MSI GE620 review

Gaming horsepower comes courtesy of a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 540m graphics card. With a gigabyte of video memory, it flew through our Dirt 3 test at a smooth 41fps. As long as you’re prepared to disable the performance-sapping anti-aliasing, the GE620 is well-equipped to handle the latest titles. Considering it uses Nvidia’s Optimus graphics switching system, we were disappointed with three and a half hours’ battery life. At 2.4kg, the GE620 isn’t too heavy to take on the move, but you’ll probably need to take the rather bulky power supply if you do.

Image quality on the 15.6in screen was decent; the 1,366×768 resolution is enough for web browsing and 720p video, but you’ll need to connect an external display using the HDMI output to play 1080p content and make the most of the powerful graphics card. Colours were accurate for the most part and contrast was very reasonable, even if viewing angles were only slightly above average. There’s not a huge amount of screen tilt and the glossy finish could make it difficult to use in direct sunlight, but we were still quite impressed overall.

As usual, MSI provides a generous two-year collect-and-return warranty, which is better than the guarantee most laptops come with. Plus, this is a great price considering the amount of power on offer. There are other laptops with better battery life and slightly higher-quality screens, but the GE620’s fantastic performance, great range of features and comprehensive warranty mean few other laptops in this price range can match it.