MSI FX600 – An entertainment powerhouse for a bargain Review

The MSI FX600 is clearly a good performer within the Rs. 45,000 price bracket. Although, MSI has adopted the cost-cutting mantra with an ordinary build-quality, the FX600 more than makes up with the consistent performance across all synthetic benchmarks and a decent performance across game benchmarks. The addition of Nvidia Optimus technology with CUDA functionality, gesture based touchpad feature and THX certified four-speaker system with an impressive two-year warranty adds great value for money. If you are looking for a decent multimedia laptop with the support for casual 3D gaming, then the FX600 will not disappoint you!

The matte black finish on the palm-rest adds a nice contrast to the glossy black finish on the keypad layout and the textured touchpad blends well with the contrasting checkered textures around it. The four-speaker system optimised with THX certified TruStudio PRO system includes two speakers decorating the top side of the battery compartment and two speakers located just below the palm-rest. The quick-launch buttons for multimedia and other hot functions are sandwiched between the two speakers at the top of the keypad.

[RELATED_ARTICLE]With the inclusion of various power management technologies like Turbo Drive Engine, NVIDIA Optimus technology and ECO Engine Power Management System, the user is provided the privilege of tailoring the power-saving and high-performance modes for his needs. The glossy display makes it difficult for viewing while subjected to bright-light conditions and the overall build quality of the laptop is just average owing to cost cutting, for such a powerful configuration. The keypad ergonomics feels good with the isolated keypad design and overcomes the cramped key-spacing issue which we encountered with the Lenovo IdeaPad G565 & G560 laptops. The soft touch keys generate sufficient tactile feedback enabling quick & accurate typing. The marked spacing between keys promotes comfortable navigation and improves usability. Another notable feature is the touchpad hotkey placed right above the touchpad. However, the touchpad is awkwardly modified by stripping off the scroll-bar feature to accommodate two-finger gesture based inputs, wherein the user inputs are often cluttered and messed up. For example, the pinch to zoom feature gets activated when the user actually intends to scroll a webpage and randomly switches between pinch, scroll & rotate functions.

Read on to know the performance, our take, specifications, ratings and performance test results in the next page…

Performance

[RELATED_ARTICLE]Configured with an Intel Core i3 – 330M processor and an Nvidia GeForce GT 325M (1GB) graphics card, the MSI FX600 looks like it would beat its competition – the level-headed rival Lenovo G565. It trumps it across all synthetic benchmark tests including: PC Mark Vantage, SiSoft Sandra 2010 Pro and 3D Mark 2006; however, we witnessed a neck-to-neck battle between the FX600 and the G565 in the game benchmark scores across Doom3 and FarCry 2. We even loved the faster boot times with the FX600 when compared to its Lenovo counterpart. However, we were disappointed with the low battery-life of the FX600, which is an hour less than the G565. Finally, the real-world tests too favoured the MSI FX600 with good performances in multimedia and file transfer tests. The four-speaker system delivered good sound reproduction with minimal distortion even at maximum volume. The HD video playback was impressive with crisp and sharp images sans stuttering or pixelation.

Our Take

The MSI FX600 is clearly a good performer within the Rs. 45,000 price bracket. Although MSI has adopted the cost-cutting mantra with an ordinary build-quality, the FX600 has more than made up with the consistent performance across all synthetic benchmarks and a decent performance across game benchmarks. The addition of Nvidia Optimus technology with CUDA functionality, gesture-based touchpad feature and THX TruStudio PRO certified four-speaker system with an impressive two-year warranty adds great value for money. If you are looking for a decent multimedia laptop with the support for casual 3D gaming, then the FX600 will not disappoint you.

Specifications: Processor: Intel Core i3 – 330M; Memory: 4GB DDR3 533MHz; Chipset: Intel HM55 Express; Graphics: Intel HD integrated graphics & Nvidia GeForce GT 325M; Hard drive: 500GB; Display: 15.6-inch LED backlit, Screen resolution: 1366 x 768; Weight: 2.41 Kilograms;

Ratings
Features: 7
Performance: 7
Build Quality: 6.5
Value for money: 7.5
Overall: 7

Contact: MSI Computer India Pvt. Ltd.
Website: http://www.msi.com
E-mail: technicalindia@msi.com
Phone: 011-42701424/41758808/41758809; Ext. – Support:30 ; Technical : 43;
Price: Rs. 45,000

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Vinod Yalburgi