Good deal or not?

[r2724r16]

So I'm planning on buying the MSI GL73 for $960 CAD ($735 USD).

 

Here are its specs: 

- Intel Core i7 8750H

- GTX 1050

- 1TB 7200 RPM HDD (I'll be adding a Crucial 500GB MX500 SSD which'll cost an additional $130 CAD/$100 USD)

- 16GB of RAM

- A 17.3" 1080p screen that covers 100% of the sRGB colourspace

- A good SteelSeries keyboard with around 1.9 mm of key travel

- Decent IO including one USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2 port

- And most importantly, the build quality is pretty good which matters to me a lot

 

Here's the link to it: https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/msi-gl73-17-3-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-8750h-1tb-hdd-16gb-ram-nvidia-geforce-gtx1050-win-10/12552965.aspx?

 

*Note that this laptop will cost me $1090 CAD/$835 USD after adding in the 500GB SSD

 

So is this a good deal or not? Thanks in advance.

[dizmo]

For what?

[r2724r16]

10 minutes ago, dizmo said:

For what?

Productivity, schoolwork, web browsing, and gaming (A GTX 1050 is powerful enough for me, I don't need a better GPU)

[dizmo]

The CPU is decent, but honestly I wouldn't buy anything for gaming unless it had a 1050Ti or higher. The 1050 is just a bit too weak.

[r2724r16]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

The CPU is decent, but honestly I wouldn't buy anything for gaming unless it had a 1050Ti or higher. The 1050 is just a bit too weak.

The only game I'm playing on this is Fortnite at the lowest settings, and a GTX 1050 is more than powerful enough for that. 

 

BTW, I'm playing at the lowest settings because that's just how I like to play the game, not because my GPU isn't powerful enough for anything higher.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, r2724r16 said:

The only game I'm playing on this is Fortnite at the lowest settings, and a GTX 1050 is more than powerful enough for that. 

 

BTW, I'm playing at the lowest settings because that's just how I like to play the game, not because my GPU isn't powerful enough for anything higher.

Oh. Gross. If that floats your boat, it'd be a decent choice then.

Have you checked out Dell? They often have really discounted systems close to the start of the school year. Same with Lenovo.

[r2724r16]

5 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Oh. Gross. If that floats your boat, it'd be a decent choice then.

Have you checked out Dell? They often have really discounted systems close to the start of the school year. Same with Lenovo.

I've checked with Dell, but the cheapest laptop they have with the same specs as the GL73 costs almost 50% more. I haven't checked with Lenovo though, so I think I'll do that.

 

EDIT: I've checked Lenovo's website and they have two gaming laptops, both of which cost more than the GL73 but have less RAM, a lesser CPU, and a slower HDD.

[dizmo]

1 hour ago, r2724r16 said:

I've checked with Dell, but the cheapest laptop they have with the same specs as the GL73 costs almost 50% more. I haven't checked with Lenovo though, so I think I'll do that.

 

EDIT: I've checked Lenovo's website and they have two gaming laptops, both of which cost more than the GL73 but have less RAM, a lesser CPU, and a slower HDD.

Where are you finding it for that price? The link you have shows a price of almost $1,400.

[r2724r16]

14 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Where are you finding it for that price? The link you have shows a price of almost $1,400.

Canada Computers has this laptop for $1200 CAD (it's on sale).

 

Best Buy is willing to sell me the laptop for 10% less than their competition (so $1080 CAD).

 

I know a person who works at Best Buy who can give me a further discount and give me the laptop for 20% less than Canada Computers (so $960 CAD).

 

So I'll be buying this laptop from Best Buy.

[dizmo]

19 minutes ago, r2724r16 said:

Canada Computers has this laptop for $1200 CAD (it's on sale).

 

Best Buy is willing to sell me the laptop for 10% less than their competition (so $1080 CAD).

 

I know a person who works at Best Buy who can give me a further discount and give me the laptop for 20% less than Canada Computers (so $960 CAD).

 

So I'll be buying this laptop from Best Buy.

I don't think it's 10% less, I believe the price matching is 10% of the difference. So it'd be $12 off, for a price of $1,188.

