Page 61 - Australian Photography Dec 2020

TESTED: MSI WS66 LAPTOP
SPECIAL PROMOTION
LEFT: Features such as a USB-C port, Thunderbolt 3, HDMI 2.0, USB-A 3.2 Gen.
2 and a dedicated SD card reader (which can transfer 1GB in about 5 seconds) will be welcomed by many photographers.
BELOW: The WS66’s 1920 x 1080 Full HD display is clear, bright and an excellent companion for image editing.
SPECIFICATIONS
Operating System
Processor
Graphics Card
Display
RAM
Battery
Storage
Dimensions
Weight
Price
Windows 10 Home / Windows 10 Pro
Up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7
NVIDIA RTX 3000
Full HD / 1920x1080 / sRGB (also available in 4K, 3840 x 2160, Adobe RGB).
32GB
99.9 Wh
1TB Solid State Drive
358 mm x 248 mm x 18.3mm-19.8 mm
2.1kg
$5399
of keeping the laptop cool, even when it is working hard.
Connections along the left side of the laptop include DC-in, Thunder- bolt 3, HDMI and one USB 3.2 Type A connection, while on the right are a USB 3.2 Type C connection, SD slot, Ethernet port and a composite audio jack. While there is only one of each port type, there are enough options to ensure you can connect into most external devices including data projec- tors, smart devices and cameras. The most useful of the ports is the Thunder- bolt 3 connection that can transfer up to 40GB of data, drive large 4K monitors or deliver up to 100 watts of power to external devices.
Powering up the laptop takes several seconds but once on, the laptop is rather responsive thanks in part to the SSD. MSI has used top tier componentry to ensure this computer can offer more speed and performance than other similarly specced machines. Although we did not throw too many challenges at this laptop, it was able to outpace our i7 equipped desktop computer at some of the more common tasks most photogra- phers use their computers for nowadays, including exporting RAW files while applying smart sharpening filters.
The Full HD screen on our review laptop covers 96 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut, which is good enough colour to do basic photo editing
on location, but not for critical co- lour management work. With this in mind you can use this laptop to drive
a colour calibrated external monitor once you are back at your desk, or you could spend the extra money to buy a factory calibrated 4K (3840 x 2160) op- tion offering full Adobe RGB coverage.
Aside from being sleek, secure and rather efficient at its job, the MSI Work- station WS66 has also been built to pass MIL-STD-810 military grade specifica- tions, meaning it can survive extremes in temperature, pressure, vibration and shock based on these standards. Given we had to return our product sample, we were reluctant to test these extremes, but such ruggedness might be useful to those photographers who like to be rough on their gear.
VERDICT
The MSI Workstation WS66 is a tidy laptop that is more than capable of han- dling most photographers’ workload. I am not convinced the battery can de- liverafullninehoursofuse,butoth- erwise the WS66 is a good machine for PC users looking for a practical everyday laptop that is tough enough to take wherever they are heading. Just be careful though –
if teenagers in your family know you have this laptop, it might
start getting used for
gaming! ❂
| 61 | DECEMBER 2020 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
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