Razer finally has some competition....

Check it out... MSI Notebook Official Website | G Series - GS70 2OD-001US Gaming Notebook / Laptop

Makes me want to cancel my razer blade order and wait a while..... I knew the other gaming laptop manufacturers would come out with their own versions soon enough.

 

That does indeed look cool for sure. Be nice if they had a 14/15 inch version.

 

Agreed, we all know these will come soon enough. Razer has started a trend that other manufacturers are going to pick up on..... makes it hard to continue to wait for the blade 14''... I think I may just cancel my pre order.

 

If they make a 14-15", and sell it for even 1500$, it would sell like hotcakes. GS40 or GS60, PLEASE!

 

THIS.

I would def buy that.

 

Logo is butt ugly but otherwise a very nice machine

 

Completely agree! What were they thinking?

 

msi doesnt think much. its a reality.

the model is called STEALTH, one would think of it being subdued and grabbing razer and macbook market share, one who doesntthink would just slap that horrible label instead of just scribbling msi in some good font

way to ruin a good enough case design

 

Definitely a very viable substitute for someone looking for a cost effective substitute for a Blade, I would definitely be getting one of these if cost were the only factor.

Fortunately Razer's brand is much stronger than msi, in my opinion. The logo as an example.

I'm really liking the fact that it's almost a pound lighter than the Pro. The height difference is almost negligible in my opinion.

 

MSI is by far a much stronger brand for computers........

 

Very well said - nothing sells "stealth" or sleek, elegant, upmarket, etc., like a giant red "Gamer Series" logo.

 

yep they dont always use that gamer logo even on their gaming notebooks, its a terrible move simply. one could just be a troll and simply put an apple sticker on top of that monstrosity

interesting note none of the other ge series have that logo

 

Looks like the GS70 is already available in the UK

MSI GS70 2OD-STEALTH 17.3" True HD LED, Intel i7-4700HQ, 16GB DDR3, 2x 128GB SSD & 750GB HDD, NVIDIA GTX 765M 2GB - Windows 8 Laptop [GS70 2OD-STEALTH]

 

You know it's funny.... Razer has a professional grade laptop on its hands. It could actually offer a corporate version of the Blade with a subdued logo and a more traditional keyboard type face and it would sell to so many professionals.....

I can't wait to see what future iterations are going to be like. I really love the Blade and I have even gotten used to the screen heh.

 

Stronger doesn't always mean better, after all. Also, my opinion

 

Very true, I dislike MSI after owning my GE70. But they are the much more proven brand that's been around in the computer market for nearly 3 decades, though their notebook business didn't start until 2004

 

Completely agree with all the logo talk. Looks like clip art.

 

I doubt they would sell it that cheap, but if they did I would def buy one.

 

Well the GS70 starts at $1699, the Blade Pro at $2300.

The Blade 14" cuts $500 off, starting at $1800, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for a GS40/GS60 to start in the $1200-1300 range...hopefully

 

completely unreal given that the price for the ge40 is 1200

 

True, but the GE40 could be discontinued in favor of a $200ish increase in price for a GS40. Just please remove the logo and for the love of God, don't put those dumb looking eyes on it!

 

that would depend on how well the gs70 fares. I hope it does well, since it looks like a nice departure from the horrible chassis that the ge/ex series have.

my ex625 is so bendy that if I hold both corners the middle bends downwards

in the end Im not against the gs line faring well, I hope they do and that they replace the ge line entirely.

ah btw it costs more to produce and develop a smaller notebook than a larger one like the gs70

 

It may cost more to develop but cheaper to produce because everything is embedded, especially when there's essentially only a single motherboard. In any case I do like the MSI, but yeah that logo has to go. I would have higher confidence in an MSI product than a Razer product when it comes to laptops though because MSI has a long history of making laptops with good build quality, cooling, and performance. Plus they usually come with a two year warranty and one year accidental.

 

I will point out that the GE, E and EX line are terrible in build quality. and point out that the G and GX lines are usually better. Actually until the current desing for the GT line and GX, that serious had some serious problems, general paint peeling with the touchpad included in the fray, chassis quality being dubious and so forth

regarding the being cheaper to produce, that depends on the market for the product, 14" aint a general good seller, 15" you can mass produce cheaply, but 14" not so much, I think that 13" is an even better seller than 14"

aside that we also have to have some other choice of components due to the size, 17" you can see much wasted space on the mobo, on a 14" you can barely see that, that also adds to the cost of production

in the end I have a bunch of IFs, there is no way to tell that Im right or wrong

 

So I was at PAX, and they had one of these laptops there on display. The one they were showing had identical specs to the Razer Blade Pro except for the super raid thing. I seemed like I was interested and pretty soon I was surrounded by MSI reps telling me where to get and like that. Turns out the darn thing cost $3999!!! That's $1500 more than I payed for my Blade. It didn't feel particularly special, didn't look any better. In fact I think the Razer looks better. The touch pad was alright but I prefer the Razer's and the screen was not really better in any way. So who is going to pay that much for a system that's pretty much the same, just lacking in the gimmicky but cool Switchblade. Now before people start having a go at me for spreading lieas or something if that price is wrong. I'm simply reporting what MSI themselves told me. $3999. Not $2999 or $1999. $3999! Simply ridiculous. Sorry if this is old news. but thought I'd share.

