MSI GT683R-242US With GeForce GTX 560M Review

MSI has incorporated a number of design features into the GT683R that set it apart from other notebooks. For starters, if you take a look at the MSI GT683R, you'll notice a collection of lights along the notebook's edges and lid. MSI ships the GT683R with its Audio Synchronize Mode enabled. In this mode, the performance of the lights around the notebook will follow changes in sound. Similarly, the notebook also features a LED performance illumination mode. In this mode, the LEDs on the left side will illuminate when the left-side speaker emits sound, and likewise for the right side of the notebook. As a noise passes from left to right, the LEDs will light in conjunction with the direction of the sound moving from left to right. These lights are also customizable by pressing the LED performance illumination hotkey.

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Above the keyboard, you'll notice the Touch Sensor and speakers. The Touch Sensor provides access to multiple functions including TDE, Cooler Booster, WLAN, Bluetooth, ECO Engine, Dynamic LED, and more. On either side of the Touch Sensor, you'll see the GT683R's Dynaudio Premium speakers surrounded by a red ring. In addition to these two speakers, the GT683R has a subwoofer located on the underside of the notebook near the hinge. To further improve the sound quality available from the GT683R, MSI includes THX TruStudio Pro audio enhancement technology as well.

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On the wrist rest, you'll find a honeycomb pattern and the touchpad which is surrounded by chrome and five indicator lights (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Battery, Sleep, and HDD). The touchpad itself is smooth and the left and right mouse buttons make a click sound when pressed. The chiclet keyboard is comfortable to type on but it is not backlit. The GT683R also has a full numeric keypad.

Taking a look at the left side of the notebook, and you'll find two USB 3.0 ports, a 7-in-1 card reader, and a USB 2.0 port. The Right side of the GT683R contains various audio ports, a USB 2.0 port, and the optical drive. On the back edge of the notebook you'll find the Kensington Lock port, power, LAN, VGA, eSATA, and HDMI connections. The front edge of the GT683R is clean.

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MSI doesn’t include a lot of accessories with the GT683R, but that’s ok by us. In the box, you’ll find the laptop and battery pack along with a Quick Start manual, AC adapter and power cord, application disk, special offers from NVIDIA, and a few other pieces of documentation.

Like many other system builders, MSI ships the GT683R with a fair amount of preinstalled programs. Some of these apps include the Bing toolbar, Norton Internet Security, Norton Online Backup, and others.