Official MSI GX640 Owner's Thread

is the screen 16.9 or is it not widescreen

 

You mention that esata externals can supposedly draw power from the esata/usb combo port... you wouldn't happen to have an external handy to test it for sure would ya? ;p

What I'm really interested in now is where this thing gets warm... while running benchmarks can you keep track of what parts of the lappy get warm/hot? How audible is the fan in a quiet room, does it spin on often/not, is the vent being on the right annoying to the mouse hand?

sniper the screen is 16:10.

 

1080p is 16.9 on the external (Atleast i think 1080p is 16.9 lol.)

The 640 will be running 16:10 though

The contrast ratio probably is close to what it says on the tin, but a figure of speech how asus controls the ratio on that thing, im guessing blacks are black,

But the 640 seems very good i wonder how long this book will be around as i may start saving for one.

 

The external is 16:9, no doubt about that.

I don't actually have an external hard drive to test that. My external hard drive only has USB 2.0.

According to MSI's site, though: http://www.msi.eu/poweresata/

 

so the lcd is not 16.9 widescreen that sucks

 

it doesn't SUCK.

If you have preferences for 16:9 to 16:10 then that is great,

but having a 16:10 aspect ratio does not SUCK.

There are some here that love the ratio of 16:10.

 

16:10 means you have more vertical pixels than 16:9. Generally this is a good thing. 1680x1050 for a 15 inch screen is very nice.

 

Plus if it was 15.6 it would have been 1600x900, which is less pixels too. 16:10 is good, since then the laptop is not retardedly wide.

 

ok whats the warranty length cause I am looking at this or an envy also 16.10 is old tech all video formats display in 16.9, just to point that out.

 

it comes with a 3yr warranty

and not "all" video comes in 16:9 format, 1080p is the only big one - since it can't hit 1080p res what difference does it make? 16:10 looks better for most computer usage imo, all I have to deal with is a 50px black top/bottom bar when I want to watch 16:9 stuff big deal.

 

Have be confirmed the battery as 7200 or 78200mAh?

 

is it only 3 year if ordered through xcotic or is it 3 years if I order through buy.com

 

Does anyone know if the Buy.com version has a 6 cell or 9 cell?

 

also is it 3 year with buy .com

 

I am not 100% positive but I believe all have the same model # GX640-098US. I bought mine from Provantage and I was worried because their site did not list if it came with a 6 or 9 cell battery and they could not tell me. So I called MSI and the person seemed to know what she was talking about by saying that the above model # all have 9 cell batteries. I received mine last night and it did have the 9 cell. I think amazon is pulling an old description down. Why would it also have a 1.2 web cam? Doesn't make sense.

Anyway the best price out there that I can find is here...

http://www.provantage.com/msi-gx640-098us~7MST9107.htm

they now have 24 in stock. shipping is about $10 with no tax. Unit cost is 1087.32.

 

never heard of provantage anyone order from them also whats the warranty on that

 

I remember lots of people in the G73 thread shopping there, never heard anything bad. Warranty is through MSI, so it's the same everywhere. However most resellers allow you to RMA straight through them, which can be faster if they offer it.

 

It is a 3 year warranty.

I have order many things in past including a lenovo laptop. Never any problems.

Check here...

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/PROVANTAGE_Corporation

 

so the warrany is 3 years no matter who I buy it from including buy.com and provantage

 

ok I get free overnight shipping from buy.com are they 3 year warranty as well or only 1 also I have gift card there to. someone confirm please

 

I have no official source for this, but all systems with the same model number should have the same warranty.

 

yea that model on msi sight says 3 years which is amazing a 3 year warranty holy cow, now I don't know if I want the envy or this I do like the 1080p on the envy but I like the gpu and 3 year warranty on the msi, what u guys think.

 

15" is too small for 1080p I find, heck even 17" is close to too small to appreciate it.

