Anyone use MSI? What about others?

PerfectCreature

I have been very interested in picking up a new laptop. My school is going to cover the costs of the laptop, and for the money, MSI has been a top contender from what I could see.
I have been findings laptops that have great specs and is within the limit that will be covered. They will reimburse me up to ($1000) when I buy the laptop. I am only able to buy from newegg due to financial reasons so (I have had a store credit there for years), I can only use them as a source.
I want to buy the MSI but my only issue is that I see reviews on on how MSI customer service is terrible at best, and this really is making me hesitant. This is really upsetting since, between coupons I can get the laptop for exactly at my limit.They have plenty of DOA or near DOA laptops etc reviews which is turning me off.
I am going to list the laptops I have been looking at, maybe we can make this an opinion thread. The laptop is mostly for school use, but I want it to be future proof as well, hopefully last a few years like the laptop I have now (which is outdated and fails to run certain programs) and it cannot play videos very well, which is a must for my online classes.
Anyway, here is the list.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200336

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152266

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246223

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127590

I would have to pay a little out of pocket for this one, but I was not sure if it was really worth the extra money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200337

Thanks for the input!

WilliamM2

Out of those I'd go with the Lenovo, just for reliability, or look at the Toshiba's, we've found them to be rock solid. But if I were spending that much, I'd want a 17" screen. I wouldn't touch MSI.

PerfectCreature

I wanted the back-lit keyboard which the others have,but that SSD that the Lenovo has is very tempting. Even at 64GB.
Blue-Ray is nice, but it kind of defeats the purpose due to the lack of the 1080P, which would also be very nice.
As for 17 inches? That is far to much to carry around for school.
14-15 or so inches does it for me.

WilliamM2

64GB is plenty for the operating system and apps, that's what I use in my desktop. Laptop drives are slower in general, so an SSD will be a nice performance boost. As far as 15 or 17, I don't notice much difference once it's in the laptop bag.

PerfectCreature

I tend to carry mine in my backpack, it has room enough for up to a 16 inch laptop last time I checked. My current one is 14 inches. The Dell XPS is the only other one I am heavily considering, either the 1299 one (with the upgrades specs) or the 929 one with the lower specs.
It has been back and forth on mainly those two for the last few days. Is there a large noticeable difference between the 1080p and the 720p on a laptop of 15 inches?
Is the SSD really that big of an improvement? Over the HDD with the 7200k RPMs?
Thanks.

obieone

I can attest to Toshiba being a good choice. I've had mine for 4+ years, and other than viruses, and recoveries it's pretty solid.
I lost the wireless feature last year, due to a lightning strike, but everything else works.

PerfectCreature

I have not had very good luck with Toshiba, my wife's laptop was a Toshiba and we went through 4 DOA before we got a working one which quit after 7 months. I do not know if they have improved, but I tend to shy away from them.

WilliamM2

4 DOA? Hard to believe, where were you getting them?

As far as SSD, the single SSD I have is about twice as fast as my 2 7200's in RAID 0 mode. And those are desktop drives with 16MB cache. Regular laptop drives are no where near that fast. Plus they are shock resistant to 1500 G's. A nice plus in a laptop.

PerfectCreature

She bought it at Wal-Mart against my recommendation. Two were exchanges due to being damaged, one was from a boot issue where a driver was installed wrong and it would have voided our warranty if I would have fixed it myself, and the other was a screen with dead pixals from the one we got from Toshiba as a replacement. The customer service was good and the speed was fast, I am sure it was just a fluke, but I want to be safe since its a school laptop. The reason the other one died was because the cat slept on it when it was left one during an update and it overheated.

You say the SSD is faster then RAID zero? Well then. That is impressive, is it faster then the Raptor drives? I run one in my gaming rig and it is really quick at 10,000 RPMs.

At this point, I am wondering if the 720p display will be enough on the 15 inch screen?
I have only had smaller screens.

