MSI MS-1651 Montevina BTO Notebook Barebone

The best thing to do is give us a call so we can give you the details of shipping times.

 

Have you gotten them in yet donald?

 

I can hardly wait for some better high def pictures of this one....

 

Bah justin told me that they would be in stock the first week of august...now its more than likely they wont be in till even NEXT week. I dont know if i can wait this much longer before college =( canceling orders is no fun

 

What I am hearing from many students is that they don’t really need their laptops the day school starts, and would rather wait a while to get what they really want rather than settle for 2nd best just so they can have it right away.

Keep in mind that even if they ship it to your college address you will have what you want… for several years…and you will soon forget the frustration of being without it for a week or so when you start your semester.

 

If you don't mind putting it together yourself...

Buy.com has the individual parts relatively cheap for the configuration I want:

MS-1651 WXGA = $667 (Search MS-1651)
Intel P9500 CPU = $355
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) HyperX DDR2-800 SODIMM = $125 (Search KHX6400S2LLK2/4G)
Seagate Momentus 5400.5 320GB SATA = $104
Intel WiFi Link 5300 = $43

TOTAL = $1294 with free shipping AS OF AUGUST 13, 2008

Access Buy.com through the Live.com Cashback program and get a 2% rebate in 60 days making the final cost for this configuration like $1268 shipped.

I'm having a hard time finding out if the laptop shell includes the optical drive or not. When it's released, they'll probably update the page with a better description.

My ASUS laptop took a dive over a month ago and I'm waiting for this laptop, mainly the WSXGA+ 15.4" version if I can get a reasonable price (~$735 shipped for the shell). Buy.com also has the WUXGA MS-1722 17" shell for $897, again not sure about optical drive inclusion.

Always a good option for you do-it-yourselfers out there

UPDATE: Prices updated for August 13, 2008

 

so then donald, what's the ETA now?? Just any day now you'll get them in?

 

Hi Amponzi ... am I reading your post correctly ... are you telling me that they have MS-1651 in Barebone with WSXGA+ screen at Buy.com!?!?

BTW, Great price with all the right components ... great find! THANKS!

Thanks,
G!

 

They don't have the WSXGA+ version listed yet, that price is for the WXGA version and inclusion of an optical drive is unknown. Though given AVADirect has the WXGA version for $672 with an optical drive, I doubt Buy.com would be that much more.

Not only that, for Whitebooks, MSI offers a 2 year extension on warranty for $249 (which I think is way too much for a Whitebook that costs $661). Add that to the components above and you get $1510 all inclusive.

Besides... the CPU is 3 year warranty, the memory is lifetime (for Kingston at least), for the wireless card it's like 1-3 years, and the hard drive for Seagate is 5 years. You could even try and get an extended warranty from Squaretrade or something.

 

We expect to be shipping the WXGA screens by August 18th, maybe sooner, with the WSXGA+ screens following about a week later.

 

Guys, just a word of caution...

According to the article on the front page, the G94 nVidia graphics module in notebooks is going bad at alarmingly high rates. This is the chip that is used by the MS-1651 and MS-1722 notebooks (9600GT). Proceed with caution as it looks like nVidia has a real major problem on their hands with respect to these chips. I wonder how MSI will handle numerous issues with these notebooks.

 

amponzi,

I saw that the article said the 9600GT, but it did not say the 9600 M GT. It would appear that the 9600M GT may not be affected because of the following found here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9600M-GT.9449.0.html

paladin44,

If this were an effected GPU how would powernotebooks handle this scenario? Would this be something that PNB would deal with, or would MSI have to be contacted in the case of the Power Pro 15:3. The reason I ask is because I just purchased a Power Pro 15:3 a couple of days ago, and I don't want to be left with a busted laptop three years and 1 day after the warranty expires. That was one of the main reasons I did not go with a Dell because it seemed like they were trying to get the Nvidia chips to outlast the warranty by releasing BIOS updates to increase fan speeds, and operational times.

Thanks!

