Bren's stats
- Review count233
- Helpfulness votes1,741
- First reviewDecember 27, 2016
- Last reviewAugust 5, 2025
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.8
Reviews comments
- Review comment count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First review commentNone
- Last review commentNone
- Featured review comments0
Questions
- Question count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First questionNone
- Last questionNone
- Featured questions0
- Answer count11
- Helpfulness votes1
- First answerDecember 27, 2016
- Last answerNovember 4, 2021
- Featured answers0
- Best answers1
The PRO headset from Logitech G is designed with and for esports pros. Aluminum forks, steel headband, and memory foam and premium leatherette head and ear pads keep you comfortable through marathon training and competition sessions. Pro-G 50mm drivers deliver incredibly accurate audio with improved bass response. The advanced USB DAC has a five-band onboard EQ that can be programmed via G HUB software with settings from your favorite esports pros. Pro-tuned, detachable boom mic with wind screen and pop filter ensures your comms are crystal clear. Designed for PC.
Customer Rating
5
A headset truly worth the “Pro” label–my new go-to
on July 30, 2019
Posted by: Bren
from Central Point, OR
The Logitech G Pro headset will be replacing my Razer Kraken Tournament Edition headset as my new daily driver headset. As an avid gamer, audiophile, and computer fan, I have a love hate relationship with headsets, even those that are higher-end. Whether it be enduring the awful mike quality of other headsets or the sweaty discomfort of poorly designed ear pads, I have often begrudged the use of headsets when gaming. My new Logitech G Pro headset has changed that.
From opening the box to taunting hapless 12-year-olds using the crystal-clear audio of this mike, I have loved every minute of this headset experience. The headband is comfortable, exerting the right amount of tension without causing me to get a headache, which is a regular occurrence with other headsets I have owned. The looks are clean and professional, forgoing the typical over-the-top gamer look. This is a headset you could wear in an upscale coffee shop and have no one be the wiser that you are an undercover super nerd listening to your podcast through your awesome gaming headset while sipping espresso–pinky extended.
On that note, I love the versatility of this headset. With the included USB external sound card, headphone and microphone splitter, or with the stand alone 2mm cable, you can plug into any device and have an awesome audio experience. I enjoy listening to my music on my computer as much as I enjoy hearing the highly detailed squelches and slurps of Doom 2016 glory kills. The basses are low and visceral, the mids are clear and balanced, and the highs are crisp and avoid the awful tininess that haunts other headsets that spend too much time trying to create good bass and not an overall balanced experience. The microphone is good, not amazing, but clear and with good noise exclusion from breathing and such with its pop filter. Perfect for gaming and streaming, but nothing you would use to do studio level voice overs and the like.
One aspect of this headset that is absolutely worth mentioning and showing through pictures is how awesome the LogitechG HUB software experience is. Unlike the abomination that is Razer synapse software, this software is clean, snappy, free of bugs, and puts the controls for the headset EQ and sound easily at hand for the user, along with any other Logitech devices that can be controlled with the software. The on-board memory of this headset is amazing, allowing you to store EQ settings as needed on the device itself. The headset also integrated seamlessly with Discord which I appreciate immensely. Higher-end gamers demand a great user experience that does not addle their experience with unnecessary bloat but that enhances the experience and makes them want to add same-brand devices due to the smooth-continuity of that ecosystem.
All in all, I feel that this headset is an excellent acquisition and absolutely up to snuff with its label as a pro headset. I cannot recommend these highly enough for their price range.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
3of 6voted this as helpful.
Jump into the action of all your favorite titles with this ASUS gaming laptop. The 15.6-inch screen offers an expansive view of the action, and an anti-glare surface provides a clear, unmarred view. This ASUS gaming laptop features Intel Core i7 processing for lag-free play and reliable support of all your programs.
Customer Rating
3
Magnificent at Being Mediocre-I Returned Mine
on March 30, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
I want to start off this review by just being honest and saying that for the money, give or even take a few hundred dollars, you can do a lot better in the way of a gaming laptop.
For my short review, I will sum up my feelings in a paragraph. This laptop has a gross plastic build, low quality hard drives, lack of customizability, bulkiness, and software glitches and quirks that do not justify its price tag. The only people who I can see who would enjoy this laptop are diehard Asus and ROG fans. Otherwise, this laptop lacks any real outstanding features of importance and is designed like a 900 dollar laptop that you pay 1.5 grand for. I would recommend looking into the Razer Blade 14, MSI GS63VR, and Alienware 15 R3 as 1060 equipped laptops as an alternative to this one that vary in size, weight, looks, and features.
Here is my brief resume as a gaming laptop reviewer: I have owned and tested the 2016 MSI Stealth Pro, 2017 MSI Stealth Pro, 2016 Razer Blade 14, 2016 HP Omen, 2017 Alienware 17 R4, 2016 Alienware 17 R4, and this 2017 Asus GL502VM-DS74. I have not been compensated by any company and I don’t get free units to test, I am just picky and have been on an 8-month quest to find the perfect gaming laptop for my needs, returning each unit to Best Buy as I go along thanks to the 45 day return policy that comes with being an Elite Plus member. I currently own the 2017 Alienware 17 R4 and that is the one I am keeping, look for my review there on Best Buy’s website.
