Specifications Review Need new Windows laptop or Android tablet for daily use? Check our review, detail specifications and price before buying
Nowadays, if you’re searching for a gaming laptop, your definitely need to have a budget over $1000, since these devices, packing an impressive amount of power, can be very costly. Surprisingly or not, there are exceptions too, made by reputed manufacturers, like the MSI GE72 Apache 264.
Costing just a bit under $1000, it features a big display and a spec sheet allowing you to enjoy the latest games and run demanding programs.
The laptop is powered by a 4th gen Intel Core i7-4720QH processor, with four cores, running at 2.6 GHz. Also, if you feel the need for even more power, you can use the Turbo Boost technology and increase it up to 3.0 GHz.
The CPU is aided by 12 GB of DDR3L RAM, more than enough to smoothly run games, photo and video editing applications or keep multiple browser tabs at once. As for the graphics department, it’s represented by a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M card, able to deliver high-quality images.
Finally, the MSI GE72 Apache 264 has a 1 TB hard disk drive, able to hold all your collection of HD movies, images, music and of course, games.
A gaming laptop needs a great mouse, so you can connect one using one of the three USB 3.0 ports (a USB 2.0 port is also included). It also features a media card reader, supporting MMC formats, and a SuperMulti DVD/CD burner, reading and writing a wide variety of media formats, including DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW and CD-R/RW.
The connectivity suite consists in a HDMI output, if you need to connect it to a bigger display, Next-Gen Intel Wireless-AC connectivity and LAN Ethernet port, for quick Web access. The laptop isn’t Bluetooth enabled.
Moving on to the display, the MSI GE72 Apache 264 features a 17.3 LED-backlit display, with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, able to deliver crisp and clear images. Considering that it also has 4 built-in speakers, powered by BeatsAudio, you can also use this laptop as a media center, being perfect for enjoying movies at a very high-quality.
Above, there’s a built-in HD webcam, making chatting with friends or family over apps like Skype or Hangouts very easy.
Design-wise, we’re looking at a laptop with a very aggressive look, specific to gaming models. It’s not the lightest, weighing 5.95 lbs, nor the slimmest, measuring 1.14″ in thickness.
Still, it has a very nice black aluminum finish which looks very good on the MSI GE72 Apache 264. Also, the backlit keyboard is great for those moments when you want to enjoy some of your favorite games in a dark or dim environment.
Like mentioned above, the laptop costs less than $1000, $999.99, to be more specific. It comes with a pre-installed copy of Windows 8.1 and the possibility of updating to Windows 10. A great choice for anybody who wants a powerful, gaming machine without spending a lot of money.
