Any news on the x460?

X460DX in stock again at newegg.ca..

 

Thanks for the info wumpus243. I'm coming from a 10" Asus and a 13" Asus, both of which were not known for their great screens or viewing angles. I'm hoping it will at least be on par with those because it didnt bother me.

Looking forward to any more information.

 

I have been using the laptop for a while and runned couple games but after 10 mins of game(mid-high settings), it got very warm and pretty hot. Anybody have same symptom?

 

Anything will get warm while gaming. Can you find out your specific temperatures and we can tell you if it's normal or not.

 

how do i check the temeperature? is there any specific program i need to use to check it?

 

There are multiple programs to keep track of temperature. You can use HWmonitor, or Realtemp. Those two work well and are pretty small.

Also, I managed to beat Deus Ex on this thing. It ran pretty hot but no crashes.

 

Thanks.




1. Has anyone replace the HDD with a SSD?
2. Has anyone found a ODD caddy?
3. Has anyone tested TF2 on this machine?

Thanks!

 

The first real test of this box! Congrats!

 

Try HWmonitor

CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

 

I replaced the hard drive in mine with a crucial M4, the process was easy and painless. You just need to have a way to install your operating system back on.

I ordered a generic odd caddy off of amazon and am still waiting for it to arrive, I'll post once I get it to make sure it works

I haven't played tf2 on it yet as I want my steam games installed on the hard drive not the ssd so I am waiting on that, although it should be able to handily tf2 pretty well on medium to high settings I would guess

 

alright thanks. I was going to order an M4 too with it. Let us know if the caddy works.

 

I don't know much about SSD's but I'm considering the Crucial M4 256 GB for my desktop pc and maybe for my x460dx as well. Will this work on my gaming desktop pc via SATA III connection? My pc does support SATA III. Also, what scares me is paying $400 for something that breaks every month. Did you have any problems with yours? From what I read the M4 seems pretty reliable compared to other SSD's.

 

I will post more later but just wanted to post a quick note:

Got my X460DX today. Was really excited but I am sending it back. Basically the space bar key rattles when I type.

This is not useable for me because it will irk the hell out of me, my professors and my fellow students.

 

The crucial M4 is a sata III drive so yes you will get sata III speeds. I have only had mine for just over a week so I can't really speak to the reliability of the drive, you'll have to find reviews of longer term owners but from what I've heard this drive is very reliable. If you want reliability go for intel, though the M4 is faster and still has good reliability. I love SSD's and would recommend them as a boot drive for any new computer if it fits in their budget. My laptop boots up in 18 seconds with my M4, I love it, but it's not just boot speeds that are faster don't get me wrong, it's just one of the best ways to see a speed improvement. When I did a boot test with the original HDD it took 1:20 to boot up. I don't know that I would recommend such a large SSD just because of the price/GB but if you've got the money then go right ahead, I just use mine for windows, boot programs (such as anti-virus), and a couple often used programs (web browsers and such).

 

anyone else having this problem? Mine is arriving tuesday so fingers crossed.

 

I does not sound like the other keys. It is not exactly loose, however, if I tap on the key it does not simply press down quietly like the other keys it sounds rattlely.


Additionally I am having all kinds of touchpad problems trying to click on text boxes. My left clicks often do not register on my webmail client and I am unable to hold down the left key to highlight. This only is happening on one webmail client but my other laptop open simultaneously and on the smae client does not have this problem.

 

Have you tried to update the touchpad driver?



Now, should I wait another month to see what is comming, Samsung Series 7, Asus, etc... or should I go with the X460DX + 64Gb M4 SSD? Arhh

 

Not at all. Pretty good keyboard, actually. Only keyboard weakness is some 'give' under pressure on the keyboard above the ODD.

 

Would an external cooling pad alleviate the heat while gaming or performing other cpu intensive tasks? What's a good cooling pad?

 

i have been using m4 ssd for couple days and i love it. It has not caused any problems yet, but I just updated a firmware and its really fast.
The read speed went up from 390mb/s to 490mb/s which increased 100 mb/s. I suggest you update the firmware right as you get the ssd.

 

Updated the firmware? Why?

Never mind, I found it out on Crucial's website.

 

Hmmm... with the vendors taking so long, I'm considering just buying the x460dx and doing the Quad core upgrade myself... just expensive. Would be nice if they had just the 2630QM.

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2720QM Sandy Bridge 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket G2 45W Quad-Core Mobile Processor Model BX80627i72720QM

Also, I'm kind of paranoid when working on laptops - everything's so fragile!

Other than this, the laptop still seems like a great deal!

