MSI MS-1651 Montevina BTO Notebook Barebone

Cool, no logo on the LCD lid, how about on the inside?

 

There will be a logo exactly where the picture shows it. You can remove it, but there will remain that label slot in the LCD frame.

 

Paladin,

Do you guys offer Barebone MSI-1651 (not a PowerPro label) with option to customize?

G!

 

does anyone here know beside XoticPC can ship this laptop internationaly?

 

PowerNotebooks does (did) not offer the barebones MS-1651, I asked the same question before I ordered mine at the end of July. They may have changed their policy, but the inability to warrant the barebones was the reason I was given, which makes sense.

 

Hi Tiden2008,

THANKS for your response!

So, have you received yours already ... right!?!? And how do you like it? What was your Specs?

G!

 

Yes. Note my location and my sig.

 

sorry bad english, i meant

who else beside XoticPC, can ship this laptop internationaly?

 

woot, phase 2 at xotic pc

 

Hi robvya,

Read this thread ... has some Dealers ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=124270

Looks besides XoticPC ... "RK Computers" ships to Canada also ... they are located in NY. Bob from RK Computers seems to be pretty decent guy ...

I have not dealt with RK Computers before ... and everyone here at NBR swears by XoticPC ... so ...

Here is their Resllers Ratings ...

XoticPC
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Xotic_PC

RK Computers
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/RK_Computers

I am not sure how to advise you on this ... your call.

You know both of these companies have Toll Free phones call them and see which one you like better.

Hope this was of some help!

G!

 

grats when did you order?
Sadly, I think I'm at the back of the line again, after just changing to WSGXA+ and paying the difference VIA CC today >_<.

 

I ordered my WSXGA+ on August 22nd

 

Nice, seems they're working through the orders HELLA fast. Grats to them!! Please take some good pictures if time and equipment is available to you , as well as comments on how bright the matte screen is. I personally can't stand dark matte screens.. and <3 bright matte screens

 

I ordered mine on August 6th. They just said it might not ship until next week. I'm sure they're doing their best, but I am highly irritated.

 

I ordered mine on July 22nd. I fully understand the irritation, but I know the companies we've ordered from really are doing their best. In my experience, they've been very helpful, not to mention forthcoming, with the delays, and that is something that you'd never get from a larger company.

 

I would like to confirm what the area with the touch buttons and speakers is made of? Aluminum or plastic? It looks like aluminum, but I just want to ask

Hopefully yours will ship this week

/agree with Tiden. MSI's FAULT!!

 

I second that. While also irritated I just have to bite my tongue as its not their fault. Remembering my last experience with Dell customer service helps a lot as well.

 

There's a good chance this depends on which screen you got. The low res one comes in a plastic chassis, while the high res one is brushed aluminium. If you look at the pictures, it looks like the area you're talking about depends on that too.

Part of my frustration stems from being told that my laptop could ship as early as tomorrow, or as late as the 16th. If this was mid summer, it wouldn't matter. Not getting the laptop until after the 16th is going to be highly problematic for me.

 

For the chassis, I was talking about the WSGXA+ brushed aluminum one. Despite it looking like brushed aluminum, the aluminum look doesn't seem as obvious as the back cover or where your hands rest. I would like some confirmation on this, and although it wouldn't change my order, having that as brushed aluminum is definately VERY nice (since even the brushed aluminum version does not have too much aluminum - much less than I would like ).

Waiting for the laptop is definately very tedious, and I completely agree with you, especially if there is something important the lappy is needed for. When I ordered back in mid summer, I never expected this sort of delay, and it's ticking me off pretty badly even if I don't exactly HAVE TO HAVE IT.

 

The only area's that are "brushed aluminum" are the lid and the palmrest area.

 

Is that considered the palmrest? Or is it plastic ...
I swear I can see thin brushed lines going through it, though they're not as prominent as the ones found on the lid

 

Sorry i cannot post any pics, the palmrest is around the touchpad. That area does not have the "brushed aluminum finish". I did not remove one but it appears to be 100% plastic.

There is a "photos" area on our site where you can see the notebook alot better at different angles and higher res.

 

Noooo .. that's even less brushed alum than I thought. The pictures on your website definitely shows the difference between the brushed aluminum on palmrest and up there.
Sighs in misery

Meh.. I think Xotic and PNB are overcharging for that little bit of aluminum - $39...
If given the option of WSGXA+ with the plastic, I would definitely trade it for 39 less

 

Whatever reseller you purchased it from, you will not be disappointed.

This is a great looking notebook and i have been using one for a few days, it is solid, stable, and it performs great too............

 

That's great to hear . Thanks for the heads up.

Would up your rep but NBR tells me to spread rep to other people

 

Can you give us an idea of how it runs video games? I mean, what are the chances of you throwing like - Morrowind Oblivion or Crysis on there and letting us know how it goes?

 

Over the weekend i will give them a try............

 

That'd be great. I mean, I can only speak for myself, but if you come on here and say "It runs Oblivion at highest settings without any framerate problems" - it's going to get me over my last reservations.

 

I want to know also how it runs when not using games, do the programs load quickly, are their any graphical hitches on Vista when doing normal work (ie web browsing, using excel or wordperfect, photoshop, etc.)

