MSI GX60 review

It does at least use AMD’s Enduro graphics switching technology, which disables the power-hungry dedicated GPU when running on battery power. Unfortunately, this didn’t lead to incredible feats of longevity. The GX60 only lasted three and a half hours in our light-use test, meaning you won’t be able to move far from a mains socket if you want to keep working.

In general use, the GX60 performed well thanks to its comfortable keyboard, designed in partnership with peripheral manufacturer SteelSeries. The Chiclet-style keys had superb response and springy actions that made them a pleasure to use, with just the right amount of travel. MSI has moved the Windows key to the right-hand side, apparently to avoid accidentally pressing it when gaming, but we’d have preferred a hardware toggle to disable it instead.

The accompanying touchpad is a little on the small side, and despite being sensitive enough to span the entire desktop in a single movement, it still felt a little cramped. It responded well to all the standard Windows 8 multi-finger gestures, but the silver plastic touchpad buttons felt a little cheap for a laptop at this price.

The 15.6in display has a Full HD 1,920×1,080 resolution, meaning you can watch films using the internal Blu-ray optical drive in their native resolution. It has a matt finish that helped diffuse light reflections and see the screen clearly, even under the harsh fluorescent lighting of our office. It’s not a particularly bright display, but both images and text were clear and colours were fairly vibrant. The TN panel has distinctly average viewing angles, although there’s a huge amount of screen tilt, so we were always able to find a comfortable angle from which to work or play.

The GX60 represents the best components AMD can squeeze into a laptop right now, but that fact alone doesn’t make it a great laptop. Although the HD 7970M might be able to hold its own in games today, the A10 processor simply can’t compete with the equivalent Intel chips for raw performance. Sadly, the laptop itself doesn’t feel like a premium product, being built mainly from plastic, and although it’s significantly cheaper than a high-end Intel gaming laptop, the price difference alone isn’t enough to win it a recommendation.