The thing that bothers me about this laptop is that it just isn’t particularly good or special in any area. The build quality Is mostly plastic except for the lid and feels like the 900 dollar 2016 HP Omen I owned and tested for a month. The gaming with the 1060 GPU is no better than any other gaming laptop at this price range, and the looks are honestly just not there at a price range where there are other laptops available with RGB backlighting and more. Allow me to elaborate further below by addressing who this laptop will NOT appeal to.
-Gamers who are looking for a light laptop:
Honestly, this laptop is touted as being lightweight and portable, but there are laptops that accomplish being a lot more lightweight and portable at a similar price like the MSI GS63 Stealth Pro and the Razer Blade for a few hundred dollars more depending on sales. This laptop is actually fairly bulky and heavy with a large footprint and it is not friendly to small coffee shop tables or school desks. If the weight could be justified by better hardware or a tank like design such as what is seen on the Alienware line of laptops, than I would have less qualms about it. But the plastic shell of the bottom half of the laptop feels like it’ll crack if I accidentally drop it from a foot above the ground.
Honestly, this laptop is touted as being lightweight and portable, but there are laptops that accomplish being a lot more lightweight and portable at a similar price like the MSI GS63 Stealth Pro and the Razer Blade for a few hundred dollars more depending on sales. This laptop is actually fairly bulky and heavy with a large footprint and it is not friendly to small coffee shop tables or school desks. If the weight could be justified by better hardware or a tank like design such as what is seen on the Alienware line of laptops, than I would have less qualms about it. But the plastic shell of the bottom half of the laptop feels like it’ll crack if I accidentally drop it from a foot above the ground.
-Gamers who are looking for a dual-purpose school and gaming laptop:
Along with being pretty heavy and bulky compared to other lightweight gaming laptop options out there in this price range, the battery life on this laptop is too short to be a reliable on the go device. The G-Sync panel admittedly is pretty to look at and does a good job of smoothing frame rates in games to match the refresh rate of your panel. However, the cost of running the display with the 1060 graphics card all the time is bad battery life. With the screen cranked down to 20% brightness, power saver power plan selected, and battery saver selected, I could at best get 2 to 2-1/2 hours of battery life. This is simply too short to leave the house without the charger, which is a bulky 180W charger that adds another 2 pounds to the weight in your bag. Another major problem I have with this laptop is typing on it. The angular and sharp design of the front of the laptop where your wrists rest when typing digs into you flesh and makes typing a completely uncomfortable experience. I am no pansy and I was having to stop every few paragraphs to give my wrists a rest when typing because of this bad design. It feels like Asus didn’t actually have anyone use this laptop extensively for such purposes before mass manufacturing it. I imagine that this will also make it a no-go for MMORPG players or other gamers who utilize the keyboard on their laptop for gaming.
Along with being pretty heavy and bulky compared to other lightweight gaming laptop options out there in this price range, the battery life on this laptop is too short to be a reliable on the go device. The G-Sync panel admittedly is pretty to look at and does a good job of smoothing frame rates in games to match the refresh rate of your panel. However, the cost of running the display with the 1060 graphics card all the time is bad battery life. With the screen cranked down to 20% brightness, power saver power plan selected, and battery saver selected, I could at best get 2 to 2-1/2 hours of battery life. This is simply too short to leave the house without the charger, which is a bulky 180W charger that adds another 2 pounds to the weight in your bag. Another major problem I have with this laptop is typing on it. The angular and sharp design of the front of the laptop where your wrists rest when typing digs into you flesh and makes typing a completely uncomfortable experience. I am no pansy and I was having to stop every few paragraphs to give my wrists a rest when typing because of this bad design. It feels like Asus didn’t actually have anyone use this laptop extensively for such purposes before mass manufacturing it. I imagine that this will also make it a no-go for MMORPG players or other gamers who utilize the keyboard on their laptop for gaming.
-Gamers who are looking for a powerful laptop:
A 1060 GPU is the same graphics card despite which laptop you put it in, generally speaking (see Dave Lee’s laptop GPU comparison video on YouTube). The only aspects of design and build laptop to laptop that will make a difference on the gaming performance aside from the graphics card are the keyboard, panel, cooling, CPU (Amount of cores etc.) and whether it has a G-Sync or Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics design. The G-Sync panel on this laptop is a unique feature at this price for a laptop that I think many will enjoy. At 60hz refresh rate for the panel though, the difference in smoothness between this panel and an Nvidia Optimis equipped laptop like the MSI GS63VR is very hard to perceive, I personally didn’t notice the difference. If raw gaming power is what you care about though and weight and size don’t matter as much, then I would say skip this laptop and go with a 1070 equipped Alienware 15 R3 or 17 R4. The 17 R4s are absolute beasts and the newest ones have been available open box for less than 1500 occasionally and the 6th generation Skylake equipped models are available on sale or open box for even less on Best Buy. I currently own the 2017 Alienware 17 R4 with the 1920X1080 HD IPS 60HZ panal and it is a true gaming monster, giving you frame rates that never drop below 100fps on Ultra in Doom 2016 with the 1070 card. The ASUS ROG laptops with the 1070 at the Alienware’s price range just cannot compete when it comes to cooling, RGB customizability, build quality, and toughness. Not to mention it is nice that my Alienware 17 R4 can double as a lethal blunt melee weapon if needed. Another aspect to mention is that again if size and weight don’t matter to you, there are other 1060 laptops such as the Leopard line from MSI that will save you a few hundred bucks while giving you the same performance sans the G-Sync display.
