MSI intros FX700, FR700 17.3" multimedia notebooks

MSI has added two more multimedia notebooks to its portfolio: the FX700 and FR700. Both feature 17.3-inch LED-backlit "HD+" displays, are powered by Intel Core i5 processors, and can be configured with as much as 8GB of DDR3 1066MHz RAM. Models will ship with 320GB, 500GB and 640GB HDDs with Windows 7 Home Premium preloaded. The FX700 and FR700 only appear to vary in graphics hardware, with the former packing Nvidia's 1GB GeForce GT 425M and the latter stuck with an Intel IGP.


Being "multimedia" machines, they have DVD drives, but there's no mention of Blu-ray. Both systems are also outfitted with the same connectivity, including HDMI and VGA outputs, two USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, a 5-in-1 card reader, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Other features include a 720p HD webcam, a multipoint touchpad, a six-cell battery, as well as MSI's TDE and GPU Boost technologies (for the FX only). Pricing and availability hasen't been announced just yet.