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Posts tagged MSI
MSI CR650 review
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It was a long time coming, but when it finally arrived, AMD’s highly anticipated Fusion APU ripped through the laptop market like a bull on steroids. Just this month, the chipmaker announced that the platform made up nearly half its notebook shipments, and no doubt contributed heavily to its $1.61 billion in Q1 revenues. In the past four months, we’ve seen its superior integrated graphics working on a slew of smaller machines, but it seems Fusion wanted more.
Back in January, Toshiba announced that it would bring the E-240 APU to a 15.6-inch budget notebook, and just a few weeks later MSI followed suit with its own announcement, saying it planned to put a Zacate E-350 APU, incorporating Radeon HD 6310 graphics, in its CR650. We’ve spent some time with Lenovo’s ThinkPad X120e and HP’s Pavilion dm1z, both sporting 11.6-inch screens and E-350 APUs, but we’ve yet to experience the force of Fusion on a larger device. Naturally, when the opportunity presented itself, we jumped on the chance to find out how a big rig like the CR650 would stack up against its dainty predecessors. Will Fusion’s wonder chip offer the same performance in a $500, 15.6-inch laptop? Or will it fail to bring its beastly force to a big budget machine? Hop on past the break to find out
MSI trots out 20-inch Wind Top AE2070 with USB 3.0, Wind Touch 4 UI
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MSI sure is keeping itself busy with all-in-ones these days. The inexpensive Wind Top AE2050 arrived stateside a month ago, and now the company is back with the Wind Top AE2070, a more tricked-out 20-incher. This iteration also has a 1600 x 900 display, but steps up to USB 3.0 and can be upgraded to a 3.1GHz Core i3 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GT540M graphics. Other specs include a 500GB 7,200RPM hard drive, two three-watt speakers, a DVD burner, and a 6-in-1 memory card reader. Software-wise, it runs Windows 7 along with the latest version of MSI’s Wind Touch UI, which includes Facebook and Twitter buttons in the browser, a dedicated window for viewing photos and video, sticky notes, and weather and time widgets for the desktop. No word yet on pricing or availability, though we assume it’ll be more wallet-friendly than this.
MSI’s GX680 laptop gets GeForce GT 555M graphics, up to 16GB of DDR3
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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 to reintroduce WindPad tablets at CES, claims Oak Trail improves performance and battery life
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You’ll remember that back at Computex MSI introduced two tablets or so-called WinPads — there was the Windows 7 / Atom slate and another one of the Android / ARM variety. Well, MSI is planning to resurrect those with some slight improvements for CES, and this time it’s gearing up to actually release them both. First up is the 10.1-inch Windows 7 Home Premium version, which will be one of the first Intel Atom Oak Trail-powered devices out there, says the company. According to MSI’s Director of North American Sales Andy Tung, Intel’s tablet solution does show both battery life and performance improvements over the current Atom chips, but it’s “not extremely significant.” Based on our discussion with Tung, we got the feeling that it’s a step in the right direction for Atom but still not as long-lasting as it needs to be to compete with ARM-based tablets. Beyond that, the tablet measures less than an inch thick and will have a 1024 x 600-resolution, multitouch display, mini-HDMI and mini-USB ports, an SD card slot, and an accelerometer. Tung wasn’t ready to reveal pricing, but he said it should be available in early 2011.
On the Android side of things, MSI’s got a dual-core Tegra 2-powered 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800-resolution slate prepped with the same selection of ports and features — although, this one is slightly thinner and also has a drop-proof design. So, what version of Android will it run? Well, that depends on Google’s timing, says Tung. If Android 3.0 or Honeycomb is available by the February / March timeframe MSI will go with that option — however, if it’s not, it will go with Gingerbread, so it can hit the market earlier in 2011. We have to say both tablets sound rather intriguing, but will they be able to go up against the hundreds of others coming at CES: The Tablet Year? We’ll know more in Vegas, that’s for sure!
MSI intros 15.6-inch FR600 3D laptop, complete with embarrassing eyewear
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If there’s a party, MSI’s going. And if there’s a bandwagon, MSI‘s onboard. It’s with this knowledge firmly entrenched in our brains that we present the FR600 3D. If you’ll recall, Intel actually tossed this name out awhile back when trumpeting its latest integrated graphics chipset, but now it’s the proud papa’s turn to make things official. This 15.6-incher is equipped with the expected 3D support, a Core i5 processor, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, HDMI / VGA outputs, a 320/500/640GB hard drive, DVD SuperMulti drive, two USB 2.0 sockets, a 4-in-1 card reader and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. You’ll also get 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a gigabit Ethernet socket, inbuilt webcam and a six-cell Li-ion battery, not to mention a bundled set of 3D glasses to really get immersed in whatever it is you’re doing. Per usual, the company’s keeping quiet on the pricing and release front, but surely it’ll be out by Christmastime.