A 1060 GPU is the same graphics card despite which laptop you put it in, generally speaking (see Dave Lee’s laptop GPU comparison video on YouTube). The only aspects of design and build laptop to laptop that will make a difference on the gaming performance aside from the graphics card are the keyboard, panel, cooling, CPU (Amount of cores etc.) and whether it has a G-Sync or Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics design. The G-Sync panel on this laptop is a unique feature at this price for a laptop that I think many will enjoy. At 60hz refresh rate for the panel though, the difference in smoothness between this panel and an Nvidia Optimis equipped laptop like the MSI GS63VR is very hard to perceive, I personally didn’t notice the difference. If raw gaming power is what you care about though and weight and size don’t matter as much, then I would say skip this laptop and go with a 1070 equipped Alienware 15 R3 or 17 R4. The 17 R4s are absolute beasts and the newest ones have been available open box for less than 1500 occasionally and the 6th generation Skylake equipped models are available on sale or open box for even less on Best Buy. I currently own the 2017 Alienware 17 R4 with the 1920X1080 HD IPS 60HZ panal and it is a true gaming monster, giving you frame rates that never drop below 100fps on Ultra in Doom 2016 with the 1070 card. The ASUS ROG laptops with the 1070 at the Alienware’s price range just cannot compete when it comes to cooling, RGB customizability, build quality, and toughness. Not to mention it is nice that my Alienware 17 R4 can double as a lethal blunt melee weapon if needed. Another aspect to mention is that again if size and weight don’t matter to you, there are other 1060 laptops such as the Leopard line from MSI that will save you a few hundred bucks while giving you the same performance sans the G-Sync display.
-Gamers who are looking for a machine that is professional looking or for gamers who want the light show experience.
This is more of a subjective point of view, but I am a fan of RGB lighting on my gaming laptops and in this price range MSI, Alienware, and Razer all have laptops with far more customization to their keyboard lighting than Asus does. If you are looking for a laptop with professional appearance, go for a Razer Blade 14. If you are looking for a lightshow, go for an Alienware Laptop. If you want something in between MSI laptop suit the bill. This Asus laptop falls solidly in the “meh” category of looks that laptops that are 600 dollars less like the Dell Inspiron 7567, 2016 HP Omen are in with their red-only keyboard backlighting and lack of customizable lighting altogether. The orange-red logo and stripes on the lid of the laptop do light up and look neat, but that is it. This laptop looks neither cool enough to appeal to gamers who love light shows, or professional enough to cater to gamers who want to take this into a professional environment.
This is more of a subjective point of view, but I am a fan of RGB lighting on my gaming laptops and in this price range MSI, Alienware, and Razer all have laptops with far more customization to their keyboard lighting than Asus does. If you are looking for a laptop with professional appearance, go for a Razer Blade 14. If you are looking for a lightshow, go for an Alienware Laptop. If you want something in between MSI laptop suit the bill. This Asus laptop falls solidly in the “meh” category of looks that laptops that are 600 dollars less like the Dell Inspiron 7567, 2016 HP Omen are in with their red-only keyboard backlighting and lack of customizable lighting altogether. The orange-red logo and stripes on the lid of the laptop do light up and look neat, but that is it. This laptop looks neither cool enough to appeal to gamers who love light shows, or professional enough to cater to gamers who want to take this into a professional environment.
So there I have pretty much laid out why I feel that this laptop is mediocre as a laptop overall. Now let me list a few more gripes about it:
-It only has a 5400rpm hard drive. Last years model had a 7200rpm drive and this year they have changed it to 5400rpm, nice try sneaking that one past us, Asus. At this price, we deserve a 7200rpm hard drive. Not to mention this 5400rpm is slower than snot even compared to other 5400rpm hard drives I have tested.
-The Boot SSD read/write speeds are actually slower than the SATA M.2 category average, my Crystal Disk Benchmark test put it at 500+ Read speeds but at barely 200 write, that is really slow even for a SATA M.2.
-The ROG Gaming center software kept crashing and was unreliable on my unit.
-I got a blue screen of death 2 weeks into owning it, thank goodness I am a Best Buy Elite Plus member and had 45 days to return it!
-On top of the BSOD, the battery light indicator began flashing an indication that my battery was failing and then mysteriously stopped doing so a day later.
