MSI gaming laptops any good?

Hey all,

I've got a budget for a sub $2000 gaming laptop, and was wondering what your thoughts were on MSI gaming laptops in general. I was specifically eyeing a GT780DXR, as it has a 570M (I'd like to be somewhat future proofed for games 2-3 years from now). Any comments on GT780s would be welcome, especially regarding build quality, heat, support etc. The only other alternative to MSI I'm looking at is the Asus G74 laptops. Would you recommend MSI over ASUS?

 

I'm planning for the same laptop too.. at least I'm very certain about their quality build and how MSI isn't screwing around like dell! I mean look at their GPU and motherboard in the desktop forums!

 

if you can get the gt780dxr when it's released. msi makes a great product and their support is great if you have any issues. the laptop looks great and should perform even better with the gtx570m.

 

Just my opinion but, I had the Asus G73 and now the MSI gt780r and I would take the MSI over the Asus any day of the week.

BTW, the 560 plays everything on high settings at 1920x1080.

 

I was wondering the exact same thing you were since I'm looking at purchasing one of those two laptops as well (Asus G74 vs MSI GT780DXR). But I don't know much of anything about MSI and that has me a little concerned.

I already own an older Asus so I thought an upgrade to the G74 was a no brainer (my Asus has treated me well), but then someone pointed out the MSI GT780DXR as its competition and it has me very interested. LOTS of features for a surprisingly cheaper price.

But I don't know much about MSI as a company. I'm curious about their track record with build quality (the GT780R seems to be having a lot of keyboard issues for example) and customer support. Is MSI up to par with Asus or possibly even surpasses it?

 

Thats a common misconception that has me a little more concerned.

The amount that you personally have heard about a brand or not has nothing to do with how good they are.
I mean, do you know anyone else who has tried to make an informed decision about buying a gaming laptop? Everyone else is buying a laptop for a completely different reason, not to mention they are rarely well informed.

I bet you haven't heard of Clevo either. Well, clevo is simply the BEST as far as build quality. They don't really concentrate on some things like looks or sound as much, but they will perform the best.

MSI service and build has been improving over the years where Asus absolutely has been going the other way.
For one, Asus laptops are no longer upgradeable whatsoever. MSI is pretty much the BEST for user upgrades. They make no attempts at propriety interfaces.
Asus laptops are proprietary as a whole sometimes. If you want a simple CPU upgrade, expect nothing less of having to hold the entire motherboard in your hand.
Graphics upgrades are completely impossible with Asus these days.

And another thing... Have you heard of the deal they worked out with Best Buy? A really nasty deal... You know for example the gtx 460m is supposed to come with certain specifications... WELL, not with asus, not at best buy! They have specifically made special, cheaper versions of the card, only on the Asus g74 models from best buy that are nowhere near as powerful. In fact a gtx 280m would probably be more powerful.

I suppose its a matter of principal, but when looking at these 2 different manufacturers you have to see them as a whole based on their practices and techniques of marketing something to YOU.

Sure, this MSI has had keyboard issues... Its also a multicolored keyboard, lol. And I believe the problems were only with the colors.
I don't think this means anything more about them as a company, no. In fact the keyboard WAS advertised as being from a different brand, steelseries, not MSI so if anything you can hold them accountable.

Besides all of that... there is the simple fact that the 570m is VERY powerful.

 

I just love the fact I pop a hatch and I have access to almost EVERYTHING (CPU /GPU/MEM/HDDs)

The only other things I want to get to (2nd set of mem and wireless) are just under a cover on the front and behind the keyboard.

 

What I like about my MSI laptop over many others was

1. Price for barebone unit.
2. Easy CPU / GPU upgrades with bottom access panel
3. 4 x DDR3 SODIMM Slots.
4. 2 Hard drive and a CD ROM (3 spindle Design) not many offer this config in a 15 inch laptop.

 

For a video Shootout between the ASUS G74SX-A1 and the MSI GT780R go to ‪PowerNotebooks's Channel‬‏ - YouTube

The MSI is using the nVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M 192bit w/1.5GB GDDR5 so with the nVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M w/1.5GB GDDR5 in the MSI GT780DX-X8 it will be even better.