Anybody familiar with MSI computers?

I need to replace my laptop, but it seems that the only laptops that get decent reviews are gaming models. Other than the extra cost, I don’t really care if it supports gaming or not, as I’m past all that. The one I’ve sort of settled on as a moderately priced, well-reviewed laptop is the MSI GE72 Apache Pro with a 17.3" screen. If someone has a suggestion otherwise, I’d be happy to hear it. Non-gaming models seem to amass negative reviews in the 15% range, which is a bit high for my comfort. Also, opinions on MSI machines appreciated.

Oh, and no Apples, please. Apple just doesn’t cut it for my Excel files; it tends to scramble them. So I need a PC platform in the house.

I managed MSI for Microsoft 5 years ago (and have since left Microsoft). Good folks. I liked them all personally from CEO Joseph Hsu on down. Stuck in a no man’s land of being a motherboard maker and a laptop brand that failed to ride the netbook wave and come out bigger (alas, then came out smaller). I like to think that I played no small part in nudging them toward a serious focus on gaming laptops. Always had solid engineering and knew their price point was a discount to the big names but keeping quality.

I am not so close to them now to have a real opinion but WTH I’ll chime in anyway. :wink:

What appeals to you? The 17" screen? The graphics? High end performance? Something else? They will crunch your excel spreadsheets like a hot knife through butter. In other words, trying to size up what you want/need.

The thing is that gaming rigs might be overkill for what you use it for since you don’t game. They generally are not light and not very portable. Don’t have touch or ink (which I personally really like). $1200 gives you a lot of choice, and this may be a great choice, but trying to understand what you are solving for.

I would also HIGHLY recommend buying through the Microsoft Store. In the MS Store, it has a 30 day no questions asked return or replacement policy, I think some support, and comes with a clean Microsoft “Signature” image free of crapware and optimized for performance. Let’s put it this way, a “Signature” image versus the standard brand with crapware installed, generally performs at a upgraded CPU level. That means a Signature Intel core i5 performs equivalent to a HP core i7 that has crapware installed, or to say a different way, you buy a Lenovo core i7 with crapware and you get a clean i5 performance (or to say yet a different way, you pay for a Mustang but end up with a Pinto).

Hope this is helpful.

I have a MSI GT72, When I purchased it I had just returned the model you have, but the reason was it had a dead pixel in the center of the screen. I am very satisfied with my laptop.

My favorite feature is the ease in getting to the HD and fans. My last laptop which was an ASUS, was a big pain to keep the fins on the GPU and CPU heat pipes clean. Once clogged up the laptop would overheat and shutdown. It took 45 screws and the removal of the keyboard to get to the fans and heatpipes. On the MSI I think its 3 screws and a couple of minutes. Great design and for some reason I have not had to clean it and I have had the computer for a year now.

I’ve had an MSi GT683R for the last several years, and have been very satisfied with it.

Pros:
[ul]
[li]Plenty of USB ports - so my fitbit and Logitec dongles can remain, even if I need to attach other peripherals.[/li][li]A metric shitload of RAM was not very expensive. I tend to overbuy my RAM, but then I tend to keep my machines for several years.[/li][li]It was refreshingly bloatware free. - My biggest beef with HP and Dell and the rest of the big hardware guys is I have to spend several days “decrapifying” before the machine is even usable. Not so with this one.[/li][li]I’ve never had to clean the heat sink. Ever.[/li][/ul]
Cons:
[ul]
[li]The keyboard is a little sub-par. I’ve not had any sticky keys, but they just feel cheap.[/li][li]The “End” and “Home” keys both require the function Key to work.[/li][li]It is a bit heavy, but it’s also a gaming rig.[/li][/ul]
Both the cons with the keyboard are easily overcome by using a wireless mouse and keyboard for everyday use.

In short, I cannot recommend MSi highly enough.

Thanks. I looked at the MS Store website, but it seems like they sell mostly Dell and HP products. I won’t buy a Dell, and I have an HP now that has not held up. The gaming rig has way more power than I need, but I do want the 17" screen, since that’s what I have now, and I don’t want touch screen. I may consider getting the signature MSI from there, however. Weight isn’t really a problem, as I don’t take it anywhere, and I remove the battery and just run it on shore power. It’s basically “my” computer in the living room, as my wife is the primary user of “our” desktop iMac.

The nice thing about having more power now is that in the future, when your applications require more processing and memory, you’ll all ready have it.

I went to the MS website and as luck would have it, this model is out of stock. An online chat ended with “We don’t have information about availability. Check back often to the website.” Not too helpful. Well, I can limp along with my HP for the time being. All files are backed up to an external drive, so a hard crash would be more of an annoyance than a disaster. Push come to shove, I can order it from Amazon.