MSI GX640: $1100 for a Speedy DX11 Laptop
by Jarred Walton on June 13, 2010 3:05 PM ESTMSI GX640 LCD: An Oldie but Goody (Mostly)
Flash back to a couple years ago and in place of the current 16:9 aspect ratio displays we had a lot of 16:10 panels. The better laptops came with either WUXGA or WSXGA+ displays, and while brightness levels were lower than the latest LED backlit panels in most cases, quality wasn't bad at all. The GX640 is sporting just such a panel, courtesy of Samsung's 154MT02-H01. We've lamented the decline in laptop LCD quality on many occasions, and the GX640 is a great argument for going back to some of the better panels of days gone by. That's not to say the LCD makers can't create good displays anymore; rather, they simply choose not to in order to reduce costs.
Color gamut and accuracy are nothing special and in fact the color gamut is at the bottom of our charts; the maximum white level isn't as bright as most modern laptops either. These metrics are where old CCFL panels fall behind. If you intend to use your laptop outside, the GX640 might not be the best choice. Inside under reasonable lighting is a different story, where the 517:1 contrast ratio looks great. The blacks in particular are far better than most midrange and entry-level laptops—the difference between a .34nit black level and the >1nit we see on so many laptops is painfully obvious if you know what you're looking for. So like we saw with the LCD in the W860CU, CCFL backlighting with better extinction levels can certainly compete with the latest LED backlit displays. Power draw may be a bit higher, but the HD 5850 already sucks down a fair amount of juice. What we'd really like is to see these good extinction levels on the blacks while providing the power and brightness characteristics of LED backlighting.
Viewing angles are typical of every TN-based laptop display that we've looked at, which is to say that they're okay horizontally but changes in vertical positioning can quickly cause dramatic shifts in colors and contrast. Set the GX640 on a table and load up a game and you probably won't notice any problems, but if you're looking at the display from a cramped airline seat you probably won't be able to get the best angle (or at least, I won't since I'm pretty tall—shorter users will probably be okay).
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SpeedyVV - Monday, June 14, 2010 - link
As an owner of a GX640, I would say that this review is completely fair and bang on.Starting with the keyboard. Man it is really bad. it feels like those fake computer keyboards. It works, but really.
Performance, is awsome for the price. Gaming is very enjoyable on this lappy.
Really like the screen for both gaming and web and office work. Yes this is a work laptop for me too :)
VBIOS and BIOS is a bigger problem than the article gives mention to.
Is there a location that owners can get those updates?
Even with these problems, I am happy with this laptop. I am not a touch typist so I can live with the keyboard, and hopefully those VBIOS and BIOS Anandtech got will be released.
JarredWalton - Monday, June 14, 2010 - link
AFAIK, the BIOS/VBIOS/EC firmware MSI sent me is currently available on their site -- the 1656 release. Send me an email if you want the bootable CD ISO that MSI sent me, though, and you can try that. It flashes VBIOS and BIOS "automatically" (after booting from the CD, of course). jarred.walton AT anandtech.comsh_kamalh - Sunday, June 20, 2010 - link
I am facing the same problem with a brand new gx640 that I just purchased yesterday. I wonder if you can send me the CD ISO to flash the BIOS.jim1447 - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Could you email me a CD ISO. I have this laptop coming today.Thanks a lot, BTW great review.
Jim Campbell
DaveGirard - Monday, June 14, 2010 - link
that thing looks like the 386 that I took to Taiwan and left there because I didn't want it anymore. The keyboard is just plain nasty.strikeback03 - Monday, June 14, 2010 - link
Too bad the keyboard feel is so bad, layout looks pretty nice, they have the fn/ctrl keys the way I like and aren't missing a column off the number pad like somekapute - Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - link
Do these 5850 laptop graphic cards support three display's like the desktop versions do (eyefinity or whatever they call it)? ie, can you plug a monitor into the vga, hdmi, and have all three going at once?Hrel - Thursday, June 24, 2010 - link
If someone could do a review on the laptop that I currently suspect is the best "bang for your buck" out there. It's made by compal, and available on Cyberpower.com who's machines you've reviewed before. If you'd like it configured like I did, which I think is the best bang for buck, do this: Go to the website. mouse over 15.6" Laptops and click on the $999 Xplorer X6-8500. It has a 1080p screen. (I'm not sure why the people who run this site do this, but even though the other configurations use the same chassis when personalized they come out to cost more than this one; annoying since it makes me configure all 3 or 4 machines built on the same base chassis to figure out which one is cheapest/best for me.) Then I configured it with the Core i7-620M CPU. (to get it over 1K so I can take advantage of the 5% off.) 4GB 0DDR3-1333, hopefully 7-7-7-21, probably not, but hopefully. ATI MR HD5650 1GB GDDR3 320GB 7200rpm HDD (I did this cause I'm gonna take that HDD out and use the Seagate Momentus XT 500GB, thanks for that review!!) Everything else on that page I left untouched. The only thing I did on page 2 was switch to Intel wifi with bluetooth; Though I'm curious if the MSI option is equal/better; 17 bucks isn't nothing. It has HDMI out and a fingerprint reader. This page says 3 USB ports, the specs sheet says 4USB ports; not sure which is true. (I do wish they were USB 3.0 ports, but I was hoping you guys would test some stuff and tell me if that even matters for use with an external hard drive, mechanical disk 7200rpm. Transferring large files like movies and games mostly.) On page 3 I select "none, format only" for the OS. And select "LCD perfect assurance" cause even 1 dead pixel is unacceptable to me. This brings the total to $1008.90 after 5% off, or $992.75 if you get the MSI network card. So yeah, I really hope you guys can get a hold of one of these for review; as a loner or given as a review unit or maybe someone will just buy one and review it cause it's really tempting me right now... like a lot! If you're review is good I'm gonna start saving up and hopefully be able to buy it around Christmas. Thanks guys! A loyal reader. - Brian