 

They haven't been proven to be defective yet, and even so it would only be a small number. I would also like to know how resellers would handle this if the 9 series ended up dying on us

 

Hi folks,

Both the NVIDIA "9600M GS" and "9600M GT" are NB9P types ... so ...

I am just Stunned how much NVIDIA has been having problems ... I am surprised the company still plays it low-key and chug along and sell their cards.

Sometimes I wonder if Laptop Distributors (e.g. Sager, MSI, ...) are not being paid a Premium to carry only NVIDIA and stay away from ATI.

May be I just stay with Trusty old Intel X4500 onboard graphics ... might not play a lot of games ... but at least won't cook up and take my board with it too.

G!

 

Actually I think its more that ATI has been asleep at the wheel for the last few months. Does ATI have anything for notebooks in the same range/performance as the 8600? 9600? 8800? Not that I know of.

 

8600 - HD2600
9600 - ATI HD 2600 XT? =p
8800 - maybe the ati mobility hd 3850-3870, or skipping ahead to the 4000's series

 

If there really was a problem with any of the 8xxx or 9xxx series video cards in the Sager, PowerPro or Force models it would be all over these boards.

Please understand that it is nVIDIA that makes the video chip, but the ODM that makes the complete video card and thermal solution, so when it comes to Clevo, Compal or MSI laptop shells the quality of the thermal solutions is made with heavy use in mind, without the cost cutting mentality that you find in the major national brands.

Bottom line, if you don't see gobs of reports of failed cards here it is because it isn't happening. I don't mean the occasional failed video card, that is going to happen to any card, what I mean is the large percentage of failed cards that the major national brands are reporting.

We provide a standard 3 Year Warranty w/Next Business Day Shipping with all of our PowerPro laptops. If we were the least bit concerned about this, we wouldn't be selling models with these cards in them. In addition, our warranties are backed by major international companies that are also backed by MSI, Compal and Clevo.

 

paladin44,

Thank you very much!

 

I thought the NVIDIA 8400 and 8600 were the only ones affected. My last laptop failed because it was 8400.

 

Any word/leaks about which manufacturer MSI will use for the LCD? Im 90% behind getting this model but I may go to the 2096 if the screen is better.

 

I'm up in the air again... After hearing that people have pulled 4 hours on the NP 2096 with the stock battery.. I wonder what kind of battery life you could pull out of the msi

 

That model has a 9 cell, the msi has a 6 cell. If you upgrade to a 9 cell on the msi the run time should be similar.............

 

im assuming the MSI will get 2-2.5 hours of battery life while surfing the net on the 6 cell. I wouldn't care if the compal was getting 6 hours, the thing looks like its from 1987.

 

I understand they're different cell batteries, but the sager comes with the 9 cell standard, the msi comes with 6 cell standard. I think that makes the battery difference irrelevant, because whatever I got I wouldn't pay over 100 bucks to get another battery

 

You probably will get 1-1.5HR with 6-cell and 2-2.5 with 9-cell more likely.

 

Hi Freiddie .... what Brand and Model was it?

Thanks,
G!

 

AdamU ... I wonder how many cutomers Compal loses ... just because of that darn 9 cell Battery sticking out like a sore thumb!

G!

 

Hmmm, more like around 4 with a 9 cell and about 2.5 with a 6 cell. That is what we have been getting pretty consistently with good battery settings.

 

HP Pavilion dv2530tx, with NVIDIA 8400M GS with 64MB dedicated memory.

 

Good luck Senor M. ... if you think MSI or Sager or any of the Resellers will ever tell us that ... you will get the pat answer ... we don't know! You get what is behind door #1 or door #2 ...

I guess wait and see the folks that get theirs what Manufacturer they get.
Hopefully they use some software that tells you your Specs ... like PCWizard ... I think it has Trial or Freeware version ... works pretty good.

G!

 

^--^
Not only is that comment not fair, it is not at all true.

We have published the screen specs for virtually all of our laptops and Sager laptops. If you look around these forums, or the PowerNotebooksForums.com you will see them.

We also provide them to anyone that asks for them by email or phone.

