Customer Reviews

MSI X400-204US 14-Inch Notebook - Black

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Warning: No bluetooth! I bought this exact model from JR recently. It does not have bluetooth; it says right on the side of the box in the product description: "No bluetooth."

Another major shortcoming: the keyboard. Many of the keys are not full size (amazingly for a laptop with a 14" screen). Particularly bothersome are the narrow backspace, enter, and right shift keys--especially the right shift key, whose narrowness will surely drive touch typists crazy. There is also a tremendous amount of keyboard flex--the worst of any laptop that I have owned. (I have owned a whole bunch of HP laptops, a couple of Thinkpads, a Toshiba, and a Fujitsu.)

Next shortcoming: fan noise. The fan wails like a banshee when the laptop is on AC power (amazingly for a laptop with a low voltage CPU); it is the loudest laptop that I have ever owned when it's on AC power. (It is still loud, but not as loud, when on battery power.) Actually it's more like a hairdryer, if someone were constantly changing its speed whilst drying hair. It's not just the noise; its the changing pitch of the noise. This happens when surfing the internet--not while gaming or doing something else intensive.

Next shortcoming: Very hot palmrest on the left side--yes, the hottest of any laptop I have owned. You cannot rest your left palm on it for too long before it is uncomfortable.

Good thing about the laptop: the screen is bright and vibrant.

In summary: this thing may seem inexpensive, but it isn't even worth the sale price.

UPDATE: On an MSI user forum I found the solution to the heat and fan noise--resetting the embedded controller (by removing the main battery for five minutes). If I could change the number of stars I would now go up to three stars. The keyboard is still terrible, but with the reduced heat and fan noise the computer is useful in certain situations, kind of like an oversized netbook.

First off the laptop has some really nice features. It is light at 3.8 Lbs and that's with a 8 cell battery standard. Battery life with the dimmest lcd settings is at least 3 hours with light use. It has built in webcam and microphone. It has nice facial recognition software that let's you use your face to login to windows and it's almost instantaneous with good lighting. There is a 3yr warranty which is unheard of for something this small and light and at this price. Their support is not the most inviting. You need to enter a request on their webpage first. I paid 400 and sent in for a 50 bck rebate. Now for the drawbacks which are definitely an issue but can be worked around. First off is the cheap materials used in this laptop. It feels really cheap. The keyboard is not completely intuitive it will take some getting used to. The keyboard is often berated but it's not actually the problem. It's how the cheap laptop flexes when you type on it. It sets off the touchpad and your cursor will suddenly move up or back a few lines and you start erasing stuff you typed in the lines above. The answer is simple: turn the trackpad off when you are typing. I am typing this on my lap and using the keyboard and no issues AS LONG AS the trackpad is off. If i re-enable the trackpad I will go crazy as the cursor jumps around as I type. The second drawback is that you cannot service ANYTHING on this laptop. Not even the memory or the hard drive. So you'll have to wait at least three years to void the warranty by opening this thing up to access the memory and hard drive. Third, there is no CD Rom and and no Restore CD. The software to create a Restore disk did not recognize my usb dvd burner. The software will just create an ISO and you can manually burn the file but it's annoying. Eventually you will need a usb cd rom or a sata/ide to usb cable. Lastly the laptop had a bluetooth wizard in the startup folder tricking you into thinking that the laptop has bluetooth but mine didn't. The wizard would not stop until I deleted the wizard from the startup folder. Surprisingly the laptop does not feel that much lighter when you pack it in your bag. It feels very light in your hands but for some reason in a bag it feels just as heavy as a 15.6 inch.