MSI X610: Supersizing the Netbook?
by Jarred Walton on October 6, 2009 10:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
X610 LCD Quality
We ran our standard LCD quality tests using ColorEyes Display Pro to see how well this 15.6" LCD panel performs. Unfortunately, this is another case of LCD brightness improving at the cost of LCD contrast ratios. Also, color gamut, color accuracy, and viewing angles continue to be a sore spot for laptop LCDs. It is our understanding that TN panels use the least power, so until that changes it's unlikely we will see dramatic improvements in these areas.
Like many other laptops, the MSI X610 provides a bright ~250nits LCD that unfortunately only yields a poor 215:1 contrast ratio. LCD quality matters to many people, and if MSI had used a high contrast LCD it would have made the X610 a lot more interesting as a multimedia platform. As it stands, colors look washed out and images don't "pop" the way they do on a good display. Color gamut is slightly improved compared to other solutions we've tested, coming in at 53%, and color accuracy is reasonably good after calibration, but we're still a far cry from the 100% gamma LCDs we see on desktops and laptops like the Dell Studio XPS 16.
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stmok - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
It looks like the X610 is based on the elements of AMD's ultra thin notebook platform. (The first generation is codenamed: "Yukon".)The 2nd generation is "Congo". AMD's PR has a look at the prototype of Congo...Its actually an MSI X-series!
=> http://blogs.amd.com/patmoorhead/2009/09/09/congo-...">http://blogs.amd.com/patmoorhead/2009/0...eneratio...
This newer generation does feature the 780G chipset with Radeon HD 3200 IGP and dual-core CPU (also at 1.6Ghz).
The PR rep reckons you'll gain an hour or so with the 2nd generation "Congo".
Think I'll hold out for that...
ckistner - Thursday, October 8, 2009 - link
LG P300/310 is a great little machine as well.13.3 LED
Dualcore T8100 2.1 GHz
4 gig ram
Nvidia 8600m GS
external dvd rom
3-4 hrs battery life
Its price is a bit higher than the x610 but worth it imo.
JimmyJimmington - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
Dell Studio 14z is the better choice.Higher res screen.
Nvidia 9400M
A real processor
Same weight, still relatively thin.
Seriously what is the appeal of a super thin computer? Weight is absolutely important when you wanna carry your laptop around, but thinness just means more heat, or a crap CPU to keep the laptop from getting hot.
AznBoi36 - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
Considering the Radeon card has 512MB vram, couldn't you have set the quality settings to medium perhaps?JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
As mentioned at the bottom of the page, I tested most of the games at medium details as well (at least, the games where the CPU wasn't such a huge bottleneck that the game wasn't playable at minimum detail). Many of the playable games remained playable at 1366x768, and a couple could handle medium quality as well. Actually, Fallout 3 (27 FPS) and Empire TW (21 FPS) are the only games playable at medium 1366x768 - everything else is under 20FPS. Empire would also be a problem at 21, except mouse input isn't tied to the rendering rate (just like Maxis does with Sims and Spore), so lower frame rates are still okay.Totally - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
the X610 is in dire need of a stronger CPU. As-is it doesn't have an argument against the nv58/nv52.Abhilash - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
recent launched 45nm dual core neo on the X610 would have been greatqwertymac93 - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
why are dual core neos so rare? if this thing had a dual core neo instead of that dumb 4330, it would actually make sense. why is the 780g chipset so rare as well? these companies act like using a dual core neo and 780g in the same computer would rip a whole in the space/time continuum!togaman5000 - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
I've got the x600, and despite the lower number, I've gotten five or more hours of battery life and better performance out of it.JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - link
Yeah, that's what I've heard. I actually requested the X600 for review and they accidentally sent the X610 instead. I figured it would be interesting to see what the AMD Neo had to offer, but it's really difficult to say when we've got Neo + HD 4330. If the X600 offers two hours more battery life and the only difference is the CPU/chipset, that's not a good sign for the Yukon platform. Still, it's tough to draw any firm conclusions with just one sample.