 

How is that even possible? Last I checked, they offered it at even more than half that price, what could have caused it to double?

Good news for Razer, I guess.

 

I have no idea, I mean I'm in Australia, so things are expensive here. Or the reps were retarded and have no idea what they're talking about.

 

Same, Sydney here. In that case, I can understand the huge mark-up (they like to do that here, for some reason). The previous Blades were selling at AU$4k in JB Hifi, lol.

Still, 100% mark-up though? Where was the convention btw?

 

So does Razer use higher quality parts or something? What honestly makes the Blade a better buy?

 

For everyone upset with the big ugly gaming series logo- I have a MSI GT60 2OD and the big ugly logo came separate (it's kind of like a sticker, but a lot uglier). You have the choice to make your machine ugly! Yay! I'm not 100% sure if the logo comes separate with the GS70, but that's the way it was with my MSI I got in June

 

Razer is sexier. And they're always overpriced. Gotta pay to be sexy these days

 

lets hope its that way

will depend on the build quality and if the SBUI is for you or not.

 

Blade is $2300 for Samsung PM841 128GB SSD (not enough so you would need the $2500 version with 256GB).

MSI GS70 with 128GB Sandisk X100 SSD + 750GB HDD is $1700.

For $1900 you get super RAID 2x 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD + LG 22" IPS 1080p monitor ($249 value).

Honestly, I love my Blade 14, but I would definitely jump ship (back again, second times a charm, after my CRAP GE70) if I was in the market for a 17" slim and light gaming laptop. Keep in mind that we picked our blades for the slim and lightness of it (in addition to cool factor) and the GS70 undercuts the Blade Pro 6.6lb heft by nearly 1lb in addition to being slightly thinner (not sure if that stat includes the large looking feet on the bottom).

Also comes with a free 17" sleeve that looks pretty nice, a good $60 saved otherwise for the Blade Pro. Only thing I'd be worried about is battery life, CPU temps (prime + furmark = throttling and 100C), and of course, that front logo.

 

So my local PC dealer is now listing the GS70 for $2299-$2499 which is very different to what the reps told me... I think this will at least prompt Razer to cut prices on their Blade and push their limits. When they had no competition they could charge what ever they liked and be a little more reserved, now they have to really play hard ball to continue to own the market. Which can only mean good things for R4 blade buyers (me xD)

 

hardly think that price cuts will happen now, maybe next year, that has been their trend as they gain more volume

 

The MSI laptop is .02 inches thinner and only a half pound lighter, not a pound. That offer for the 1080p monitor was only for the first 100 and is no longer valid unfortunately. Just checked it out because that's something that would definitely change some minds. Stuff like the sleeve is actually a negative for me. When I got my Alienware four or so years ago it came with a sleeve, hat, t-shirt, stickers, etc. At the time I was like oh man these are cool but ultimately I figured I'd want every possible dollar and cent going into making the core product as good as possible. That's just me personally though. I've got a 17" laptop case already so a sleeve is of no use to me ha.

It also comes with a pretty "meh" battery. 120w 6-cell battery. One of the people on the MSI parts of these forums estimated about 90 minutes of battery usage off the charger while not gaming. And the MSI switches "off" the 765 and goes only on the intel graphics if it's not plugged in, which is a bit annoying (although you can probably force it not to but battery life will suffer even more).

The CPU temps are a bit...high-ish but hey those programs are meant to throw the kitchen sink at the computer if you will. Nothing really troubling for me. Early reports also suggest that the fan noise even at idle isn't completely silent (like I've heard the RBP is)

I'm probably a bit biased but hey, I am lucky and have never had a problem (knock on wood) with anything I've ordered from Razer so I ordered the 17 inch RBP. I guess time will tell if I've made the right decision or if the MSI GS70 blows everyone away and I made the "wrong" one

I just don't think the quality will be up to snuff with the RBP. I mean, I watched the gentech pc review of the MSI GS70 and the brushed aluminum looked like plastic and looked very flimsy. One of the rubber nibs on the bottom wasn't even touching the table completely when it was sitting on the table. I also like how the RBP has the combination headphone/microphone jack as opposed to the three, quite ugly jacks on the side of the MSI.

Like I said, I'm probably biased but it just looks less composed than the RBP.

One thing I'll say is that if I ordered an MSI I'd probably get it weeks before I end up getting my RBP

 

Haha a bit biased.. 5.73lbs vs 6.58lbs would be closer to 1 pound than half a pound if we round (it's exactly 0.85lb lighter).

I honestly think the Blade is the objectively better laptop, but where it fall short in is weight and price, where it is at least $500 or more for comparable config). Only difference you're getting then as you said is much stellar battery life, somewhat better build quality (GS70 doesn't have aluminum display bezel), no extra configuration necessary to game on battery at full power and of course the Switchblade UI.

