When you receive this computer, there is a note from MSI explaining that if you review this item as 5-stars on Amazon, they will send a free pair of $100 headphones. At this point, I felt like I had been tricked. The computers hardware is decent, but the materials are poor. I had a Dell XPS 15, and it was nowhere close to that level in terms of build and materials. The screen is surprisingly poor. I constantly had to adjust the angle because it is constantly "washed out." It is a difference of only a few degrees, and even changing seating position would wash out the screen. But the biggest issue, and why I am only able to give it one star, is that is crashed twice on me within weeks of getting the computer. I did research online and this seems to be a very common issue with these computers, and with MSI laptops in general. Twice all of my files were removed. It took hours to restore to factory default settings, and it crashed once again days later. This is completely unacceptable for any computer to have this recurring issue, let alone a mid-tier performance gaming laptop.
LolaRay
1
Bought this back in September and have been patient with trying to use it but honestly its been utter garbage since I took it out of the box - for a machine that advertises it loads games in seconds it can barely run a game that was running mostly fine on an old Lenovo that wasnt even a gaming PC that I bought back in 2015. The last straw happened recently when I put it to sleep and it just wouldnt wake up - or rather it would try, and then spend the next several hours in a repair/analyzing mode that didnt actually do anything. After numerous attempts at factory resets (which ALSO failed, how a machine fails to do a factory reset is beyond me) Ive given up and figured Id try sending this either to Amazon to fix or possibly MSi to see if I can get something out of it - honestly this experience has turned me off this brand for good.
Tigger
2
Multiple System crashes...wouldnt restore. Sent first one back for replacement. Second one lasted 3 days before failing..same thing. Since my son needed a reliable machine for school. I did massive research and pinpointed the optane memory as the issue. Replaced the 16gig optane with a 128gig Patriot Scorch NVME m2 ssd drive and system has been solid ever since. Note: this may void your warranty and is a very involved operation for the uninitiated.
justkat
4
Ive been through so many laptops and desktops over the years because of both the work I do and the video games I play. Throw in the fact Im a the type of woman who simply has to have the newest gadgets and tech gear to suffice my workload and my gaming addiction, its just inevitable that being in the tech industry can be an expensive profession and hobby. The last laptop I had was a 17" desktop gaming alternative, so it was huge and heavy, so much in fact I actually had to have my husband carry it for me into my meetings or gaming tournaments. That said, when my last computer crashed on me, I needed something faster and better, but not necessarily bigger. I wanted slim, light weight, fast and graphics intense (for both presentation displays and gaming needs), but storage wasnt a concern because I had an external harddrive, SD card, and scan stick for backups. I also wanted something reliable, a laptop that stood up to its name in the industry, and one that has a reputation for great customer service. There were two big names I turned too, but alas I went with this MSI because it had everything I NEEDED (albeit not everything I wanted), along with the reputation, and it fit within my budget. So far its been pretty awesome for me. I can open up several photo imaging and video software programs along with several files, office programs, and still have Mass Effect or Fallout running in the background on heavy graphics, while switching between social media and emails without any delays. The best part about it, is that I can finally lift this bad boy up without straining my back and it looks cool enough to bring to LAN parties or tournaments while also holding a rather professional appeal for my business meetings. So far, so good. You made me one happy geek girl MSI!
Ricky
3
I bought this laptop on black Friday for $700 and Im debating returning it because Ive had quite a few issues. Ill start with the negative because I feel thats more important. The sound is really terrible and tinny. I didnt expect much from laptop speakers, but my old android phone has much better audio. Im actually wondering if there is an issue with the speakers, its so bad. Plan on using an external speaker whenever you play games or watch videos. The battery life is terrible. Running mid brightness on eco, I get about 2 hours of battery life. Again, I wonder if my unit is defective because most reviews talk about this laptop having a 6+ hour battery life. I dont even know how long it would run on max settings. Keep getting random dings from windows and cant seem to stop it. Internet says its faulty audio drivers but after a reinstall, it still makes random sounds every 10 minutes. Not sure it is related, but when I open Facebook, aaaallllll the messages open simultaneously. Which is bizzare. Stopped going on Facebook because of it Positives Okay, its not all bad I promise. The unit is whisper quiet and hasnt gotten hot no matter how hard I push it. Its fast. Ive never had a computer as fast as this. Whether Im playing games or video editing, or web design, it doesnt hesitate. Im not a huge gamer, but it can run crysis with full mods on ultra settings and doesnt make so much as a light hum. Honestly, Im debating returning this laptop. Your mileage may vary but its been a headache for me since I bought it.
harichalupa
5
I bought this and the Acer Triton 500 2060 version. The triton had the best case and cost more, but all three gamers in my house opted for the msi and we returned the triton and bought two more msi 8se with 2060s. I should say the GV 8se is identical in form and specs to the the gl63 8se, however the hd on the GV is partitioned as one drive, whereas the GL we got had the HD partitioned into two drives with a hidden recovery partition between the drives, which is just terrible. So get the GV version if you can. I have done a ton of research and I think this is the best rtx 2060 15 inch lappy our there. I have been gaming hard on this thing for a month now, and I absolutely love it.