At this point we cannot provide them for the PowerPro P 15:3 because we are just getting our first production models this week. However once we have them in hand, and have a few days to deal with getting them ready for production, and all the pre-orders shipped, we will have a few moments to take a breath and start getting more detail on screen specs along with other chipset specs for the various components for our Linux users.

 

So, I take it resellers wont be shipping any pre orders till mid next week >< so much for the "you should easily receive it by the 18th-20th of august" I kept hearing from xotic, one of the main reasons why i stuck with my pre order MSI.

 

My Compal IFL90 had the 9 cell battery and it wasn't a big issue at all. Yeah, it looked kind of funny but the extended battery time was worth it.

 

Will you be updating the descriptions on the web page afterwards?

 

Buddy. This happens all the time with new technology and updates. You can hardly fault the company for not having stuff shipped to them on time. As with any new tech, if you want a picture perfect experience then wait a few months as they get their supply and wait for the kinks to get ironed out.

 

We don't put the LCD details on the Specifications pages, but we post them on our forum, or this forum, or reply by email to anyone who requests it via email.

 

psh. Scam.

 

well, I made the switch to the MSI MS-1651 barebone from Sager NP2096 . Hope I don't regret it ... The Sager NP2096 seems to be turning out quite good.

 

What is the advantage of getting the MSI-1651 Barebones compared to say, getting a PowerPro 15:3? Does the barebones include warranty, or is the warranty based around the individual parts?

 

The barebones has a 1 year warranty, and the individual parts will have their own. I assume the barebone warranty includes labor and parts on basic system components (motherboard, graphics, etc.). You basically have to weigh the risk of putting the pieces together yourself (I'm sure if you fry the motherboard with bad components the warranty will be void) against the security of having a 3 year warranty for everything but accidental damage. By my calculations with newegg components and XoticPC's barebones, it comes to less than a $150 difference (WSXGA+).

 

I am not very good at putting components together (limited experience) so I think the security of having a 3 year warranty and having it put together for me is worth the $150 difference. Do most pieces (ram, hdd, etc.) come with accidental warranty or. . .?

 

I highly doubt it, you can check as you search for components, but its very unlikely. If you are unsure about your ability to assemble the system, I would highly recommend the PowerPro 15:3 or the Force 3551.

 

I am about to order a PowerPro 15:3, was looking at other options before I ordered, but almost sure that is what I am going to get.

On a side note, Daniel from PNB said that their warranty is backed by other major international companies, does this mean should PNB go under (unlikely) that the PowerPro 15:3 would still be covered? Thanks for all the help.

 

An accidental damage warranty from a laptop company does not have theft coverage. The ADP policy at www.safeware.com is underwritten by an AM Best “A” rated insurance company, covers theft, and can be purchased annually.

If PowerNotebooks.com is no longer in business while your warranty is still in force, the warranty is actually underwritten by both a major national company, and a major international company (MSI) that we pay for up front...so you would still be fully protected.

 

Great to hear that, you will probably be getting a call from me regarding the PowerPro 15:3 soon, it has come down to that and the Asus M50VM-A1.

 

Does the PowerPro 15:3 include media keys? From the pictures it looks like it does along the top, but want to confirm.

 

Also, how does the keyboard feel? Is it squishy or hard clicks? Does it flex much?

 

They don't actually have the physical model yet as far as I understand. They may have engineering samples though.

 

Hey Gaara,

Do you suppose you can post some pictures of the unit when you get it. Also, do you have the capability of doing a Review of it and posting on YouTube!!!

Thanks,
G!

 

Hi v1k1ng ... boy sure you have a "Tough" handle too many 0 & 1

Anyway, my only beef with the 9 cell battery was not the looks of it ... it is the fact when you want to put in a laptop bag ... you better not put it in bottom 1st ... like normally you do with any other laptop ... with 2092 to be on safe side not to damamge the battery I would put the unit in from keypad (front side) in ... so the battery wouldn't get stressed ... since it only gors across about 2/3 of the way.

Did that make any sense well it did to me!

G!