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yue-muffin · 4 years

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Time Raiders (2016)

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

In my quest to consume the entirety of the DMBJ franchise available in English, I have decided to start with the non-canon movie because at least this one has an ending, unlike the train wreck that is Reboot/Chongqi’s pacing. I will probably be bitter about that for all eternity, but I digress. I heard good things about the movie from the bird app, and as I am a Pingxie shipper at heart, I decided to finally watch this one.

P A R T O N E

The cut-in animation to the title was gorgeous, I do so love the qilin in every adaptation. It’s particularly striking here with the gold outline and geometric, maze-like lines. It looks like the cards at the very beginning were being arranged in the image of this qilin.

My first reaction upon seeing white people in a dmbj adaptation is: oh no, the English, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear perfect English that matches the actor’s lips! What a miracle, haha. I remember The Lost Tomb 2 being the worst for how many lines had to be in English, sob.

These look so cool. I see we start off with a good old “seeking immortality” antagonist, and an obsessed collector who has dedicated his whole life to this apparently. As usual, he is a scumbag threatening the locals.

The old guy’s accented English is also better than TLT2, ha. The breathy/nasal quality is not at all uncommon. I don’t know what language the locals speak though.

Me, immediately: Zhang Qiling already??

I know he appears in rather early in TLT1, TLT2, and Reboot/Chongqi, but he’s so often mysteriously absent or stuck behind a gate (or in Reboot’s case, put on a bus) that I got excited, ok.

My favorite Zhang Qilings are the cold-looking pretty boy types in terms of my mental image of the character, but this one is also very easy on the eyes and as usual, unfazed in the face of danger coming at him with a knife. This is the only series in which I’m not bothered by the constant cast change between adaptations (unlike Ever Night), I suppose since it’s been this way from the start.

I’m interested in seeing how the backstories differ from canon. It’s actually rather interesting that this is pretty much an official AU, like that’s kind of wild as a concept. I’m used to the late 1990s/early 2000s anime adding new characters and changing plot points and endings everywhere, but Time Raiders takes it a step further.

Zhang Qiling being an ultra-competent badass who doesn’t even need a weapon to take the bad guys down never changes, no matter the universe. He steamrolls everyone, no questions asked.

Did he- he break the blade with his bare hands hahaha. Oh, yup, and a Zhang Qiling with a weapon is even more dangerous. I see those severed fingers. Such a good fight scene and we’re not even 5 minutes into the movie.

I love how he could have simply fired the arrow while he was still on the statue, then jumped down, but he had to be Extra and fire while he was jumping off haha.

It- the divine piece was right there?? By “beneath the statue” I would have thought it would at least be under it, not in a convenient little slot on the side of the altar area haha. So Zhang Qiling’s mission is to destroy the divine piece(s)? To, um, save the world apparently.

WHO ARE YOU? What an excellent question to ask a Zhang Qiling (and that staring into the mirror shot, too.)… I wonder if this one even knows - it’s possible he doesn’t have his signature amnesia here.

Wait- a gate? I think it’s in a cave or something in the novels, but gates have significance in DMBJ. The cinematography is really nice in these mountain shots. I know nothing about film, but I like the shots in the snowy mountains.

This Zhang Qiling knows and practices martial arts on screen! You would think he’d pull some moves normally, but in the drama-adaptations he tends to just beat people up as efficiently as possible. Sometimes with his sword. Other times he just fights ‘em. I have to admit Jing Boran looks excellent going through some forms. He nailed the force and power underlying every movement, then exploding outward with a strike. I do like the impression it leaves.

I, on the other hand, am an absolute noodle and look ridiculous when I do martial arts.

What in the world is happening in this flashback scene with the weird CGI qilin. Ah, it’s when he received his tattoo. That was super dramatic.

Wushanju is looking real edgy with the heavy iron gate on the interior, haha.

He is puzzling (ha!) over those cards so intensely you’d think it was a thousand piece puzzle instead haha. You’re almost there! Just a few more to finish the qilin!

Aw, is this our Wu Xie? Haha his facial hair is- hm. But I love his voice it’s so soft. Really fits that “Mr. Naive” vibe.

Is that. Is that the author of the series. I found out that he makes cameos in almost all (if not all of) the adaptations!

NO. ONLY I CAN FINISH THE PUZZLE. HANDS OFF BUDDY.

Why are there so many pigeons in here. Who let them inside.

A writer, who came to hear his story and turn it into a novel- HA yup it’s the author.

“This should be a story about me and him.”

Ahh I’m loving it already. DMBJ is the ultimate bromance story. Fair warning, I do ship Pingxie so my shipper goggles will be on throughout the movie. But even without shipping, you do have to admit the series is a bromance underneath all the mystery – between the Iron Triangle, between Wu Xie and Xiaoge.

This Wu Xie is a photographer and that is sort of adorable. Already there’s a theme emerging of needing to record events and telling stories. Interesting that he wants to turn his memories into a novel to record his experiences, because otherwise he’s afraid those memories might turn into a mere story in his own head. Wu Xie, that’s a worrying mindset.

Those ancient mask things always make me crack up, I don’t know why.

Ooh, background about Wu Xie’s birth into the Wu family. I’ve never read up to the part in the books where they go into his place in the family in detail. To be fair, his grandfather had three sons and only one of them had any kids – and Wu Xie is his parents’ only child. So, he becomes the only one who can really carry on the family legacy. Aw, I really like seeing his extended family present though! In the dramas we only ever get either his Second or Third Uncle, and he rarely ever mentions his parents even though they’re alive.

And there’s his namesake! The origin of his nickname, and the irony once the story gets into the Sha Hai timeline.

Wu Xie was a bit of a rascal as a kid, haha. To be fair he has a pretty sharp tongue in the novels and is mostly a pure cinnamon roll in the early dramas.

Little Wu Xie in a suit is so adorable. Nooo kid don’t go into locked up abandoned places. He’s already so adventurous haha. Seems that it’s not actually abandoned judging by all the lights on, but.

UH. MASKED MAN BEHIND YOU. I think he wants that item back. This is why you don’t go into abandoned places, kid. He definitely does not learn his lesson though. Also why are you still holding onto that thing, just drop it, I think he wants it back.

Haha he kept one of the coins.

WOAH. Every month someone in your family dies?? That’s uh- sort of traumatic. Also that would be a really good first line for a novel…Just saying. I do love the singing though.

Oh, the Nine Families exist in this universe too! They even give a quick explanation about the ranking system.

Oh yeah, I love how Wu Xie is such a nerd for all this knowledge of ancient texts and tombs. And YES HE FINALLY DOCUMENTS STUFF FOR ONCE.

Uncle Three looked dead for a moment there, scared the shit out of me too.

VAMPIRE MOTHS? Oh I hate bugs I would not be okay lol. WHOOPS. You guys are really good at reading ancient texts on the fly lol.

That’s the mask he has in the beginning of the film, isn’t it. NO DON’T TOUCH THINGS IN TOMBS. AHHH. So you just put it on your face?? Well that was a stupidly simple way to open the door. I’m guessing the creator didn’t care if anyone opened it.

This guy just severed his own arm, ok…and how many years later is his hand still clinging to it? UH. THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T TOUCH THINGS IN TOMBS. Then he proceeds to steal the box thing.

Ah the white dude again. I am so happy there is GOOD ENGLISH though haha.

Oh, hi Zhang Qiling. Just hanging out on a rooftop I see.

He looks so melancholy. Someone give him a hug! This adaptation makes him more human, less stoic robotic superhuman, I noticed. You rarely see him eat or drink anything in the other adaptations, but here he’s just chilling on a rooftop having some drinks haha. It’s ok. I love all the Zhang Qilings.

WHAT THE HELL, LIGHTNING? What the hell is this high tech machinery haha. Eight days? Coincidentally eight days after sitting in a tomb for how many years.

That is a very Extra bookcase to hold a book that apparently has ALL the secrets.

WOW that is a fancy notebook. It looks so beat up in the other versions haha. In this one, it even gets its own hidden shelf in a giant portable bookshelf!

The props for this franchise are so cool and detailed. I always wish they would show more of the creative process in the BTS, I’m such a nerd for that stuff. The Longest Day in Chang’an was pretty good at that, which is half of my enjoyment of that show haha!

I’m also still pleasantly surprised they bothered to incorporate other languages. I’m not sure what the Snake Lady and the old man in the beginning were speaking, but at least the English is good.

I can’t believe they worked in a steampunk chastity belt this movie went all out, huh. Also with these weirdly high tech structures and lightning and moving tomb structures.

And all the pieces start coming together! So that’s why it’s believed they hold the secret to immortality. What a steampunk-looking key.

Is that a writing desk??

Oh, they’re getting a team together to go tomb raiding! Ha, forget money! You may or may not end up dying on this adventure, so who cares about money, right.

He’s so cute standing there with his camera. Look at the little smile as he watches everything going on!

It’s a desk and a storage container?? Oh, there are ~qualifications~ to going on tomb raiding. Makes sense. That is the oddest looking sword.

Must appreciate Zhang Qiling’s fingers in every adaptation. They look very strong and steady here. Let’s not talk about the slooow trailing across the handle.

Wow did you really just throw sand in his face. Have we not learned not to mess with Zhang Qiling after he trounced that first guy who attacked him. I love the fight scenes so much after the bore-fest that was Reboot/Chongqi’s second half of Season 1.