[r2724r16]

28 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I don't think it's 10% less, I believe the price matching is 10% of the difference. So it'd be $12 off, for a price of $1,188.

No, I asked someone at Best Buy and he said it was 10% off the competiting price.

[dizmo]

6 minutes ago, r2724r16 said:

No, I asked someone at Best Buy and he said it was 10% off the competiting price.

He was mistaken.

Quote

If you find a lower price online, in-store, or in print before you buy or within 30 days of your purchase we’ll beat that price by 10% of the difference. Should our own price be reduced, present us with your original receipt within 30 days of purchase and we will match the price and refund you the difference.

 

[r2724r16]

33 minutes ago, dizmo said:

He was mistaken.

 

I guess that doesn't even matter because I'm going to ask a guy whom I know that works at Best Buy to give me the laptop for 20% less than $1200 (so $960).

 

Best Buy is acually a pretty good store for bargaining, I almost always get a serious discount.

[IAnthonyFX]

let us know if that went through

[genexis_x]

13 hours ago, r2724r16 said:

- A 17.3" 1080p screen that covers 100% of the sRGB colourspace

But has terrible colour accuracy (blue tint), poor contrast and poor viewing angles (of course since it's a TN)

 

MSI GL series tend to have worse QC. What's your budget? Any special requirements? (display size, weight, battery life etc)

[r2724r16]

8 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

But has terrible colour accuracy (blue tint), poor contrast and poor viewing angles (of course since it's a TN)

 

MSI GL series tend to have worse QC. What's your budget? Any special requirements? (display size, weight, battery life etc)

I'll check out this laptop soon, I'm not sure how bad the screen is.

 

My budget is $1200 CAD, and I'm looking for a laptop with the same or better specs than the GL73. Weight isn't a big concern for me, it should be a 15 or 17 inch laptop, and battery life should be okay (4-5 hours of regular use is plenty for me)

[genexis_x]

35 minutes ago, r2724r16 said:

battery life should be okay (4-5 hours of regular use is plenty for me)

If that's the case then MSI GL isn't the suitable choice since it has very small battery (41Wh)

 

You can look into MSI GP (I don't think this is in your budget), Dell G5/G7, Lenovo Y530, HP Omen dc

 

Other CFL-H options like Clevo N850EK1, Acer Nitro 5/Aspire 7, HP Omen 15 2017, Dell G3, HP Pavilion Gaming, MSI GV/GF have mediocre/OKish cooling

[r2724r16]

12 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

But has terrible colour accuracy (blue tint), poor contrast and poor viewing angles (of course since it's a TN)

I've just contacted MSI and the model I'm buying has an IPS display that covers 72% of the NTSC colour gamut, which is enough colour accurate for me. Maybe the info you have is for a different model of the same laptop. 

2 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

Other CFL-H options like Clevo N850EK1, Acer Nitro 5/Aspire 7, HP Omen 15 2017, Dell G3, HP Pavilion Gaming, MSI GV/GF have mediocre/OKish cooling

I've actually looked into a few of these options. The problem with the Nitro 5 is that is looks too gamery. The Aspire 7 doesn't have good build quality and the keyboard isn't great (I've tried it out and I don't like it). The HP Pavilion Gaming and OMEN costs $1400-$1500 and doesn't perform any better than the $960 GL73. The Dell G3 has bad build quality while the G5 and G7 cost too much. The MSI GV and GF laptops cost too much and yet the cheapest models have an 8300H.

3 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

If that's the case then MSI GL isn't the suitable choice since it has very small battery (41Wh)

I think the sacrifice of battery life is a good tradeoff for better performance and build quality than other laptops at this price point.

[genexis_x]

13 hours ago, r2724r16 said:

I've just contacted MSI and the model I'm buying has an IPS display that covers 72% of the NTSC colour gamut, which is enough colour accurate for me. Maybe the info you have is for a different model of the same laptop. 

This depends on region

13 hours ago, r2724r16 said:

The Aspire 7 doesn't have good build quality

The Dell G3 has bad build quality

They have OK-good build quality