Excellent Computer, Excellent Service, Excellent Value
I was looking for the most bang for my buck thin and light gaming laptop and that's exactly what I got. This laptop is essentially an MSI GS63VR Stealth Pro-230. I've verified the Device Manager setups. This is identical to the store bought version except for two design elements on the aluminum lid, red accents missing on the top (which could be called the front side) and a different software engine for the RGB backlit keys. If you can live with these caveats, you can be the proud of what I think is one of the best deals on the internet for a thin and light gaming laptop (I do research on the internet for a living).
Please consider what follows your "Quick Start Guide" to this computer.
Some computer skills are required if you are going to purchase this computer and it revolves around installing Windows (or other Operating System) onto the machine. A search of "MSI GS63VR fresh install of Windows" will produce multiple links to videos that have a step-by-step guide to do this and if you can drag and drop files, transferring them from one storage area to another, you should be able to accomplish the needed tasks. That said, lava-frostycomputers-msi, the seller of my computer can do an OS install for a reasonable fee and you still save hundreds of dollars on the machine. You potentially may have such an option available to you.
Next, in the box, you will find a disc that has drivers for the computer. That said, after you install a new copy of Windows, most all the drivers are automatically updated to newer and appropriate ones when you do your first update of Windows. You will still want to do the installation of the drivers with the supplied disc because there are a few machine specific drivers that are necessary, though. I make note of this because the computer will look, in most instances, like it's functioning with no issues. You'll want to make sure you do the install, which has an auto install feature built-in with a straightforward user interface, but thin and light laptops do not have a CD DVD player. I purchased and external CD DVD player for $20. You need to make sure that the player is compatible with the OS that you install on the machine. The software for the players is usually built into the player itself and installs upon first connection. I had one that I purchased for a Windows 7 machine and there were no new drivers available for it online. Hence, I needed to purchase a new one and most sellers should clearly state compatibility on their item description. A work around is to use another computer that has a player to drag and drop the files onto a USB drive, so you can insert that into your new Stealth Pro and select the "Autorun" file. That right there is the test of whether or not you should have someone else do the OS install.
Now you will want to go over to MSI and register your computer for it's warranty. Even though this is a "White Brand" computer, you get a 1-year manufacturer's warranty on all the hardware. The best part is too, by registering your product and taking a 3 minute survey, you will get an additional 3 months on your warranty. So, it's worth doing for multiple reasons and navigation is quick and easy.
As far as the keyboard goes, it's the exact same Steeleseries hardware, (which is wonderful, I might add) you just don't have access to the software and it won't recognize the keyboard etc. It cannot happen, ever, so if your heart is set on having the cloud configurations capability and the extra bells and whistles that Steelseries brings to the table, it will be a deal breaker. That said, the KLM manager does an adequate job of customizing the keyboard and to be honest, I simply love the feel and action of the keyboard and not so much the different colors and modes, which you get anyway. I am more than happy to save the roughly $480 (after buying Windows license, DVD player) by sacrificing the Steelseries engine software.
In regards to the design elements, there is not a person I've shown the laptop to that's not said, "Whoooaaaa!". They've all said this, without fail. I think it looks awesome and not having the red accents on the front side side and the sleeker metal on the lid just makes this Stealth Pro look even more, well, stealth.
The only other potential pitfall I could find was not having the newly released BIOS update that patches the holes created by Meltdown and Spectre. I reached out to both the seller and MSI and both were quick to respond with an update file specific to the computer, proving that, indeed, you do get full product support, just as if you were buying the machine from the store. I felt like I was taking a chance when I made the purchase, but I can tell you I will never make another computer purchase again, without looking at the MSI, new-in-box, white brand options that are available.
Thank you to MSI for producing white brand machines and thank you to lava-frostycomputers-msi for a great buying experience.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New