 

Do you know what is the difference with these two:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006693%2050001455&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=636|20-148-441^20-148-441-TS%2C20-148-447^20-148-447-TS

Both Crucial
Both M4
Both SATA3
Both 64GB
Different price

 

The more expensive one has a transfer kit, which is probably the reason for a higher price.

 

Ya, there are a few variations at Newegg and the usual difference is that the retail ones come with transfer kits (USB SATA adapters).

 

getting a little off topic but the 128 Crucial M4 just went for 150-160 last week at buy.com. Worth waiting for if you can. I'll be using that in my desktop and putting a Vertex in the msi.

It has been a while since I've had a laptop with an optical drive. Is there much weight savings in removing the ODD for an ODD tray or ODD tray w/ HD ? My old Sony laptop (w/ Pentium III ) has an ODD drive that seriously adds 3/4 lbs. I still have it and just weighed it. Sucked I had to carry that throughout college.

 

Update on keyboard issue:

So I removed the spacebar key on my X460DX and painted a thin layer of liquid tape on the inside of the key (the kind you use to seal electrical wiring).

Rattling and clanky-ness is gone and key works great now.

As for the keypad issue: It does not happen in firefox. It appears to be a common but yet unacknowledged by Microsoft bug when IE9, certain hardware, and some types of online text fields all come together in a perfect storm of fail.

It has been happening since IE9 beta and it is related to IE9 security "features." It does not happen in 8.


Was about to install the SSD when I saw the warranty seal on the screw. That is definitely disappointing. Gonna call MSI Monday.

 

What screw? You mean that you can't open the laptop without voiding the waranty?

 

It appears so. There is a warranty sticker on one of the screw holes.

From the manual:

"This notebook is equipped with a hard disk drive, and this
storage device may be upgradable and replaceable by the
authorized dealer or service center."


This appears to mean opening the chassis to replace the drive voids the warranty.

Even more annoying is that the sticker is a low quality paper sticker over a screw hole on the bottom of the laptop. It will likely be easily punctured just during normal use.

But wait! There's more!

"Additional memory module may be installed, by the authorized
dealer or service center, to increase the performance of this
notebook, depending on the specification limitation."



I fixed the key. And overall I like the laptop. It is an excellent laptop with a very solid build and nice aesthetics. It is quick as well.

However, it has some real issues with warranty decisions and I may send it back because I refuse to buy a laptop that I cannot be free to make memory and drive upgrades with.

 

EDIT

Apparently, you can break the sticker and upgrade RAM, HDD without voiding the warranty:

http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=137307.msg1029631#msg1029631

So you are good to go!!!!!!

From MSI Forum:

 

Sounds great. However, he may only be referring to the European market. There are much stronger consumer advocacy laws in the EU.


Edit: After reading other comments and stories on the web it does look like a HDD and Memory upgrade is fine. However, some people have been told by some MSI reps the opposite. I would send and email to MSI and save the response before doing it.

 

Where do you live? I'm in Canada.

I went to MSI Forum http://www.msi.com/service/forum/ , then I have selected EN USA/CANADA, then MSI Notebook forum, then the sticky.

So it must be good with North America too.

EDIT
forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=151949.0
But he's just a mod. I'm not sure if we can take his words.

 

so i bit the bullet and bought the x460dx yesterday from newegg.com
luckily for me their warehouse is in LA and i live in orange county so i literally just got it today the day after i placed my order

ill put up some reviews later one once i play around with it. ill take requests if anyone wants to know something specific.

 

does anyone know if there is a way to get some of the programs back like s bar and thx studio if i install a clean copy of windows7. the rest of this bloatware is killing me.

 

I want to know if someone found a fitting caddy to replace the ODD with another SSD/HDD

 

I am pretty sure you can use the driver CD that came with the laptop to reinstall them.

Or just go here: MSI Global ? Notebook - X460DX

So you do have that option after a clean install

I get mine on Friday, shipping from bhaudiovideo.com, snagged it for $775 First thing I'm gonna do is install Win 7 SP1 64bit, and install the drivers. Then play some LoL!

 

Just got mine. My only disappointment so far is the display.. Otherwise, it's perfect.

 

My x460dx arrived today. I noticed two things I wanted to ask about. For one, there's minor flex throughout the body. Is this normal for this laptop? Most reviews seem to say there's no flex, but I'm wondering if it's "no significant flex. "

Second, the bottom of the laptop does not sit quite flat against a desk. The front left foot is just barely above the desk. While that itself does not bother me, should I be concerned about that being indicative of some other warping in the laptop? Or is that a normal variation?

EDIT: I just wanted to clarify. I'm happy with the laptop as is assuming everything is normal. I only brought this up because reviews seemed to indicate that the laptop was rock solid. I want to make sure it was not damaged in shipping or anything.

