Owners Lounge for the totally configurable MSI 1651 ID2

Hello all I recently purchased the Powerpro p 15:2 , and I thought it would be cool to start up a owner's lounge thread. When I get my MSI 1651 ID2 within the next couple of weeks i'll add some pictures, and a review including some benchmarks. Anyone else is welcome to post their own reviews or comments on the new MSI 1651 ID2. Below is the configuration I chose.

My Configuration:

PowerPro P 15:2 Gaming Laptop

Display: 15.4" WSXGA (1680 x 1050) Glossy w/nVIDIA GeForce GTS 160M w/1GB GDDR3

Processor: Intel® CoreT2 Duo P8800 2.66GHz Processor w/3MB L2 Cache (25W) - 1066MHz FSB

Arctic Silver 5: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

System Memory: 4GB (2 SODIMMs) Crucial, Corsair or Kingston DDR3/1066 Memory

Hard Drive: 320GB SATA II 3Gb/s WDigital Scorpio Black at 7,200 RPM w/Free Fall Sensor

CD/DVD Read/Writer: Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/Softwares

Memory Card Reader: 4-in-1 Memory Card Reader ( xD, MemoryStick/MemoryStick Pro, and Secure Digital (SD/MMC)

Wireless Networking: Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11a/g/n

Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth Wireless 2.0+EDR

Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (6-Cell)

Spare Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell)

AC Adapter: Full Range Auto Switching AC Adapter

Operating System: None Standard

PowerPro Extended Warranties: 3-Year Parts w/Next Day Ship+Lifetime Labor & 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Support

 

Nice job lun, i look forward to the upcoming reviews, the config seems a solid build, wonder if it will have turbo functions?, the GTS 160m also seems to be quite the performer from what i've heard .

 

There is an owners lounge for this and the GT628, please see this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=400129

 

That thread is for the MSI branded version, which has very limited configurability and has totally different Support and Warranty.

The MSI 1651 ID2 is currently offered by both:

PowerNotebooks.com http://www.powernotebooks.com/viewsystem.php?sysId=2905

Xoticpc.com http://www.xoticpc.com/force-3551-built-msi1651id2-p-2596.html?wconfigure=yes

They seem to be the only ones in the US with the WSXGA+ (1680x1050) screen at this time, and from what my research tells me they have been in the business longer, offer better warranties, and Lifetime 24/7 Toll Free DOMESTIC Technical Support that other reseller’s don’t seem to have.

That is why this Owner’s Lounge makes more sense than trying to combine it with the MSI branded one.

 

I know but its actually for both as listed on the front page but anywho I see your point also. Cheers..

 

@ lunaandbela;

I have been reading notebook review for years but have never posted before (after your post i could not resist). I just purchased a MS-1651 WSXGA notebook and this thing is amazing!!
I am waiting for them to arrive next week to purchase 4-5 more for my business.

I purchased mine from a company i have been using for years who focuses on MSI notebooks and configures them to your exact needs and specs.

Their prices are good but that does not mean i don't look elsewhere to check out pricing and what's available for options, cpu, mem, hard drive, etc.

When i purchased mine at the beginning of the month no one else had them on their site except my seller.

Now everyone has them up, and my seller told me they sold out of them in one day. I needed more quickly so i called MSI to see if they could point me in the right direction but they would not tell me much. What i did get out of them was that they only received a very small quantity of the WSXGA notebooks at the beginning of the month and are expecting more next week. They said to contact my seller for more information.


I just looked at the two sites you have posted here and not to be rude but both of these sites are;

price for price

almost the same exact options, word for word.

the same EXACT warranty, word for word.

EXACTLY the SAME IMAGES!

The support phone number for both their notebooks is EXACTLY THE SAME:

XOTIC PC Force Series: 1-(877) 944-4449 (24/7 Domestic Tech Support) Email [email protected]

PowerNotebooks, PowerPro (877) 944-4449 - 24/7


OK, now my point!

This sounds like either both companies are owned by the SAME person or work hand in hand.

And this post is nothing but an ADVERTISMENT for these two companies!!

