LAPTOP GALLERIES

An elegant beauty with broad appeal. That’s how MSI sees the A6400. So the notebook should be an all-rounder, a typewriter, number cruncher, and DVD player in one, and able to handle some older games. We find out whether the notebook’s hardware and software are as impressive as its appearance.

These days there’s a very wide choice of well-equipped, reasonably priced notebooks for the ordinary buyer. On paper, the A6400 Ci507 S from MSI looks like another attractive offering.

The laptop is part of the Taiwanese manufacturer’s mainstream C series, and is intended to be an all-rounder with a broad appeal. At first glance, it doesn’t look like MSI has economized on this notebook at all; for only 519 Euros you get a mid-range, second-generation Sandy Bridge processor, all wrapped up in an aluminium-look case. It even comes with two USB 3.0 ports and HDMI.

Why pay more for a new laptop? A 64-bit version of Windows is also included. But do the input devices, screen and keyboard stand up to scrutiny, for this low price? Find the answers to this question and more in our review.

Performance

The 15.6-inch MSI notebook is equipped with an Intel Core i5-2410M (2x 2.3 GHz). The dual-core Core i5 CPU supports Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz and Hyperthreading (four threads). The chip’s TDP is 35 Watts. 10 Watts of that are used for the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics and the memory controller. Unlike more expensive Core i5 models such as the i5-2520M, the i5-2410M has had its support for AES New Instructions (encoding and decoding), VT-d, and Trusted Execution deactivated.

specifications :

• Processor : Intel Core i5 2410M 2.3 GHz
• Mainboard : Intel HM65
• Memory : 4096 MB, Manufacturer: Hyundai Electronics, DDR3-10700, 1333 MHz, 2 banks, maximum 8 GB
• Graphics adapter : Intel HD Graphics 3000, DirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1, 8.15.10.2266
• Display : 15.6 inch 16:9, 1366x768 pixel, Samsung 156AT05-H01, LED, glossy: yes
• Harddisk : Hitachi HTS545050B9A300, 500GB 5400rpm
• Soundcard : Conexant SmartAudio HD
• Connections : 2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: microphone input, headphone output, Card Reader: 7 in-1 (MMC, SD, SDHC, SDXC, MS, MS Pro, HG),
• Networking : Atheros AR8151 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (10/100/1000MBit), Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (bgn)
• Optical drive : Pioneer DVD-RW DVRTD10RS
• Size : height x width x depth (in mm): 26.9 - 34.0 x 380 x 260
• Weight : 2.5 kg
• Battery : 47 Wh Lithium-Ion, lithium ion, six cells, 10.8 Volt, type: A32-A15
• Price : 519 Euro
• Operating System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
• Additional features : Webcam: 1.3 Megapixel, Microsoft Office 2010 Starter, Norton Internet Security, Norton Online Backup, 24 Months Warranty, Pick-up & Return Service

by : notebookcheck.net