-Only one RAM card is swappable. It seems that at this size, they could have built it so that you could have two user accessible RAM card slots. You will be able to get a max of 24gb of ram on this machine.
-The Boot SSD read/write speeds are actually slower than the SATA M.2 category average, my Crystal Disk Benchmark test put it at 500+ Read speeds but at barely 200 write, that is really slow even for a SATA M.2.
-The ROG Gaming center software kept crashing and was unreliable on my unit.
-I got a blue screen of death 2 weeks into owning it, thank goodness I am a Best Buy Elite Plus member and had 45 days to return it!
-On top of the BSOD, the battery light indicator began flashing an indication that my battery was failing and then mysteriously stopped doing so a day later.
-Only one RAM card is swappable. It seems that at this size, they could have built it so that you could have two user accessible RAM card slots. You will be able to get a max of 24gb of ram on this machine.
Overall, I simply cannot recommend this laptop to anyone but diehard Asus and ROG fans who would follow their love of a brand into the abyss. This laptop feels like a gangly teenager who has potential to grow into a strong, capable adult, but is too clumsy and unsure of itself at this point to be of any real good. Asus needs to improve the design of this laptop in regards to features like the sharp palm rests and low quality hard drives and figure out what they are going to be: a powerful gaming machine with true user-customizable lighting and aesthetics, or a lightweight, on the go machine for professionals and students alike. This laptop has too many compromises in the wrong places to be outstanding in any specific area. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will answer them, good luck finding the right gaming laptop for you!
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Share this review:
+12points
14of 16voted this as helpful.
With its Bluetooth interface, this Logitech MX Anywhere 2 910-004373 wireless mouse enables you to pair with up to 3 Bluetooth Smart Ready devices simultaneously. Darkfield Laser Tracking technology allows operation on most surfaces, including glass.
Customer Rating
5
Possibly the Perfect Bluetooth Mouse!!
on March 5, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
I am in love with this thing. It is perfect for what I use it for: School work, music editing, and first person shooters. The programable buttons are awesome! I have become pretty good at Battlefield 1 thanks to having my major equipment and actions all being at hand, literally, with the programable buttons. I love that it comes with a usb dongle for non-bluetooth computers and that it charges via micro-usb cable. Yes, it can be charged and used at the same time, so just keep the short micro-usb cable it comes with on hand to charge it while on the go right from your computer with USB-A ports if you are ever worried :)
The best thing about this mouse is that it can hook up to 3 different devices with the simple push of a button on the bottom. For each of the 3 selections, you connect the computer you wish it to work with and then simply push the button to select 1,2, or 3 that you assigned to the device. It works flawlessly between my 2017 Asus GL502VM, 2016 Alienware R4 17, and 2015 Macbook Air. A push of the button and it works, no need to reconnect or go through the process again. Seriously, if you are looking you are interested, so just buy it now and thank me later :D
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Designed for use with most mice, this Insignia mouse pad supports responsive, accurate navigation on its polyester fabric surface. The nonslip rubber backing helps keep the mouse pad in place.
Customer Rating
5
Perfect bare minimum mousepad!
on March 5, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
This thing is great. No smelly synthetic scent to it which matters to me as I am around noxious smells enough in my line of work. It is thin enough to roll and travel with and wide and long enough to be good for first person shooters like battlefield 1 and Doom. At this price you should just buy 2 to have a backup if you travel a lot like me!
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+7points
9of 11voted this as helpful.
Enjoy spacious storage and enhanced performance with this SanDisk Ultra II solid state drive, which features a 960GB capacity and nCache 2.0 technology to ensure rapid transfer speeds and quick startup times.
Customer Rating
5
An affordable option for SATA 2.5 SSD Memory!
on February 22, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
I am truly pleased with this Sandisk hard drive. I had a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5 SSD in my laptop before this and I can truly tell no difference in real-world speeds. I use it for my steam and video libraries and it has plenty of space to offer and loads the games in no time at all. For video editors or photographers I am sure there is some measurable difference by going with the Samsung 850 EVO, but if you are a general user looking for a great hard drive upgrade for your laptop or desktop, look no further, especially considering it is 100 dollars less than the Samsung 850 EVO.
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
MacBook Air features up to 8GB of memory, a fifth-generation Intel Core processor, Thunderbolt 2, great built-in apps, and all-day battery life.1 Its thin, light, and durable enough to take everywhere you go-and powerful enough to do everything once you get there, better.
Customer Rating
5
Amazing laptop for nursing students!!
on February 20, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
I bought this laptop for nursing school and I am nothing but impressed. The battery life is incredible and lasts long enough to get me through an entire 12 hour shift of patient charting in my student software on my computer without being attached to a charger. The lightweight and paper thin build is especially handy for placement on tiny coffee tables while studying and cramped desks during lectures. The speed with which it starts up and shuts down also is incredible and a much desirable thing on those days where I am constantly on the move. I cannot recommend this laptop enough!
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+2points
2of 2voted this as helpful.