 

like above the only thing i can complain about is the display. however i made it a bit better by turning up the saturation. im comparing this to a 13 in mac book and the mac book is just a tad bit lighter and nicer colors. its all good because this laptop smokes any macbook and is half the price.

my other complaint is the stupid back slash key to the left of the space bar. its completely out of place and its a duplicate key. why do we need two back slash keys anyways?

 

Ditto. What's the dimensions of the ODD? Will this work?
Amazon.com: L.F. New Universal 2.5" /9.5mm (Sata to SATA) 2ND HDD HARD DISK DRIVE Caddy/Adapter For IBM LENOVO ThinkPad ACER BENQ HP Compaq DELL ASUS Gateway Toshiba Averatec Samsung Sony etc... (ONLY FITS 129mm*128mm*9.5mm , 9.5mm-thick, optical dri

TIA

 

Found a defective pixel.. The screen went from bearable to downright bad to me.. Maybe I'll return it or maybe wait for more defective pixels and have MSI fix it.. Or maybe it will go away?

This model seems to have pretty bad lcd manufacturers.

 

I don't know. Is it 9.5mm or 12.7mm?

I don't have a x460. I'm waiting.

 

When notebookcheck posts its review, they will most likely include an *.icc colour profile, which should help a lot. Hopefully that will show up soon.

You can use the Intel and Nvidia control panels to respectively change the display a bit, plus the Microsoft wizard will do a little bit of work. That may help in the meantime.

It is fairly dim though. Sorry to hear about the dead pixel also.

 

Just wondering, how does the gpu switching work? I don't really understand how MSI's proprietary system works. took my notebook around campus and with wi-fi and a dimmed screen, I only got about 4 hours. I feel that the Nvidia card must be on (and according to cpuid, it is). Can anyone shed light on the gpu switching??

edit:
Just figured it out. I had a windows desktop gadget called "Gpu monitor" which monitors temperatures, clock speeds and other gpu stats. It turns out that when the gadget is in use, the GT 540m kicks in, but when it's off, the GT 540m shuts off. I found out by watching battery discharge rates. Now battery life should be better. No wonder the battery life has been disappointing.

Now to fix that stuck red pixel..
Or maybe learn to ignore it...

 

Mine sits completely flat. The only oddness is that the rubber feet under the rear of the battery are higher than the rest of the base of the notebook, but they're equally higher on both sides. Mine sits rock stable. That doesn't sound too good in your case.

When mine arrived, the cardboard MSI box the laptop comes in has the laptop against the top single layer of thin cardboard. The outer shipping case and padding should add to that, but the way mine was packed, there was only padding on one side of the outer (big NewEgg) box, and NO padding whatsoever between the outer box and the thin cardboard MSI box. The whole notebook was flopping and banging around inside the NewEgg carton like a... well, like a notebook in a really big box. I thought for sure mine was never even going to boot up, after arriving that way.

But it did, and so I thought this must be one tough little notebook. Maybe yours had an even tougher time in transit.

Did yours arrive with essentially no packing materials either?

 

Well, it came with some packing paper between the laptop box and the outer box. It's how my old laptop from Amazon came as well.

I'm honestly not that concerned about it. I have no dead pixels, everything internally seems to work fine. I'm really more concerned that a replacement may be worse than what I have. I figure I'll use it for a week or so and make a decision then.

 

Check the LED colour of your power button: if it is blue, it's running on Intel, and if it's orange, it is using the NVidia.

However, when I got mine, I ran a bunch of system test benchmarks, and whenever it was in Linux, it stayed orange all the time, and also when I reinstalled the OS, it stayed orange until I got a bunch of the chipset and video drivers back in. Then it worked properly again.

Finally, when running GPU-Z, if you switch the active graphic card in there, it also changes the power indicator light.

 

I got my RMA replacement from Newegg. I'm happy to say this ones LCD has no imperfections. I also sort of feel it looks a bit better then my last one. It could just be my eyes playing tricks on me though.

I used Aida64 to check the manufacturer of this screen and its a Chunghwa(CPT) panel. Can't find much about them so I don't know if that's good or bad. I'd like to see what panel everyone else has.

 

It seems as though I had a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. It isn't my laptop that's warped, it's my desk.

I played a few games on it today, including Unreal Tournament 3. Very impressed with the performance. I did notice it gets quite hot. Not too hot to touch/keep on my lap with my lapdesk, but still much hotter than I'm used to with my old UL30. It seems to be getting enough airflow, but could a cooling pad help? It's hitting around 75C under heavy load...

 

Scratch that. Screw MSI and their Piece of displays and/or packaging. The entire bottom right corner of my screen is screwed up. Anything in that corner looks washed out and anything white looks purple. Either I didn't notice at first or it just happened. Sigh. This time my return won't be for a replacement.