Purchased this at Fry's Electronics for $399. There is a rebate associated with it for $50. I live in Illinois so I had to pay sales tax. Still under $400 out the door after the rebate (been told it takes 3 months or so) but that's no big deal.Quick start up guide suggested I make an msi recovery disc set upon 1st boot, so I did (easy but slow 8x is the highest speed on the included optical drive). Removed all the bloatware (not much actually came pre-installed) with PCDecrapifier. Black pinstripe finish is different (highly susceptible to fingerprints & smudges). Battery is good for about 3 hours (maybe a little less) with light use (msi's WIND series can go for 15 hours WOW).
Bonus warranty: Upon receipt of my mail in registration form, msi extends their manufacturer's warranty to 3 years! Pretty sweet! (If you get this make sure you get at least 3 rebate receipts or make copies for all the forms you have to send in).
Fry's customer service is pretty lousy I placed the order online & went in to pick it up with a hard copy of my receipt in hand. They had no record of the order and I had to wait a 1/2 hour for them to figure that out & then another 1/2 hour to take me over to the returns desk to place & process a new order. Took forever and they weren't that busy. They did NOTHING to make it up to me. Also, BE AWARE, Fry's charges a 15% restocking fee on laptops no exceptions. That is $60 out of your pocket on this A6200-428US if something goes wrong or if you change your mind after you open it.
How does it work? Boots fast. Runs cool & quiet. Nice display. A lot of connectivity (USB 2.0 x 3, Express Card, Video Port: VGA (15-pin, D-Sub), HDMI, Audio Ports: Mic-in, Headphone output,). I really like the msi "chiclet" keyboard and number pad. Thin and light, easy to carry but the display doesn't lock when you close the laptop just something to be aware of. Wireless LAN found my home network right away. I bought this to use for school and it is overkill for the typical "student" requirements.
Cons: Power button has a bright blue LED. It is just under the screen located at the top right side of the keyboard distracting when reading the screen (nothing a piece of tape can't fix). Due to the short battery life I want to buy another battery just in case. Overall, this is pretty hard deal to beat.
Includes:
Windows 7, 64 bit
Fast Intel® Pentium® Dual Core Processor P6000 with a 1066MHz FSB & a 2MB cache
320 GB 5400 RPM SATA HD is partioned into 2 halves (or close to it)
3GB 1066MHz DDR3 SO DIMM(upgradable to 8 gigs (2 slots))
4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/XD)
LAN Ethernet LAN 10/100
WLAN Built-in 802.11b/g/n WLAN Card
Stereo speakers (not bad for a laptop)
1.3MP Web cam with microphone (not great but works ok)
Optical Drive Type: DVD Super Multi (slow)
*UPDATE* I am now at the 4 month point of ownership and felt like updating my review.
After all the constant updates for Windows the computer is using 50% of the RAM all the time just to run the machine. Makes running other programs difficult. I had McAfee installed and that bogged it down even more. Uninstalled McAfee and installed Kaspersky. Kaspersky seems to be working better.
About two months ago a friend of mine got an HP 15.6" Pavilion dv6-3122us Turion II Entertainment 4GB Laptop 500GB Notebook PC and it blows away the msi for only $100 more at the times of respective purchase. The display, software suite, webcam, audio, storage, graphics, and speed are all superior on the hp. Even the finish on the outside is superior in that it doesn't show fingerprints everywhere like the msi.
I just got the rebate from msi last week. My friend got their rebates from hp before I got mine from msi and they sent them in 2 months after I did.
The webcam has been problematic. I try to skype with other students but they cannot hear me unless I call them on my cell. I've checked all the settings and everything is supposed to be working fine but the msi warns that the connection isn't strong enough to support this service. I have a desktop in the same room, farther away from the wireless gateway and it handles web conferences just fine. Has to be the msi. The audio is really quiet. All the way up I can hardly hear professors & fellow students.
