obtainable legalistic: MSI outs new GT60 / GT70 gaming laptops, we go hands-on (video)

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

MSI outs new GT60 / GT70 gaming laptops, we go hands-on (video)

MSI already popped up on the rumor-radar this week, and now it's confirmed a pair of new gaming laptops at CeBIT. The main difference between the new boys -- that we can see so far, at least -- is the display, with the GT70 sporting 17 inches against the GT60's 15. Both rock an eye-tingling rainbow-effect "SteelSeries" keyboard, as well as some gaming focused hardware. If one hard drive simply isn't enough, then the G-series' support for two SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration, alongside a regular HD, should definitely keep you going -- and support for up to 32 gigs of RAM should help things tick along nicely. We don't have detailed processor specs to share, unfortunately, and the models that MSI had on-hand at the show were simply mock-ups with older components.

After walking up to the duo, the first thing we noticed is how large they are -- especially after spending the day with a handful of Ultrabooks and tablets. The GT60 and GT70 aren't giants in the gaming world, but compared to other slim form-factor devices on offer, these are absolute monsters. We suspect this isn't so much of an issue, however, if you are in the market for this type of machine. The large size isn't wasted, either, with the both housing three USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports (only one for the GT60), an SDHC card slot, and full audio in, out, microphone and headphone ports for audio connectivity, plus an optical drive in each. The final machines will likely have Ivy Bridge processors and are penned in for an April release (provided that Intel's latest-gen processors hit the market by then). You'll be able to pick up the GT60 for around €1,999 (about $2,630), with the GT70 coming in at €2,299 (roughly $3,025). Scoot on past the break to catch our hands on with the pair.

Gallery: MSI GT60 and GT70 gaming notebooks hands-on