CES 2015: MSI Marries a Mechanical Keyboard to a Gaming Laptop [Video]

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Proof that laptop keyboards don't need to suck

Over the course of the last couple of years, MSI has been taking the gaming laptop category by storm, and we've seen a lot of interesting offerings from the company. However, it's MSI's new GT80 Titan SLI-009 that has us intrigued. The company brought its latest system (along with several other goodies) to the Consumer Electronics Show, so we sent Online Managing Editor and resident gaming whiz Jimmy Thang to check things out.
There's a lot going on with the GT80 -- obviously the inclusion of dual GPUs is notable, though hardly a first in the gaming laptop category. However, what is a first is the inclusion of a built-in mechanical keyboard rather than all those membrane planks that are so commonplace.
SteelSeries is behind the design of the mechanical plank, which uses Cherry MX Brown switches that offer a light tactile response and are non-clicky (though not silent). You'll also notice that the trackpad is positioned to the right of the keyboard, not below it, so that it more closely resembles a desktop setup. In addition, if you tap the top left corner of the trackpad, it turns into a digital number pad with haptic feedback -- pretty snazzy!
The space above the keyboard pops off to offer easy access to things like RAM and storage. That's a huge convenience compared to some systems that require almost a complete teardown to access internal parts.
Also in the video below are some other gaming laptops and an interesting laptop dock that gives compatible laptops (in this case, the GS30) desktop graphics power at full speed PCI-E x16.

Ah, but we're not finished touring MSI's booth! MSI has its hands in a lot of different product categories, and of course that includes motherboards. MSI showed off a new model featuring a USB 3.1 Type-C connector. Compared to USB 3.0, MSI demonstrated significantly faster transfer times via USB 3.0. Have a look:

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