Conquer the gaming world with this MSI laptop. Its Intel Core i7 processor provides fast, efficient performance for a smoother experience, and its 256GB solid-state drive and 2TB hard drive store your entire library. This MSI laptop is compatible with VR technology, so you can fully immerse yourself in gameplay.
Customer Rating
5
The Best Lightweight Gaming Laptop, IMO!
on February 2, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
Being one of the first reviews on a product is a hefty responsibility and as such I will do my best to give you the information that I know I would want when first looking at buying a specific laptop. To summarize for those looking for less info, I absolutely recommend this laptop to anyone and everyone who is looking for a lightweight, portable, powerful gaming laptop that is as versatile as it is cool! To begin the long review, I’ll give you a little background on my experience in this area:
I am an avid gamer and I have owned 4 different gaming laptops: the 2016 HP Omen, 2016 Razer Blade 14 1060, the 2016 MSI GS63VR-Stealth Pro-001, and I am now the proud and happy owner of the 2017 MSI GS63VR-Stealth Pro-230. I have tried the previous three models and I like them all, but this one is seriously an amazing creation to behold.
For ease of reading, I will bullet point and explain my favorite things about this laptop.
-It is one of the lightest and thinnest gaming laptops on the market.
This laptop weighs less than 4 pounds and is thinner than a nickel is tall. It is actually lighter than my end of 2016 model Razer Blade 14 and just as thin. Logically, that just shouldn’t make sense, right? A 15.6” laptop with full keyboard weighing LESS than a 14” laptop with no number pad? Crazy. Chalk this up to material quality or whatever you like, but I have owned both laptops and find both to be superb feeling, high quality machines.
-It has an incredible selection of input and output options.
This laptop boasts a staggering variety of I/O ports that are bound to fulfil your needs. It has three USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, one thunderbolt 3 port, an SD card reader, separate premium jacks for headphones and a microphone, Mini Display Port, HDMI, Ethernet, and a Kingston lock slot. Need I say how awesome this is? Whereas the Razer Blade and MacBook Pro at this price are simply anemic in the way of ports, this beast has loads and still manages to fall in the same weight and thickness class as the aforementioned competitors at this price. A couple things to note though: The SD card reader is only 2.0 USB speed last I checked, so you will want a dongle if you want 3.0 USB transfer speeds for your SD cards. The other thing is that the HDMI is the 1.4 and not latest 2.0 edition, so it can only push 4K video at 24fps (this is fine for watching movies but for games you will want to use the thunderbolt or other options as they become available to get faster frame rates on a 4K monitor or TV). Aside from these two small inconveniences, this thing is ready and raring to be the center of your gaming and media editing workstation experience!
-Looks and feels amazing!
After having owned the 2016 Razer Blade 14, I thought nothing else in the PC world would satisfy me again in the way of build quality and solid feel. This Stealth and the last-year model have matched it in my opinion. The sleek finish and slightly edgier appointments like the red accents and dragon logo serve this laptop well. Quick story and you can believe it or not: I was studying in a bar late one night because that was all that was open that late, and this cute blond bartender looks over at me and my laptop and says, “Is that a Ferrari laptop??” She mistook the symbol for the Ferrari logo at that distance!! That’ll cheer up anybody on a low day. Later, she brought me my beer and enthusiastically complimented the rainbow backlighting too; total nerd win!!! This thing is a pleasure to hold, a pleasure to carry, and is easy on the eyes to boot.
As for more about the feel, the SteelSeries keyboard is just legendary. The typing action and depth is smooth and I have thus far experienced no fatigue while typing up research papers and gaming. The silver lining color scheme of the unlit keys is awesome because it makes them distinct from one another during the daytime without the backlight on, which is a great feat for an all-black color scheme. I have owned Samsung, Razer, HP, and Apple laptops, and this is my favorite keyboard I have typed on so far. The font can be a little jarring at first, but you get used to it. Some of the key positions are shifted away from what is normal too, but once you get used to it everything is smooth sailing. For example, on HP laptops there are dedicated buttons for volume up and down. On this, you hit the FN key and then press the up and down arrows, but believe it or not this works well! The FN button is used with a few other keys to control the volume, keyboard brightness, screen brightness, and volume, and it works very well. In fact, I kind of like not having to take my palms off their resting places to adjust those settings like I used to. I love the keyboard backlighting as well and the Dragon Center application makes it a breeze to change the colors and patterns in the 3 customizable zones to suit your fancy.
-Runs like a beast, games like a beast, much better than last year’s models!
I won’t go too much into the specifics here as there are a plethora of excellent YouTube channels and blogs that can tell you what the NVidia 1060 and Intel 7th generation I7-7700HQ processor can do. What I will tell you is that speed is no longer a thing that crosses my mind as an issue anymore. This 2017 Stealth is such a better deal than the old 001 model on Best Buy for several reasons. First of all, it has an SSD that is PCIe as opposed to simple SATA. As such, it is pants-sizzling fast. The 2TB Hard drive is a great feature as well. Being as picky as I am, though, I swapped it out with a 500 GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD. In doing so, I shaved a couple more ounces off the weight and I now have two installed hard drives with no moving parts which is much better longevity speaking since I travel with this computer every day. However, I kept the 2TB hard drive and put it in an external closure to become my new external hard drive! That is a win-win in my book folks! Another way that it is superior is its panel. Full HD IPS here, folks, no budget panels on this 1.5K+ laptop!!
