MSI released its GT80 Titan to primarily target gamers. However, the design and set up of this gaming laptop also makes it a dependable workhorse for those who are much more comfortable with a desktop. The GT80 Titan is one of the first gaming laptops to venture into "hybrid design," bringing desktop specs to mobile machines.
What makes the GT80 Titan unique is its keyboard. It has mechanical switches, which means that each key will last up to 50 million keystrokes, far more than the 5 to 10 million strokes for those with membrane switches. Membrane-switch keyboards are what most common laptops use.
The keyboard itself is backlit in red tones. Also, glowing red LED strips separate the mechanical keyboard from the top portion of the deck. The function buttons for power, GPU, and fan speed are atop the digital track pad, which has been shifted to the right of the keyboard.
Unconventional in design, the keyboard rests where the track pad usually is, and there is a blank space on the top portion. The area is blank for a reason – the GT80 Titan is upgradeable. The top panel can be removed so that gamers can easily swap out and upgrade hard drives and graphics cards, with the processor the only non-upgradeable component. MSI is in the process of partnering with several vendors so that users can easily exchange even non-upgradeable parts in the future.
The other specs of the GT80 Titan are more conformist. It has an 18.4-inch screen that displays 1920 x 1080 resolution, Dynaudio speakers with bottom-mounted subwoofers, USB 3.0 ports, and a Blu-Ray tray. It also sports a 3-in-1 card reader and a security lock slot. Under the hood, the Titan is powered by Intel Core i7 with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB mSATA SSD storage.
The GT80 Titan is available with a $3,399 price tag.
