MSI Boasts New GT80 Titan 'World's First' Gaming Laptop With Mechanical Keyboard

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

The big drawback about gaming on a laptop is the keyboard. Typically, the keys sit flush against the chassis so that the laptop can fully close when not in use. There's really no tactile feedback save for perhaps a light click when mashing a key. MSI's new GT80 Titan changes all that, becoming the first gaming laptop to provide a built-in mechanical keyboard.

According to the company, the GT80 features a SteelSeries keyboard with Cherry Brown MX switches and 27-mm keycaps, which will provide plenty of clickety-click tactile feedback while gaming or simply trolling across the Internet. Mechanical keyboards can tolerate finger-based abuse, and presumably there are no accidental key presses as you sometimes see with standard notebook keyboards.

The company indicated on Thursday that the laptop has an enhanced SteelSeries Engine with CloudSync so that gamers can save their settings in the cloud and access them from anywhere.

"Performance is key for gamers and the GT80 Titan will forever change the mobile gaming experience," said Andy Tung, president of MSI Pan America. "We are proud to be at the forefront of the gaming evolution and will continue to provide solutions that deliver the most outstanding gaming experience in the world."

News of the world's first gaming laptop with a mechanical keyboard arrives after the company updated its 27-inch all-in-one (AIO) gaming PCs with Nvidia GeForce GTX 900M series graphic cards. The AG270 2QC and the AG270 2QE are available now, with more upgraded models appearing in a few weeks. There are three versions of each, providing a solution for gamers with various budgets.

The company also recently updated its GS70 Stealth Pro and GS60 Ghost Pro models, and its GT72 Dominator, GT70 Dominator and GT60 Dominator gaming laptops with Nvidia's GTX 900M Series graphics and MSI's own SHIFT power adjustment technology. These laptops come with fourth-generation Core i7 processors, Killer E2200 game networking, Sound Blaster Cinema and more.

Update, 10/30/14 9:25am: As for the new GT80 Titan being introduced today, MSI is remaining quiet about the hardware. The only feature we could get from an MSI representative was that the laptop has SLI.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Kevin Parrish
See more Gaming Laptops News
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dennisfyfe
    I wonder how the screen is affected by this keyboard difference. Amongst most laptops, the residue on the keyboard will transfer to the screen when closed and this is with relatively flat keys. Apple and Razer, two companies that produce a pretty solid laptop, have the residue problem. It's also very possible that I'm the only person in the world that has a pet peeve regarding a clean monitor screen.
    Reply
  • ATL_Tech_Guy
    Maybe we can get a version with an 18" 900P panel and semi-pro audio (subwoofers) ? I'd love to replace this old Dell Latitude XPS17 (since there's nothing made since that compares).
    Reply
  • dovah-chan
    Very odd how the keyboard is somewhat recessed into the chassis. I'd always thought that the first mechanical keyboard I'd ever see on a laptop would be using micromechanical switches but I guess MSI didn't want to compromise. To me this seems to be targeted towards the niche folk who really need serious desktop replacements. Great to have on the market and it will win them over some buyers for sure if other companies don't step up to the plate. I'd say Asus (ROG) is up next and then maybe Auros (Gigabyte) and finally Razer will be the people to try to utilize micromechanical switches most likely. (since I believe the Naga 2014 already uses a type of micromechanical switches already so it's not out of the question)
    Reply
  • a1r
    1) Laptop and games don't mix
    2) no way in heck would i be carrying a noisy clacky keyboard anywhere
    3) the only reason mechanical keyboards are useful isn't because they clack clack, that's what their big con was, it's because the IBM versions from the 80s and early 90s lasted decades (literally)
    Reply
  • cinnamon cider
    This'll probably be pretty heavy.
    Reply
  • Because0789
    @a1r
    1)Laptops and games don't mix for SOME people
    2) If you read the article you'd know that the switches are Brown and therefore with tactile but no audible feedback.
    3) They give you better feedback on whether you have pressed the key and are harder to accidentally press. As for noise, refer to #2
    Reply
  • mr grim
    Would be good if it had a couple of actuators to raise the keyboard up when you open the lid, not to mention it would look cool, I could imagine having them recessed like that would be pretty uncomfortable.
    Reply
  • hasten
    This is the second article in less than 5 in which a1r spreads his (uneducated) opinion as fact. Is this the new troller? Mechanical has a much better feel than membrane and anyone who has used one knows this.
    Reply
  • lightcloud
    Although I have loved MSI very much, great comfort and power. But this laptop has just ruined it all. I would never ever game with a laptop with a built in mechanical keyboard. I might as well just get a lousy Razer Key Switch keyboard. I really have never seen the worst keyboard in a long time...other than Razer's. ;)

    Let's hope it is not heavy than a desktop with that size of laptop and mechanical switches in there. :D

    Why MSI? You could have at least improved the design!! I still have hope, maybe 6 more months or I will just go with the Asus ROG.
    Reply
  • neon871
    I have the MSI GT70 Dragon Edition 2, all I can say is I'm not sorry I didn't buy an Alien ware. The Keyboard by SteelSeries is awesome!

    http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GT70_Dragon_Edition_2.html#hero-overview
    Reply