MSI spits out four more Sandy Bridge laptops, including tasteful-looking F Series gaming rigs

If it seems like MSI is dropping a lot of laptops this week, you’re not imagining things. The company just announced the FX620DX and FX420 gaming rigs and two mainstream notebooks, the FR720 and FX720, some of which join the 16 laptops it unveiled at CES. The FR720 and FX720 are both beastly 17-inch desktop replacements, with prices ranging from $710 to $900 depending on whether you opt for an Intel Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7 CPU, and whether you stick with integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics or spring for one with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT520M card.

As for the gaming machines, we have to say they’re pretty conservative-looking, with black lids made from a non-peeling, scratch- and smudge-resistant material, and a handful of chrome accents and blue LEDs thrown in for good measure. The 15.6-inch FX620DX packs either a quad-core Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M with 1GB of video memory, and a 720p webcam. The 14-inch FX420, meanwhile, comes with that same quad-core Core i5 CPU and AMD Radeon HD 6470M graphics, also with 1GB of memory. The FX620DX also comes with either a 1920 x 1080 or 1366 x 768 display, while the more diminutive FX420 just offers the latter. Other than that, though, these machines share the same DNA, including an six shortcut buttons, HDMI and VGA port, 4 USB ports (two of ’em USB 3.0), six-cell batteries, and hard drives ranging from 500GB to 750GB with speeds of either 5,400 RPM or 7,200 RPM. MSI hasn’t announced pricing or availability for the F Series, but hit the source link to peep these laptops’ very discreet designs.

MSI spits out four more Sandy Bridge laptops, including tasteful-looking F Series gaming rigs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista, TCMagazine  |  sourceMSI  | Email this | Comments

MSI slips AMD’s Fusion into 13-inch X370 ultraportable, hopes you’ll notice

Tired of Intel’s Core i5 taking a beating on your X-Slim X360‘s battery life? Join the crowd. For those less concerned with playing Crysis 2 and more concerned with a solid overall machine, MSI’s new X370 looks to strike a lovely balance. The 13.4-inch ultraportable gets a 1366 x 768 resolution display, AMD’s hot-off-of-the-presses Zacate E-350 APU, Radeon HD 6310 graphics, HDMI / VGA outputs, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, an internal card reader, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, gigabit Ethernet, a 1.3 megapixel camera and (nearly) as much DDR3 memory as you can stuff into it. You’ll also get a 320/500/640GB hard drive, a 4- or 8-cell battery and a chassis that weighs 3.08 pounds with the smaller of the two cells. Naturally, Windows 7 (64-bit) is the OS of choice, but the company’s stopping short of providing a hard price or release date — here’s hoping it falls somewhere between “cheap” and “price mistake.”

MSI slips AMD’s Fusion into 13-inch X370 ultraportable, hopes you’ll notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware  |  sourceMSI  | Email this | Comments

MSI ships Fusion-based CR650 laptop, Wind Top AE2050 all-in-one PC

AMD’s Zacate E-350 APU (better known to casual observers as a member of the Fusion platform) has been shocking critics since its long-awaiting introduction earlier in the year, finally giving people a real alternative to Intel’s historically sluggish Atom lineup. In the event that you’ve been waiting for Fusion-based options from MSI, a couple of previously introduced machines are now making their way out to the shipping docks. First up, it’s the 15.6-inch CR650, complete with a dual-core E-350 APU (which includes a Radeon HD 6310 discrete-class graphics chip), an HDMI port, 720p webcam and a downright luscious $499.99 starting price. For those looking for something a wee bit less portable, or for those looking to significantly increase their load, the Fusion-backed Wind Top AE2050 ($679.99) is also shipping to Earthlings in North America. Hit the links below to learn more on each.

Continue reading MSI ships Fusion-based CR650 laptop, Wind Top AE2050 all-in-one PC

MSI ships Fusion-based CR650 laptop, Wind Top AE2050 all-in-one PC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMSI (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

MSI’s GX680 laptop gets GeForce GT 555M graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3

MSI's GX680 laptop gets GeForce GT 555M graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3

Mobile gaming rigs don’t tend to be particularly upgradeable, so it’s important to get all the horsepower you can up front. With that in mind, MSI‘s latest is delivering a little more oomph than its last lap-warmer. It’s the GX680 and it’s rocking an Intel Core i7 2630QM processor paired with GeForce GT 555M graphics, NVIDIA’s latest bid at laptop pixel-pushing supremacy. That card has 1GB of GDDR5 memory onboard, while the system itself can be configured with up to 16GB of DDR3 — rather a lot for a laptop. A 15.6-inch, 1080p display is available, along with dual 750GB HDDs, which can be configured in RAID 0 if you like living dangerously. Blu-ray is also on offer, along with a THX certified Dynaudio sound system that is said to deliver audio “heretofore found only in cinemas.” No price yet, but as always with MSI that kind of hyperbole comes for free.