To sum this review up, I am including a Question and Answer section that I hope will address some common concerns:
Q: Is the power button’s weird placement going to make me put it into sleep mode all of the time if I bump into it?
A: No. There is a simple setting tweak in Windows Power Options where you can turn the 1-click sleep mode off. I can click and bump the button all day and it will not go to sleep. If I want to put it to sleep, I just select it from the menu or press FN+F12 as MSI seemed to have the foresight to program this into their FN selection (even though they didn’t have the foresight to move the button from such a dumb location).
A: No. There is a simple setting tweak in Windows Power Options where you can turn the 1-click sleep mode off. I can click and bump the button all day and it will not go to sleep. If I want to put it to sleep, I just select it from the menu or press FN+F12 as MSI seemed to have the foresight to program this into their FN selection (even though they didn’t have the foresight to move the button from such a dumb location).
Q: Does this get covered in fingerprints?
A: Kind of, it is less oleophilic than the finish of the Razer Blade 14, but fingerprints can accumulate over time. Just keep it wiped off and the appearance will be maintained.
A: Kind of, it is less oleophilic than the finish of the Razer Blade 14, but fingerprints can accumulate over time. Just keep it wiped off and the appearance will be maintained.
Q: Are the fans loud and whiny?
A: Only when gaming. Basic physics tells us that smaller objects traveling at high speed will emit higher pitched sound than larger objects traveling at the same speeds. This is a small laptop with small fans, as such it will be loud and whiny when under load, but consider this a blessing from the thermodynamic gods at MSI since it keeps your PC from overheating. What is great though, is that the Dragon Center app allows you to customize the fan speed and fan curve as needed. Moreover, the GPU and CPU each have their own dedicated fan systems, 2 fans and 1 fan respectively, so that there will only be as many fans turned on as is necessary. The fan speed control option is great too as it allows you to select a mode called Cooler Boost in which both sets of fans run at max speed to keep your system as cool as possible. This is an awesome feature for those extended gaming sessions. Conversely, you can turn down the fans or flat out turn them off if you which to be as stealthy as the laptops name implies; just don’t burn up your CPU or GPU for the sake of quietude.
A: Only when gaming. Basic physics tells us that smaller objects traveling at high speed will emit higher pitched sound than larger objects traveling at the same speeds. This is a small laptop with small fans, as such it will be loud and whiny when under load, but consider this a blessing from the thermodynamic gods at MSI since it keeps your PC from overheating. What is great though, is that the Dragon Center app allows you to customize the fan speed and fan curve as needed. Moreover, the GPU and CPU each have their own dedicated fan systems, 2 fans and 1 fan respectively, so that there will only be as many fans turned on as is necessary. The fan speed control option is great too as it allows you to select a mode called Cooler Boost in which both sets of fans run at max speed to keep your system as cool as possible. This is an awesome feature for those extended gaming sessions. Conversely, you can turn down the fans or flat out turn them off if you which to be as stealthy as the laptops name implies; just don’t burn up your CPU or GPU for the sake of quietude.
Q: Does the MSI Stealth get hot?
A: The answer to this has to do with the answer above, the fans do an excellent job of keeping the temperatures down and the Dragon Center app monitors exact temps for both the CPU and the GPU in real time. As such, I have never encountered temperature readings over 72C when doing heavy gaming and it usually idles between 29 and 30 degrees Celsius. Your experience may vary, though. The felt covering on the bottom of the laptop also does an excellent job of keeping the heat off of your tender parts when doing video editing or gaming from a “laptop” position. :D
A: The answer to this has to do with the answer above, the fans do an excellent job of keeping the temperatures down and the Dragon Center app monitors exact temps for both the CPU and the GPU in real time. As such, I have never encountered temperature readings over 72C when doing heavy gaming and it usually idles between 29 and 30 degrees Celsius. Your experience may vary, though. The felt covering on the bottom of the laptop also does an excellent job of keeping the heat off of your tender parts when doing video editing or gaming from a “laptop” position. :D
Q: Are the Power cord/ port positions on the right side annoying?
A: Personally, not very, but I can see how they could be. If you for some reason had thunderbolt, power, mini display port, HDMI, and USB running all at once or in a lower number combination thereof, you could say goodbye to comfortably using a mouse. But as that situation likely indicates you will be using external monitors, I hope that you will find some creative way to plug your mouse in as needed.
A: Personally, not very, but I can see how they could be. If you for some reason had thunderbolt, power, mini display port, HDMI, and USB running all at once or in a lower number combination thereof, you could say goodbye to comfortably using a mouse. But as that situation likely indicates you will be using external monitors, I hope that you will find some creative way to plug your mouse in as needed.
Q: Is the sound quality good?
