A Closer Look

Taking a quick look at MSI's laptop, we are greeted by a sleek exterior that is far removed from the loud and in-your-face theme that is usually a part of MSI's Gaming moniker. On the right side are a super multi DVD drive, USB 2.0 port, SD card reader, and the power plug, while the left has a great number of connectivity options for RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet, 1x USB 3.0, 1x HDMI, 1x Mini-DisplayPort, and 1x USB 3.0/3.1 Type C, and the headphone and microphone jacks. There is also a Kensington lock.


The back features two exhaust ports that force hot air out through two cooling fans inside the chassis. Meanwhile, the bottom also features a great deal of venting. Sadly, easy access to components, like the battery, HDD, and RAM, is missing with this design. What is interesting are what look to be vents but are actually stereo speakers on the front. Definitely a different location than I have seen on most laptops, I look forward to figuring out how they sound.


Opening it up, we get a glimpse of the 102 key SteelSeries keyboard and touchpad. Simple and clean, there are a couple stickers and not much else. Taking a closer look at the keyboard, one will notice the three buttons near the top-right corner. One is obviously the power button, here on the far right. The other two are for MSI's "Cooler Boost" and "Dragon Gaming Center" features.