Super pretty, but why did it cause him to stop and stare in the middle of the fight?

This is like a Final Fantasy sword haha. Also I think you should stop while you’re ahead, why did you think a table would stop this dude. (Hey, it’s Da Kui! He was in the novel but not TLT1.).

It’s HERE. Their first meeting. How did he know the coin was on that cord? It wasn’t visible, I don’t think. But uh. That was a hilarious move on his part, he is so Extra?? He just casually flicks the necklace off with his big-ass sword and it drops into his hand. Then casually goes “oh, here, you dropped this” as if he wasn’t the one responsible for it coming off in the first place!!

HERE IT COMES. The unnecessarily long eye contact. Pingxie in every adaptation needs a Staring Into Your Eyes scene.

Real smooth.

Ahh this Wu Xie is such a cutie. He’s like a puppy.

WHAT. Third Uncle, I can’t believe you let him tag along so easily haha. In the beginning he was scolding Wu Xie to never get involved in tomb business, then what happens? They’re going tomb raiding!!

Next Up: to the tomb we go! This can’t end badly or anything what are you talking about.

#daomubiji #time raiders #dmbj #盗墓笔记 #image heavy post #perhaps don't view on mobile #in which i lose my mind for 2 hours #the muffin's liveblogging adventures

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idk-loving-kpop · 5 years

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FYI SUPER LONG POST! You have be warn, but still show it some love. okay!

OKAY!!! Super excited!!! Cause 1 this is the LAST ONE I have before I open my ships again. 2 I LOVE doing my “triple threats” with BTS. Okay cause after Super Junior, BTS is my bias group (no thanks to my friend who ask me to go to their concert, literally I went to their concert & became a fan of them because I saw them live.)

This person sent me the request via messaging ... She requested Selca, Written & Astrology.

When people request all 3 ships this is how I do them.

1st : Selca - To me easiest ones you can do. I base it on looks & vibe.

2nd: Written - How person describes his/herself looks & personalities. The more details the better. JUST DON’T START WRITING YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *lol*

3rd: Astrology - This take me the longest to do because especially if I have to compare DOB. And I have to check astrology signs for the members, which at this point I have some memorized, but some I don’t.

----------------------------- LET US BEGIN -----------------------------

DOB: DAY/MONTH/YEAR

I'm 5'4, slim thick/hourglass figure (a uk size 8 but my breast are +DD and my waist is 24 inches so it gets hidden by my boobs a lot which is honestly kind of annoying), I have brown eyes, and naturally dark brown hair buts its bleached platinum blonde and its shoulder length.

I am a ambivert. I can be outgoing when a want but its usually around people i'm comfortable around or familiar surroundings. but I can also be quite withdrawn and shy especially around someone I like. I have social anxiety which makes me a lot more quiet around new people or in situations which involve public speaking (I even start shaking because my anxiety levels spike so high). I love music and am always singing. I can't dance but I really love dancing and at one point wanted to be a dancer but I never really got a chance to take any lessons or anything so...yeah. I'm a creative person so I enjoy art such as drawing and painting when I feel motivated to. I love love love reading my favourite book is probably The hobbit by Tolkien. tbh i'm interested in anything that tickles my fancy. I'm a huge nerd! Anime, memes, vines, manga, video games I love it all. My fave video games are interactive ones like Tomb Raider, Outlast, Uncharted, Dead Space, etc. I'm studying History and Archaeology at Uni and museums are my second home. Although I am quite soft spoken and kind hearted (I literally cry if something on tv is heart-warming or sad like if a dad and his son have a heart to heart and hug or something) BUT I am also outspoken. My BS meter is low so if someone is chatting shit about something i don't agree with such a racism. sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, men staring or harassing women or girl, etc I have to say something. I just can't sit there and let it be. I am quite outdoorsy I love working out, running, martial arts, football, etc. I grew up going football club and taking karate and MMA so I've always been pretty active. also lowkey i'm a huge tree-hugger (literally and mentally) I once bumped into a tree and hugged it and said sorry....I studied Geography in High school and sixth form so i'm very passionate about the environment, animals, etc. P.S. I LOOOVE ANIMALS mainly cats overall I am a huge sucker for animals. I'm also a older sibling so i'm quite protective of the ones I love and literally would do anything for them or to protect them. I have insomnia so i'm a night owl but I've always been like that I usually only sleep for about 4-5 hours and i'm good to go. I love having deep conversations late at night with my sister, thinking about trippy things like what the meaning of life is and if aliens exist or if planet of the apes actually happened and what would we do? I also really enjoy movies; mainly horror movies even though they scare the shit out of me, I still watch them. Also i'm all about girls supporting girls. Girl power all the way. I also south Asian so desi culture is also very important and very prominent in the way I behave. I usually speak a mixture of Urdu and English in my sentences as opposed to just speaking one language at a time. I really love languages so i'm also learning Korean and i'm studying latin at Uni. i think that's all.....i'm pretty sure i left something out but it feels like I've been typing for years so i'm going to stop now...soz if this is a lot. also i wrote this as fast as i can so i apologise for the spelling and grammar mistakes

Damn ... I didn’t know how much you wrote until I copied & pasted on the post . *lol* ... It didn’t seem that long when I was reading it. Ok, so I put in bold stuff that stood out to me ok.

FYI shout to all the girls w/ big boob problems ... I have the same issue it is really annoying. I joke w/ my friend all the time that I would give her half of my boobs / body fat cause she is skinny a flat . *lmao*

I can’t help myself so I will make some comments ... I am the same way, I can’t sing or dance (even though I am Latina) but I do it anyways because ever sine I was little I love music & boy groups. So I will keep on doing me. I have a great work environment that we do that at work sometimes too. I’m not a talented in the arts what so ever. But I have always loved and appreciated them.

That is so interesting that you are studying that in Uni. History has always been my favorite subject, quiet a nerd when it comes to almost got a perfect score on my state test when I was in school (fyi I hated school but I liked learning). Not many people study that in Uni/College.

The tree incident made me laugh so much ... Again your not alone cause I sure do have a picture when I was on a high school trip of me hugging a tree. *lmao*

The meaning of life, is different for everyone. We can’t have functioning society without everyone doing their own part. Everyone life means something, no life is great than another life.

Aliens do exist. Our universe is so big for just the human race to exist. Also I grew up watching Star Trek and I like watching Doctor Who.

If planets of the apes happen I would die.

When I read “girl power” literally said it like Spice Girls with the peace sign & everything …

Okay I will shut up now & get to the ships …

Western Sign: Pisces Eastern Sign: Tiger “Ideal” Partners for Pisces: Cancer and Scorpio “Ideal” Partners for Tiger: Horse and Dog

BTS Selca – JHope (Aquarius / Dog)

BTS Written – RM (Virgo / Dog)

BTS Astrology – Suga (Pisces / Rooster)

Western – Suga

Eastern – RM & Jhope

Comparing DOB Suga matched better, followed by Hobi a close second and then Namjoon.

Shout out to V who came in 2nd place on my Selca & Written.

Stray Kids Selca – Hyunjin (Pisces / Dragon)

Stray Kids Written – Lee Know (Scorpio / Tiger)

Stray Kids Astrology – Lee Know (Scorpio / Tiger)

Western – Lee Know & Hyunjin

Eastern – Lee Know

And NO I didn’t plan it like this it sort of just happen. And yea it is a lil freaky that Astrology ships kinda had the answers to Selca & Written … For Stray Kids couldn’t find much of their personality or ideal type so I kinda based it on hobbies more than anything. Probably has the years go by & they do more interviews and stuff, I can better match them with people.

Hope you like your results.

And let me know what y’all think!

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justtheendoftheday · 5 years

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AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)

“Mr. Weyland, what I told you in there wasn’t bullshit. If you rush this, people will get hurt. Maybe die.”

A strange energy reading leads a team of explorers to an ancient extraterrestrial pyramid located underneath a remote island in Antarctica. But things take a turn for the worse when they learn that the structure is actually the battleground for a race of extraterrestrial hunters and their deadly alien prey.

Fright: 1.5 / 5 Crossover Events

To the movie’s credit, when it tries to generate horror it actually does an alright job. That being said, it almost never tries. The majority of the time it sacrifices scares to go for a more Action-flick kinda vibe.

Gore: 3 / 5 Incidental Alien Autopsies

Okay, so there’s certainly some gore. But it’s not the usual sort.

I mean, sure, there’s some impaling, bits are chopped off, chests are burst, organs are seen, etc. But the gory stuff is almost always one crazy alien doing something gory to another crazy alien. Outside of getting stabbed, there’s an oddly minimal amount of anything being shown done to a human. Some messed up stuff is implied to have happened to them, yes, but you almost never see it.

Jump Scares: Light

There’s certainly some potential startles, but it’s more of an action flick than a horror one, so it never bothers attempting any serious jumps.

Review:

While it certainly delivers a lot of Alien and Predator action, it never fully grasps onto any of the deeper elements from the respective franchises. If all you want is some Who-would-win-in-a-fight-between style action, it certainly delivers. However, it doesn’t really offer anything much beyond that.

Thoughts:

There is something weirdly human about wondering who would win in various bizarre fantasy fights scenarios.

And what deeper expression of that is there then the weirdly long-running existence of Alien vs. Predators stories.

But the big question on everyone’s minds is whose decision was it to name it “AVP”?? I’m dying to know who was in charge of that decision.

