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While the jury might still be out on whether you can have a thin-and-light coupled with gaming prowess, over at MSI, it's pretty much business as usual. It's that kind of mantra that's produced the GT683DXR that lays before you, a rehash of the existing GT680 but with gussied-up internals, spearheaded by NVIDIA's GTX 570M. In our brief overview several weeks ago, we were impressed with its performance, but dismayed with its flimsy keyboard, possessed trackpad and general girthiness. So, were we completely off the mark? Or did our impressions change after spending a little more time coddled by its side? Join us in finding out, after the break.
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is a beefy piece of kit. Tipping the scales at 7.7 pounds and 1.77 inches thick, we'll leave it up to you to decide how "portable" this gaming rig truly is. The upside to all that heft is some sturdy construction -- save for its keyboard, which we'll dive into in a moment.
The entire top shell is brandished in a smooth PS3-esque glossy plastic, which, as you'd expect, is quite the fingerprint magnet. It extends to the inside as well, where both the display bezel and keyboard deck are enveloped in the same element. In contrast, the palm rest is fashioned out of a less shiny (but still reflective) gray plastic that's etched with an attractive honeycomb pattern. Close the lid and turn the machine over, and you'll find the back brandished in a rougher grain of toy-like matte plastic, which, given that you won't be moving it around much, doesn't eke us out as much as it should.
Given its footprint, we'd be surprised if MSI didn't include a bevy of connectivity, and thankfully it hasn't skimped. Starting around back, there's power, Ethernet, VGA, ESata and HDMI. The left side houses three USB ports (two of the 3.0 persuasion) and a card reader. On the right, there's a DVD burner (upgradable to Blu-ray), alongside another USB port and audio jacks (headphone, microphone, audio in and out).
And, just like its forebear, its exterior is tricked out with orange LEDs. Two strips face you, from below the palm rest, while two more flank either side of the display with the fifth shining outward at the base of the top case.
The more time we spent with the GT683DXR, the more we came to despise its keyboard and trackpad. While we have no qualms about the Chiclet layout or the plasticky finish, we found the underlying panel sorely lacking. Keypresses were met with a hollow noise, which, to be honest, reminds us of a first generation netbook, not a premium niche notebook. In particular, the racket emanates most audibly from the center of the panel and towards its left edge (especially near W, A, S and D keys). That's perhaps of little consequence to those of you planning on pairing the GT683DXR with a dedicated external keyboard, but we'd be remiss if we glossed over the fact that a $1,700 laptop got this wrong. And what an unfavorable thing to get wrong, as it's an oversight you're reminded of every single time you interact with the machine.
Unfortunately, we don't have many nice things to say about the trackpad, either. It's passable, sure, but tracking was subpar, and prepare for repeated bouts of seemingly random jumpiness. Equally frustrating were the mouse buttons themselves, specifically where they actuate. They're most tactile in the left and right corners, and get increasingly rigid as you move toward the center, where presses become impossible. But at least unlike the dismal keyboard, you'll feel the trackpad's sting far less often, as -- let's face it -- how likely are you to frag sans external mouse?
Onwards and upwards. Unlike the GT683DXR's keyboard and trackpad, its display and speakers bring at least some reason to cheer. Beginning with the former, we found the 15-inch 1080p panel to be ripe with color and vividly sharp. We also had no qualms about it being glossy, as this panel isn't nearly as reflective as others we've tested. It is unfortunate that a glare-free option isn't available, even as an optional premium, as those dead set on avoiding glossy all together will have to spring for its matte-only 17-inch brother (GT783DXR). That said, viewing angles from the LED panel are excellent -- you'll notice minimal color distortion, even at severe side angles. The quality didn't seem as impressive when we experimented with different vertical angles, but it still falls squarely in the realm of acceptable.
It's much the same story in the audio department as well. The Dynaudio supplied system was loud, and barely showed any signs of distortion -- even when we cranked it up to full volume. More bass would have been nice, but we're nitpicking -- we'd be hard pressed to find any laptop with deep enough low notes.