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The GE72 is a sharp-looking machine that falls behind its competitors in some regards, but really shines when taking price into consideration. The large display is welcome for the screen real estate, and it easily handled streaming content and had no problems with new game releases like Fallout 4. The keyboard is as attractive as it is comfortable, and the laptop just sounds fantastic. For $1,299, there really is nothing that compares to the GE72.
We liked
It almost doesn't seem like a 17-inch laptop should do as much as this one does for the price. MSI's latest Apache also looks everything the part of a modern gaming laptop, but it does so in a way that makes it look like a finely tuned performance machine – not some garish display of LEDs and cooling vents.
We disliked
For all the benefits of extra screen real estate, the bigger size makes it unpleasant to carry around. The short battery life is similarly an unfortunate knock against its portability. Plus, Norton Anti-virus is more like a virus itself.
Final verdict
The MSI GE72 Apache Pro just loses out to its competitors in terms of power, but being larger than the Gigabyte P55K V4 and lighter than the Asus ROG G751JY is a worthy trade-off. The minor shortcomings are also trivial, given the GE72's approachable price tag.
For gamers who want to untether themselves from the desktop, but still value great sound and a larger screen, the GE72 is a fantastic choice. It's not going to dazzle with new games set on Ultra, but with a 6th-gen Intel i7, its 960M graphics card, and 16GB of RAM, the GE72 can beat the console graphics for years to come.
Plus, this mobile rig can give new life to older titles usually heavily discounted during Steam sales. If you don't mind the abysmal battery life and have no qualms about a computer that needs to be lugged rather than carried, this is the mobile PC gaming machine for you.