Am I wrong here? I think we can all agree that “Alien vs. Predator” is a much better title. There’s just something about a “AVP” that that screams old people trying really hard to sound “cool.”

Anyhoo, before we get into it I should let you know a couple things:

I have only seen the theatrical PG-13 version of this one. I’ve heard word that there’s an extended unrated version, but I think it’s only available on fancy home media versions and thus I’ve never seen it.

Despite the fact that the filmmakers wanted AVP to be canonical for both franchises, both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant chose to completely disregard it. And I honestly can’t blame them, because this movie is so clearly meant to just be ridiculous action fun. So please don’t waste your time trying to figure out how this thing fits into the timeline.

Okay? So with that out of the way, here’s why AVP bugs me: it pays homage to all sorts of memorable visual elements of its respective franchises, but doesn’t even attempt to pay homage to any of their themes. So yeah, there’s predator heat vision and sneaking around all invisible. And sure, there’s chest bursting, facehugging, wee-little-mouth frenching, and all that good stuff.

But…that’s about it. If you look past those flashy actiony bits the film is rather thematically hollow.

The original franchises had very different styles, but like all horror movies they were both stories of survival. A big part of what makes stories of survival so intriguing is the excitement of seeing characters being pushed to their limits only to overcome them. We want to watch with rapt excitement as people are put against impossible odds only to keep going through sheer feats of wit, skill, and sheer determination.

And yet AVP basically puts all the characters into a death trap from which escape is more or less impossible. Characters are put up against impossible odds and then...well, then they just die.

It isn’t a story of survival so much as it is a string of people/aliens dying in X-treme ways. Everyone kind of feels like a redshirt more than a flesh-out character, because their choices never really have any impact and they’re really only there as meat for the grinder.

Now to be fair here, lots of movies sacrifice story and fulfilling character arcs for the sake of hardcore action. But this one takes it to such an extreme that they don’t even bother letting you know what most of the characters’ names are. And yet a while into the movie someone will be all like “WHATSYOURFACE! NOOOOO!” and I’m sitting over here thinking “wait, that dude had a name?”

When it comes to a movie like this the real question is who is this movie for? The way I see it there are three types of people that would be intrigued by AVP:

People who want to see a movie that delves deeper into the lore of these respective franchises.

People who love bizarre B-horror movies.

People who just want to see xenomorphs have crazy fights with Predators.

If you’re in the first category and are looking for a movie that provides an interesting addition to your beloved Alien and Predator franchises? Well, you should probably lower your expectations.

But what if you already know the premise is inherently silly-good-fun and just want a crazy action fest, chalk full of predators (aka Yaujita/Hish-qu-Ten) and Aliens (aka xenomorphs) taking out humans and each other with signature style?

Well this movie certainly has lots of that!

Is it a quality example of that though? Well...that’s up for debate.

—————————————

content warnings: ummm...shockingly I don’t think there are any serious ones here.

after-credits scene?: None.

—————————————

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Country of Origin: USA...

[also the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Germany, and Canada? I’m really not sure of what the story behind that is.]

Language: English

Setting: Bouvetøya Island, Antarctica

Sequel: Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

If you liked this you might also like: Aliens (1986), Predator (1987), Tomb Raider (2018), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), Sadako vs. Kayako (2016)

—————————————

Context Corner:

Although it may seem odd, the connection between the Alien and Predator franchises actually goes back decades.

So the basic timeline goes like this:

Alien was the first one to hit the scene way back in 1979.

Then 7 years later (1986) its sequel Aliens was released.

A year after that (aka 1987) we got Predator.

The two franchises had nothing to do with one another, but they were both distributed by 20th Century Fox. Then later both franchises were licensed to the comic book publisher Dark Horse Comics.

The first time the world saw the two extraterrestrials cross paths was in a Randy Stradley and Chris Warner’s “Alien vs. Predator” chapter in Dark Horse Presents issue #36 in 1990.

Shortly thereafter the connection resurfaces as a pretty great easter egg in the 1990 film Predator 2, wherein you can see a xenomorph skull on the trophy wall in the Predator’s ship.

And ever since then it’s been a thing. Way before this movie ever came into being there were tons of Alien/s vs. Predator books, comics, video games (including a pinball video game), and even board games.

If you think Alien vs. Predator is still a slightly whacky concept, I feel compelled to mention that the crossover madness could have gone so much deeper! There are MULTIPLE examples of comics wherein the xenomorphs and predators encounter Batman...and Superman...and sometimes BOTH!

[I’m 100% serious. Look it up.]

—————————————

“I wish you’d reconsider coming with us, Lex. Come on, don’t make me pull out pictures of my kids again.”

“Your kids aren’t that cute.”

“What if we got pictures of other peoples’ kids?”

“Want my advice?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Stay on the boat.”

#AVP #Alien vs Predator #Paul W.S. Anderson #2004 #2000s

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eorzeasntm · 6 years

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ENTM Tumblr Cycle 10 Round 8 Results

For the final round this cycle, I asked the models to show off their All Saint’s Wake costumes! The usual cosplay round rules were thrown out and our models could go for something spooky on their own, or pick a more well known costume to wear.

The models all picked some great costumes, but the winner of our All Saint’s Wake costume contest this year was:

Nadede Lasalle!

What a fun way to finish out the cycle! The judges felt your costume, composition, and pose were all in perfect keeping with your inspiration source.

Since this was the last round of the cycle, this was our model’s last chance to earn points for the final tally.

To the cast of Cycle 10: You all have been the friendliest, most honest and fun cast that I’ve worked with yet (including all the times I’ve competed and judged) and I’m so glad that all of you have participated. Everyone is welcome to audition again for future cycles, and to continue sharing the love on the ENTM Discord.

You are also the final Tumblr Cycle to crown a “top model” - and that winner will be announced shortly here on Tumblr!

In the meantime, our judges have the final set of critiques as well as parting words for the models below.

Judge Kusuh

To start: All of you, great job this cycle. This is my first time judging an ENTM cycle and it has been a wonderful experience made even better by the talent and hardworking attitudes you all posses. Do me a favor and look back at the first shot you submitted to this cycle, and now look at your final. I guarantee that you will see a very noticeable difference between that shot and the current one. Every single one of you should be proud of what you've learned and accomplished. I hope to see all in future cycles of ENTM, or at least on the discord! Now! On to the final critiques:

Adam: Starting off, this image gives me some very creepy vibes. This is not someone I would want to encounter anywhere that wasn't well-lit, and even then I would hesitate. Monotone was an excellent filter choice here, as it gives off a spooky night aesthetic. Your facial expression is also top notch, as well as your choice of location. I....honestly don't have a lot of nitpicks this week for you. The simplicity of the shot is its greatest strength, but if I had to nitpick (which I do) I'd say that the simplicity of the shot is also its greatest weakness. Remember, when there is not a lot going on in the shot, the background becomes that much more important. You choice of area was excellent, but my eyes are drawn away from you after the initial shock, and are drawn up to the floating tower in the background. I'm left wondering, why is that there? Just something to keep in mind. Your shots these past weeks have always been something I look forward to, and I was always interested to see what new take on a theme you came up with. Great job, and I can't wait to see where you go with your new skills!

Chee: This is hands down the most accurate Lara Croft cosplay I have seen in game, and I have to give you immediate props for nailing the look! Your choice of location was also great! I rarely seen Qarn used as a "ruins" area and I think that's a shame- it's got such great potential! Your action pose does well to pay tribute to the Tomb Raider herself; you look like you're on a very dangerous mission and are ready to kick and shoot anyone in your way. Here's my parting suggestion for this image: you've got a great angle for capturing and framing dynamic poses, now it's time to play with zoom and lens length. In gpose, the scroll zoom and the camera zoom you adjust in the menu are two different things, and that can lead to some really interesting looks! For example, with a similar pose, set the menu zoom to 0, and then zoom all the way in with the regular zoom. This will set you up for a very movie-like dynamic shot by messing with the perspective. It's really hard to describe in text, though, so I can only encourage you to go give it a shot! Your shots each week have always been true works of screenshot art, and you really push what can be done within the bounds of the gpose system, making it seem limitless. Keep it up in your future works!

Lantis: Can't. Stop. Showing. This. Screenshot. To. Everyone! Seriously. I love the dance posing the most, it really gives the sense of this being an action pose, and that I'm actually looking at a still frame in a music video. You've also done well to make sure you stand out compared to your extras by making sure that their outfits don't outshine yours. The film grain filter was also a good touch as a callback to the original music video. You went above and beyond with your commitment to the source material, you didn't just use the outfit, you made sure everything matched! Here's my final suggestion for this image: you are still pretty dark for being the star of this show! Very closely placed lights at a low level should be enough to spotlight you while keeping your backup dancers out of the limelight. You've improved so much over the past few weeks, you're clearly listening to what all the judges have had to say. Keep taking screenshots and keep showing the world what you can do!

And now, here are my parting words for all the models:

Nadede:You are another one who always brings unique takes on the theme each week, and it's always amazing to see! You've really nailed the background effects with this filter, and you clearly have an eye for the small details! Ni'ko: Never ever did I expect to see someone cosplay RuPaul! You are excellent at making sure your shots have a story and drawing the viewer into the world you have created. Keep it up!

Lily:Every week you've had your shots planned out to the finest point and detail, and this week is no exception! Be very proud of what you do, and keep using that attention to detail to make your shots even stronger and you grow!