Funny how you mention the supposedly cheaply made laptop sleeve makes you worry about putting every dollar into the production of the machine, yet you forgot that the arguably useless Switchblade UI probably adds $200-300 to the cost of the Blade! To each his own, I guess.

I will retract my statement about definitely buying the GS70 over the RBP, I think battery life is a huge issue if its only reaching 2 hours on balanced setting (90 minutes is horrendous).

 

The official MSI website has it listed at 6 pounds and the Gentech review weighed it in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces which is as close to 6 pounds as you can get. I'd say it's much, much closer to half a pound then a full pound.

One of the MAIN marketing points that MSI advertised on their "stealth" notebook before the GS70 was officially named and released was the inclusion of a touchscreen trackpad. So, this "useless" technology was originally what MSI was trying to re-create but they cut it for the time being to keep the price down. Future iterations are rumored to likely include this at an (obviously) higher end-cost.

How much weight would a lower watt, smaller battery and plastic display bezels reduce over a similar product? Probably close to .25-.3 pounds and if you had the choice for .3 pounds more for a larger, longer lasting battery and an actual full-metal construction which would you choose?

Like I said, watch the Gentech video and when he's showing the headphone ports on the side look at the way it's sitting on the table, it's not even close to being flush. Plus, I have some doubts whether or not they measured the size from the bottom nubs or not since they are more straight down as opposed to longer/flatter.

 

Hmm, that's odd. Why would they list an incorrect weight on their official web page and Newegg page..?

Edit: it's probably because of the HDD inside. Depends on if you need the storage or not. I'd prefer 256GB mSATA + 1TB HDD but that's just me

 

Possibly that could be the reason for the discrepancy. They weighed the lightest version and said that was the weight of the device overall.

HDD eats even more battery life compared to an SSD only setup so that, coupled with the smaller, weaker battery is troubling. I understand the desire to have the lightest gaming laptop, even by a slim margin, but that seems a rough place to cut the weight. A laptop that cant function for a significant length of time without being plugged in is somewhat defeating the purpose, no?

 

Believe it or not the Switchblade is pretty useful, but the thing about it that makes me love that feature is the track-pad is hands down the best windows track-pad I have ever used. Its on par with the MBP imho. Even its location is perfect, I can't stand when Im tying and I accidentally hit the track-pad. Since its glass it has just the right amount of friction and I feel like its very precise. I actually feel useful without a mouse.

I think when you are comparing weight you also must take into account the material used to house the laptop. The Razer Pro is nice a really sharp looking system partly due to the fact that its all aluminum. The MSI has plastic and im sure that help them shave a few ounces off the system. After owning a few MSI products I'd also have a hard time believing their quality control is as good as Razer but of course thats an opinion.

Battery size and life is also reportedly better on the Razer which is kind of important for these types of laptops (they aren't really desktop replacement behemoths).

 

Dont forget the power brick. Razer blade pro 150w brick is a tiny marvel, that weighs only half a pound

 

I agree with you Spartan. When I had my GE70 I vowed never to buy an MSI again after the poor support I received, but I like competition because hopefully it can drive further innovation and price reduction.

In regards to your comment about the trackpad, I just find it hard to believe that someone uses the YouTube, Facebook and Email app that much when it's nearly 99% likely he/she has a smartphone that does it MUCH better. You should see the Blade 14 trackpad, it is also AMAZING (also glass like feel) but without the screen gimmick. I can actually play games of CS:GO if i disable the scroll to switch weapons and it works surprisingly well

If they refine the Switchblade UI screen to be more than a palette picker in Photoshop or a bunch of shortcuts in games that could be done using the F keys, then it might be worthwhile. As of now, I don't think anyone is buying the RBP seriously for the allure of the touchpad.

 

I'm very optimistic about the SBUI as well, I really think it has huge potential. Has anyone had experience using that SDK dev pack they have for it though? I wish it could support way more programs actually =/

My personal list:

1. Skype - be able to place the video call on the trackpad.
2. VoIP - interface in trackpad.
3. Facebook Messenger - just like the phone one.

 

I think they could easily build their Razer Comm app into the SBUI. I somehow doubt that they'll be making iphone quality apps unless they revamped the interface. From the videos, it still looks a little buggy and very laggy

 

Razer needs serious work on the switchblade app selection and quality. I think they should have an app that ports the metro ui to it.
I like the offset track pad can't count the times a centered pad has gotten in my way if not turned off, though I do miss a natural num pad but thats minor to me.

As for the MSI there are too many deal breakers in it for me.
The keyboard glow lights up around the keys.
The ports are too many and the layout of them is terrible. Power port on the right?! 4 USB 3.0 is nice but 3 video outs?! SPDIF is nice but should be mic/head combo. Card reader is nice but nothing else should be on the right side of the notebook except for it.
And the testing I have seen shows it running a fair bit (5-10 degrees) hotter than the RBP
And the body seems entirely too flimsy for my taste