 

Hi Rob, what's your take on the matte WSXGA? I have never owned one before, and they appear to come in a wide range of brightness.

Do you think this one significantly affects the detail of the graphs? Would you say it makes the screen look grainy?

 

I personally never liked Matte screens, this one is actually a very good screen. Not grainy and the colors are bright, on a matte the colors are never as vivid as a glossy but this is one of the best looking I have seen.

 

Thanks Rob!

By the way the msi-1651 pics on your website are the most detailed ones I've found, thanks for posting them.

 

Rob,

Have you gotten anywhere with testing an X64 setup, or done any more testing? I'd be interested in some 3dMark Vantage results.

 

Yes i ran them and forgot to post, sorry.

The battery life was a little better but the 3DMark was almost the same:


WSXGA
Vista X64
T9400
6 Cell Battery
WLAN, BT, Camera, ON
MSI, ECO Turbo Battery mode

1.8Hrs Playing DVD
2.0Hrs Browsing, Word, Office, ETC

WSXGA
Vista X64
P9500
6 Cell Battery
WLAN, BT, Camera, ON
MSI, ECO Turbo Battery mode

2.0Hrs Playing DVD
2.2Hrs Browsing, Word, Office, ETC


WSXGA
Vista X64
P9500
9 Cell Battery
WLAN, BT, Camera, ON
MSI, ECO Turbo Battery mode

2.8Hrs Playing DVD
3.0Hrs Browsing, Word, Office, ETC


3DMark06 Results---5126 3D Marks

WSXGA
Vista X64
T9400
4GB OCZ 800Mhz Dual Channel
200GB 7200RPM Seagate G-Force
6 Cell Battery
WLAN, BT, Camera, Off
ECO, Off-Vista High Performance mode
Stock Drivers, out off CD.

I am sure as the VGA driver is refined it will bring the 3DMark up, I tried the updated driver on the msi site under X32 and it brought the 3DMark's up a few hundred. The X64 VGA i have not checked or tried an updated driver yet.

 

I know there are three resellers in this thread. If you guys could PM me when you have them in stock and ready to ship out, that would be great. I am only interested in the 1280x800 screen.

Thanks,

Gabe

 

They're building and shipping now. There's a backlog though.

 

My WSXGA+ is being built
Must say they cleared my order quickly ... I emailed for change on Sunday, paid via CC on monday, and got message of phase two today.
Props to Xoticpc

 

WSXGA
Vista X64
P9500
6 Cell Battery
WLAN, BT, Camera, ON
MSI, ECO Turbo Battery mode

2.0Hrs Playing DVD
2.2Hrs Browsing, Word, Office, ETC


WSXGA
Vista X64
P9500
9 Cell Battery
WLAN, BT, Camera, ON
MSI, ECO Turbo Battery mode

2.8Hrs Playing DVD
3.0Hrs Browsing, Word, Office, ETC


bah if putin bluetooth and camera off will it help the battery?
and ill get myself a 9-cell battery ^^ ( does the battery stick out? )

 

Turning those off will increase battery life.
The 9cell sticks out of the notebook, extending overall size

 

What resolution were you running the 3Dmark06 at?

Thanks.

 

It might be worth looking into Gophn's thread about laptop cooling in the 'Undervolting' section. If you can pull it off, it'll save power.

 

Seems that MSI replaced its original barebone page with three new ones.

barebone #1 - WXGA (silver black plastic) only: http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1651-ID1

barebone #2 - WXGA and WSGXA+ (black brushed alum with silver trim): http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1651-ID2

barebone #3 - WXGA (black brushed alum with red trim, GX620 look): http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1651-ID3
~ Best eye candy here!!

Can a retailer/someone who knows anything about when/where the different models will be shipped give us some more information about these? Thanks

and the sexiest looking of them all - the 1722 ID2

http://www.msicomputer.com/NB/product_spec.asp?model=MS-1722-ID2 me want that lewk

 

Just when you thought you had all the model/color schemes down..........

I will find out tomorrow, availibility, eta, etc...............

From the pics it looks like ID3 has the Turbo feature. Not sure if the pics are accurate on that.

 

It seems like the gx620 in a barebone, meaning turbo OC thingy. I don't really like the mix of colors on it (prefer silver+black), but the top area is to awesome to ignore .
The brushed aluminum models are coming in WXGA! for those who like it and are glossy WXGA fans

 

Those are models that are being offered worldwide.

For now the only 1651 and 1722 models coming into the US market are the ones shown in the Picture Galleries for the PowerPro P 15:3 and PowerPro I 8:17 on our website.

 

Thanks for the pics sxusteven. I wasn't aware it also had an antenna connector :]


http://www.msicomputer.com/product/notebook/MS-1651ID2_2_zoom.jpg

 

The antenna connection is for the optional TV Tuner, that sadly is not yet available in the US.

 

Pity... although I probably wouldn't have used it anyway.

Donald, now that you've had the 1651 to play around for a while, is there anything about it that hasn't lived up to your expectations?

 

Actually the 1651 has exceeded our expectations for:

1. Screen quality
2. Performance
3. Cool and quiet operation

Everything else is just about what we expected...and we are delighted with the feedback we are getting from our customers.

 

Thanks Donald. I (and I think I speak for everyone) just can't wait for my order to arrive...