Cowbot: You've legit surprised me every week! Each week you've stepped up to the challenge and grown from your critiques. You know how to take advice and apply it immediately. This shot is 100% the crown jewel of your growth over this cycle, and you should be very proud. James:You are one of the models that also pays very close attention to the story you are telling, and each shot brings a smile to my face, and you always know how to hit the mark for a great stab of emotion or feeling in your shots. Keep going and sharing what you have!

Ysildor: You have an amazing eye for framing and poses. I can always tell at a glance what each character is feeling, and what the overall "mood" of a shot is. You always make excellent use of the space you're given, and that's a skill that has only grown in these past weeks. I'm looking forward to the future!

Azalea:You're another model who has improved by leaps and bounds this cycle! Every week I would look at a shot and instantly see that you took your suggestions from last week and put them to work! Be proud of how far you've come, and use that momentum to keep going further!

Wren:You have a knack for unique takes on the themes given. Over this competition, I can see that you've put yourself outside your comfort zone to really make your shots pop and move to the next level! Thank you for sharing your work this cycle!

Haila:You have a sense of artistry in each of your shots that I feel can only come from lots of practice and work. Each shot looks like it has taken weeks to perfect, way before the theme list was announced! Like everyone else, you can only go up from here. Thank you for coming to this cycle to join the ENTM community. Rymm: You are another model I would like to praise for always applying your critiques each week! Your shots always have an excellent sense of mood and a great execution of technique. You've improved so much over the past few weeks, great job!

Ona: You have shown a drive and willingness to improve at a level I haven't seen in a long time! You got where you are by the amount of hard work you have taken each week into improving yourself and your techniques. That drive is only going to make you stronger, so keep it up!

Judge Rongi Pongi

Cowbot: You've produced some of your best shots in this cycle for sure. Rounds 2, 4, and 8 were a stand out for you! I know you struggle with your size as a lalafel, so definitely work on zooming in on your character to really boost their presence. In a lot of rounds this cycle you were just too far away from the camera. Your focus on scenery and background though shows that you know how to take a strong screen shot! You just need to work on the most important aspect of the screenshot (for this type of competition) which is you! Definitely look into cycles past, and study how your fellow lalafel take screenshots! I think you have a real passion for this, and you take every critique and use it to grow. I am excited to see you again in future cycles! Good luck!

James: Throughout the cycle you've shown that you have a knack for setting up scenes and balancing them within the frame of your shots. Round 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 's compositions were really great. I wish we had seen more of that in your other rounds as well. I'm not sure if you were using a certain filter during the first half of the cycle, but it gave all your shots this light and airy dream color that made your images less sharp than your competitors. Your Round 7 shot was SHARP! This round 8 shot just didn't scream creepy or halloween to me, so definitely watch your theme-matching! If you compete in future cycles, I'd watch your use of filters and background choices. With your ability to set up scenes, I think you can go really far. Good luck!

Wren: I love unexpected cosplays like this one and not only is the outfit choice perfect, but the location is as well. One of my favorite shots of the week. Amazing way to end the cycle! Over the course of the cycle, you really hid your face a lot using abilities and a backshot. We finally saw your face clearly in Round 4, but in Round 5 it was concealed again. It wasn't until Rounds 6, 7, and 8 that you started zooming in on your face. I really wish you had done so sooner! In those rounds, your shots were some of my favorites. Looking at them all together at once, you are doing almost the same expression in each one, so I would watch out for that in the future. If you ever compete again, don't be camera shy! When you zoom in on your character you really shine! Maybe you are more into ability shots that show off the flashly abilities, but save those for action/battle rounds that specifically call for them. I hope we see you again in future cycles because I see a lot of potential! These last 3 weeks showed that. Good luck in the future!!

Judge Vederah

Halia: From a glamour-build standpoint, the main pieces you chose to recreate Scathach Skadi we're top notch. I love that you seemed to have kept the overall design structure in mind when selecting the pieces (i.e. the high neckline, slightly off shoulder, and vertical stripes of the top with the criscross pattern in the boots.) From a screenshot perspective, however, this image fell a little short for me. If you intend on showcasing the glamour, you cannot allow any part of it to be cropped. All it would've taken is the camera to be pulled out further away from the character for us to really get a good look at this glam in all its splendor. It would've been one thing if the backdrop was very plain or would've taken away from the image- but I almost like the background as much as I do the cosplay. I just wish you would've let us see more of it. Nadede: There's a tricky balance when it comes to in game cosplay. You have to pick elements of the character's outfit that you find the most important to replicate and allow yourself to compromise on some things while working with the vast (but limited) glamour options within this game. I think the choice of chest piece for this was perfect. We've got the high neckline with the slits along the thighs- two features this look would have to have. Personal preference would've rathered the lace details on the thigh-highs that you'd get from the Songbird skirt since there are so few items in this game that have actual lace on them. But as I said that's strictly just personal preference. Screenshot composition here is just as nice as the glam. I love that the character is in action without being muddied by too many spell graphics. I love the neutral color scheme and the lighting--- and that pencil effect really worked in your favor here. The image itself looks like it came from actual game concept art. Really visually interesting.

Judge M (missing)

Judge Kai

To all models: It has been a pleasure to look over your images every week, seeing how you improve from week to week, and you have!

Ni'ko, I love your tendency for a bright pop of color and feel like this last image was so very you!

Cowbot, you get better and better every time I see your images and it really looks like you have a lot of fun!

Wren, I loved seeing you go from far away shots to closer shots that showed the beauty of your character!

Haila, you have such interesting and dynamic shots. From your dark and stormy to this week, I love seeing your ideas!

Azalea, I feel like you're always pushing to create something beautiful and interesting and it pays off!

Lantis, you do an amazing job with your action shots, and I loved seeing them week after week! Definitely a strength!

James, I loved some of the ideas you came up with this cycle, and will say your summoning one was a favorite of mine!

Chee, you do a great job at changing the mood and feel of your images from week to week. Always excited to see what you'll do!

Adam, you impress me from week to week with the ideas you come up with, and ever shot just seems to get better and better!

As for my critiques:

Lily: First off, I love this game and I'm happy you did it. I think this is a great shot, and I love how it's almost scene for scene the same as the game! From the outfit to the enemy wandering away, you have done a great job fitting every little nuisance into this image. I mean, seriously, you even have the pose and that is a commitment to detail! It could have been a touch brighter, but overall great job! It's been fun looking over all of your images this cycle, and thank you for all of your lovely shots!

Ona: This is lovely, and while I knew what you were going for, the quote just nailed it home! I love the lighting in this, it reminds me of moonlight filtering throughout the room. I also love how lost and worried your character looks. it was perfect for setting the scene. I'll admit I didn't see the wolf at first, but when I blew it up to really look it over I had to giggle! This is a great shot, and I think you did a wonderful job! Thank you for being part of this cycle, it's been a pleasure!

Ysildor: I really love this game, and I found it amusing that two different models did the same game, and gave to totally different feels. From the background lighting to the set up of the scene, I think you did a great job overall with this image! I do which that you were turned a bit more to the camera so we saw you a bit better, but the feelings I get from this image are amazing. I've seen you improve throughout this cycle, and to me, this is your best one yet! Great job and thank you for joining this cycle!

Judge M’Telhigo

First of all. Whether you won a round, the entire thing, or neither one. You are still a winner. So many people would have convinced themselves that they couldn’t do it or simply give up. All of you stayed with it.

This is my last round being active with ENTM for the foreseeable future and maybe for good. I am fairly certain that I will be getting a job that I have been pursuing and would love to have, but will kill my work/life balance for quite some time. I am happy if you all be the last group that I am active with!!

Ni’ko – I like the pose and while I have never watched Ru Paul, from what I know, this would be a pose that she would strike. While she also has a pink background, her dress is a deep blue which really sets her apart from the background as well as her bright hair color. You have so much pink going on in your picture that I think it overloads it a bit. Adding in that it seems that you have a lot of white light on yourself, and your outfit is also pink/purple, I do think your change to blonde hair was a very good change and I agree with it. No matter what anyone says or thinks, you have to be who you are and make your pictures speak about that. If you do that one thing, you can’t ever have a bad picture day.

Azalaea – OMG, I remember watching them. Lmao. I really liked the PowerPuff Girls. I like quite a bit of what you are doing with this picture. It was among the gaggle of pictures that I had to take some time to sort out because I liked them all! While I kind of dislike the inversion of Bubbles and Buttercup bothered me a very small amount, the only thing that I wished was for Bubbles to be in the same pose as Buttercup. I think having both of them in that jump pose would have been a very nice addition. Something with your hands up too would have been nice but not really a big deal. Regardless, I liked this picture very much and you made me smile so for that, thank you.

Rymm – Ooh, spooky picture. I like your coloring very much! I think you nailed it on outlining yourself very well but I think it may have been a little too much, I had some difficulty making out your details. Just a smidge more light, but not much could have helped with that, I am not sure what the white thing next to your hand is and what is its significance? I really wanted to see just a tiny bit more of what is going on behind you since I can almost see it; maybe full dark behind you could have been better but would create too much dead space too. If the only real thing I can talk about changing is your outfit, then you know it has to be good!

Honorable mentions this week:

Wren – I am so happy to see that you are continuing to show us your pretty character. You listened to our advice and critiques and adjusted to that. Not everyone would take the criticism as well and I hope you compete again sometime soon.

