MSI GT627

In our WorldBench 6 tests, the GT627 earned a solid score of 101. Though we couldn't run our tests at 1680 by 1050 resolution, the laptop managed a frame rate of 62 frames per second in Enemy Territory Quake Wars and 58 fps in Unreal Tournament III at 1024 by 768 resolution in Turbo mode.

Unfortunately, this all-purpose-size laptop exhibited a desktop-replacement-caliber battery life: 2 hours, 29 minutes on a single charge. On average, all-purpose portables have about hour more battery life than the GT627.

For context, let's match MSI's rig against one of Gateway's strong, stylish, reasonably priced gaming laptops. The Gateway P-7811FX delivers a WorldBench 6 score of 96 with very similar specs. But whereas the P-7811FX has a native resolution of 1920 by 1200, our MSI test system fell far short of those numbers, at 1280 by 800.

The GT627's glossy 15.4-inch screen does deliver decent color and crispness, but the vertical viewing angle is fairly shallow, which makes finding the sweet spot essential. For a general entry-level notebook at half the price, a 1280 by 800 resolution would seem reasonable; but for a gaming laptop, 1440 by 900 or 1680 by 1050 would be a better fit. On the bright side, playing games at 1280 by 800 is a breeze, though it hardly calls for a video card with 1GB of RAM under the hood.

Though the screen may be lacking, the number of ports isn't. You get two USB 2.0 slots (three if you count the combination eSata/USB port), a four-in-one card reader, audio input/output jacks, a four-pin FireWire port, an ExpressCard 54 slot, a VGA-out port, ethernet jack and modem. Got a TV tuner? There's also an antenna jack on the back of the laptop. To access the system's RAM and hard drive, you simply unscrew a plate on the bottom, though MSI warns that opening the unit voids the warranty--a major discouragement to upgrading.

Another gamer-unfriendly feature is the keyboard's use of nonstandard-size, unusually placed keys. Such commonly used keys as Backspace, Enter, and right Shift are noticeably smaller than they should be. In addition, the forward slash key occupies the spot where the Alt key normally appears, so using Alt-Tab to navigate through applications can be especially frustrating. Worse yet, the keyboard exhibits considerable flex even under light pressure. If you've ever had to hunt and peck for keys on a netbook, you'll experience a similar sensation with the GT627. Even after spending days typing on the keyboard, I couldn't type an error-free e-mail message without peeking at the keys. The keyboard does include a full four-column number pad--an unusual feature on a keyboard of its size--though its value for gaming purposes is questionable.

Much better is the attractive and fairly generous touchpad, which sits almost flush with the palm rests. The buttons are of the cutout variety and rely on tension from the palm-rest surface to create the click. Though I prefer deeper button presses with a little less give, the GT627's buttons are far from unusable.

The touch-sensitive buttons located in a row above the keyboard toggle the wireless on/off, activate the 2-megapixel webcam, cycle through various power saving modes, and activate the computer's Turbo mode. One button is user-definable, and others act as basic media playback controls. The sensitivity of this area is extremely high, requiring only a light brush of your finger to turn on. Luckily, the buttons are out of the way, so activating them by accident is unlikely to happen very often.

The GT627's stereo speakers produce thin and tinny sound. Even maxing out the bass enhancement in the included Dolby Control Center software makes little difference. Except in a pinch, this is definitely a headphones-only machine.

Don't expect a robust software package, either. Besides the standard Windows Vista Home Premium install, a recovery disc application, and CD/DVD burning software, the only program worth mentioning is the full-featured CrazyTalk Webcam suite for tweaking the included Webcam. You don't even get dedicated DVD movie software.

The GT627 is an affordable gaming laptop that will ably play today's current crop of games, but some prospective buyers will conclude that its low-resolution screen and nonstandard keyboard are deal-breakers.