Exterior: Design and features
The exterior design of the GX60 makes it
seem like every important assembly was processed by separate groups without
much collaboration between them. The cover is glossy and oblique, with a very
nice sparkle and a large inset MSI logo that produces a bright white glow when
the screen is switched on. The back cover has a rough surface that feels like
rubber. The entire bottom of the chassis is designed with a matte surface and
texture. The buttons on the keyboard are surrounded by red and black plastic,
with a large silver power button in the middle and speakers located each side.
The palm rest has a steel structure, while the keyboard is flanked by matte plastic
on both of the sides. The screen bezel is a mixture of glossy plastic around
the screen, with a matte plastic outer frame. The screen hinges are matte black
with silver caps. The silver strips run down half of each side of the cover.
The
GX60’s general aesthetic will make you more and more interested. It is
extremely thick with large vents on the side and rear.
The GX60’s general aesthetic will make you
more and more interested. It is extremely thick with large vents on the side
and rear. The GX60 is for those who want to play the game and for those who put
performance above everything else. Some of the design inconsistencies are
certainly a result of MSI’s efforts to build a machine at a knockdown price
with the flagship components. If the cover had the same steel surface like the
palm rest, it would tighten up the overall style of the machine, although it
may have also contributed to greater costs. Mixing surfaces and many of the
ports and vents filling every side of the machine is a sign of the GX60’s
performance-oriented nature.
On
the right side of the GX60, we have (from left to right) output jacks for
headphone out, microphone in, line in and line out, a USB 2.0 port, and the
Blu-ray drive.
On the right side of the GX60, we have
(from left to right) output jacks for headphone out, microphone in, line in and
line out, a USB 2.0 port, and the Blu-ray drive.
On
the rear of the machine, you have (from left to right) a Kensington lock slot,
power plug, an Ethernet jack, mini-DisplayPort, and HDMI.
On the rear of the machine, you have (from
left to right) a Kensington lock slot, power plug, an Ethernet jack,
mini-DisplayPort, and HDMI.
On
the left side, from left to right, we find out two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card
reader (SDHC / SDXC / MMC) that are succeeded by another USB 3.0 port.
On the left side, from left to right, we
find out two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card reader (SDHC / SDXC / MMC) that are
succeeded by another USB 3.0 port.
Opening up the cover, the GX60 layout is
quite easy to understand. The SteelSeries keyboard with number pad and the track
pad occupy most of the space. Along the top of the keyboard is a strip of
custom controls and lights. In the center of the control strip is a large
silver power button, while the speakers are located in the far corners. There
is a 720p webcam embedded in the middle of the screen’s upper bezel, which is
surrounded by a silver inset object. Stereo mics lie on the left of the webcam.
At
the bottom of the machine, we have a design that is clearly built for gaming.
The rubber feet are rather large for a laptop. There are vents everywhere, and
the overall shape is shelved to offer the CPU and GPU quite a lot of room to
breathe.
At the bottom of the machine, we have a
design that is clearly built for gaming. The rubber feet are rather large for a
laptop. There are vents everywhere, and the overall shape is shelved to offer
the CPU and GPU quite a lot of room to breathe. In fact, you can see the hard
drive, SSDs, CPU, GPU and RAM by looking through the vents. If you are likely
to see these components, you know they are getting outside air to make them
cool. That circle like a fan that sits on top of the image is actually the
integrated subwoofer.
The
87Wh battery has a latch and lock to prevent it from accidentally being
removed.
The 87Wh battery has a latch and lock to
prevent it from accidentally being removed. For a battery that has the capacity
of 87Wh, it is smaller and lighter than we were expecting.
On the other hand, the included Delta
Electronics 180W AC Adapter is quite large.
Compared with the 90W adapter from an
office-oriented laptop, the GX60’s adapter is rather large.
However, the 180W adapter is mainly what
gamers would like to see. It utilizes a standard PC power cord, is bulky enough
to provide sufficient energy and has the surface area to drive heat away. This
is the standard Delta Electronics model used in many machines. If non-gamer
friends scoff, go online and show them what a 300W adapter looks like.
On the whole, the MSI GX60 is somewhat
erratic, but does a decent job. The small strip covered by rubber on the back
of the cover makes the machine easy to hold when it is closed. The palm rest
has a mix of surfaces, but it has a big-sized keyboard with number pad, the
direct controls for system modes, and a large track pad (in terms of the track
pad). Everything under the palm rest is rigid and cohesive, with plenty of
ports, output options, and major cooling capacity. All told, the MSI GX60 is a stably-constructed
computer. Slightly thick, and not always well-combined, but on the contrary,
these qualities also depict some of our favorite gaming machines.
