Taiwanese company MSI reveals 'world's thinnest and lightest' gaming laptop

Taiwanese company MSI launched “the world’s thinnest and lightest” gaming laptop on Tuesday, bringing a touch of sleekness to a market predominately filled with bulky competitors.

The laptop, named the GS70, measures less than 2.18cm and weighs 2.7kg, according to claims on the MSI website. Featuring a design inspired by the F22 Raptor stealth fighter jet, the laptop comes in a sleek aluminium casing, features a 43cm screen and is packed with numerous bells and whistles. These include the latest version of Windows 8, the newest Intel Core processor and Nvidia Geforce graphics card, duan fan cooling to keep the laptop from overheating, high definition surround sound, and even a special “Matrix Display” feature which lets users connect up to three external monitors to the laptop at the same time.

This power doesn’t come cheap, and the GS70 comes priced in two variants - US$1,999 (HK$15,506) for a model with greater hard drive space, and US$1,799 (HK$13,954) for the regular model. These prices are typical of gaming laptops, which tend to attract buyers that are more than willing to pay more for a portable computer capable of playing the latest games with no technological hiccups.

Price aside, the GS70 comes as a contender amongst other gaming laptops, which generally require a large frame to maintain performance when displaying high definition graphics. As standard laptops such as Apple’s Macbook Air and Samsung’s Chronos have gradually paved the way towards thinner and lighter designs, however, gaming laptops have followed suit. The GS70’s closest contender in this arena is the Razor Blade Pro, created by California company Razor. Slightly bigger than the GS70, the Razor Blade Pro also comes with a heftier price tag - US$2,499 (HK$19,384).

MSI, formally known as Micro-Star Technology, is a Taiwanese company that was originally founded for the manufacture of computer graphics cards and motherboards. In recent years, however, the company has transformed into an aggressive competitor in the specialist market of gaming equipment, and its laptops and other peripherals are commonly endorsed by both enthusiasts and professional players.