overclock the system up 20%. I am guessing its linked to the turbo button in the GX 620?

Would it be safe to use it on a permanent basis?

Cheers everyone and hope you're enjoying your new rigs!

 

Man... I wish I could play with my lappy. Must say though, it runs extremely cool in the BIOS!!