Nadede – I really like some of what you have done this season. I especially like your entry this week. I like how you pop against a very colorful and varied background. I hope you win this week!

Ona – Out of everyone, you were the only person to ask us directly what we liked and disliked. I can see that you listened to each and every one of us and you won the last round, you should be so proud of that! I also hope to see you come back again too!

Even though I only mentioned them specifically, I hope everyone that wants to compete again does so. We are a community based group and can’t have a community based group without a community. A lot of that comes from the models, which are all of you.

Thank you for participating and sharing all the screenshots. I appreciate them.

#ffxiv #entm #eorzea's next top model #entm tumblr cycle 10

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pixelgrotto · 6 years

Photo

The horrific Resident Evil playthrough, part seven

Resident Evil 4 is where the series began for a lot of people. It’s also where the series ended for a lot of people, because while the franchise had occasionally focused more on action rather than horror in the past - I first started noticing this in RE3 - Resident Evil 4 doesn’t hesitate in letting you know from the onset that this is a “STRAP IN, WE GONNA BLOW SOME ASSHOLES UP” kind of game. Goodbye to fixed camera angles, hello to a new behind-the-shoulder perspective designed to emphasize gunplay. Goodbye to a teeny tiny inventory that forces you to think about which items you really need, hello to an expandable briefcase that might still be limited, but is practically gargantuan compared to what you had to deal with in the old games. Goodbye to the Leon Kennedy of Resident Evil 2, who was still a rookie in the Raccoon City Police Department and went through the latter half of the game with a bandaged chest after a bullet temporarily put him out of commission. Hello to Leon Kennedy the Secret Service Action Star, who barely takes a scratch over the course of his 20 hour adventure to rescue the president’s daughter and can even take enemies to Suplex City when you’re in close quarters and presented with a big button prompt that reads SUPLEX!

It’s all a lot to take in at first, especially for someone like me who’s playing the Resident Evils in chronological order and really got used to the methodical, conservative play style that the series had cultivated until now. But once I stopped laughing at the fact that Leon could now kick enemy heads off, I began to appreciate Resident Evil 4′s ultra tight pacing, where nary a moment is wasted and you’re constantly rushing from extravagant set piece to set piece, leaving oodles of bullet shells in your wake. Let me reiterate that the pacing is just so good - you never feel bored, because one minute you’ll be fending off a mutated salamander in a lake, the next you’ll be fighting a giant monster that looks like the Lord of the Rings cave troll, and then you’ll suddenly be confronted with an army of Ganados - Spanish cult members who’ve been taken over by parasitic chestbusters and serve as the replacement zombies of this game - all intent on tossing pitchforks through your spleen. There’s never a moment to rest (I mean that in a good way) and no unnecessary filler distractions, aside from an amusing shooting gallery mini-game that’s available at occasional intervals thanks to Resident Evil 4′s mysterious Merchant, a masked dude with a Cockney accent who always just happens to be around to sell Leon new guns and seems to be above the giant conflict involving cultists that rages around him. (Seriously, who is this guy? He looks like a Ganado but he’s totally chill! Is he an arms dealer manipulating the cultists for profit? Is he Chris Redfield in disguise, watching everything from the sidelines and doing his best My Fair Lady impression as he makes sure that Leon’s in tip-top shape to perform all those suplexes? Is he a representation of GOD?!)

Resident Evil 4 might be 13 years old at this point, but it still holds up, which is perhaps a reason why this game has been ported to damn near everything, even the goshdarned only-available-in-Latin America Zeebo. In fact, it might even be more refreshing to play today than it was in 2005, since nowadays big budget action titles are infected with so much bloat, kind of like the Las Plagas parasites that have infested the Ganados in this game. If Resident Evil 4 were released in this day and age, you can be sure it’d be some sort of open world thing with dozens of side missions and collectible doodads spread all over the map, kind of like the Tomb Raider reboot games, which share a similar vibe of intense action but lack the perfect pacing due to their excessive modern design. At the very least, the extra modes that are unlocked upon completing the main scenario, including two where you play as Ada Wong (who, like Leon, has undergone an action movie evolution from regular spy in Resident Evil 2 to SUPER SEXY CATWOMAN SPY) would most certainly be sold as extra DLC now for 10 bucks each. So for me at least, Resident Evil 4 lived up to the hype and even gained a few bonus points for being a breath of fresh air in 2018. However, while I’m perfectly prepared to accept Resident Evil as an action-orientated franchise from this point forward, I wouldn’t put myself in the camp of people who say the series began with this title, because the old games are still darn good, just different. Nor would I include myself in the group who argue that RE4 killed Resident Evil. The game can’t really be classified as “horror” aside from a few scenes where you’re confronted by Regeneradors, creepy baddies who make disturbing sounds and can regrow their limbs unless you shoot the Las Plagas outta their bodies via infrared scope. (In fact, a lot of RE4 is actually darn goofy, especially Leon’s radio conversations, which are right out of Metal Gear.) But I think the “survival” aspect is still there, just present in a slightly different way. Instead of having to ration out your supplies and avoid zombies hiding around obscured corners, RE4 emphasizes the need to survive by overwhelming you with wave after wave of Ganados, who launch at you from all angles. Turn left, turn right, watch out behind you or else you’ll be grabbed - its all visceral as hell, and once you’ve cleared a room full of foes, you’ll breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you survived.

While the old Resident Evil games created a sense of fear and anticipation, in other words, RE4 creates a sense of thrill and commotion that finally gives way to relief when it’s all over. It’s still a survival game, just of a different breed, and personally, I don’t mind a shift in type as long as it’s done as well as it was here.

All screenshots taken by me. For more, check out this Twitter thread showing my step-by-step progress through the game.

#pixel grotto #video games #now playing #resident evil #biohazard #resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #capcom

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tech-battery · 3 years

Text

ASUS ROG STRIX SCAR 15 REVIEW: POWERFUL PORTABLE GAMING

If you’re looking for the absolute most powerful gaming hardware out there... well, you don’t want the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15. You want a desktop or a laptop that weighs seven pounds, requires multiple power bricks, and is basically a desktop. But if you still want something you can realistically carry around, the Strix is about as powerful as it gets.

We’ve reviewed a number of Asus laptops this year that are members of the ROG Zephyrus gaming line — powerful, while still portable and attractive. You’d buy a Zephyrus if you want decent gaming results but also want an everyday work machine you could bring into the office or class. The Strix line eschews the latter role. These are gaming laptops. They are just for games. They’re not cheap, they’re not subtle, and they hold nothing back.

That’s where the Strix Scar 15 stands out. Every aspect is designed with the gaming enthusiast in mind, and there are a number of unique features for those customers. Of course, those also come with a few trade-offs — and folks who might need to use their machine for tasks besides gaming should consider other options.

The Strix Scar 15 starts at $2,199.99 on the Asus store. The base model comes with a Core i7-10875H, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super, 1GB of SSD storage, and a 240Hz screen. The model we’re looking at today is a significant step up from that: it costs $2,799.99 and is powered by Intel’s eight-core Core i9-10980HK and an RTX 2070 Super, which are joined by 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and a 1920 x 1080 300Hz screen (3ms response time). The 10980HK is a workhorse — it’s one of the most powerful mobile chips on the market — and 300Hz is the fastest display you can get on a 15-inch laptop.

If you clicked on this review, you’re probably most curious about the frame rates this laptop is putting up. Suffice to say: they’re good.

On CS:GO at maximum settings, the Strix Scar averaged 248fps. Thanks to this model’s 300Hz screen, the chips aren’t just rendering 248fps; you’re actually seeing 248fps. You’ll see a frame rate difference between this system and an identical one with a 240Hz display, albeit a small one. (But to folks who play a lot of esports and first-person shooters, a small difference can matter.)

Overall, CS:GO was a smooth experience. The Scar only dipped below 100fps once when I was running through a thick flurry of dust.

Not all titles are able to take full advantage of the 300Hz screen, unless you plan on bumping the quality settings down. The Strix put up 67fps on Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s highest settings with ray tracing on Ultra. On Red Dead Redemption II (one of the most demanding games out there) cranked up to Ultra, the Scar averaged 54fps. Both games were quite playable on those settings, without any stuttering or slowdown. Those results are right on par with the MSI GE66 Raider (which put up 50fps on Red Dead and 70fps on Tomb Raider) and beat the smaller Zephyrus G14 by a significant margin.

It’s worth noting that while I was letting the Scar rip in Turbo mode (the highest power profile available) the 10980HK got quite hot throughout my gaming session, spending a chunk of time in the mid-90s and even hitting 99 degrees Celsius a couple of times. When I swapped to the regular Performance profile, the CPU spent more time in the mid-high 80s, and I only saw a 1-2fps difference as a result. So if you’re worried about frying your hardware, you won’t miss much if you stay on the Performance profile.

Moving on to other laptop stuff. Apart from its chips, what distinguishes the Strix Scar 15 as a gaming laptop is the design. It features a customizable per-key RGB keyboard, a luminous logo on the lid, and a bright LED strip around the front three sides. A glowing strip may seem obnoxious, but this one is actually more subdued than strips you may have seen on gaming rigs like MSI’s GE66 Raider. It wraps around the underside of the deck, so you don’t see it full-on; the effect is less garish gamer than the GE66 Raider and more fancy nightclub. (You can turn all of the RGB stuff off, of course. But then, what’s the point?)

