In the same month that Alienware unleashed the Ivy Bridge powered M17x, MSI has declared its 17-inch gaming contender - the MSI GT70.

A balanced and well-thought out gaming laptop

A great out-and-out gaming laptop, just don't use it for work

A sharp 17.3-inch screen but is this MSI value for money?

This well-built Sandy Bridge laptop represents good value

A highly portable machine, but let down by poor performance

A great performer with excellent battery life and only a slight usability issue

Highly usable and portable, but it does little to stand out from the crowd

While not quite infallible, this is still a great entry-level gaming laptop

Great value for money is on offer here and a real surprise for a budget laptop

A few design quirks aside, this is a well-priced laptop suitable for all the family

A highly affordable machine, but despite decent usability it fails to impress

MSI is a Taiwanese component manufacturer that also produce a broad variety of laptops, from award winning netbooks, such as the wind U160, right up to power-house gaming laptops, such as the GX660R on test here.

A great gaming platform that offers some truly unique audio performance

If MSI manages to iron out a few minor kinks, this is sure to be a great product

Can the Taiwanese manufacturer make play in the gaming market?

MSI's 10" netbook ticks all the right boxes

A stunning screen and great usability, but the limited battery disappoints

With a new Atom at its heart, the new Wind U135 netbook packs in the features

Blu-ray compatibility at a great price, but poor usability and performance

A powerful laptop, but the 32-bit version of Windows 7 doesn't do it justice

A decent laptop that should serve most people's needs, but battery life is poor

MSI updates the Wind netbook with a bigger screen and a CULV CPU

Highly portable, with a large screen, good battery life and impressive performance

A large, comfortable and light laptop, but unfortunately lacking in performance