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Review MSI GX 400 Gaming Notebook

Posted On 2011-12-26 08:03:46 in เรื่องทั่วๆ ไป

At normal load, whether in office use of surfing the internet, the case temperatures remained in an ever uncritical range and facilitate a problem-free operation of the netbook on the thighs.Sony VGP-BPS9/S

The Acer Aspire One 531 provides an adequate acoustic environment for the user with two loudspeakers in the front edge in the lower area. For a netbook the sound on offer as well as the maximum possible volume are thoroughly acceptable. Indeed, you can't ignore the usual weaknesses at low frequencies, which are standard of netbooks without subwoofers.Sony VGP-BPS9A/S
The provided headphone jack is without criticism which offers clear tones and is thoroughly suited to audio playback through external speakers or a Hi-Fi system. Certainly you'll enjoy full and clear sound with high quality headphones.

Acer has arranged two battery solutions for the Aspire One 531. There is a 3-cell battery with a capacity of 24.4 Wh as well as a 6-cell battery pack with a capacity of 57.7 Wh, at least according to the statements on Acer's home page. Our test sample was equipped with the 6-cell battery, which admittedly didn't quite match up to Acer's claim with a slightly smaller capacity of 54 Wh. Sony VGP-BPS9/B

Interestingly the battery life of our test sample remained, in parts, clearly behind the results of the Aspire One D150 which has a similar hardware configuration. The minimally smaller battery in the netbook at hand can only partly explain this phenomenon.Sony VGP-BPS9A/B

The maximum possible battery life at minimum brightness, deactivated WLAN and Bluetooth as well as using Windows' energy saving profile, achieved by the system is 450 minutes in the BatteryEater readers test, so round about 7.5 hours. Sony VGP-BPS9
Under load this is cut short to 237 minutes (BatteryEater classic test, max. brightness, WLAN and Bluetooth on, desktop profile).

Also in practical WLAN surfing with maximum brightness and the energy saving profile on the recorded battery life of 292 minutes (just short of 5 hours), which is essentially lower than the battery life of the Aspire One D150 in the same conditions. Overall the time away from the mains achieved by the device's battery can be considered satisfactory for a netbook. The battery life of the smaller 3-cell battery should be around 50% of the measurements for the 6-cell battery tested here.Sony VGP-BPS10

Acer Aspire One 531 Visually, the new case of the Acer Aspire One 531 is good. Not only the flattening of the base unit, but also the now predominant matte surfaces and the solid lines please straight away. The protruding 6-cell battery indeed seems an inconvenient and unsightly attachment but it is almost indispensable for a reasonable battery life. Also the overall weight of now only 1220 grams is a further plus point compared to the Aspire One D150 in the same display format.Sony VGP-BPS13

Neither the offered connection options nor the inbuilt keyboard leave anything worthy to say that's different from those in the One D150. Indeed the touchpad is considered as a strong additional feature, which in comparison with the D150 is essentially more pleasant to use and furthermore with its multi-touch capabilities it facilitates simplified operation in many kinds of situations. Unfortunately the pad is comparatively small in our eyes, so that the multi-touch advantages are limited.Sony VGP-BPS13S

The display offers the typical netbook workspace of 1024x600 pixels in the 10.1-inch WSVGA format. Thanks to LED technology the panel achieves good brightness and illumination. Admittedly, as usual the reflective display surfaces are cause for criticism. Granted, at the electrical superstore around the corner this will look tempting, but as a rule this is indeed not where a netbook is going to be used. In unfavourable lighting or even outdoors in the sunshine you quickly learn the flipside of the coin.Sony VGP-BPS13/Q

Acer dares not experiment with the inbuilt hardware with an Intel N280CPU and Intel GMA 950 graphics chip. Probably more than 90% of all current netbooks utilize components from the dominant chip-giant, Intel.
The Aspire One 531 above all profits from low heat emissions of the Intel components, at least in office use, which facilities a very silent operation of the mini-notebook. Sony VGP-BPS13/S

It's a shame that the 6-cell battery cramps the style of the Aspire One 531, but with the completely integrated 3-cell version the battery life would be simply too low in comparison to the competition. With the larger battery the battery life of around 5 hours in practical use the needs of most netbook users should indeed be met. Sony VGP-BPS13A/B

As for price, the One 531 sells for around 70.- Euro more than the Aspire One D150. Whoever is ready to invest in the successful design will surely be happy with the 531. Essentially, technical improvements are not to be found.Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q

With the launch of the GX and GT series, MSI continues to increase its control of the gaming sector. The company has a wide product range so that every enthusiastic gamer, who enjoys playing on the laptop, can find a laptop which fulfills his/her needs. Whether the buyer chooses to get a big, high performance gaming laptop, or a smaller, far more handy, but still good performance notebook, like the MSI GX 400, he/she will almost always find the perfect laptop in MSI's diverse product range.Sony VGP-BPS13A/S

