MSI GE Series GE40 2OC-009US 14.0" Intel Core i7 4th Gen 4702MQ (2.20 GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M 8 GB Memory 128GB mSATA + 750GB (7200RPM) HDD Gaming Laptop

Pros: There are a bevy of 14 inch Haswell-based laptops w/ dedicated gpus similar to the GE40 coming out soon. I'd normally recommend waiting until reviews for those competing models have come out. Having now used this laptop for a few days has convinced me that the GE40 it is the best option. As far as specs are concerned, there is no obvious bottleneck or weak link. The lower-voltage i7 4702mq despite being clocked slightly slower than the i7 4700mq is still plenty fast enough for heavy productivity and is perfectly matched with nvidia's 760m for gaming. The new geforce 760m has double the shader units compared with the previous generation's 660m and the performance increase is substantial. 3dmark11 score is ~P4100-4200. I’ve not run any benchmarks on the 128gb ssd, but the boot times are fast and applications open quickly. Build quality is acceptable. Aside from the lid and hand rests which appear to be brushed aluminum , heavy use of plastic is obvious but not without good reason. This laptop is incredibly light and convenient to handle. @ 4.4lb, it’s significantly lighter than any of the competing 14-inch ‘gaming’ laptops (ex. Alienware’s m14x @ 6.5 lb) DESPITE also having a 90 Whr battery. Both the upcoming Razer blade and Gigabyte’s P34G also weigh ~4.5 lbs, but at severe expense of battery capacity (70 whr and 47 whr respectively). Which brings me onto my next point… The battery life on this laptop whist on integrated graphics is simply remarkable. I can hit 8 hours web-browsing on 50% brightness and almost 10 hours @ 15% brightness. People are impressed with the 12 hour battery life in the new Macbook Air, but that’s with a smaller screen, no dedicated graphics option, and a much weaker dual-core cpu. The idea that a legitimate ‘gaming laptop’ weighs only a 1.4lbs more than the Macbook air and achieves 75% of the its battery life is ridiculous. For a gaming and productivity workhorse, the GE40 is surprisingly portable and persistent.

Cons: The screen is a typical TN panel and so the viewing angles and color reproduction are measurably worse than those which are IPS. I’m personally a fan of the 900p resolution, but some people would rather it have been 1080p. The speakers are weak and limited despite the inclusion of the gimmicky Soundblaster utility software. Also, there is virtually no customization to be had in the BIOS – no way to adjust voltages or fan settings.

Overall Review: Regarding matters of price, the current price for the GE40 is extremely competitive when it comes to specs and features. I think this even bests the $1150 Lenovo y510p deal on this site a few days ago (which didn’t include a real SSD). If one’s in the market for a portable and persistent productivity/gaming laptop

Pros: Fast, very responsive. Extremely quick start times (near those of Microsoft surface pros) can easily handle most all games out there on high to medium high settings, which still looks great on a 1600x900 display. Laptop is thin and light, making it great for a portable gamer, wifi isn't the best but is plenty good enough for gaming though i would still recommend using cat-5 for added network stability. Battery life is prettty good,

Cons: This thing gets hot. like really hot. like i would recommend a cooler pad if your gaming over a long period of time just to keep the temps down. Overclocking is not really an option until the stock cooling system is upgraded. It must just put out a lot of heat off of the 760 cause it has two solid copper heatpipes while the haswell i7 has only one. You might even be able to burn yourself off of the air getting pushed out of this thing. The screen isn't the best, highly effected by angles The area of palm-rests around the touch-pad are very easily smudged, could be hard keeping clean

Overall Review: Overall a great laptop and definitely one to consider, i am very happy with my purchase and am greatly enjoying this laptop.1080p isn't necessary on a 14 inch screen, but windows 8 can be a toss up if a pro or a con, i just got a shell that gave me a start button and then i was just fine with it.

Pros: This is a powerful laptop with the capabilities to run high end graphics in games. I love that it's so compact and yet I can still enjoy my games on the go.

Cons: It's not the most sturdy build. Within minutes of opening my laptop, my older sister ran her fingers (she has very long finger nails) across the keyboard saying, "Look how pretty this is." She failed to realize that her finger had snagged the semicolon key and popped half of it of it's mount. When I tried putting the key back on to the mount, the mount on the keyboard itself broke. There is also a dark spot (not too noticeable) on the bottom right of the screen. Also, a line goes across the keyboard where the screen rest when closed (there is a gap line where the keyboard and the track pad are.) It's nothing fatal, it's just really annoying to wipe off every time i open my laptop. Also, for some reason, Windows will not allow me to install Windows 8.1 on it. I would get a replacement, but I am waiting for a more fatal issue to come up before getting a replacement. I should do so soon since I am going off to school in a couple months.

Pros: 1600x900 resolution styling specs can play a lot of games on med-high at native res. battery life ranged from 4-7 hours depending on usage touch-pad is very responsive lightweight

Cons: touch pad button(s?) kinda suck. i prefer two separate buttons with good travel and feedback. this has a firm stiff click. :-( build quality is terrible. the styling is good, but there is a ton of flex in the monitor, so you have to be careful carrying it around. fingerprint magnet everywhere keyboard not back-lit very pasticy viewing angle are terrible and the screen isnt very bright

Pros: Great product, by far one of my best PC purchases yet. Being so lightweight, it makes carrying it around almost unnoticeable. The SSD makes for fast boot up, around 10 seconds and I am fully running. I have not gamed much with it as I mainly use it for school and work.

Cons: Not really a con because I knew I was ordering it this way, but it does not have an optical drive. I opted for the 120 GB SSD and 750GB 7200 drive. Either purchase a usb dvd drive or load everything on a portable hard drive or thumb drive.

Overall Review: I took a chance at purchasing a MSI laptop and can't complain. My main reason for this purchase was a portable laptop for school and work with the possibility of gaming. This thing is more than powerful enough to do all I ask of it.

Pros: Excellent boot up times. can handle most games on high settings but gets quite hot, dont use it on your lap. Great gaming laptop at this size dont think there are any better. This thing has a ton capability to run games. Long battery life as adverstised though ten hours is not do able id say like 4-5 if you are conservative.

Cons: a bit flimsy like any plastic case. Feels like it could break VERY easily. The function buttons are very wierdly located. the one on the left is inside the control button. has a few other awkward key placements but over all great.

Pros: The laptop is really fast, thin, light and good looking.

Cons: The right down corner of the monitor is dark. It is the only issue i found. So i choose to replace it.