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My apologies for the prose, I simply didn't have time to write one version for the forums and one for our site. OC'ing figures for 3DMark2003/2005 are forthcoming (I'd written them down somewhere that is presently inaccessible). Please note that the benchmark figures for each test are the best that were achieved through different settings in MSI's System Control Manager.

MSI MS-1029 Review:

Introduction:

The release of MSI Computer’s MS-1029 was highly anticipated by many as it represented one of the first laptops mating AMD’s new Turion processor with an ATI Mobility Radeon x700 graphics processor. As such we were excited to put this system to the test when we received our first unit. We also hoped to find out if MSI, who is a more recent player in the ODM laptop space, could maintain the reputation it has earned over the years manufacturing motherboards and other components. MSI was also responsible for the m510c (now badged MS-1003) which drew very positive reviews for build quality and performance. The MS-1029 certainly had a lot to live up to and we’ll share our impressions following testing.

System Specifications:

The MS-1029 we configured for the purposes of this review included a Turion MT-32 (25 Watt, 1.8GHz with 512MB L2 Cache), 256MB DDR 3200, an 80GB 5400RPM hard drive (8MB Cache) and Intel’s Pro Wireless 2200 internal WiFi module (802.11b/g). The installed memory is lower than we would like to have seen, but we did not have additional DDR 3200 SODIMMs available at testing time.

The MS-1029 barebones includes a glossy WXGA LCD, onboard 10/100 LAN and, of course, an ATI Mobility Radeon x700 w/ 128MB VRAM. It should be pointed out that, although the test system was configured with only a WiFi module, the MS-1029 supports a combination WiFi + Bluetooth module (in short supply at initial product release).

Chassis Design and Build Quality:

We were pleased to see that MSI has utilized an aluminum alloy in the construction of the underside of the MS-1029. Such materials are also present in other MSI offerings and make for a much more solid chassis. Lifting the MS-1029 from the front corners evokes zero flex and does not elicit the creaking noises often associated with systems constructed entirely of plastic. The remainder of the MS-1029’s chassis uses a higher grade of plastic, thicker and more rigid than in many other manufacturer’s builds. There is a modest degree of flex when closing the LCD lid with one hand from either corner, but this is to be expected in all but ruggedized and semi-ruggedized systems.

Aesthetically speaking, the MS-1029, while not “breathtaking” is quite attractive and well thought out. Predominantly black in color, splashes of silver adorn the borders of the trackpad and keyboard. The MS-1029 also features a “cut-out” on the back of the LCD cover through which backlighting is allowed through. This should allow for some interesting illuminated custom badges. Activity LEDs are laid out vertically along the front right edge of the keyboard surface and offer status of such devices as WiFi, Bluetooth, hard drive and battery/power. WiFi and Bluetooth modules can be turned on and off through separate hot-buttons located just above the top right edge of the keyboard.

MSI has taken a unique approach to the placement of the 8-cell lithium ion battery in this laptop. Rather then sliding the battery pack into a dock in the underside of the chassis, the long and slender battery slides into the void at back of the MS-1029 below the LCD and represents the surface area above the keyboard.

The keyboard exhibits no flex during typing and the keys have a quality feel, though they do produce a bit of noise on each depression. The trackpad is responsive and precise and vertical scrolling can be controlled by sliding your finger up and down along the right edge of the surface. Left and right mouse click buttons are solid if a bit on the small side. They do require some getting used to as they are more sensitive at the center with clicks missed when depressing the outer edges.

The MS-1029’s glossy WXGA screen (1280 x 800) is stunning. Though we would have liked to see a WSXGA+ screen used on this system, the LCD is bright and crisp and has terrific viewing angles (though glare in a well lit room from the glossy surface diminishes visibility at more extreme angles).

Performance:

In order to gauge system performance, we focused most of our testing on what we perceive to be the most important attribute of a laptop which our customers look for, the graphics processor.

Using ATI Tool we determined the stock core and memory clocks of the ATI Mobility Radeon x700 to be 351 and 297 respectively. Though not overly aggressive, 3DMark tests suggested that even the most demanding gamer or graphic designer will be pleased with the performance. All benchmarks were run with the system set for “Full Performance” through MSI’s System Control Manager software.

3DMark2001: 14956
3DMark2003: 5503
3DMark2005: 2122

We expect that the MSI MS-1029 will handle the latest games with ease at a minimum of medium settings.

As we felt that the stock clocks of the GPU left a degree of headroom, we did explore the thresholds of these clocks through gradual overclocking and testing for stability. Only stock cooling was used apart from our substitution of the thermal pad included on the GPU heat sink with Artic Silver thermal compound. We achieved our best stable overclock (All benchmarks completed successfully with no artifacts or tearing) at a 400MHz core and 345MHz memory clock.

