Review: MSI GL62VR Gaming Laptop

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Produced by Young Jeohn
Watch the video review above or continue reading for the short version:

The MSI GL62VR is one of the best gaming "bang-for-the-buck" laptops available right now and competes with Acer's Predator and Asus ROG line of gaming laptops. It's got top notch hardware including:

  • Intel i7 7700HQ Kabylake processor
  • 16GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD drive
  • Dual graphics: Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB / Intel 630 integrated

It's a great candidate for use in editing video, photos and graphics (I'll be using this laptop for all three purposes) which are all CPU intensive processes. The nice addition of the discrete Nvidia card allows for quicker render times for effects processing while being VR (Virtual Reality) ready for 3D environments. It's worth noting that the 1060 has about double the CUDA cores compared to Nvidia's own 1050 (the 1050 and 1050TI are NOT VR ready).

The good thing is, when you're doing light duty office work and internet browsing, the system also comes equipped with integrated Intel 630 graphics that is used for longer battery life and produces less heat.

Not all is well however. There are a few compromises made in the MSI GL62VR:

  • 1080P Full HD screen is  not IPS
  • Weak 2W speakers
  • Kind of heavy (laptop and huge power brick take up space and weight)

Because of these limitations, you'll need a good IPS monitor for any editing work requiring good color renditions and a fast refresh for gamers. On the plus side, there is an HDMI port and DisplayPort that both output 4K (at speeds of 30Hz and 60Hz respectively).

All in all, it's a great product for the price. The money is well spent to speed up the slowest part of the system with an SSD drive and a graphics card that acts as insurance (future proof) for the next few years. If you're thinking about AMD, it'll probably take a few years for all the bugs, incompatibilities and driver issues to get ironed out. By then, it'll be time to upgrade with (hopefully) a wide range of stable choices to choose from.

One thing I'd consider changing is to add a 1 TB hard drive (or swap out the DVD drive with one) for storage of music and video files that don't require the high speeds of an SSD.

More info: http://www.msi.com/
Check prices: http://amzn.to/2Co9a24 ---Amazon affiliate link