Another cool thing is the deck design, which is printed with what Asus calls “Cybertext.” Basically, Republic of Gamers is written all over it in an urban-chic sort of font. It’s subtle and far from distracting, but it gives the whole product a subtle sci-fi vibe.

Speaking of the keyboard deck: the palm rests are coated in a unique “soft-touch paint.” It’s much smoother than your typical palm rest (you can very much feel the difference when you touch the rest of the chassis) and is quite nice to lay your hands on.

Asus keyboards are often among my favorites, and the Strix Scar’s keyboard is no exception. I love typing on this. I feel like my fingers are flying while using it. There’s a satisfying click with very little resistance. And I especially appreciate the convenient row of hotkeys at the top, which includes volume controls, a microphone mute, one that changes the performance profile, and another button that brings up Armoury Crate (Asus’ app where you can adjust various settings and features).

If you’d rather plug in your own peripherals, you have a good port selection at your disposal. There are three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports and an audio jack on the left side, while the back houses one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port (which supports DisplayPort, but not PD charging), the charging port, one LAN RJ-45, and one HDMI 2.0. That’s most of what you’ll need but there’s one glaring omission: Thunderbolt. Plenty of people may not care about this, but it’s a port I’m disappointed not to see on a $2,799 laptop.

On the right side is a Keystone II reader. A Keystone II is a physical key on which you can save personal settings. You can also use it to access a private storage space, which Asus refers to as a “shadow drive.” This can be encrypted if you have Windows 10 Pro. (Only this model ships with that operating system. You’ll need to upgrade from Windows 10 Home if you buy the base configuration.)

The Keystone II is a neat idea considering how many settings and profiles there are to keep track of on the Strix. In the ROG app GameVisual, you can choose between color presets for different types of games (FPS mode enhances brightness and contrast, RPG mode prioritizes vivid colors, etc.). In Aura Creator, you can customize your keyboard’s colors and animation. In GameFirst VI, you can prioritize bandwidth between the programs you have running; there are presets like Gaming First, Live Streaming First, and Multimedia First.

One more thing I like: the speakers. Music sounded great, with a nice surround quality. The Strix won’t replace a good external speaker and percussion was a bit tinny. But vocals were quite clear, and at maximum volume, I never heard distortion. The laptop’s fans get quite loud during gaming, but I had no trouble hearing my games’ audio over them. (You can also switch to the Silent profile if the whine is bothering you.)

There’s lots of good stuff on the Strix, as you can see. But there are trade-offs, too. Most of them aren’t super relevant to gaming (and thus, forgivable on a laptop like the Strix), but they’re worth bearing in mind nonetheless.

For one: there’s no webcam. It’s not a deal-breaker — streamers will be using their own equipment anyway — but it’s a big minus for anyone who would otherwise use the Strix for an occasional work meeting or virtual catch-up with friends.

I also have a couple of issues with the trackpad. It has discrete clickers, which require a bit more skittering around to press than integrated buttons. I like these particular clickers more than most, but they’re still easy to miss and I sometimes found myself whacking chassis when trying to click. Generally, I found it less responsive and less accurate than I wanted it to be. Occasionally, it thought I was clicking when I wasn’t, causing me to accidentally drag things everywhere.

The touchpad also has a nifty feature where it can morph into an LED number pad if you press an integrated NumLock button in the top-right corner — but I hit this button with my palm while typing and accidentally activated the Numpad several times. Unlike with Asus’ ZenBooks that also have this feature, you can’t navigate with the touchpad while the Numpad is up, so I kept having to interrupt my workflow to deactivate it. (You can disable the touchpad itself with F10, but there’s not an easy way to disable the NumPad without disabling the touchpad.)

The biggest downside, though, is battery life. I averaged two hours and 28 minutes of sustained multitasking and office work with the Strix on the Battery Saver profile with the screen around 200 nits of brightness. (With all the battery-saving features off and a slightly heavier load, I got as low as one hour.) The Strix is a gaming laptop, so I wasn’t expecting hours upon hours of juice. Still, plenty of competitors do better: The MSI GE66 Raider (also powering an LED strip and RGB keyboard) made it through four hours of that same workload.

AGREE TO CONTINUE: ASUS ROG STRIX SCAR 15

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we started counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

As with other Windows 10 computers, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 presents you with multiple things to agree to or decline upon setup.

The mandatory policies, for which an agreement is required, are:

A request for your region and keyboard layout

Windows 10 License Agreement and Asus privacy agreement

A PIN

In addition, there is a slew of optional things to agree to:

Wi-Fi network

Microsoft account

Device privacy settings: online speech recognition, Find My Device, Inking and Typing, Advertising ID, Location, Diagnostic data, Tailored experiences

Customize your device for various purposes (gaming, schoolwork, creativity, entertainment, family, and/or business)

Link your Android smartphone

OneDrive backup

Office 365

Allow Microsoft to access your location, location history, contacts, voice input, speech and handwriting patterns, typing history, search history, calendar details, messages, apps, and Edge browsing history to aid Cortana’s personalized experiences and suggestions

Asus member registration

Set up McAfee account

That’s five mandatory agreements and 16 optional ones.

Gaming on battery is possible, but not great. Red Dead ran mostly in the high teens and low 20s. I got an hour and 15 minutes of the game on a charge, but I started to see stuttering when the Strix was down to 60 percent (about half an hour in) and the game became unplayable at 10 percent. Realistically, if you plan on bringing the Scar anywhere, you’ll need to bring the massive 280W adapter and spend some time charging the device. (It took 45 minutes to charge up to 60 percent during very light Chrome use.)

Overall, these nitpicks emphasize Asus’ priority with the Scar. It’s not a laptop that’s meant to double as a travel companion or a work-from-home driver — don’t buy it to be your primary PC.

But that doesn’t mean the Scar isn’t great at what it’s supposed to be great at, which is gaming. Its results are on par with those of the best 15-inch rigs on the market, and it offers useful customization software with a unique colorful design to boot. If you need the best frame rates and the fastest screen, the Strix Scar 15 is a fine purchase.

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gd512676 · 4 years

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Seeking Inspiration

Video games

Travel

Cuisine - Restaurant posters / food packaging ect

Are the three main areas that I have found particular interest in. I have started a Pinterest board for each of these units and have been gathering my own photos and internet images from all over the internet.

I have been looking at the overlap between graphic design and all of these above points. I looked at the blogs provided and found myself falling down a rabbit hole or two.

Below are the sections and some interesting examples of each.

Video games

Journalism

Looking at video games in particular, I feel that there is a lot of contrast between older and newer graphic design. Especially in magazine layouts. There aren’t as many video game magazines these days, as many sites now cover developments. But Japan still releases them, maybe not as frequently. Weekly Famitsu is something that I have several copies of an I enjoyed looking through the advertisements and layouts for this exercise. These images below are an example of vintage video game adverts from both American/English and Japanese magazines. These are scans from the internet archive and they always seem to provide an great deal of images from the past.

UI design

Modern day video game graphic design is mostly web or in game based, either though UI design or Video game Journalism.

I have been reading “The design of everyday things” and this has led me to think about everything design wise, and UI design is a very important part of video games. The thing that binds everything else together is a well designed attractive system.

Some examples of excellent UI design in games are:

Tomb Raider

“Tomb Raider is another good example of a UI staying quiet until you need it. And when it does pop up, it doesn’t distract you.” Its an excellent use of design that lets you access information, all the while letting you be immersed in the title screen.

Assassins creed

The menus on this game are so beautifully designed and implemented. All of it feels like a moving work of art.The colour scheme is minimal and clean and it pulls together all of the images and information in an attractive way.

Persona 5

I found this excellent quote from a medium article:

Persona 5 has by far the most stylish, chaotic, insane, over-the-top UI to ever grace a video game. It oozes personality and visual spectacle in every menu, every animation, and every screen transition. The interface is such a big attraction of the game that it keeps players going just to see what the UI for a new gameplay feature looks like.

There’s a very strong thematic tie-in to the game’s lore with the menus. A large part of the gameplay takes place in an alternate dimension, where everything is a manifestation of the distorted and twisted desires of a person’s mind. The menus to reflect this sense of disorder and chaos perfectly, with its punk-frenzy aesthetic morphing and streaking across the screen with extreme visual flair and elegance.

Another article I found on this games UI was https://ridwankhan.com/the-ui-and-ux-of-persona-5-183180eb7cce - this is a deep dive into why and how this games UX/XI is so important and why it was designed in such a way.

I learned tons from this deep dive, here are some parts and quotes I found interesting.

Style and usability are not in a zero-sum conflict. One of the UI/UX lessons I’ve learned from Persona 5 itself is that “usable” doesn’t mean dull...

UI and UX are a part of storytelling, and can reinforce a product’s overall narrative and themes. Designers are storytellers.

I could write forever about the design of the game. Its one of the most eye-catching uses of UI design I have ever seen. Most video games try to incorporate the text, and make it as minimal and no intrusive as possible. However Persona 5 really lets you know that it is there, Its bright and bold and beautiful to look at.

I feel like this is a really important in Game UI design history, there is rarely anything this impactful. it has a clear design path, looking into the inspirations for this game really helped me to understand the decisions that they made.

Both the red/white/black color scheme and the punk-influenced English font seems to recall both ransom notes (the Phantom Thieves) and amatuer punk magazines (individuality and anarchy).

