When you think of gaming notebooks, it is almost automatic to think of the Alienware series of machines from the Dell stable, and not without good reason. They have set the performance bar very high, along with the dollops of reliability. No wonder the brand has a huge fan following. This makes the lives of rival brands a lot more difficult, particularly when they are fighting Alienware on two fronts - performance and price.

 

MSI has their own GT series of gaming laptops. Performance has never been a problem with the GT series. What they lack however is the look and build quality to match the Alienware machines. With the new GT663R, MSI seems to have dealt with one part of the problem. This one has the serious look, which works well in its favour. However, has MSI got the rest of the package right? Let's find out...

Take the GT663R out of the box pack, and what immediately grabs your attention is the fact that you need both hands (and probably a leg!) to get it out of the box. This monster of a machine weighs 3.5 kg. The lid has the glossy black coloured finish, and we would advice you to leave the protective skin layer on it as long as possible, to prevent it from getting scratched instantly. Also on the lid, just below the MSI logo is an orange LED. Open the lid to reveal the keyboard in black colour, the touchpad in one shade of grey, the palm-rest in another shade of grey colour a bit of chrome thrown in. The speakers have been dressed with a red ring, which somehow does not go well with the entire theme. The 15.6 inch screen is flanked by the HD webcam, which is placed just above it.

The dedicated control options are well laid out here - and there are even controls for starting and stopping the internal cooling fan, apart from controls for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Turbo mode and Eco mode. For volume and screen brightness controls, users are dependent on the keyboard shortcuts.

The looks of the GT663R are aggressive and matter of fact. However, the build quality leaves a sour taste. The plasticky build is a disappointment, particularly when the Alienware machines are being targeted. The keyboard had a slight, but visible, dip in certain places. Not expected from such an expensive machine.

Read on to know about the performance, our verdict and the price...