MSI Megabook S420 review

Roger Kirkwood Read more October 7, 2009

£552

Price when reviewed

MSI is better known for motherboards, but it’s serious about notebooks too. The Megabook D420 is the most affordable here, £169 less than the next-cheapest – PC Nextday’s Zoostorm 2-6101.

You still get a dual-core CPU – the 1.6GHz Core Duo T2050 – 512MB of memory, a 60GB hard disk and a DVD writer with dual-layer and DVD-RAM support. All this for less than half the price of the Lenovo – a machine with similar core components, but one that doesn’t even have a DVD writer.

Not surprisingly, the Megabook sits near the bottom of the performance table with 0.71 in our 2D application benchmarks. It also lacks 3D power with Radeon Xpress 200M graphics.

The fact that the Wi-Fi lacks 802.11a isn’t a problem for most, and there’s Bluetooth, a memory card reader and an ExpressCard/54 slot. Apart from the modem, ports are on the sides or front.

There’s even a year of collect-and-return warranty cover, with another year where you pay shipping costs. Considering all this, the Megabook is a bargain.

But, you’d expect compromises at this price and you’d be right. The chassis isn’t too large, but it weighs 2.4kg and isn’t solidly built. The 14in widescreen TFT lacks protection from the lid, the ExpressCard spacer requires considerable pressure to remove, and the keyboard is rattly and bouncy.

The touchpad is mounted on the front edge, making its tiny buttons difficult to use – MSI must know this as it bundles an optical mouse in the box. The TFT itself is bright and crisp, but viewing angles are poor, so you’re constantly adjusting the tilt angle to be perfectly square-on.

Battery life is below average at 2hrs 49mins with light use. It’s fair for the price, but shy of what we’d expect in a thin and light notebook.

If you have to watch your budget, the MSI Megabook isn’t as much of a bargain as it first appears, since it makes compromises on quality and performance. For these reasons, we can’t recommend it.