 

Yea 1080p seems too much for a 15". A real case of diminishing returns. 1680x1050 is the sweet spot for 15" I think Heck even my MBP in 1440x900 seems nice.

edit: I'm thinking about asking XoticPC to put some ICD7 on for 35$ like they do for other systems. Before I ask, is there any reason that they already stated? It seems like a reasonable request to me.

 

hey mustang which comp u geting that asus or the msi, saw your sig? Also what are your guys opioins on the envy. Also I think the msi is 32bit os that would be bad anyone know

 

Without the $450 off coupon, there's not that much going for the Envy. If you need a ~5lb laptop rather than ~6lb, or you want 1080p, it's worth considering, but it needs a discount of at least $250.

Also, I'm pretty sure the GX640 will always come with 64-bit Windows 7.

 

yea it is 64bit but I have a envy on order for the same price as the msi. hmmmm

 

How did you get free overnight with buy.com? It's charging me almost 50 bones (in CA).

 

I have a friend who works for them in the call center, lol sorry. Anyways anyone know how good there customer service is for msi

 

Xoticpc's site doesnt offer thermal paste upgrades. Also when I spoke to Justin@xoticpc on the phone, he said they dont do it cuz it voids the warranty. He said that in fact, opening the system up voids the warranty. So how do we upgrade RAM or clean for dust?

Can anyone confirm if Justin is correct or not?

 

I really wanted this but the temps are horrible 50c at idle on the gpu I thought the envys get hot but there like half that. oh well

 

25c ? I'm buying one now

 

Hook a brother up!

 

lol and I am using the 10 off coupon but I just don't know about the temps on this

 

Well my Envy is idling at like 41 right now... though it does have a dedicated GPU fan and a CPU fan, and uses passive cooling through the case (gets hot on the bottom). Seen it max at like 75.

 

What is the CPU comparable to? T9600?

 

i5-430 is roughly better than a t9700

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-430M-Notebook-Processor.23750.0.html

 

anyone know if the gx has this, also do u like your envy

 

No.
It has a single fan setup.

 

I do like the Envy, although I prefer the 16:10 screen ratio of the GX640 to the 16:9 of the Envy (and most new laptops). The screen seems a little squished because of the aspect ratio.. as if there aren't enough vertical pixels... although the 1920x1080 screen is beautiful. It only gets about 2 hours of battery, but it's very thin and sexy. It has a 5830 graphics card which is the next step down from the 5850, but it's very powerful none-the-less.

The Envy comes with a 21 day return policy, and I got mine a week ago, so I am still considering returning it for the GX640. Right now my problem with the Envy is that the bottom gets hot (even idling), and I like using the laptop on my lap, which is a problem. That, and my case is slightly warped, so one of the rubber nubs on the bottom sits a few millimeters off a flat surface. Also, HPs warranty blows, whereas the GX640 comes with a 3 year standard.. which is one of the biggest selling points right now. If something goes wrong with my Envy in a year, I'll be sore out of luck. My last laptop lasted 4 years (I had to return it once because of crashed hard drive), and the warranty did come in handy after 1.5 years.

It really depends on what you want. The Envy is lighter (5.1 vs 5.9 lbs) and is thinner (1" vs. 1.2" thick), but the MSI has a more powerful graphics card and a better warranty. You can see why this choice is so difficult for me.

 

I feel ya pain man, my envy hasn't shipped yet I got basically the same spec as u too, hmm that gx640 does look nice and the 3 year warranty is amazing, I wondering if I should order a msi not open it and play with the envy, if I like it return the msi. If not return the envy. Also How is the screen can u notice 1080p, is it sexy overall, is it worths its price and how much of u is leaning towards the gx more.

 

That's kind of my plan actually. I'll probably order the GX640 either tomorrow or Monday, then get my info for returning the Envy. Then I'll return the Envy when I get the GX640, so I never have to go without a laptop! In the past hour I've basically sold it to myself because of the warranty. HPs service is slow and bad (huge company, makes sense), whereas with the GX640 you'd get a huge 3 year + 1 year accidental and friendly service with a small reseller website. Let's be honest, more likely than not, laptops mess up within 3 years. I'd rather be within warranty than not. I bought my last laptop from powernotebooks.com.. and the service was great because it was a small company. Every issue was dealt with personally by the owner and quickly. Same will probably be with Xotic (where I'm planning on buying it from).