This use of integrated design is something that I will be coming back to into the future, as I feel that it is a masterclass on design.

Game Covers

Then there are the game covers themselves. The aesthetic of Nintendo games is one of my favourites, the designs, the company message. It’s all something that already appeals to me. Then there is like a subsection of their games. The crafted games, like yoshi or Kirby. They feature video game characters that feel like a child’s play world.

There are so many different subsections of video game design and I have only scratched the surface. I will continue to look at different areas of video game designs and update my Pinterest as such as I can.

Travel

Travel is a huge section of graphic design and illustration in general. I will break down travel into a few sections that I have categorised my research into. I have placed a few images that I have collected from a larger Pinterest archive and selected a few that caught my eye and turned them into mood boards. Below are some images that I found interesting.

Deciding on the place you want to travel to

There are a huge amount of amount of advertisements telling you to visit and travel the world. They come in a majority of different forms, I looked at a lot of tv advertisements and magazine advertisements showing you the benefits of visiting them. I find these pieces of design to be so varried and interesting. Below are some that I found impactful.They are from a range of time periods and different countries, but they all aim to show their location in the best light possible and draw your eye to them.

Getting there

Then there is getting there, this section is all about travelling, travelling on planes and train and looking at the airline services and train services. I am really drawn to the Air France advertisements, I feel like their layout and general design is so attractive and minimal. Really makes me want to incorporate this into my own artwork.

Designs for travel

The final section is design on public transport while in the place you are travelling to. There are a lot of these in Japan, they have manner posters on display to encourage good behaviour. I adore the yellow Japanese designs, they are simplistic and charming and they communicate a sense of fun but also responsibility.

I feel the same for the ones based around the underground. They are simplistic and actually quite beautiful, easy to read from a distance and yet they tell you all of the information that you need to know.

There is so much more to learn about travel design, this has just scratched the surface and I can't wait to keep collecting and documenting what I see around me when I travel out and about.

Cuisine

Cusine is my last area of interest and just like before I have divided this subject into smaller units that I feel represent different areas of culinary design.

Menus

Menus are a subsection that we don't really look at all that often, yet we use them more than we think. I really liked looking at the designs of Wagamama and yo sushi. they have this minimalistic vibe that I really like.

They are mainly executed with typography and minimal imagery. below are a few examples that I just liked the design of. I have a few other menus collected, but I just liked these ones the best. They convey information so concisely and clearly I want to take simplicity into my work.

Food advertisements

Food advertisements are a huge one. There are so many advertisements for every type of food you can imagine. I complied a few that I liked a lot. They are either quirky, memorable or just good design. I really love the deconstructed burger and the Nutella advertisements. These designs are something that I like to look at from time to time as they seem to combine a lot of photography with typography. This is something that I would like to work on more. I don't feel confident with using photography in my designs as I feel like its not “my work”. This is something that I need to abandon as I work further into this degree.

All of these posters and advertisements are similar, they all “Show the product” but they manage to create different feelings and emotions. I have a lot to learn from advertisements like this.

Food packaging

Finally for the areas that I have put emphasis into there is food packaging. I love food packaging, looking at all the different designs on shelves is really fun, I love walking around the super market looking at all of the well designed packaging. Below are some that caught my eye, apparently I really like colourful packaging as these are all bright and bold images.

Food packaging is designed to be bright and colourful and draw you to them and I think that this is something I will try and incorporate into future pieces.

I haven't really got a concussion to this exercise, I did so much research for this part and I have collected hundreds of images for each part, and will continue to do so.

All through this exercise I found it hard to separate all these areas, I have a lot of image that are both food and travel combined. There is also a whole selection of illustrations, photographs. (These are all provided in a link to my Pinterest account, which I will post up here)

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anth-ropologies · 7 years

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Please do all the asks! Your blog is always so cool and I really want to read your answers

holy moly okie dokie! i usually space them nicely but if i did it would be even longer lol

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? Spotify

is your room messy or clean?definitely usually messy

what color are your eyes?blue/grey!

do you like your name? why?I’m not like in love with it but I’m content with it. Having a unique name is an advantage.

what is your relationship status? single and ready to nervously ignore any guy I find attractive yikes wow get yourself together gurl

describe your personality in 3 words or lesscomplex, specific, wandering

what color hair do you have?medium brown, more so cool toned

what kind of car do you drive? color?i do not

where do you shop?the mall, target, or online

how would you describe your style?very simple and no-frills but not too boring. black, grey, or muted tones with maybe a little color. Clean or casual silhouettes. simple accessories

favorite social media accountinstagrammm

what size bed do you have? queen? I’m about to inherit a brand new mattress too btw yessss

any siblings?four; eldest sister, eldest brother, older brother, younger brother.

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?absolutely NYC. ideally somewhere in the heart of it.

favorite snapchat filter? da dawg, man. da dawg

favorite makeup brand(s)Nars, Kat Von D, MUFE

how many times a week do you shower?ok judge me all you want but showering daily is not healthy plus im not active so i bathe like every two or three days (i hate showers so I bath) unless i like get dirty or something

favorite tv show?We Bare Bears ftw. ummm Charmed or Sleepy Hollow and Teen Wolf.

shoe size?8 1/2 or 9

how tall are you?5′7″!

sandals or sneakers? sneakers

do you go to the gym? rarely

describe your dream datewinter/fall because i hate heat. exploring a museum together and talking about pieces we like and why, getting to know each other. not into the idea of food dates but like maybe fries at the end or something.

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?i have no idea.... 12 dollars?

what color socks are you wearing?nonhow many pillows do you sleep with?(omg i messed up the numbers oops) like four

do you have a job? what do you do? i am a proofreader, writer, and master of vague responsibilities

how many friends do you have? i dont know actually

whats the worst thing you have ever done? omg.... flash back to every embarrassing moment ever

whats your favorite candle scent? musky cathedral smells or super clean

3 favorite boy namesSebastian, James, Leo

3 favorite girl namesRose, Georgia, Alice

favorite actor? ooohhh toughy. Colin Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Sebastian Stan, orrrr

favorite actress? Amy Adams, Angelina Jolie

who is your celebrity crush?refer to above favorite actors plus a zillion more

favorite movie? I dont think I have a favorite... Amelie maybe

do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? Dorian Gray! I also like the Mortal Instruments, Grisha Trilogy, the Historian, the Raven Cycle, and Night Circus

money or brains? why not both

do you have a nickname? what is it? usually Cherry

how many times have you been to the hospital?I personally have been in the ER only twice in my life! If that. Last time was I think last summer for abdominal pain and tachycardia. was misdiagnosed. still have a big bill.

top 10 favorite songsThe Cure (Lullaby), Marcy Playground (Sex and Candy) idk why but I love the vibe and all, Shakira (She Wolf) again its the sound ok but Shakira is great so, Rihanna (Consideration and Higher), Adam Lambert (Ghost Town), Styx (Renegade), Tom Petty (Free Fallin), Rolling Stones (Paint it Black), and Lana Del Rey (Radio) I think thats ten

do you take any medications daily? no, i should be taking supplements but im a noob

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)dry and sometimes combo

what is your biggest fear? spiders, open water, spiders in open water

how many kids do you want? I’m not sure, maybe three

whats your go to hair style?I don’t do much to it currently

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) It’s average, one story

who is your role model?(omg whyyy i messed up the numbers again) I don’t think I have one. Angelina in Tomb Raiderwhat was the last compliment you received?im not sure

what was the last text you sent?happy emojis

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?my parents didnt do the whole santa easter bunny etc thing which im super glad for, im super against lying to kids about that

what is your dream car? 69 chevy impala

opinion on smoking?like anything, in moderation (like a few times a month socially or something if youre not the type to get addicted)

do you go to college? no

what is your dream job? writer and editor, able to travel whenever i want and afford a lil nyc apartment

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? rural, i hate the subs

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? omg yes of course. I have a sephora bag full of them lol

do you have freckles? i have a lot but not like redhead freckles if that makes sense

do you smile for pictures?unless im posing blue steel style

how many pictures do you have on your phone? like 1,000 lol

have you ever peed in the woods? nope

do you still watch cartoons? occasionally

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?vegan yo. gimme wendys fries and lemonade

Favorite dipping sauce? KETCHUP ALL DAY EVERY DAY

what do you wear to bed? like track shorts and an oversized shirt

have you ever won a spelling bee?probably havent done one

what are your hobbies?watching tv and film, writing, reading, shopping, makeup, exploring

can you draw? not to save my actual life

do you play an instrument?not regularly

what was the last concert you saw? i dont even know its been aaages

tea or coffee?neither

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?starbucks

do you want to get married?yes

what is your crush’s first and last initial?i dont have one really

are you going to change your last name when you get married? maybe, maybe not, or hyphen

what color looks best on you? NOT orange-red omg. its the one color i cant do. probably silver or light blue

do you miss anyone right now? no

do you sleep with your door open or closed?i have to have it closed

do you believe in ghosts?i dont think so but i believe in demons which is 100x worse when creepy things happen

what is your biggest pet peeve? i am a pet peeve master. people using repetitive words or phrases (like saying ‘you know’ every other sentence), eating sounds

last person you called`my mum probably

favorite ice cream flavor? i love the Tofutti icecream cone things

regular oreos or golden oreos? neither unless its oreo bits in icecream

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? rainbow sprankles

what shirt are you wearing? a longsleeve i got from donating blood lol. its soooo comfy

what is your phone background?mountains

are you outgoing or shy?neither

do you like it when people play with your hair?not sure, ive never had a guy play with it but im guessing yes

do you like your neighbors? i literally see them like once a year in their yards or something its creepy

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?in the morning if im going to put on makeup and at night if i took off makeup

have you ever been high? no

have you ever been drunk? not yet

last thing you ate? dat tofutti icecream

favorite lyrics right nowummmm

summer or winter? winter

day or night? both

dark, milk, or white chocolate? vegan milk + caramel and salt

favorite month? february, my birthday month

what is your zodiac signsun in aquarius, moon in leo, libra rising

who was the last person you cried in front of? probably my mom

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genocidaltophattedoharo · 7 years

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What did you guys get for Christmas??? Anyone get any deals on Steam???