Nathaniel Wilson
3
This thing performed very well whenever it was not Bluescreening or having other malfunctions due to drivers. The temperatures were good, and the overall responsiveness of the system was fine. Game performance was fantastic. I can say you can definitely feel the difference between a dedicated SSD and a hybrid drive, though. First, the factory default driver configuration of this thing is unstable, which makes installing a correct configuration more difficult. The intel RST driver (for the hybrid drive) version is old, and causes rare system lockups. The intel graphics driver (either the version by default or the one from MSI) also stops responding occasionally under fairly normal usage (game on one monitor, browser in another). Further, the MSI dragon center (default software on the installation) caused a blue screen which lead to me having to factory reset. I looked the dragon center BSoD up, and apparently it is a common issue. If all it took was simply downloading and installing the drivers from MSI, there would be no problem. After factory resetting and not wanting any more occasional freezes from the HDD, I took the risk and updated the intel RST driver from MSIs page for the laptop. Immediately the computer started getting occasional blue screens on startup and Windows data corruption. By the time I was returning it, the system was in such poor shape from the MSI-provided RST driver that I could no longer access the MSI factory reset, and Windows own Reset this PC never worked from the start - saying it encountered a problem. I believe if you happen to uninstall/install the drivers in exactly the correct order and/or do a clean Win 10 installation yourself, this laptop should perform well for the price. MSI used to have a driver installer by disk that would install all the proper drivers in the right order, so youd have the perfect configuration. This is how the user manual installed on the laptop says to install the drivers. However, the laptop has no dvd drive, and no such driver dvd was provided. Now, you just have to guess the installation order and risk bricking the laptop for many hours and then going through the factory reset again (if its still accessible). Windows 10 also makes clean driver installs difficult, because if it detects no driver for some things while youre in the middle of doing an uninstall old -> install new procedure, it will immediately try to install a driver of its own choice. I am not new to computers, and have done several setups from scratch without encountering any driver problems of this magnitude. Its possible I got bad hardware by chance, but all of the issues being directly traceable to drivers suggests the issues were all driver-related. Many other negative reviews are specifically about bluescreens and stability, and its probable some of them they are driver-related as well. Other products in the same price bracket rarely have that many reviews specifically of that type. If MSI can automate or clarify the safe driver installation order and provide external factory restore media by default (such as a recovery disk or USB) which is in a known stable (even if old) configuration, I would be able to recommend this. As is, you have not only the usual gamble of whether the hardware is good, but also whether you happen to uninstall & install the drivers perfectly in an already misconfigured environment.
Kay Prime
1
I am extremely disappointed with this laptop. This is a replacement that I ordered after the first one had the same issue. I figured I just got a defective unit the first time since my previous MSI worked without any issues. But nope. The second laptop is doing the same thing and unfortunately I am outside of the Amazon return window. The laptop crashes and says Repairing Disks then either dumps to the BIOS screen or just never repairs. Every month Ive had to wipe it and reset to default settings. Only for it to crash and have to do it all over again. After doing more research, this is a common issue with MSI. Apparently it is not unusual for MSI to use parts that are not compatible. Im going to contact MSI and see if they can resolve it. Otherwise, I just bought myself an $800 brick.
Patrick
3
Out of the box, gorgeous laptop. Turned on looks just as good. Using wifi the signal seems to drop, not sure if the wifi adapter needs an update but there are issues. Hook up the cat5 and the machine is screaming at high speed and exactly what I was hoping for. Too bad it is not as good wireless but will look into it. Tried to download updates from MSI but says missing install file? Contacted MSI and the response was to use the restore USB, restore to factory defaults, format harddrive? Less then a week old computer? Keyboard problems too. My first day with it. Will come back with more info if I solve the problem. Have not yet called MSI for help but will. So far great machine.
Richard J Wells
4
I bought this product a couple days after I bought a cheaper model because I wanted a backlit keyboard, better build quality, and better performance. Im happy to say I got all 3! The cheap plastic on the other laptop was a fingerprint/oil magnet, and while you can spot the fingerprints on this model, they are much harder to see and wipe away easily with a microfiber cloth. The 1050Ti provides a significance performance improvement in World of Warcraft(the only game Ive tried on the system) and while it does have a standard HDD, the Optane really makes load times match that of an SSD(no exaggeration). Ive only had 1 issue with this laptop in the 2 weeks that Ive had it and that is that the WiFi card just crapped out randomly. It stopped working for about a day and then randomly started working again. I use this laptop mainly as an output to my tv so I havent used the keyboard too much, but I was very happy with it and the screen from the small amount of time using both. The HDMI output works well but I would recommend unhooking it before you shut down your system, as I got an error where my machine no longer recognized my internal display and I had to wipe the graphics drivers and reinstall. Very happy with the purchase, only taking off a star for the Wifi Card error and the graphics driver problem, but both of those could be specific to me.