How can two different companies have the same phone number, and this many similarities on their respective sites?

And if msi got that few of these at the beginning of the month obviously these two cannot be selling much if they still have them in stock?

I googled and called everyone who had these listed because i needed more QUICK. Nobody has them. I never heard of these two companies till now and did not find them in google when i searched?


I do alot of research before i commit to buying a product and this sounds really fishy. That's why i just had to register and post this.

Just my thoughts on this?

 

If you've been frequenting this forum then you should know that these sellers are reputable. Many forum members buy from them.

 

I have been looking in the msi's and have not seen them before.

But point is, what's the deal with everything being exactly the same?

 

Well I know from my research is that these two sellers both are very reputable. I've been searching for several months now, and I have not found a better website offering the best bang for your buck. To verifiy their reputation check both of them out using reseller's ratings, and also you can verify them using bbb.com or better business bureau's website. While they each offer similar options, there are some differences in the options you can choose from by using either Xoticpc or powernotebooks. In regards to the similarities in the options offered by the company you purchase your notebooks from is the fact that your company offers the notebooks at the lowest price they can, and this is exactly what powernotebooks, and Xoticpc.com do. Although I currently do not have my laptop, I'm confident that powernotebooks will deliver my machine exactly how I want it.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=400129

 

this thread should be merged with the GT628 owner's lounge since the only difference is a red trim...

Anyone know what's up with powernotebooks/xoticpc though? The GT628 owner's lounge also lists many more resellers on the first post.

 

I have the MSI 1651 ID2 with a P8400, 4GB of DDR2-800, 320GB 7200RPM HD and an Intel 5300 Wireless N card. I paid 470 for it shipped brand new after 2 rebates ($30 and $20). I would say it is pretty mediocre and I probably won't buy it if I knew it in the first place. It runs pretty hot and the video card is little bit weak for today's latest games. But overall I am happy with my purchase. I wouldn't pay anything more than 500 for it tho.

 

What graphics card did it come with? I can't wait for mine to get here . Mine was a little more expensive, it cost roughly $1,700.

 

I believe he is referring to the older 1651 with the 9600m GT...

 

Well now that it has the 260M it definitely a contender to the NP8662. It weighs slightly less, a little cooler, cheaper in price, and has a longer battery life. These things are good for me when I go to college next year, and I'm only losing about 5% in graphics power compared to the 160M. This notebook model is especially good for people have a tight budget like I do .

 

Yes, it pretty much has to be the older 1651 because the 1651 ID2 has DDR3/1066 memory and wouldn't be using the P8400.

I also wonder what currency they are quoting, and where they bought it.

 

haha, definitely not US dollars. $470 sounds reasonable for the barebone but not the whole system.

 

Maybe it is the same place we discussed earlier Donald . Anywho in regards to the turbo button, after it is set it up in the BIOS, it is basically something you can turn on and off with the push of a button correct?

 

Once the correct bios, firmware, drivers, and utilities are updated/installed it will be functional via a touch sensor.

There is info here about this on the barebone model that was posted in the MS-1651 (GT628) Owners Lounge:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=400129

 

I see frostycomputers is now selling the barebones GT628, the WSXGA model for $849.00

http://www.frostycomputers.com/MSI_GT628_gaming_notebook_Nvidia_GTS160_M_Intel_P8_p/gt628-custom.htm

 

Well, this is one of the differences between the branded version and the 1651 ID2. While the firmware and BIOS can be found at http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=firmware&maincat_no=135&prod_no=1670, finding the button may be a bit harder since there is no button on the 1651 ID 2. However if you know where the "button" goes (in the space between the ECO button and the webcam button), you can press that area of the power strip above the keyboard and off you go...up to 15% over clocked.

 

You can buy the silver touch sensor panel from MSI for $25.00 too..

 

Ok thanks. I'll definately check that out when I get my laptop. . Hey nacr05 do you have the link for that silver touch sensor panel? Thanks .

 

You have to order it from Tom Ho at MSI..

 

Hi Donald glad your here, maybe you can answer some of my concerns & questions I put here when I saw this post yesterday:


Is the company you represent here (PowerNotebooks) and XOTIC PC owned by the same person or people?


