MSI GT627: Bringing Balance to the Force?
by Jarred Walton on April 29, 2009 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Ugh... Another Low Contrast TN Panel
The last area we want to test is the display quality; prepare to be unimpressed (again). We test color accuracy using ColorEyes Display Pro, and we test with two different colorimeters, a DTP-94 and an i1 Display2. We test the laptops with both colorimeters using ColorEyes Display Pro, generating both LUT and Matrix color profiles. The reason we do this is that some displays respond better to LUT profiling while others work better with Matrix profiling (although in laptop testing, Matrix profiling has been better in every case so far). We select the best result out of the four tests for our color accuracy charts. Besides the color accuracy, the generated profiles allow us to determine color gamut, using GamutVision. We use the matrix color profiles for gamut, as they usually have ~10% higher gamut volume. We will also report the maximum LCD brightness and contrast ratio.
We've been beating on this drum quite a bit lately, in the hope that eventually manufacturers will catch on. As we mentioned earlier, the LCD in the GT627 is very disappointing. While we would like something with a higher resolution - 1440x900 would be great - the real killer is once again contrast ratio. In a word, it's lousy; it's the type of LCD most laptop owners use on a regular basis, probably because they just don't think there's anything better. All you have to do is look at any desktop LCD and it's clear that laptops aren't trying very hard in this area. 218:1 isn't the lowest contrast ratio we've seen, but it's pretty close. Color accuracy is better, but we would take lower color accuracy with a better contrast ratio in a heartbeat. The color gamut is also down with the large group of ~40% LCDs. The only saving grace is that this is an $1100 notebook that can handle most games at the native resolution. As we said before, we would happily pay $50-$100 for a better LCD, but at least we don't feel like we're paying more and getting less, which was the case with the Gateway P-7808u.
Is anyone out there making IPS, PVA, MVA, or - gasp! - OLED displays for notebooks? If so, please get in touch with us or send us a sample for testing. We would love to show just how good a laptop display can be. If you're like us and think it's time we saw some better laptop displays, let us know in the comments! Manufacturers do read those comments, and perhaps we can actually bring about some worthwhile changes.
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crimson117 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
1366 x 768 no thank you.tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I'd be more than fine with it. I'm using a cyberpower laptop with a 9600m gt @ 1280x800 and I'm more than happy with the resolution. On a laptop, since performance isn't going to be equal with a similarly priced desktop, I'll take a slightly lower native res if I can still run the game at higher graphical settings. If the game runs smooth, you can always crank on AA to negate the "lower res" disadvantage.After all, this is what these laptops are designed for - gaming.
tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I have been anxiously waiting on a review from a legitimate site of this laptop as well! The link you provided though is for their older model. The newer model, which in fact is not much different, is here:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173...">http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp...&typ...
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Yeah, I agree. I'd really like to see a review on both of those laptops; the Asus and MSI. Though I'm more interested in the "older" model with the P8400 than the 7450... And it'd be nice if instead of that crappy 1366x768 resolution they gave us a screen with a resolution of 1520x855 or at least 1440x810; especially since the 16:9 aspect ratio already reduces the height of the screen; they shouldn't also reduce the vertical resolution.I think that Asus with the P8400 and 8800GS GPU is the best laptop you can get for the money; good blend of battery life and size and performance. I'd like to see how that MSI notebook with the HD4670 stacks up.
Anything beyond an 8800GS notebook GPU is overkill for a laptop and uses too much power for a notebook. And 1366x768 is just not a high enough resolution; minimum on that aspect ratio should be 1440x810!!
Hrel - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I meant 9800GS, not that it makes a difference really.sc3252 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
He did mention it in the second link. Not really sure there is much difference in the two. From what I read one has a bigger battery and and lots of colors on the case, while the other has a faster cpu.Another laptop I would like a review of is a even cheaper msi model that has a 4670.
MSI Ex625-227us
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
looks pretty nice for $750, but really haven't seen many(any) reviews.
tviceman - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Woops I thought that was one big link!