The Packaging

The notebook comes in a robust box that is fairly attractive in matt black, with red/orange attention jarring pictures. The box, packaging and product stick to the theme throughout, portraying quality and attention to detail; however the theme itself seems attuned to "Need for Speed" junkies and doesn't really appeal to me.

The padding inside is very consistent, and keeps the product extremely secure. I accidently dropped the box when I first handled it, and fortunately all that happened was a slight dent on the one corner of the box. If the product was not held as secure, or padded as well, then there may not have been much to this review.

One very convenient aspect of the box is the specifications labeled clearly on the one side. I don't have to delve into the inner workings to find out the basic specifications, and that is a convenience few manufacturers consider for the end-user. MSI get kudos for that.

Opening up the notebook with the "slip clip" (basically my catchy name for a spring loaded clip) working as it should, you can see the flamed tribal tattoo theme patterned around the keyboard edge and lucre red speaker ports which were just a little too extreme for my tastes, but clearly the product is shouting that it is too hot to handle. Let's go in closer and find out, shall we. Donning my thermally protective Cryo-suit, I entered the fray.