If not then:

Why are your prices EXACTLY the same?

You have the same options word for word?

You have EXACTLY the SAME IMAGES!

Both of your support phone numbers for notebooks is EXACTLY THE SAME:

XOTIC PC Force Series: (877) 944-4449 (24/7

PowerNotebooks, PowerPro (877) 944-4449 - 24/7


It just seemed very odd to me that someone happened to start this post with two companies that are almost perfect clones for these products?


The odds of this are just very slim.


I was looking for 3-4 more notebooks and according to the poster the two of you are the only ones that have them when nobody else in the USA does.

Please clear this up for me and make some sense of this. When I see something like this going on it makes me very concerned about making a purchase.
I may contact you Monday for some notebooks if you can let me know what's going on here?

 

No, the two companies are totally separate. However we use the same company for our 24/7 DOMESTIC Support, as do literally hundreds of other computer companies here in the US. They are absolutely the best domestic computer support company and we have been using them for years.

Of course we have the same images...they are from MSI...and you will notice they are identical to the ones on the MSI website. (see http://www.msiwhitebook.com/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1651-ID2_new)

PowerNotebooks.com is in its 11th year of business, and as you can see I have been a member of this forum since 2004. We have been custom building MSI notebooks, among others, since MSI first entered the notebook business in the US.

As for the assumptions you have made here and in your earlier post, well, maybe you didn't do as much research as you thought. We are easy to find...and there is nothing "fishy" about us or Xoticpc.

Finally, the reason we have what others do not is due to the long standing relationship we have, and the volume of MSI business we do.

 

Thanks for the answers.

But neither of you support the notebooks you sell?

Sorry but that is a deal-breaker for me. That is the problem today is most companies outsource their support. I have been down that road before and it's not good. If i am purchasing a custom notebook the company selling it to me should be the company supporting it.

I was not talking about the notebook pictures but all the other images you both have, they are exactly the same.

Thanks for the response but it is obvious from these exact similarities there is more going on here.

 

You are so wrong Tomkin2.

1. We outsource, but to a 24/7 DOMESTIC company that has a team of experts. I have no idea why you would prefer a one or two person operation where they do everything, and simply cannot provide the level of support that we do, and not 24/7 at all. You will not get better support anywhere...period!
2. What "other images" are exactly the same...exactly?
3. I have no idea what you mean by "...there is more going on here." However it might be the better part of valor to quit making unsubstantiated statements like you seem inclined to do. We have been around a long time and were you to actually do some real research you would see that our Customer Service record stands on its own. Some people might actually think you are a Troll.

Now, how about you quit hijacking this thread and staying on topic??

 

Tomkin if you want to pass on the excellent deals presented by either of these companies it is your choice. But please do not discredit these businesses. This is a topic about the ownership of the MSI 1651 ID2 not a flame war topic.

Thanks,
Michael

 

I bought a laptop from powernotebooks about 5 years ago and will be buying from them once again exclusively because of the mind-blowingly good customer service. Just a few weeks ago I had an issue with my computer shutting off ever 10 to 15 minutes and they quickly discovered that it was a corrupted wirelesses driver causing the problem (on said 5 year old laptop, which btw still runs amazingly well for its age). Speaking to real live Americans 24/7 who actually know what they are talking about (no scripts, updating drivers not the solution to every problem etc...) is amazing and by far a reason to go with either reseller. The fact they sell higher end, quality machines is just a bonus.

 

tomkin2, feel free to start a new thread if you have questions that are out of place in this thread.

That said, let's stick to the topic of this thread from this point out. Thanks guys.

 

Tomkin2 making those kind of assumptions will get you banned if not careful. As Chaz said please stay on topic, Powernotebooks and Xotic Pc are great companies and well respected.

 

Hi, I am very interested in replacing the default panel to that. Can you show me a link where I can purchase one? Thank you.

 

Same here I'm intrested to buy spare parts to
nacr05 do you have his email.

