MSI GT627: Bringing Balance to the Force?
by Jarred Walton on April 29, 2009 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Ugh... Another Low Contrast TN Panel
The last area we want to test is the display quality; prepare to be unimpressed (again). We test color accuracy using ColorEyes Display Pro, and we test with two different colorimeters, a DTP-94 and an i1 Display2. We test the laptops with both colorimeters using ColorEyes Display Pro, generating both LUT and Matrix color profiles. The reason we do this is that some displays respond better to LUT profiling while others work better with Matrix profiling (although in laptop testing, Matrix profiling has been better in every case so far). We select the best result out of the four tests for our color accuracy charts. Besides the color accuracy, the generated profiles allow us to determine color gamut, using GamutVision. We use the matrix color profiles for gamut, as they usually have ~10% higher gamut volume. We will also report the maximum LCD brightness and contrast ratio.
We've been beating on this drum quite a bit lately, in the hope that eventually manufacturers will catch on. As we mentioned earlier, the LCD in the GT627 is very disappointing. While we would like something with a higher resolution - 1440x900 would be great - the real killer is once again contrast ratio. In a word, it's lousy; it's the type of LCD most laptop owners use on a regular basis, probably because they just don't think there's anything better. All you have to do is look at any desktop LCD and it's clear that laptops aren't trying very hard in this area. 218:1 isn't the lowest contrast ratio we've seen, but it's pretty close. Color accuracy is better, but we would take lower color accuracy with a better contrast ratio in a heartbeat. The color gamut is also down with the large group of ~40% LCDs. The only saving grace is that this is an $1100 notebook that can handle most games at the native resolution. As we said before, we would happily pay $50-$100 for a better LCD, but at least we don't feel like we're paying more and getting less, which was the case with the Gateway P-7808u.
Is anyone out there making IPS, PVA, MVA, or - gasp! - OLED displays for notebooks? If so, please get in touch with us or send us a sample for testing. We would love to show just how good a laptop display can be. If you're like us and think it's time we saw some better laptop displays, let us know in the comments! Manufacturers do read those comments, and perhaps we can actually bring about some worthwhile changes.
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IlllI - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
hmm i wonder if maybe down the road we'll see some e-ips panels from laptop manufacturers. they seem to be quite competitive vs tn/pva, well at least the desktop version. (can get a 22in for around $200)JarredWalton - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
We can only hope. [Crossing fingers....]IlllI - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
still a tn panel thougherple2 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
I was kind of curious about the keyboard - I don't know of too many other 15" (or so) laptops that have a full 104 key keyboard. Are the keys standard sized?JarredWalton - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
They're very close. I think they might be just barely smaller, but the size of the keyboard never bothered me. The "touch" of the keyboard is a different matter, obviously.erple2 - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Clearly :)That's one reason why I was contemplating an HP Elitebook or a ThinkPad as my next laptop purchase - I do so little gaming on my laptop anymore (that's what my desktop is for), that I'm looking for the 2 things that this new laptop apparently lacks: SOLID keyboard (I dont' really care about having an included number pad, but the FEEL of the keyboard is absolutely key), and a good quality, high resolution screen.
Those are 2 things lacking on this laptop, unfortunately, which means I won't be able to get this one.
What's my ideal laptop? In decreasing order of importance:
* high resolution (minimum WSXGA+)
* 15" (I suppose widescreen, but I don't care that much about it),
* IPS (like my 2475!)
* non-glossy screen
* solid keyboard feel
* discrete graphics card (makes external monitors a breeze to set up)
* Relatively good battery life
* uhh - dual cores?
Everything else is secondary.
Yes, I would really like to see a quality screen on a laptop. I had read somewhere that one of the ThinkPads used an IPS based panel, but I can't confirm that any more.
Jackattak - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
My XPS1530 has the best keyboard feel of any laptop I've ever typed on, hands down.strikeback03 - Thursday, April 30, 2009 - link
Thinkpads used to offer an IPS panel under the Flexview name, I have a T43 with one. It is indeed a nice screen (though some people complain they don't go bright enough). I believe they dropped the option during the time of the T60 though, so there are used T60s that meet all your requirements (though battery life probably tops out between 5 and 6 hrs with the 9-cell and UltraBay batteries), but I don't know of any currently shipping systems that do.Though I have a discrete graphics card in my T43 (ATi X300), it is a pain to use external monitors. The original driver didn't support widescreen resolutions, and the most recent one does, but resets the screen to 1024x768 if you close the lid, and once you reset to native (1400x1050) won't let you use space outside the 1024x768 box.
SeeManRun - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
Why are the Macbooks listed in some of the benchmarks where they dominate absent in the other sections? I can understand having a problem with a software benchmark like x264 playback (though, in that case there is certainly a media player for Apple that will play those files) but for things like the display quality the Macbook should be present. Seems like the only spot the Macbook is in this review is where it is at the top compared to everything else.DJMiggy - Wednesday, April 29, 2009 - link
It's a conspiracy......