MSI's gaming division can be basically divided into the GT and GX series. The main distinction between the two series is the available graphics performance. The GT series uses graphics cards from class 1 of our mobile graphics cards' comparison, while the GX series uses the weaker graphics cards from class 2 of our comparison. Sony VGP-BPS13AS
After having tested the other, somewhat bigger models from MSI, such as the GX600, the GX620 and the GT627 (all of which are 15 inch gaming laptops), we now turn towards the GX400, which is currently MSI's smallest gaming specialist. With a 14 inch display, the laptop strikes a fine balance between mobility and performance.Sony VGP-BPS13B/S

Although the GX400 is optically very different from, for example, the GX 620, some features of its case hint towards the origin of the laptop. For example, the cover panel (above the keyboard), under which one can find the speakers, also accomodates the well-known Turbo button. This button can be found in most MSI gaming machines, and it allows the user to overclock the installed CPU with the press of a button (further details can be found in the "performance" section of this review).Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q

While the other models of the GX series attempt to attract the buyer's attention with a myriad of colours, our test model, the GX 400, has a very conservative appearance. The case and keyboard of our model are both black, and there are no colourful imprints which attract the eye. The only colourful surface of the laptop is the dark blue display cover. MSI has dubbed this rather simple design the "Metal-Blue Edition", and, unfortunately for buyers in Europe, this is also the only colour scheme available.Sony VGP-BPS13B/B

As we do not think that a gaming laptop requires colourful, flashing LEDs, and a really stylish case, to be a proper gaming laptop, we must conclude that the MSI GX 400's design is good enough.Sony-vgp-bps13S

However, the manufacturer could not completely conceal the fact that the notebook belongs to a cheaper price segment. After all, the entire case consists of parts made of synthetic material. This is bad because the feel and the sturdiness of this material are not very convincing.Sony-vgp-bps2a
For example, even with the slightest pressure, the base of the laptop can be clearly bent inwards. The case does not react so well either when the front edge of the laptop is lifted up. This action makes the torsion in the base unit and the possible sources of creaking in the laptop evident.Sony-vgp-bps2b

The display is not really that much better. The dislay cover neither protects the display from high pressure nor does it protect it from possible torsions. The display hinges are another big mistake. These look hopelessly under-dimensioned, and they also can not hold the screen in place properly. In fact, the two hinges exert such little force that sooner or later the display will start opening and closing by itself, due to a lack of proper clamping force.Sony-vgp-bps2c

The HDMI port and the combined eSATA/USB interface are definitely two highlights of the MSI GX 400. The rest of the ports are standard, as they include two more USB ports, an analogue VGA output, and audio ports on the front of the notebook.Sony VGP-BPS8A

Depending the user's personal preferences, he/she will either be pleased or very unhappy with the positioning of the ports offered on the laptop. In the case of the GX 400, MSI has positioned the ports in such a way that their use could be considered okay as long as one does not use too many of them at the same time.Sony VGP-BPS8B

The ports based on the left side of the laptop (the VGA output, the HDMI port and eSATA interface) can be criticized as they are all grouped near the front half of the notebook. Left-handed users will definitely not be pleased when they see that even the cooler fan is positioned on the left side near the back, making life for them even harder.Sony VGP-BPS8

Right-handed users, on the other hand, benefit from the optical drive placed on the right edge, next to the only USB port near the back of the notebook. The optimal usage of the ports with the GX 400 would be the use of the power supply, the LAN, and the USB port, which can be used for the mouse, as they all lie on the back of the laptop, and to use them would mean that the right and left sides of the workplace are free of distracting cables.Sony VGP-BPL8

Front side: Audio ports Left side: Kensington Lock, VGA-Out, eSATA/USB, HDMI, ExpressCard 34mm, Cardreader Back side: Power supply, LAN, USB Right side: opt. optical drive, USBMSI has decided to equip the GX 400 with a Gigabit LAN connection, so that the user can enjoy the full bandwidth offered by the LAN cables in a multiplayer game. Sony VGP-BPL9

Together with the Intel Wireless 5100 WLAN module (standard 802.11 b/g/n) the hardware in the laptop ensures that all of the user's wireless needs are fulfilled. As an additional feature, the MSI GX 400 also has, depending on the model version, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. If the user wishes to equip the GX 400 with UMTS then he/she can do so over an external USB modem or the 34mm Expresscard port.Sony VGP-BPS10

The operating system, installed on the laptop, is the Windows Vista Home Premium (32-Bit). Despite the installed OS, MSI equipped the GX 400 with 4 GB RAM, which Vista definitely can not completely use. To use 100% of the RAM, it would be necessary to buy and install the 64-bit version of Vista. MSI did not offer alternatives to the operating system, Sony PCGA-BP7

but thankfully they did put up drivers for Windows XP on their homepage. The guarantee on the notebook lasts for 24 months. Sadly we were not able to get any details about the possible extensions available. to top Input Devices The colourful W-A-S-D keys were the trademarks of all the previously tested MSI gaming notebooks,Sony PCGA-BP71

as these keys are usually the ones which direct the player's character in games, especially in FPS(First-person shooter). Unfortunately, these keys are not to be found in the GX 400, but, on the other hand, the keyboard does have a business-like appeal with the black keys and the white, and sometimes dark blue, letters printed on the keys. Now to the more important factor: the layout. What was MSI thinking when they conceived this keyboard?Sony PCGA-BP71A