MSI’s GX680 laptop gets GeForce GT 555M graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMSI  | Email this | Comments

Intel Wants All-in-Ones To Go Mainstream

 

ViewSonic-VPC190-All-in-one-PC.jpgIntel is just a chip maker, but the company is uniquely positioned to influence computer manufacturers. Recently, the company has been reported trying to standardize components for the all-in-one PCs. Intel is working with Elitegroup Computer Systems, MSI, and Mitac International in order to start making all-in-one PCs a standard.

While some of the big PC manufactures have built all-in-one PCs before,they haven’t sold as well as their desktop counterparts. In spite, of Intel’s wishes, tablets really appear to be the wave of the future. Tablets, after all, tend to be cheaper and more portable. Perhaps Intel should shift the focus in that direction.

Via X Bit Labs

MSI’s Radeon HD 6990-based graphics card looks the part (video)

If you’ve got a desktop case with a view, we can’t think of a better thing to put on prominent display than a giant, red-trimmed graphics card — and that’s exactly what MSI’s new Radeon HD 6990-based unit provides. The dual-GPU card is lined up to be AMD’s 2011 flagship, and MSI proudly proclaims that it’s “the most powerful” unit around on the accompanying placard. Interestingly, this is just about the only card MSI’s got at its booth that isn’t available to handle outside of a case — we’re guessing these prototypes are still pretty rare, and really, they look prettier when they’re running at full clip on a motherboard with a ridiculous cooling unit anyhow. Follow the break for a quick video panorama.

Continue reading MSI’s Radeon HD 6990-based graphics card looks the part (video)

MSI’s Radeon HD 6990-based graphics card looks the part (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Tablet shocker! MSI WindPad 100A packs Tegra 2 and will ship with Honeycomb

At this point, MSI has been showing off its 10-inch Android tablet for a good half a year, but at least this time it’s coming clean with some specs, and they’re actually not half bad. Yep, the company brought its WindPad 100A to CeBIT and has announced that it, like most of the others, is powered by a dual-core Tegra 2 processor and will get some sweet Honeycomb when it hits the market in late May or early June. The model on hand at CeBIT was running some 2.X version of Android, and the hardware was identical to the one we saw back at CES. MSI’s told us that pricing hasn’t been set yet, but hopefully, like Moto’s Sanjay Jha just proclaimed, these tablet prices will be dropping come the second half of the year. Hit the gallery below for some closer hands-on shots.

Tablet shocker! MSI WindPad 100A packs Tegra 2 and will ship with Honeycomb originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

MSI Dual Pad concept eyes-on (video)

Complementing the integrated projector concept introduced at CES last month, MSI brought a new not-for-sale hottie to its CeBIT booth this week in the form of the Dual Pad, which is… well, literally two WindPads placed on top of one another. The idea is that the pads can be taken apart and used as two completely independent Windows 7 tablets when necessary — “you and your girlfriend on a trip” was the example given to us during the press conference — but when you piece them together, they become one mega-tablet capable of operating essentially as a single dual-screen netbook (a hingeless, permanently-open one). Again, it’s a pure concept; there are no plans for commercialization that we could eke out, but we can’t imagine it’d be cheap since you’d effectively be buying two complete tablets. Follow the break for video!

Continue reading MSI Dual Pad concept eyes-on (video)

MSI Dual Pad concept eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

MSI WindPad 110W eyes-on (video)

Joining its Intel-powered 100W cousin at CeBIT this week is MSI’s WindPad 110W, basically an AMD Brazos-powered remix of the original with a slightly different design. You’ve got an optical pad on the upper part of the right bezel that controls a mouse pointer — if you’re into that sort of thing — but hopefully you’ll be touching the lovely 10.1-inch IPS display (which it shares with the 100W) directly most of the time. We would’ve liked to have taken the skinned load of Windows 7 for a spin, but MSI had its demo unit set up on a looping video and kept it under glass or in employees’ gentle hands for the entirety of our time at the booth, so we didn’t get a great sense for performance; they’re targeting mid-year for release, though, so they’ve got some time left on the clock to put some spit and polish on the package. There’ll also be a dock available that plugs into a connector in the bottom of the tablet — it wasn’t on-hand, but the company had some prototype docks connected to WindPad 100A dummy units (showing Honeycomb on their fake displays, interestingly, even though live 100As at the show are running Froyo). Follow the break for a quick video from all angles.

Continue reading MSI WindPad 110W eyes-on (video)

MSI WindPad 110W eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

MSI To Release R6870 Hawk With Propeller Blade System

MSI_R6870.jpgMSI has confirmed the release of a new GPU called R6870 Hawk, however the bigger news is the cooling system that it will use. MSI has adopted the Twin Frozr III cooling solution for this new GPU. The company also claims that with the new cooling system, the R6870 Hawk will be the fastest GPU yet.

The dual fans allow for more air flow to and from the GPU. MSI of course, is claiming that it was built with first class Military parts, a typical claim for most of their GPUs. The R6870 Hawk will have 930MHz core clockspeed, 1024MB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 4200MHz on a 256-bit bus. MSI has yet to release a price or a date.

MSI sounds pretty confident in this new GPU, let’s hope that it can stand up to claims. I suspect that it will be pretty pricey. I do wonder if the Twin Frozr III will become a common cooling system option for GPUs.

Via Hot Hardware