MSI X400 thoughts

I bought an MSI X400 (model X400-204US) from JR.com for $399. I haven't seen much about this model on the web so I will post some impressions.

It's a piece of junk.

(Some background on me: I own way too many laptops, including: HP 8510W, NC8430, TC4400, TC4200, TC1100, NC6400; Thinkpad T42, X41T, X31; Inspiron 1720; Tecra M7; Fujitsu P1120, T2010. I know that these are mostly higher-end business laptops, but I have also used consumer laptops a great deal.)

The X400 keyboard is easily the worst keyboard that I have ever experienced, including the keyboard on my son's Thomas the Tank Engine toy computer. It has the worst key travel and the worst keyboard flex. The lettering that is imprinted on the keys is an off-white color that is very hard to see even in a moderately lighted room. Do not try to use the X400 in bed with dim lights.

MSI has chosen to put a keyboard with truncated keys on the right side, including less-than-full size backspace and enter keys. Most importantly, please look at a photo of the keyboard before you buy this computer, noting the TRUNCATED RIGHT SHIFT KEY. This too-small key has a reduced size in order to cram the 'up arrow' key next to it. If you are a good touch typist, you will be constantly hitting the up arrow key instead of the right shift key. You will hate this right shift key if you are a touch typist.

In another dubious decision, MSI has chosen to put TWO 'slash' keys on the keyboard--yes, two keys that serve exactly the same function on a U.S. English keyboard. The redundant key is crammed next to the space bar, making the space bar too small and off-center.

Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that anyone at MSI seriously tested the keyboard for usability.

The second big problem with the X400 is interminable fan noise. Right now I am typing this review and doing nothing else on the X400. I have also set the power theme to "Battery Turbo Mode" to intentionally throttle the CPU to limit heat buildup. But even in this case, the fan wails like a banshee. Ironically, earlier I surfed to youtube and input "MSI fan noise" as a search term. Up came a video of someone who had recorded their MSI X340's fan noise. Well, I could not hear the fan noise on the video because my X400's fan noise drowned it out!

Imagine a beautiful long-haired woman blow drying her hair. Every few seconds she changes the fan speed setting on the hair dryer--high, medium, really high, super high, medium, high, etc., randomly. Now you have an idea of the X400 fan noise, except that there is no beautiful woman involved.

Do not plan on using the X400 in a classroom or in a library or in bed when your wife is trying to get to sleep; the noise is too great. It easily exceeds the noise on the NC8430 and the T2010, themselves pretty noisy laptops.

A third problem is that the palmrest gets very hot on the right side of the touchpad; you will not want to rest your palm there for too long.

I wanted to update the BIOS (my version is 1.0N) to version 1.0R to see if the fan noise would be reduced. Most laptop makers let you download a file to your hard drive; you click on the file and your computer reboots and updates the BIOS. But MSI? You must have a DOS-bootable floppy drive or DOS-bootable USB key. Thanks for wasting my time, MSI.

You know, software companies release beta software and work out the kinks before selling a release version to customers. I think that the MSI X400 is a 'beta laptop' that should not have been sold to anyone, (Perhaps the next iteration will be good.) I understand now why the X400 is being unloaded at JR.com for $399. I am sorry that I bought the thing. Do not make the same mistake as me.

 

Wow, this is really bad to hear. I know that they made a lot of improvement to X340 model, which had the same issues. I hope that they will fix this model also, because it makes bad reputation on them. Also sorry for your problems with this laptop.

 

I have the X-340 - same keyboard. Not great, but I can live with it. But no fan issues. The fan runs on low most of the time but I can not hear it unless the room is completely silent and I listen for it. I never notice it at all, normally.

I have gotten used to the keyboard. It is the weakest point of the design for sure, but I can live with it (I don't touch type).

There are no heat issues on my X-340, nothing gets hot anywhere, barely warm, really. Maybe you got a bad unit? Have you talked to MSI? Might be worth trying for an exchange.

 

I was going to make a warranty request to MSI about the fan noise and the fact that the CPU was running at a near-constant 71 degrees, but before I did I went to the MSI user forum where folks discussed resetting the embedded controller. I did this and the fan noise is much better. It still gets very noisy when running videos or on flash-heavy websites, but under regular web-surfing or word processing (cpu runs at 45-50 degrees), now it runs at a constant reasonably low level. Now it is safe to use the laptop in a library, meeting, or classroom.

(The embedded controller is reset, quite simply, by removing the main battery, waiting 5 minutes, then replacing the battery.)

Also, the forum pointed to some Sentelic drivers for the touchpad that make it much more user-friendly--activating the scrolling feature and turning the touchpad off while typing (to avoid jumping cursor syndrome).

So please allow me to retract the "piece of junk" opinion. I still really hate the keyboard, but now that the fan noise problem is solved, the laptop could be quite useful, not as a main machine, but when something light with long battery life is needed, maybe on a business trip.

Let me make it up to MSI by noting that the display on the X400 is the brightest, most vivid laptop display that I have seen except for the well-regarded Thinkpad "Flexview" screens that Lenovo no longer offers.

 

Glad it worked out for you.

 

I have one rebranded MSI X340 and noticed the lack of scrooll; also read the MSI forum about the Sentellic drivers; much better now, including sensitivity.