A: Sadly, no. The sound on this laptop honestly just sucks, but thankfully, it is not the end of the world. If you are gaming in public, you while likely be using headphones and if you are plugged in at home, Bluetooth and external speakers will solve this issue. This is not too big of a deal for me, especially since you get the tradeoff of having the awesome HiFi audio port.
A: Sadly, no. The sound on this laptop honestly just sucks, but thankfully, it is not the end of the world. If you are gaming in public, you while likely be using headphones and if you are plugged in at home, Bluetooth and external speakers will solve this issue. This is not too big of a deal for me, especially since you get the tradeoff of having the awesome HiFi audio port.
Q: Does the panel on this laptop suck?
A: No, that is the 001 from Best Buy that most people complain about. This has a quality full HD IPS panel that is not lacking in performance.
A: No, that is the 001 from Best Buy that most people complain about. This has a quality full HD IPS panel that is not lacking in performance.
This is everything I can think of at the moment, I will add additional thoughts in the comments as I can since Best Buy does not let you edit your reviews after submission (hint hint, Best Buy web design team ;D !!!)
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+29points
29of 29voted this as helpful.
With TurboWrite technology, this Samsung 850 EVO MZ-75E500B 500GB internal SATA hard drive allows you to quickly update files. The 32-layer 3D VNAND flash memory ensures reliable performance, and AES 256-bit encryption keeps your data private.
Customer Rating
5
Perfect Addition to My MSI GS63VR
on January 28, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
Installing a 5400RPM spindle speed hard drive in a 1500 dollar machine feels like a pretty shameful thing on MSI's part. I installed this and now I have an additional 500GB of high quality SSD on deck for videos, games, and pictures. One of the best things about this is that for my already sub 4 pound laptop, this lightweight SSD shaves a few more ounces off of the laptop's weight! As always, Samsung blows me away with the quality of their products!
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Razer Blade Laptop: Developed in partnership with Intel and NVIDIA, the Razer Blade delivers performance to run the most demanding games of today. Powered by an Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU, NVIDIA GeForce graphics processor and a 14" LED display, you'll be blown away by the immersive visuals of your games in crisp high definition 1080p.The Razer Blade features 6th Gen. Intel Core i7 quad-core processor. This ensures your games and media playback run with powerful processing performance anywhere, anytime.The Razer Blade features a high-performance NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. This means you play games the way they were meant to be played, with fluid frame rates and rich DirectX 12 graphics, and in VR.With NVIDIA Optimus technology, the Razer Blade combines great performance and great battery life by intelligently delivering power only when you need it, and conserving it when you don't.
Customer Rating
4
Super sexy and sleek laptop, wasn't for me.
on January 17, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
This truly is an amazing computer. Gaming laptops in general have the penchant for being gaudy, over sized things with adolescent color schemes. Sadly very little of the market is currently being dedicated to professionals like myself who want a computer they can take to work meetings one point of the day and then play their games on later with high fidelity graphics. The Razer Blade 14, MSI GS63VR Stealth Pro, and some of the lower-end but clunky Dell and Asus laptops with 9 series Nvidia graphics card operate within this role the best.
In my opinion, the Razer Blade 14 is probably the sleekest and best looking gaming laptop on the market with the MSI GS63VR closely behind. It's appointments are tasteful and even the tri-snake logo of Razer doesn't look too flashy to detract from this. It is a beautiful laptop that is a perfect contender in the PC corner to compete with the form factor and build quality of the Macbook Pro. It strikes a nice balance between the 15" screen size and 13" screen sizes that are available on the more portable gaming laptops with its 14" screen. The audio on this laptop is absolutely incredible as well. When I first booted it up and the Windows theme music played, I actually twitched in surprise for a moment and glanced to see if my external speakers were plugged in. This thing boasts incredible audio that the MSI GS63VR, my current laptop, cannot hope to contest.
With these things in mind, you now know why I would recommend this laptop to a friend, but I will go into some of the subjective reasons I decided to return it in lieu of the MSI GS63VR Stealth Pro that I have now had for three weeks and completely adore.
1. The keyboard back lighting.
The chroma lighting is indeed beautiful. Having so many colors and patterns and being able to choose which keys are which color is awesome, but the major flaw is that the secondary key symbols and functions don't light up. Backlighting has a greater purpose than just looking cool, it is supposed to LIGHT the keys AND their secondary symbols that you likely will need to see in the dark when you are using the backlight, not a very novel concept. If I did a surveyed poll even among the most dedicated gamers and office typists, I guarantee only a very small fraction would have the key positions for !@#$%^&*()_+{}:"<>?| memorized. Having these visible to me when typing is crucial and is the number one reason why I returned the laptop. Maybe it isn't that big of a deal to some, but it is to me.
The chroma lighting is indeed beautiful. Having so many colors and patterns and being able to choose which keys are which color is awesome, but the major flaw is that the secondary key symbols and functions don't light up. Backlighting has a greater purpose than just looking cool, it is supposed to LIGHT the keys AND their secondary symbols that you likely will need to see in the dark when you are using the backlight, not a very novel concept. If I did a surveyed poll even among the most dedicated gamers and office typists, I guarantee only a very small fraction would have the key positions for !@#$%^&*()_+{}:"<>?| memorized. Having these visible to me when typing is crucial and is the number one reason why I returned the laptop. Maybe it isn't that big of a deal to some, but it is to me.