3DMark2001: 15916
3DMark2003:
3DMark2005:

Battery Life:

The release of AMD’s new lower powered mobile processor has made for a more viable contender to Intel’s Pentium M, the mainstay in most laptops today. The Turion MT draws only 25 Watts of power, significantly less than AMD’s last mobile chip which requires 62 Watts. We expected to see much better battery life than was offered by the Mobile Athlon 64. Though we did see a vast improvement, battery rundown tests showed that the Pentium M still reigns supreme in this regard. Testing the MS-1029 while looping a DVD yielded 2 hours and 10 minutes before the system initiated standby. This suggests that should you wish to view a DVD while unplugged, all but the longest movies should finish before the battery depletes. As a continually spinning optical drive consumes a significant amount of power, we also tested the unit while simply surfing the web using the installed WiFi module. For such light use we achieved 2.5 hours of battery life before standby.

Thermal Properties:

Under heavy loads such as GPU benchmarking, the MS-1029 stayed surprisingly cool. There was no evidence of any heat build-up on either palm rest or from beneath the keyboard. It has been a long time since we have tested a laptop that ran this cool. Of course, as expected, under heavy load, the underside of the laptop in the vicinity of the processor/GPU and the hard drive does get pretty warm. However, not so much so that it becomes uncomfortable to use the system on your lap. One minor gripe is the placement of the CPU/GPU vent at the center right of the chassis. Under load when the fan RPMs ramp up, warmer air will blow onto the mouse hand (for right-handed users). The vented air is not uncomfortable and generally not even noticeable under most circumstances, however, we would have liked to see the vent located further back on the right-hand side or, even better, on the back or left-hand side of the system.

Conclusion:

Overall, we feel the MS-1029 is an excellent gaming capable laptop. Of particular note is the system’s solid build quality and strong GPU performance. Though not without its quirks and a shortcoming or two, the MS-1029 represents an excellent and affordable laptop solution for those looking to purchase a system which can handle even the latest games while retaining portability (the system weighs in at about 6.4lbs) and offering support for 64-bit instruction sets.

Pros:

Excellent build quality
Strong GPU Performance
Runs cool
Light relative to features
Reasonably priced
Bluetooth support with hardware on/off button

Cons:

Battery life
LCD screen resolution


- Unleaded

The battery life looks wrong. Ppl with Acer TM4400 are getting over 4 hours from surfing the internet. The MSI 1029 with the MT should have better battery life then the MT4400. Could the hard drive and the wifi card your using be draining the batter or missng drivers and software?

WiFi is known to drain power to some degree so expect better battery performance if wired (but then, why would you be unplugged if you had access to wired LAN ).

I installed MSI's System Control Manager and selected the optimized battery settings. All the appropriate drivers were installed. I will check and see if there is a BIOS option for battery conditioning,(I neglected to check this) perhaps if such a utility exists it might improve performance.

I was a bit surprised by the battery rundown results myself.

I would wager that those "reports" from people getting 4 hours from their TM4400LMi might be a bit inflated as Acer's own specs for the system state:

"Eight-cell lithium ion battery: up to 3.0 hours life depending on configuration and usage"

I would expect they would put the best number they could into that statement.

The MSI 1029 I ordered should be here by thursday, friday so ill run test too. Most ppl that run test on battery life lower the briteness on there screen to about 40%. Maybe that is why there getting over 4 hours.

Selecting the optimized battery setting in the MS-1029 does lower the screen brightness but I did not take note of how much so (percentage). I will check that again and update here.

thanks for the review, too bad the battery life isnt any better

Wouldn't more RAM help battery life, and perfromance as well? I imagine swap files are heavily used with only 256MB... Also what powersaving features were enabled? CPU, GPU, screen dim Wifi off etc? That;s how most battery rundown tests are done...

I will perform the same benchmarks again on a differently configured system to validate the results. Expect those by the end of the week.

How would you plan to test real life light use, ie. web surfing if WiFi is turned off? I wouldn't expect people to be unplugged if they were plugged into a LAN connection.

As far as power saving features, the system was configured for optimal battery performance under MSI's System Control Manager which, when enabled, dims the screen for one.

Nice review.

Hows the audio for this notebook? How is the quality of the speakers??

Also, where did you buy laptop and how was your experience buying the laptop??

EDIT: Where did you buy the processor?? I can't find anyone selling Turion 25W CPUs??

Thanks

I was just talking about standard battery rundown which many refer to a regular office type of work on the notebook. No wifi or BT used. But yes I agree, I do think real life system use is more interesting to know about, I just mentioned it for sake of comparison with other notebooks.

Looking forward to your updated system spec review later this week!

BTW thanks for letting us have all this info!

Nice review
However, battery life is definitely not "normal.
According this review: http://www.trustedreview.com/article.aspx?art=1733
Ferrari has much better battery life.
Maybe MSI should provide an improved bios???

Nice review

Unleaded, pls take some more pictures with screen on.
Thanks

PCMag tested the battery power of the Ferrari 4005WLMi and got 3h and 42min in their review. It has a faster ML(35w) CPU, a higher clocked GPU and a very high capacity cooling fan, so there is something weird going on with the MS-1029 battery time here...