 

We have posted some game benchmarks in our Review forums. Here are a few scores:

Testing System
WSXGA+
QX9300
4GB DDR3
320GB 7200
Windows 7
186.03 Drivers

Crysis Benchmark Stock Average 20.77 Frames (All High Settings)
Crysis Benchmark OC'd Average 20.83 Frames (All High Settings)

3D Mark 06 Overclocked 11,187
3D Mark Vantage Overclocked 4612

 

There are also quite a few 3D06 benchmarks for the MS-1651 ID2 (GT628) posted in the original thread with different cpu"s:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=400129

 

Thanks Rob for the benchmark link. When I get my laptop ill be sure to benchmark and post my results.

 

i can't wait to get this computer. i hope it runs bioshock two well. it shoudl though

 

I am sure it will max Bioshock..

 

I bought it from some guy off anantech market place. I paid 340 shipped for the barebone, 28 shipped for the 4GB DDR2 800, 40 something shipped for the 320GB HD, and 55 shipped for the P8400 and 10 shipped for the Intel 5300 WiFi card. all in US dollars. BTW, I still don't think 470 is a fair price for my barebone Keep in mind that it doesn't have an OS. After I purchase the Vista Home Premium, it will comes out to 600 which I can easily buy a laptop with similar spec with warranty. The build quality is cheap imo, a similar price dell will probably top the MSI offer. Newegg recently got an Acer with a 16' screen and the same 9600GT video card for 600, so I guess my MSI isn't really a much good deal.

 

Powernotebooks.com has now released their benchmarks for the PowerProp P 15:2 using the P9700 and Q9000. Here is the link to the results: http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/images/p15-2/benchmark/

 

Just ordered one with a T9900.....and now the waiting begins.

 

Hey Ikas V. I see that you already have a beast NP 9262. Is the reason why you're getting the 1651 ID 2 due to the fact that the 9262 is a power brick that isn't were light when it comes to weight? .

 

Sigh, and the one I ordered only has a lowly P9700...

RKComputer's stock, now -1 1651ID2WXGA+!

 

Yeah pretty much.
My "other" laptops is hands down the best performance laptop I have ever owned by far, but it's not exactly something you want to take on the road or use while on your lap comfortably.Now it's never leaves my war room.
The MSI will be much easier to take on the road and just easier to move room to room at home without taking to much of a performance hit...kind of.
And I always wanted to add my own components into a laptop and see what comes out
You know get a little hands on experience.

 

Just got my 1651 today! Got the Turbo to work and ran some 3DMark06:

P8700 / WXSGA+ / 500GB 5400

3DMark06 Turbo OFF: 9482
3DMark06 Turbo ON: 9867

I am running in 1280x1024 (free version), so I am guess it is why I did not breaking 10,000. I am very satisfied at the moment for getting higher marks than a M6400 with FX3700M and half of its weight.

By the way, is there a way to get the splash icon when I turn on/off the turbo? Also I noticed that I am getting the volume control UI, but not the brightness UI. Is the normal?

Just realized that my 'Eco' and 'P1' buttons are not functioning. I tried reinstalling the latest SCM, but it's still the same: the 'Eco' doesn't light up or do anything when pressed, and the 'P1' button lights up when pressed but fades as soon as I raise my finger. Did I mess up something?

 

Where did you get P8400 so cheaply? From the same guy on anandtech?

 

Try installing the one that came on the disc that you (most likely) got with your laptop... that one worked for me, and I also had a problem with the latest one

 

For people that are asking, the MAXIMUM temperatures after after hours of gaming are 44.3 degrees with 35.8 average on the backside. highest temp was by the numeric area and lowest on the palm rests area.

on the top of the laptop, max temp was 35.9 degrees ant the average temp was 32.6. hottest part was above the exhaust and lowest again palm rests with both 28-29 degrees.

As for sound, idle you will hear 33.5dB, while playing dvd it will be 36dB and under full load it'll be 40dB w/o turbo and 43dB with turbo (higher fan speed)

source : http://www.notebookcheck.nl/Testrapport-MSI-Megabook-GT627-Gaming-Notebook.17816.0.html
(in dutch)

 

Great post...thanks for contributing and welcome to the forum