EndersShadow

I build computers for myself and friends and have used MSI components with no problems (motherboards, memory, graphic cards, etc). Personally I would feel comfortable choose them for a laptop as well. But read up on which one you want, as not all are winners.

A good example of a company that started in components and then moved to laptops and did a decent job is Asus.

WilliamM2

PerfectCreature wrote: »

She bought it at Wal-Mart against my recommendation. Two were exchanges due to being damaged, one was from a boot issue where a driver was installed wrong and it would have voided our warranty if I would have fixed it myself, and the other was a screen with dead pixals from the one we got from Toshiba as a replacement. The customer service was good and the speed was fast, I am sure it was just a fluke, but I want to be safe since its a school laptop. The reason the other one died was because the cat slept on it when it was left one during an update and it overheated.

DOA means dead on arrival, not damaged, or dead pixels. Can't really blame Toshiba for Walmart damaging them.

You say the SSD is faster then RAID zero? Well then. That is impressive, is it faster then the Raptor drives? I run one in my gaming rig and it is really quick at 10,000 RPMs.

No, I said it's twice as fast as RAID 0. And it's faster than the Raptors, by a long shot.

PerfectCreature

I have been looking at their computers, but the ones I am interested in spec wise, are all too bulky to be practical. Their other models, while nice are just to small for me to be comfortable on. I write plenty of papers, so I need a decent screen to see errors in.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I will agree that MSI can make good products, but the amount of issues in the reviews for that particular laptop has scared me away a bit.
I am leaning towards the lenovo, but was wishing it has a backlit keyboard like the others.
Any chime on weather the 1080p screen is to much for a laptop of 15 inches?

_________________

Well Toshiba clasified them as DOA when I filed a claim, so I assumed that it was how they treated stuff like this.
I will take a look at what they have to offer.
Thanks for the suggestion.

txcoastal1

I would go Sony or Dell from your list, most probably unless your gaming or ripping I5 processor will be plenty....also keep in mind whether or not you want the 10-key number pad like the Sony has

PerfectCreature

The number pad I could care less about to be honest. I have never used one, and have always just spelled out numbers.
I am well aware of the i5 as being formidably capable against the i7.
I have been looking at both of them, and considering the features I want. There are so many choices out there, I can't really make a solid decision, because I need the laptop to last me past school and $1000 is a lot to drop, even-though I get reimbursed.

WilliamM2

The best performer there is going to be the Lenovo, just because of the SSD. And like I said, they are very reliable. I'd rather have that, than a backlit keyboard.

As far as 1080p on a 15 inch screen? I haven't used one, but I can only imagine that the text would be too small for my eyes. I'd prefer 768.

Syndil

I've sold many Dell laptops, many HP laptops and many Lenovo laptops. I flatly refuse to sell Dell any more, HP is OK, but I tend to push Lenovo the most, if that's helpful to you.

BeefJerky

At those prices, I would look at getting a Dell business model from Dell Outlet, either the Latitude or Precision line. Most are just returned models due to customers changing their mind. They also have some scratch and dent models for less if you don't mind some cosmetic damage. If you don't need higher end graphics, the Latitude will be great; if you do, then go with the Precision.

I agree with others sentiment regarding the consumer model Dells, however, the business models are in a whole other league. They have excellent customer service that can actually speak and understand proper English. In addition, their build quality is leagues ahead of consumer model laptops, Dell or not.

At any rate, going this route, you could get a nice one for the same or less than you are looking at paying. In addition, you will get a full 3 year next-business-day on-site warranty included. I'd recommend the Precision M4600 in your case, which is a 15.3" model since it seems you don't want to go larger than 16". I have the Precision M6600 model, which is 17.3" and couldn't be happier with it.

Syndil

FWIW, I deal only with small businesses and sell only business model machines. Yes, Dell has superb and responsive customer service, but in my experience, they had better have excellent customer service because my customers were most likely to need to make use of it. All of the Dell laptops I sold over the years are now out of warranty, and all (and I do mean all--not exaggerating) are now non-functioning for various reasons, with a surprising number of them having failed with bad LCD panels, but not for the same reasons. Several had the backlights go out, one had the plastic enclosure of the panel fall apart, and several had stripes develop on the display itself (stuck pixels that spanned the entire screen).