MSI shows off convertible ‘SketchBook’ laptop concept
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Well, it looks like MSI isn’t waiting for Computex to show off some of its wild, new concept devices — it’s just unveiled this so-called “SketchBook” at an event in Amsterdam. Offering a new twist on the convertible laptop, this one doesn’t actually convert into a tablet, but rather features a rotating base that has a keyboard on one side and a full-size graphics tablet on the other — hence the name. Unfortunately, MSI is staying mum on any other details at the moment — let alone pricing or availability — but our counterparts at Engadget Spanish did get a chance to check out an early, non-functioning prototype of the device. Check out a shot of it after the break, and hit up the source link below for the complete hands-on.
MSI’s Slatebook 10-inch Atom tablet is not what we’ve been waiting for
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DigiTimes has it that MSI will be showcasing a 10-inch Windows 7 “Slatebook” tablet at Computex in June — just as we had heard a few weeks ago. According to its sources which tend to be pretty solid at Taiwanese shops, the sub-$500 tablet will feature an e-book reader with a negotiated content provider, 3G and WiFi wireless, and Windows 7 running on Intel’s old Menlow-class of Atom Zxx processors. It’s not running Android on Tegra 2 like the unit above that we handled at CES six months prior, MSI is apparently still evaluating market demand before making any such commitment. So dear readers, why not let MSI know exactly how you feel about its design choices in the comments below.
MSI Android, Windows 7 tablets launching in June, dualscreen delayed until Q4
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It looks like ASUS won’t be the only Taiwanese manufacturer whipping out new tablets at Computex in early June, and MSI will be joining the party with its Android and Windows 7 touchscreen devices. According to the company, the tablets will come in 8.9- and 10-inch varieties, and will ship sometime in the third quarter. We can’t promise you big M’s Tegra 2 and Atom-powered slates will be all that different from what we’ve been seeing from the others out there, but we are told the pricing will be “extremely aggressive.” That’s intriguing, but unfortunately, that awesome dualscreen tablet we saw at CES is farther behind. According to MSI’s Andy Tung, the hardware implementation is the reason for the delay as the Atom-based tablet is not providing adequate endurance. “The two screens are a major drain on the battery, and even with a higher density battery and the Menlow CPU we are only getting three hours,” he said. It looks like we will be waiting until the fourth quarter to get some two screen action, though we guess we could always pick up an Android and Win 7 slate and tape ‘em together.
According to the company, the tablets will come in 8.9- and 10-inch varieties, and will ship sometime in the third quarter. We can’t promise you big M’s Tegra 2 and Atom-powered slates will be all that different from what we’ve been seeing from the others out there, but we are told the pricing will be “extremely aggressive.” That’s intriguing, but unfortunately, that awesome dualscreen tablet we saw at CES is farther behind. According to MSI’s Andy Tung, the hardware implementation is the reason for the delay as the Atom-based tablet is not providing adequate endurance. “The two screens are a major drain on the battery, and even with a higher density battery and the Menlow CPU we are only getting three hours,” he said. It looks like we will be waiting until the fourth quarter to get some two screen action, though we guess we could always pick up an Android and Win 7 slate and tape ‘em together.
MSI MT-V660 MP4 Player with 3.2 inch Touch Screen and TV-out Function – 4GB
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This MSI MT-V660 MP4 player adopts RK2806 chipset, compatible with AVI、MKV、RMVB、MPG、DAT、VOB、FLV、MOV、MP4 video formats, 16:9, 14:9 video playback, Support SMI、SRT、SSA subtitle，MKV subtitle；and MP3、AC3、DTS、AAC、OGG、RA audio decode, and 720P TV-out. MT-V660 player features 3.2 inch 480×320 pixels touch screen, easy to operate. Good for music playback, supports MP3、WMA、APE、FLAC、OGG、WAV、AAC formats. To be as digital photo frame, compatible with JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG picture formats, Support picture browsing function, rotary, slide show and zoom. MSI MT-V660 is very small and portable digital device, but integrates with perfect music and video playback.
Product page: http://www.ownta.com/msi-mt-v660-mp4-player-with-3.2-inch-touch-screen-and-tv-out-function-4gb.html
MSI announces GE700 gaming laptop for those who like to be entertained
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You can’t go more than a few days without MSI dropping another new laptop, and today’s is the GE700. It’s not only 100 more than the GE600 from a few weeks ago, but a little bit bigger, sporting a 17.3-inch LCD with an unspecified resolution, up to a nine cell battery, and room for dual hard disks of up to 500GB apiece. Graphics are again handled by an ATI Radeon HD5730, processing again done by an Intel Core i5 chip, and there’s a 720p webcam for live-streaming your every blemish. No word on price for this 3.2kg (7lb) machine, but MSI doesn’t tend to waste much time in getting these things to retail.