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The MSI X460 arrives in a futuristically styled box with some key selling points listed along the bottom.
Inside is a power supply made by Delta electronics. This is a 19v, 4.74A output design.
The slim Lithium Ion battery (model: BTY-M46) is rated at 5900 mAh, 65 Wh.
The laptop itself is a traditional ‘business' style design, and rather thin. The MSI logo is attractively engraved in the middle of the lid.
Under certain light, the brushed aluminum style finish can be seen. We think this is attractive and gives the product a rather expensive appearance.
Underneath is a single panel, which can be easily removed to get access to the insides. The battery slides in from the rear of the laptop and is locked in place by two catch mechanisms.
This laptop doesn't feature a discrete graphics card, so there is a single dual heatpipe cooling system in place, which connects to a fan on the left side of the chassis (from the top view). The hard drive is positioned on the opposite side, at the bottom of the machine.
On the left side of the chassis from the rear, is a power connector, cooling vent, HDMI and VGA out. A gigabit lan connector, and two USB connectors. On the right side of the laptop is a security locking mechanism, DVD RW, USB port, card slot and headphone and microphone jack.
The 14 inch screen is a gloss type, ideal to enhance high definition media playback and gaming. Sadly, the panel is nothing special, lacking some vibrancy and overall punch. The viewing angles are also less than class leading, and we found that the panel was quite reflective, which could be slightly irritating depending on the environmental lighting conditions.
The screen contrast and brightness could also have been improved as we found we used it on maximum all the time, and regularly wanted a little more dynamic impact from the screen.
The whole surface of the X460 is shiny, which looks great until you spend some time with it and realise that it is covered in fingerprints. The power switch is positioned at the top left and glows blue when it is turned on.
On a more positive note, the chiclet keyboard is really good, and offers a decent level of feedback. Sadly the return key is single height which caused me some problems as I would sometimes press the # or ] above it. The trackpad is a decent design and reasonably responsive with a chrome style button underneath. Right at the front of the laptop is a readout system highlighting hard drive, wireless and battery status.
The X460 is a fairly flexible design and the screen folds out to around 165 degrees, offering a wide variety of viewing angles for many situations. Onboard sound was quite impressive, although it does lack bass response.
