MSI PE60 2QE Prestige Notebook Review

Would we take it along to a business meeting? Definitely. The brushed aluminum surfaces, backlit keyboard and clear lines are quite attractive when not looking too closely.

The lid is very thin and thus quite pliable. We could dent the display and warp it to a small extent without much effort. However, the quality surprised us: The screen was exceptionally insensitive to all twisting, pressure and warping attempts. It did not exhibit any pressure marks even when clear pressure was applied to the display's back. Only by using added pressure on the  matte, non-touch surface from the front did it display some wave formation.

The base is a simple plastic tray that completely closes the chassis without any maintenance covers at the bottom. Although many Philips screws have to be released to open and remove the bottom, it presents outstanding cleaning and upgrading options (see Connectivity).

The top of the base, and the wrist rest, in particular, is mounted firmly. There are no hollow spaces that could be dented. This is also true for the key area, but not for the underside. The area around the cooling vent grilles can be depressed easily. The base itself is very stable and does not creak under forceful twisting attempts. The PE60's makes a good impression in terms of feel, but it is not premium-range build quality. The aluminum or magnesium casing of Asus' UX501 and Dell's XPS 15 clearly outshine our Prestige PE60. The casing's quality is comparable with that of the Aspire Nitro or Asus' N551JK.

It is not only the plastic tray, but also small burrs on the aluminum edges and a wobbly hinge cover (silver bar between the joints) that reduce the quality impression.

Communication

The networking connections are composed of a Qualcomm Killer e2200 PCI-E Gigabit Controller and an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 (a/b/g/n/ac) chip with Bluetooth 4.0. The Killer is also installed in MSI's GT72, MSI's GP70 and Medion's Erazer X7825. It scores with clearly arranged software (Network Manager) and short pings.

The wireless adapter also impressed us. Despite the aluminum lid (both Wi-Fi antennas are normally installed in the frame), the PE60 transmitted without interruption up to our 45 meter (~148 ft) measuring point outside the building. Even with 2 - 3 bars, websites opened at full speed. That is rare. Normally, even if the review samples still have a connection to the AC router at 45 meters (~148 ft), their browsing speed is reduced significantly. Thanks to 5.0 GHz and ac support (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n), Intel's Wireless AC 3160 provides an impressive performance. 

Software

MSI does not preload productivity software on its PE60-load; the only tools worth mentioning are the Shortcut Manager, True Color (color profiles) and the Killer Network Manager. Shortcut lists and profiles can be created with the former. Even individual keys can be disabled within such a profile. MSI has kept professional users in mind since they often use shortcuts to increase their workflow.

Maintenance

We did not open the shop model, but we will add screenshots of an opened, lent MSI device at a later date.

Webcam

A 1.3 MP webcam, i.e. 1280x720 pixels, is included as the basic configuration of every modern laptop. Unfortunately, the quality of pictures and recordings has apparently not improved over the past 10 years. The results that the HD webcam delivered under good daylight really cannot get any worse. Totally faded surfaces, the lack of outlines - they look as if they have been treated with some kind of diffusion filter. That does not fit in a premium laptop.

Warranty

MSI seems to be convinced of its quality and extends the manufacturer's warranty with a pick-up and return service to three years. Two years are usually the rule.

A matte surface (anti-glare, haze 25%), IPS type (PLS version by Samsung) and 1920x1080 pixels may sound good at first, but nothing special. Laptops priced at 700 Euros (~$780) already offer Full HD. MSI promises a 72% coverage of the NTSC color space (color television standard), which very roughly corresponds to AdobeRGB. sRGB is almost completely included in NTSC, and thus we hope for a 100% sRGB reproduction. For example, Adobe RGB (1998) is important for pre-press professionals when they need to display all colors of the CMYK seven color print on their screen. Depending on their size, corresponding DreamColor LCD monitors cost between 600 and 2000 Euros (~$668 and ~$2226).

MSI calls it True Color Technology. This is preloaded color profiles that can be selected by pressing a button (True Color application). One profile is simply named sRGB. The other profiles are calibrated for specific scenarios. Six predefined color profiles are available and range from office over sRGB and design up to movie and gaming mode. The profiles can be assigned to specified applications, making manual switching unnecessary. Color profiles can also be shared with other users via the Sharing feature so that colors are identical on all MSI devices with True Color.

Note: We closely examined the screen of the 17-inch sister model in another article: Preview MSI PE70 Multimedia Notebook.

sRGB should be the first choice for image editing and graphic design, and thus we used this preset profile for our measurements. Color profiles suggest that MSI has calibrated every single screen in its factory. However, this is not the case as we noticed the improvement after performing our own calibration. The improvement of the already very good DeltaE of around two (grayscale and colors) to a DeltaE of approximately one is not visible to the naked eye. The color temperature is corrected to an ideal 6500 K, and the marginal, only measurable, red excess disappears.

The sRGB coverage is 97%, and AdobeRGB (1998) is 64%. The latter is more than what the rivals can offer. Only Asus' N551JK surpasses our PE60, but clearly lags behind in DeltaE. MSI's PE 70 has significantly less color space with 84% of sRGB and 55% of AdobeRGB. The matte FHD screen is compelling from a gaming and multimedia point of view.

