MSI GT680R

MSI GT680R-008US

Last year's MSI GT660 impressed with its quad-core power, fun and customizable lighting effects, and loud speakers. However, that system lacked a full HD display and cost a pretty penny ($1,849). With the GT680R-008US, MSI has added a 1080p screen, a faster Sandy Bridge Core i7 CPU, and beefier Nvidia Geforce GTX 460M graphics fully capable of delivering DirectX 11 eye candy. You also get a full terabyte of storage. Asking price? Just $1,499. So just how much more notebook are you getting for the money?The GT680 has the same chassis and design as the GT660, which we reviewed last year. Aesthetically, there's a lot going on--almost too much. The lid has some funky angles cut along the edges and a glossy, beveled lid complete with a glowing MSI logo. Under the hood there's a mix of matte and glossy textures--though the latter dominates--and the piano black of the display bezel and top of the deck fades into a glossy slate color, which then turns into a textured honeycomb pattern on the palm rest.Two speakers ringed in red sit on the left and right of the upper deck, and between them is a control deck outlined in red and chrome with touch-sensitive LEDs.