MSI Prestige Series Laptops Appeal to the Creator Class

I’m in the market for a new computer. Truth be told, I want both a new desktop PC and a new laptop. I bought my Ultrabook six years ago, which is a practical eternity in computer years. But maybe I can kill two birds with one stone with one of these new MSI Prestige Series laptops.

Here’s the thing that I’ve noticed. Laptops, in general, fall into one of three categories: consumer-oriented, gamer-focused, or geared for business. I don’t wholly fall into any of these categories. I want the performance of a gaming laptop, but I don’t actually game all that much. I just want it to be able to edit my vlog on the thing; the MSI Prestige Series is going after exactly this segment of the creative prosumer or budding young professional.

The aggressive styling of the gaming notebook is stripped away to reveal a more elegant, “grown up” look, while still retaining the higher end performance that you desire at a reasonable price. The MSI Prestige Series consists of two main products: the PS42 and the P65. And I had the opportunity to toy around with both last week.

MSI PS42 Prestige

The smaller and more compact of the two is the MSI PS42. It features a 14-inch FHD IPS display in the same size chassis as what you might find with a conventional 13-inch laptop. They’ve shaved the bezels down substantially to accomplish this, placing the webcam along the lower edge.

Underneath the silver hairbrush textured aluminum design, you’ll find the latest 8th-generation Intel Core processors, along with NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discrete graphics. You also get Windows Hello support by way of the integrated fingerprint reader, plus a 10-hour battery and gaming-level cooling with 2 fans and 3 heat pipes (as not to throttle performance).

This is all in a package that measures just 15.9mm thick and weighs 1.19kg. Pricing on the PS42 starts from $1,299 and goes up to $1,599 depending on your specific configuration.

MSI P65 Creator

For users who demand greater performance, there’s the MSI P65 Creator. Available in silver or white, the MSI P65 strives to “provide the creator with the best creative tools.” Just like the PS42, they’ve shaved the bezels down here aroudn the 15.6-inch FHD IPS-level display. You get (close to) 100% sRGB, which is perfect for graphic designers and other visual creators, as well as several display modes to suit the current task.

There’s an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor under the hood with up to 32GB of DDR4-2666 RAM, fast SSD storage options, and plenty of connectivity, including an Ethernet port for wired networking. The silver edition gets a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q, whereas the White Limited Edition ups the game to a GTX 1070 Max-Q.

The MSI P65 Creator weighs 1.88kg and measures 17.9mm thick. You’ll notice there’s a metal silver dragon logo on the back, unlike the more aggressive black and red logo we’ve come to expect from MSI Gaming laptops. Other highlights include the company’s Cooler Boost Trinity for maximum cooling, 9+ hours of battery life on a single charge, and Windows Hello support. MSI boasts that this machine bests a 2018 MacBook Pro with over 300% the graphics performance, particularly for rendering and multitasking.

The P65 Creator ranges from $2,399 to $3,499, depending on spec. The Limited Edition model comes in that fancy wooden box too.