I've ordered more RAM for the msi hoping this will speed it back up. If I plug in headphones I can hear others during conferences. They can't hear me but there is a spot where I can "chat". I use sticky keys when zi type and the msi is very slow to recognize or doesn't recognize at all the keys being pressed. When writing an essay it misses the first couple of key strokes when it's running slow. There is no bloatware on my pc and there are very few programs installed. Not many applications or processes running in the background either. So I have no idea why the msi is running as slow as it is these days.
It seemed really good at first. basic. simple. just enough to get the job done. I'd lower it to 2 stars if I could and I would have bought the hp instead seeing as I just shelled out $80 to upgrade the RAM to full capacity on it. The msi is / feels heavier than the hp too.
My gripes the speakers are absolutely terrible. They're on the bottom of the computer and underpowered you're better off using headphones or external speakers. The webcam is pretty lousy, but functional. The glossy case shows dust and fingerprints like nobody's business
If you know your way around a PC and can tolerate the terrible speakers, this is a solid entry level machine. It handles Netflix and Hulu surprisingly well, and the onboard HDMI output is nice too. I opened it up just to see what kind of hardware was in it, and the motherboard is made by the same company that provides motherboards for a good chunk of major name laptops (surprised MSI didn't make it to be honest). Battery life, if you run it in ECO Saver Mode, is excellent for a full size laptop, I regularly get about 4 hours. It seems to be pretty durable too, it's in a backpack 5 days a week being tossed in and out of my car, logged around to classes, libraries, restaurants, etc.
Yeah, it's not fast, it's not high end at all, but for what I use it for (college level schoolwork, hulu and netflix, web browsing), it works just fine. It even handles Counterstrike at a decent frame rate, something I did not expect from the integrated Intel video.I've had lots of laptops and this is the worst I've had. It is just not a finished product. The first glaring problem is the buttons for the touchpad, very hard to click and extremely annoying. Second major problem is the webcam... always gives people a blue tinted skin, not just a little blue, but BLUE. I think its a software problem, since when the webcam first starts the colors are fine, but after 1-2 seconds the skin turns blue. Other problems: Cheap cheap keyboard... I realize this is an "economy" priced laptop, but I've had plenty of bottom line laptops, and keyboard is the worst ever. Now, about support:::: HA HA. MSI has 3 main web sites, () the one that deals with this computer is .... The other websites don't have ANY information about this computer, nor do they tell you that the msimobile web site is the one you must use. If you are lucky enough to get to the correct website they have a nifty-sounding update are that is supposed to update everything in one click... Sounds great eh? except it doesn't work. Click on the GO link and you get a "Loading" message that never stops. Oh, and the websites (all of them) are the most confusing and poorly laid out I've ever seen. They have the usual "search" box for the websites, but it always seems to return "search item not found" even when I put in their own computer model number. This computer also has an annoying, easily lost cover for the SD slot and I find it difficult to orient my hands, the center of the qwerty part of the keyboard and the touchpad are to the left of the screen center. I suppose this has to be done to accommodate the number pad, but even so, I find it disorienting. Don't buy this computer, you will be sorry. Why did I give it 2 stars? For the price it has a fast CPU and a very nice LED display. Well, I guess if you never use the webcam and you always use a mouse rather than the touchpad you might be happier, especially if you never need support.I've had the laptop for a month and have been really happy with it.
While I haven't pushed the computer or disconnected it from a power outlet much, the power seems sufficient for a laptop of this price caliber. Wireless is strong after a driver upgrade (I kept dropping wireless connection until I downloaded the most recent driver). I love the chicklet keyboard, though the unibrow mouse button take a lot of force to press.
I love how the laptop comes with very little crapware installed...they even ask before installing most of it. On previous laptops it has taken me hours to get the laptop set up the way I like it...not this one.
Love the connectivity...3 usb, 1 hdmi (hdmi at this price? nice!) and analog monitor output.
It also comes pre-partitioned with a data drive, making it easy to reformat.
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