2. The price/memory options.
As a reminder, this is subjective, but I think the price Razer wants is just a tad overstretched for the product at hand. I think that the use of high quality PCle memory on an M2 hard drive is a great idea, but there are many people like me who would perhaps be willing to pay the same price while gaining double that space for an M2 memory option that is less costly. As often touted and praised as PCIe memory is, it isn't needed by everyone and many people would settle for slower---and by slower I mean still pants-sizzling fast SSD--- read and write speeds in exchange for a gain in space without paying the premium for top-of-the-line memory that just isn't necessary for everyone.
Note: For less than 30 dollars, you can get a 128GB Samsung or Sandisk USB 3.0 micro-flashdrive from Amazon that you can help to keep more memory at hand, at the sacrifice of an open and available USB slot on a laptop already slim on those. This would not be a viable solution for those frequently and simultaneously plugging in a USB mouse, USB microphones, External DVD drives, etc.
3. Non-user upgradable RAM.
This is more of a minor pet-peeve that applies to a smaller audience of individuals as 16GB of 2400Mhz RAM is going to knock the socks off of any typical user. However, most gaming laptops in this price range offer user upgradable RAM up to at least 32GB. With this laptop, the RAM is soddered on (likely as an act to save space) so what you get is what you get.
This is more of a minor pet-peeve that applies to a smaller audience of individuals as 16GB of 2400Mhz RAM is going to knock the socks off of any typical user. However, most gaming laptops in this price range offer user upgradable RAM up to at least 32GB. With this laptop, the RAM is soddered on (likely as an act to save space) so what you get is what you get.
4. The touchpad left and right click buttons.
This is a very minor complaint on my part, but I would like to see the future Razer Blade's phase these out. It makes the laptop look slightly less streamlined and it feels outdated. When I am paying this much money for a top-of-the-line gaming laptop, I want it to look the part of the latest and greatest in gaming laptop technology.
Overall, those are my main three complaints. These things may not be an issue for others, but I wanted to throw them out there just to give you some perspective. I still give this laptop 4 starts and a recommendation based on its form factor and build quality, audio, gaming ability, and overall sexiness, a word I will happily use in association with this laptop.
Mythbusting time:
Not really mythbusting per say, but just a couple of observations of other reviewers negative comments on other websites and this one that I would like to contest.
The first is the complaint about this laptops tenancy to retain and quite visibly reveal fingerprints and oil marks. This is a valid, but fairly insubstantial and inconsequential issue in the grand scheme of things. Dbrand makes incredible laptop skins custom made for this laptop that will solve that issue right away. On a 1800 dollar laptop, it seems petty to give it 1-3 stars based only on fingerprints.
The second is the fan noise. A small object traveling at high velocity will emit higher pitched sound then a large object traveling at the same velocity. This is a small laptop with small fans cooling an insanely powerful set of hardware, thus it will be louder and whiner than some. But think of this as a blessing that the engineers at Razer managed to squeezed this much gaming power into this small of a laptop, all with the convenience of not melting your crotch and motherboard through daily use. Pretty neat right? Use headphones if the fans bother you, but I didn't personally notice because the audio really is just that good on this laptops built in speakers.
I hope this review helps your purchasing decision, please feel free to comment on my post and ask questions. I will set the review to notify me so I can answer you promptly. Please like my review if you found it useful, good luck with your decision! My review as to why I chose the MSI GS63VR-001 Stealth Pro available at Best Buy will be up on that page soon too.
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+11points
11of 11voted this as helpful.
Store music, photos, files and more with this WD My Passport Ultra 1TB portable hard drive, which features password protection and 256-bit AES encryption to safeguard your data. WD Backup software makes it easy to back up your data to the Cloud.
Customer Rating
5
Excellent USB 3.0 Portable HD.
on January 17, 2017
Posted by: Bren
Verified Purchase:Yes
This is a great portable hard drive. The USB 3.0 allows you to take advantage of such ports on your computer for quicker transfers and backups. The Seagate portable hard drives are known for giving Windows 10 error issues when trying to backup your computer onto it, so this was a better reputed option for that task.
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
My Best Buy number: 2839406718
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Bren's Review Comments
Bren has not submitted comments on any reviews.
Bren's Questions
Bren has not submitted any questions.
Only at Best BuyPlay your way to the top with this HP OMEN notebook. The Intel Core i7 processor provides lightning-fast response times, and the 1TB hard drive is enough for all your favorite games and apps with room to spare for music and video files. This HP OMEN notebook has a full-size backlit keyboard for fast, easy typing.
What is the RPM of the 1 terabyte hard drive?
7200rpm, much better than the 5400rpm hard drive found in my $1600.00 MSI Stealth Pro :(
8 years, 8 months ago
by
Bren