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On first inspection, the MSI GE700 looks like a sleek laptop, with a glossy black lid and metal effect palm rest. Look a little closer, however, and the dedicated graphics card and highlighted WASD keys make it clear this is a desktop replacement laptop that should also appeal to gamers.
Powered by an Intel Core i5-460M processor, the GE700 has enough power for almost any application. The 2.53GHz chip can increase to 2.8GHz using Turbo Boost and has Hyper-threading for improved performance in multi-threaded applications. Along with 4GB of memory it flew through our benchmarks with an overall score of 94.
We were expecting gaming performance to be impressive, and we weren’t disappointed. The Radeon HD5730 graphics card has 1GB of on-board memory, and it’s more than powerful enough for Call of Duty 4. Newer games should also be playable, although you may have to reduce quality settings. High definition video playback was flawless, whether in 720p on the laptop or in 1080p on an external display.
We were impressed with the quality of the 17.3in screen; contrast was great and shadows retained their detail. Colours all looked vibrant, even at the lowest brightness setting. The 1,600×900 resolution looked sharp, although we would have preferred a Full HD display. Viewing angles aren’t fantastic but the screen has a huge amount of tilt, almost managing to lie horizontal to the desk, so it should be easy to find the best viewing position. Unfortunately the downward-facing speakers let the side down. Sound quality was reasonable with a clear mid-range, but bass was lacking.
The keyboard has flat, isolated keys that are a decent size and even with the useful number pad there’s still ample room around the keyboard tray to rest your palms. The keys were responsive, but we quickly became irritated with the half-height Enter key, which we kept missing. The touchpad is rather small and although the buttons beneath it have a ‘see-saw’ design, there isn’t a noticeable dead spot in the middle.
Connectivity is impressive, with four USB ports, a dedicated eSATA port, a multi-format card reader, a DVD re-writer and an ExpressCard/34 slot. The three audio jacks also make it possible to connect a surround sound setup, but there’s also HDMI for digital audio.
Battery life is unlikely to be top priority when buying a desktop replacement laptop, but it’s worth noting that the GE700 lasted only two and a half hours away from the mains. Somewhat making up for this is the inclusion of a USB mouse to make gaming easier and a rucksack – extras we rarely see these days – although the backpack’s design won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
With great 2D and 3D performance, the GE700 is a powerful desktop replacement laptop. Connectivity is impressive and the screen is great, but build quality isn’t quite as impressive as other 17in laptops we’ve seen. The Dell XPS 17 is almost as fast in both games and applications, but has better battery life and build quality and is a lot cheaper.