The screen on the Envy is VERY nice. the 1080p is great... and it doesn't even make the text that small. Beautiful colors, huge resolution.. no problems there. Worth the price.. 1300x700 is too small for me. I'd go with Full HD with the Envy, no reason not to.

The GX640 seems to have a nice screen.. and honestly I'd doubt you could tell much of a difference between 1680x1050 and 1920x1080. As I've stated before I like a taller screen.. so I have no issues with the 16:10 ratio.

I am leaning HEAVILY GX640 simply because there are issues with my Envy, and I can still return it! And I want my new laptop to last, so warranty = great.

The only thing really holding me back from the GX640 are the slightly warmer temps, but it makes sense because it's more powerful (plus the bottom doesn't get to warm apparently, huge plus for me). Mind you the Envy is thinner and sexier than the GX640, but no optical drive (kind of annoying). Both laptops are pretty thin and light considering the horsepower inside of them, so I don't think you can go wrong either way.

 

yea I am ording my gx through buy.com same warranty as xotic if I am not mistaken, see the hp worries me that warranty 1 year compared to 3 man oh man huge difference but do u feel the 1080 and the design of the envy make it better than the msi.

 

I have called MSI, I have told them that I was planning to upgrade my GX640 with the reseller xotic. I asked them that if I upgrade the cpu then will the warranty be void? They answered that the warranty will NOT be void. But if I do it myself then yes the warranty will be void. However, if you change the ram or the HDD yourself then your notebook will still be under warranty. Also, he insisted that it is very important to register the laptop as soon as I get it from xotic.

You can double check.

 

Yep, that is correct braise, its the same response everyone gets .

 

I am RIGHT there with you guys. I have an Envy that should have shipped two days ago and still shows in production. This GX640 just seems so dang good. An inch less in width. Smaller footprint. Crushing video card. It only loses out on "aesthetics"...

Granted, I got it on the 450 dollar off deal so this is REALLY tough.

 

I had the Envy 15 (2nd generation) for a full 14 days ; IMHO, while it APPEARS good looking , the overall built quality is really really BAD ! It gets very hot (even while idling ), it crashes for no apparent reason ,the screen often goes blank , the famous BSOD even pops in every now and then. All HP tech support could suggest was to download the latest drivers or do a system recovery (I did that 10 times ).

No , I was not alone....

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/Envy-15-Video-Freeze-BSOD/m-p/248382

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/Envy-15-Video-Freeze-BSOD/m-p/244630

Thankfully I returned that piece of garbage to HP ; I'll NEVER touch another HP again .

I'm now looking forward to the GX640

 

I thank you sincerely sir. For making the call for me so I don't have to. =) Good stuff

 

awesome. I am ordering msi gx640 now. here's the specs:

MSI GX640-098US
- 15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- -Intel® Core™ i5-430M, 2.26-2.53GHz, (3MB L3 cache) - Standard
- ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD5850 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- 4,096MB (4GB) DDR3 1066MHzDual Channel Memory
- Standard Finish
- - 2X Blu-Ray Reader + 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- - 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® Ultimate N 802.11 a/g/n
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- MSI Matching Backpack
- Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- No Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit w/System Recovery + Drivers & Utilities Disk
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 3 Year MSI US Parts & Labor 1 Year Global Warranty w/ Lifetime Tech Support + 1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty (Accidental requires registration)
- No Xotic PC Gear


Ordering from xotic pc. the only upgrade is a blu-ray. total price including shipping is $1302.00

 

Sounds good. I'm looking to order the base model. You said that you'd tell me how the shipment, etc went once you get it right? Also, could you be the FIRST to benchmark SC2 on ultra, with a demo video if possible?