Computex 2018: Hands-on with the MSI PS42 laptop

Having heard the news of new laptops from MSI earlier in the week, our man Leo ventured to see the new PS42 – a thin and light from MSI in a swish silver body.

The new laptop is notable for its very portable body, as the whole machine weighs just 1.19KG. With the body of the PS42 coming in at 15.9mm thick as well, the overall look very sleek and refined. This is only furthered by the new brushed aluminium silver chassis, something that is quite new from MSI given the company's penchant for black and red gaming machines.

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In terms of hardware, the PS42 will come in a variety of configurations, but it will of course be using the latest 8th Gen mobile CPUs. These will be of the ‘Ultra Low Power variety' so we can expect the top-end processor to be the quad-core i7-8550U. Backing up the CPU is the Nvidia MX150, the successor the the previous GeForce 940MX. I wouldn't expect to be playing AAA titles with this GPU, but it will certainly be significantly faster than integrated graphics.

Elsewhere, the 1920x1080p panel can be calibrated to ‘close' to 100% sRGB out of the box, while there is also a fingerprint scanner embedded in the trackpad. I/O is also plentiful, with a full-size SD card reader, 2x USB-C ports, 2x USB Type-A, HDMI output and a headphone jack. The battery life is rated at 10 hours, but of course we will have to test this for ourselves.

KitGuru says: The PS42 looks an impressive thin and light. I am particularly taken with the silver aluminium body – what do you guys think? It is certainly different to MSI's other models.

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