Perhaps Dell has gotten its business back in order since then, but after having discovered Lenovo, I see no reason to take that risk. Dell's desktop and server machines seem OK, but now that I think back on it, I had one fail with bad memory, and one rattled due to a cheaply made case. But I can truly say that I have never had a single problem from any Lenovo. In fact, I have to admit that I don't know how good Lenovo's customer service is because I've never had to use them.

Anyway, that is my reason for my bias against Dell and towards Lenovo. I usually condemn brand loyalty as "buying with blinders on," but in my case I was forced to Lenovo by their competitors having defaulted, and they have not given me a reason to leave.

That is not to say the OP couldn't buy a Dell and be completely happy with it--just sharing my experience.

But, the OP is indeed looking at consumer model machines, and desires a Blu-Ray player and probably W7HP as opposed to W7Pro. Not something you usually find on a business machine.

BeefJerky

Syndil wrote: »

FWIW, I deal only with small businesses and sell only business model machines. Yes, Dell has superb and responsive customer service, but in my experience, they had better have excellent customer service because my customers were most likely to need to make use of it. All of the Dell laptops I sold over the years are now out of warranty, and all (and I do mean all--not exaggerating) are now non-functioning for various reasons, with a surprising number of them having failed with bad LCD panels, but not for the same reasons. Several had the backlights go out, one had the plastic enclosure of the panel fall apart, and several had stripes develop on the display itself (stuck pixels that spanned the entire screen).

Perhaps Dell has gotten its business back in order since then, but after having discovered Lenovo, I see no reason to take that risk. Dell's desktop and server machines seem OK, but now that I think back on it, I had one fail with bad memory, and one rattled due to a cheaply made case. But I can truly say that I have never had a single problem from any Lenovo. In fact, I have to admit that I don't know how good Lenovo's customer service is because I've never had to use them.

Anyway, that is my reason for my bias against Dell and towards Lenovo. I usually condemn brand loyalty as "buying with blinders on," but in my case I was forced to Lenovo by their competitors having defaulted, and they have not given me a reason to leave.

That is not to say the OP couldn't buy a Dell and be completely happy with it--just sharing my experience.

But, the OP is indeed looking at consumer model machines, and desires a Blu-Ray player and probably W7HP as opposed to W7Pro. Not something you usually find on a business machine.

My first Dell laptop, a Latitude D810 which I sold to my friend, is still functioning 100% to this day; it is now 7 years old. My previous Precision M6300 is now 3.5 years old, and functions perfectly to this day; I just sold this one to a friend. I've also dealt with a lot of Dell Latitudes over the years from an IT standpoint, and none had problems either. As you said, it really is just your personal experience, just like mine is. I'm sure I could find someone who had the experiences with Lenovo like you've had with Dell.

As for the Blu-Ray, both of the current Precision models have that as an option. Or the buyer can very easily swap in a blu-ray burner aftermarket for ~$100. As for Win7 Pro, there is absolutely no reason to choose Home Premium over it. Pro has every feature that Home Premium has, plus more; nothing is taken away. The only difference is, you will have to manually select to add the built-in online games (if you want them) after installation.

[Deleted User]

When I was at Best Buy, not long ago, I saw this. The Asus Zenbook, which is MacBook air thin and light.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Zenbook+Ultrabook+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+13.3%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+128GB+Solid+State+Drive+-+Radiant+Silver/3757001.p?id=1218429942878&skuId=3757001

A little over what your school would reimburse, but for 100 or so out of pocket, I would take this..