Will this satisfy professional users who strive to do video or image editing? Yes, because the True Color screen reproduces every color that it can display very well in conjunction with wide viewing angles and a high contrast of 857:1. Users who need AdobeRGB (1998) for pre-press products will still not get around using an external monitor or a DreamColor workstation (e.g. HP's ZBook 15).

Like the Maxwell GTX 860M, the GTX 960M has a 128-bit memory interface, 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, and 640 CUDA cores. Its performance is marginally better than that of the GTX 860M. More information about the gaming performance of the GTX 960M can be found in our Tech section.

Like Acer with its Aspire VN7-591G and Asus with its UX501JW (1097 MHz), MSI allows the GTX to clock at its usual 1200 MHz. The Aspire Nitro 591G scores better overall, in the 3DMarks, which is due to the 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and the Core i7. The ZenBook UX501JW (2048 MB GDDR5) also scores better by 19% to 26% for the same reason. The GTX 850M falls behind slightly, but only by 11 to 18%.

Consequently, the GPU performance of the PE60 Prestige is at the lower end in comparison with other GTX 960M systems. For example, 3DMark Fire Strike has determined 3778 points, which is below the average of approximately 3900 points for this GPU. Now a look at the games.

The PE60 deals with its waste heat quite well; the wrist rest and touchpad never exceed 39 degrees Celsius (~102 degrees Fahrenheit). We measured these again, but without Cooler Boost. The button reduced the surface temperatures slightly. The hot spot in the keyboard's center is 45 degrees Celsius (~113 degrees Fahrenheit), which is relatively warm. The rivals make a mixed impression in waste heat. Asus' N551JK does the best job, but it also has a weaker graphics card and bulkier chassis. The hot spots on the Aspire VN7-591G Black Edition as well as the Ultra-Slim Dell XPS 15 with the comparatively weak and outdated GT 750M get warmer in the stress test.

Our stress test is performed using Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously, which demand the highest possible load with a corresponding waste heat. The cooling system starts to roar, however, without reaching the maximum speed, as would be the case with Cooler Boost (measured based on noise level).

The graphics card clocks stably at 1200 MHz and the CPU at 3.4 GHz, but sometimes drops to 3.3 GHz. A very good result, especially since the SoC's maximum temperature is 87 degrees Celsius (~189 degrees Fahrenheit), and that without Cooler Boost. That shows us: This casing still has reserves for the i7 quad-core.

Power Consumption

The power consumption is relatively high in the category comparison. The PE60 guzzles quite a lot from the outlet, particularly in idle mode. 22 watts in energy-savings mode (MSI's Green Mode) using reduced brightness and, of course, disabled GTX graphics core is not seen from any of the other rivals. MSI's PE60 also consumes a lot of power under load and in the stress test. However, this is rather good news because it also indicates that the GPU and CPU utilize the Boost to the best possible extent. Both the Aspire VN7.591G and Asus N551JK-CN166H also provide throttle-free performance. Unlike the XPS 15 that clocks down to almost its base rate right at the beginning of the stress test at core temperatures of over 95 degrees Celsius (~203 degrees Fahrenheit).

MSI's Green Mode does not lead to performance losses and the power consumption is not reduced significantly. The CPU clock in the stress test remained the same at 3.4 GHz; only the GTX's core rate dropped to 1045 MHz (instead of 1200).

The battery was consistently drained during the stress test via AC mode (120 watts from the outlet). The 120-watt power supply cannot cater for the full energy requirement. The battery was depleted by 10% after only ten minutes, which is apparently a discrepancy of over 2 to 5 watts. This phenomenon was not noticed in gaming or the Cinebench loop, and we can give the all-clear signal to power users. However, even when it should occur in practice, we deem the battery effective enough to waive a heavy 150-watt power supply (that is rarely ever maxed-out). The acquisition of a 120-watt power supply is naturally also cheaper for MSI.

MSI has put a lot of effort into winning market shares in the high-priced premium laptop sector with its Prestige series. The PLS screen from Samsung with the sRGB coverage and first-rate viewing angles alongside a matte surface is certainly one of its biggest assets. The gaming suitability for current games in high settings and a surprisingly strong system performance with a 7200-rpm hard drive follow that. The dual-fan cooling system ensures moderate temperatures at an acceptable noise level. However, the idle power consumption is considerably higher than that of the competition. On the other hand, the 4-way speakers and subwoofer are worthy of a genuine multimedia laptop (Nahimic Audio profile). The same is also true of the diversity of interfaces (DisplayPort, 2 gold-plated audio jacks), but not of the webcam's poor image quality. It is even possible to maintain the relatively compact PE60, and an SSD, for example, can be retrofitted via the M.2 slot.

The comparatively simple plastic chassis and short battery life of less than three hours are  the drawbacks. The ZenBook UX501 and Dell's XPS 15 have a clear edge here. The XPS 15 will not currently win the comparison with its too old GeForce GT 750M. The ZenBook Pro UX501 is considerably more expensive with starting price of 1600 Euros (~$1780). And thus, the Acer Aspire VN7-591G Black Edition (1600 Euros/~$1780, 4K; much cheaper configuration with FHD, GTX 860M), Asus N551JK(starts at 990 Euros/~$1100, GTX 850M), and Toshiba Satellite P50t-B-10T (1400 Euros/~$1560, 4K, Radeon R9 M265X) are probably the most attractive rivals.