PerfectCreature

Awesome comments guys.
I have HP now, and it has lasted two years or so without giving me any problems. I hardly use customer service unless something I intend to fix may void the warranty. I am very proficient with computers, but have only has a Gateway laptop which lasted 4 years before the HP one.
The Zenbook looks nice, but I am not sure if I really want a laptop that small.
My laptop now is an HP G42-230US if anyone wants to compare specs to what I have now and what I am looking at.
I have W7Pro on my built computer, and do not use any of the added features that much.
I am wanting a laptop that will last through a few years without becoming old and outdated to much. The Lenovo at the price point it is at, seems to be the best one I have found to be honest.
If someone wanted to recommend some more laptop (post a link) from Newegg.com then I would be more then willing to look at them.

BeefJerky

PerfectCreature wrote: »

Awesome comments guys.
I have HP now, and it has lasted two years or so without giving me any problems. I hardly use customer service unless something I intend to fix may void the warranty. I am very proficient with computers, but have only has a Gateway laptop which lasted 4 years before the HP one.
The Zenbook looks nice, but I am not sure if I really want a laptop that small.
My laptop now is an HP G42-230US if anyone wants to compare specs to what I have now and what I am looking at.
I have W7Pro on my built computer, and do not use any of the added features that much.
I am wanting a laptop that will last through a few years without becoming old and outdated to much. The Lenovo at the price point it is at, seems to be the best one I have found to be honest.
If someone wanted to recommend some more laptop (post a link) from Newegg.com then I would be more then willing to look at them.

Well, I'd probably recommend going with Lenovo or Dell Outlet then. I just purchased a Precision M6600, which is a 17.3" model. You could probably get the M4600 for less, which is the 15.3" model, plus since you're willing to tinker like me, you can really take advantage of savings. Dell really overcharges for their RAM and hard drives. As such, I wouldn't recommend worrying too much about what the outlet laptops come configured with for RAM and HDDs. You can easily add aftermarket if you want, and it will be less expensive. Let me give you an idea of what I got and and what I recently paid for my Precision M6600 from Dell Outlet.

Intel Core i7-2620M 2.7GHz dual-core
nVidia Quadro 3000M graphics with 2GB GDDR5 RAM
17.3" 1920x1080 LED display (beautiful screen - one of the best laptop screens I've seen)
2GB DDR3 RAM
250GB 7200RPM drive
8x slot-load DVD-RW drive
Intel dual-band wireless card
Built-in webcam (which I may never use)
Backlit keyboard with number pad
Refurbished price: $929
Configured-to-order same-spec'd new price: $2094

I immediately changed out the RAM to 8GB of Kingston RAM for a whopping $40. Upgrading to that on a new laptop would have been $300, for a total of $2394; no thanks Dell.

I also added two Samsung 1TB 2.5" 9.5mm tall drives to the laptop. One is installed in the second drive bay that the M6600 has, the other I installed in a HDD caddy in the optical drive bay.

Another future advantage to this and the M4600 is that they have two additional memory slots below the keyboard, but because of the way Intel implemented the memory controllers on Sandy Bridge systems, they are only active with the quad Core processors. What this means is I really have room to upgrade in the future without buying a new laptop. At some point in the future I will upgrade to a quad core processor and throw in another two 4GB DIMMs for a total of 16GB of RAM.

Another thing to note if you go with either of these models is to make sure and get the nVidia graphics rather than the AMD graphics due to the Optimus technology. This allows the system to automatically turn the nVidia GPU on or off depending on needs. This can make a big difference in battery life. I can easily get 5-6 hours of internet surfing with Wi-Fi on and the screen at moderate brightness. The same scenario on my M6300 (17" with nVidia Quadro 1600M graphics) would have been more like 2.5 hours. Even watching hi-def movies will net around 4 hours on the M6600; it would have been closer to 2 on the M6300.

Even without those upgrade options on my prior two Dell business laptops, I still kept them for 3+ years without feeling the need to upgrade.

potee

The young lady next door bought an MSI 3years ago for collage and really likes it, So igot one about a year and half ago and its a nice machine. Mine has an i5 chip. Don't know about CS never had to use it. Good luck on your choice.

PoTee