I myself received JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Manga, all of the Part 1 volumes in a set <3 from a friend of my mother’s and a headset that we had to return because it just wouldnt configure to my computer its the most confusing thing ever everything would work except for i couldnt hear sound out of it whatsoever, but its fine cause my best friend irl hooked me up with an old headset of his thats still in good condition C: So im happy

I had also bought quite a few things on Steam with steam gift cards I received and some from my own money

1. VA-11 Hall-A Cyberpunk Bartender Action : I was craving a bartending game for some reason and thought it would be a shot in the dark to check if Steam had anything of the sort but damn if i was surprised. VA-11 Hall-A or as its said Valhalla is about a bartender named Jill working in a semi-mediocre bar in this cyberpunk futuristic setting, there’s robots and humans for the most part of what ive seen but i also heard from other character dialogue that there’s even some type of animals that are characters. In short to keep this from being a super long ass post the gameplay is you creating drinks for customers that come in and order and you chat with them and get to know their character sometimes things they say come up later on and each one of them is memorable as fuck dude like even the cynical ones are interesting to talk to :^T. The dialogue is REALLY FUNNY and not TOO futuristic, without rambling on and making ppl read too much its DEFINITELY worth a look.

As someone who usually would be turned off by the thought of a bartending visual novel game, I can assure you dude, its not what it sounds like. If i had a complaint about this game my only sole complaint would be that the Steam description is a misleading intentional joke but i almost dashed it off as one of those dating visual novels if i didnt take a closer look into it. though i guess people who judge books by their cover typically are the only ones missing out hehe

2. Skullgirls :i LOVE skullgirls, cerebella is my favorite to play as

3.Suits : This game is literally less than a dollar like clocking in at like literally 70 cents on Steam right now and even then its SUUUUUPER cheap. If you like OFF like me, you’d get a similar vibe from it like i did. I havent played much but its worth atleast a look at the trailer if you dont like rpg maker games then i dont think itll be up your alley imo

4.Tomb Raider 2013: One of my friends recommended this to me and DAMNNNNNN THAT INTRO WAS BRUTALLLLL, i plan to play this at some point but it seems like a big game to complete so I have it set aside for now but man did it get my attention

5.Papers, Please: Literally havent touched this game yet just heard its good

6.Ultimate Chicken Horse: THIS GAME IS SOOOOO FUN TO PLAY WITH FRIENDS, make sure you’re playing with multiple people though! its definitely more fun with more people. its a cute little game where you create obstacles on the course and whoever can overcome them and get to the goal a number of times, wins. you can play as a cute little sheep,chicken,chameleon,raccoon,horse or bunny as characters too!

7.Grim Fandango Remastered : I really have wanted to play this for some time, i like it a lot so far the cutscenes remind me of like old 90s cgi and for some thatd seem canny by todays standards but i love it, i love that you can physically see the game’s age while at the same time are able to enjoy it remastered.

8. ASTRONEER :This game is really nice to look at and I am dying to have someone to play it with someday soon :DDD I really was interested in playing a space game and Astroneer features you being able to explore planets with friends and do space exploration and such :T.

9. Psychonauts: I heard this game was underrated, I initially dont know a thing about it other than it was released on the original xbox as an exclusive and that it was 90 cents on steam

10. Dangan ronpa trigger happy havoc : I love the art style for this game’s characters, Ive known about this series since like what 2014?? Was that when these games were made, i saw some shitposts from the fanbase they were pretty neat too, a lot of my friends like it as well but i never actually sat down to play a dangan ronpa game at all. A friend of mine had tried to get me to check out the series by saying you solve mysteries like Ace Attorney, so I had seen half an episode of Dangan Ronpa The Animation back then but I lost interest very quick sadly. Unfortunately at the time I hadnt heard that was the worst way to get a first impression of the series lmao, but anyways, who knows, this could even kick off a whole new type of game content on my blog, the fandom seems to be a fun bunch as well.

11.Hyper Light Drifter : NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SEEN SUCH SWEET SAVORY GLOSSY BRIGHT COLORFUL PIXEL ART IN A MANNER SUCH AS THIS GAME HAS PRESENTED. it really seems like a game i need to play soon, infact i plan to play it after I beat Valhalla (Even though it has multiple endings HHHHHHH this game keeps getting better). If you dont know what hyper light drifter is my guy, check it

And that wraps up every game I got from 2016 Steam’s Winter sale. But ive been talking a LOT, what have u homies gotten yourselves over the holidays

#oharo talks #genocidaltophattedoharo talks

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gta-5-cheats · 6 years

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Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition Review

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/lenovo-yoga-920-vibes-edition-review/

Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition Review

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Luxury options exist in every product category, from clothes to cars. Sometimes you pay more for a custom design, exotic materials or painstaking craftsmanship, and sometimes price is inflated just for a brand name. In the PC world, there are limited components to work with, but manufacturers often try to go all-out with features and construction innovations. Lenovo debuted an intricate and expensive new kind of hinge with the Yoga 3 Pro a few years ago, inspired by metal watchstraps. No other company has anything like it, and it’s still found only on Lenovo’s most expensive models.

The hinge isn’t the only premium touch on the new Yoga 920. It joins a select group of non-gaming laptops that cost around Rs. 1,50,000, and it boasts of high-end design as well as specifications. There’s a lot to like about the Yoga 920 on paper, but for this kind of money, we’re looking for perfection. Here’s our full review.

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Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition design

At the international launch event, we saw the Yoga 920 in a variety of metallic colours. In India, however, Lenovo is only releasing the Yoga 920 Vibes Edition, which is a special edition with a black patterned cover. Lenovo says that it chose this design from amongst 130 ideas submitted by students at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan, Italy. It’s supposed to symbolise dynamism, lightness and simplicity, and we do quite like it. The pattern is subtle yet visually arresting, and because it’s printed on highly reflective glass, it looks like it has depth and movement. The dull silver frame contrasts nicely with the dark surface as well.

Lenovo reserves its watchstrap hinge for its highest-end products, and the Yoga 920 is the latest one. It’s made up of multiple smaller segments, some of which are dull and others highly polished, and definitely stands out against the otherwise minimalistic body. This is a laptop that will make people look twice, and whether that’s a good thing or otherwise is highly subjective.

The Yoga 920 can be folded over backwards and used as a tablet, or propped up in tent mode which is more stable. At 1.37kg, it makes for an unwieldy tablet. You can’t sit back and relax with it in one hand or resting against your knees. When fully folded over, the two halves of the device don’t lie flat against each other, so the upper half tends to dip and bounce back every time you tap with the stylus or a finger. You can see this happen in our video review, embedded above.

Speaking of which, the Yoga 920 Vibes Edition comes with Lenovo’s Active Pen 2 in the box. It needs an AAAA battery, and thankfully one is included, because they’re expensive and hard to find in India. The Active Pen 2 promises 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and works with Windows Ink, which is Microsoft’s framework for stylus compatibility across hardware manufacturers and app developers.

Unlike some other 2-in-1s, the Yoga 920 doesn’t have a slot, loop, or magnetic dock for the stylus. Instead, you get a little plastic bracket that clips into the sole USB 3.0 port, allowing you to keep the Active Pen handy. Other than the obvious downside of blocking the only full-sized USB port on the device, we found this awkward because it’s easier to unplug the bracket than it is to slide the stylus in and out of it, and the positioning isn’t ideal with the Yoga 920 in tablet mode. Rather than being a convenient way to carry the Active Pen 2 around with the Yoga 920, it just becomes an extra thing to worry about losing.

As a laptop, there’s a lot to like about the Yoga 920. It’s relatively easy to carry around and comfortable to use. The keyboard is large and well spaced, and even the arrow keys aren’t too cramped. The keys are soft and have a satisfactory amount of travel considering how thin the body of this device is. You can choose between two backlight levels, but there’s no automatic adjustment. There’s a little bit of flex in the centre of the keybed, but it didn’t affect our typing speed or accuracy. The trackpad is also quite generously proportioned, there’s even a fingerprint reader that works with Windows Hello for user authentication.

The screen measures 13.9 inches and has a resolution of 3840×2160 (4K) which makes it incredibly sharp. It looks great from all angles, but is highly reflective. The top and side borders are relatively narrow, but there’s a massive chin below the screen. This looked a bit funny to us at first but we forgot all about it after a day or two.

There are two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the left, which means that you get all the benefits of USB Type-C plus file transfers at up to 40Gbps with compatible devices, and DisplayPort video output. Only one of these ports can be used to charge the Yoga 920 with its bundled 65W charger. Standard USB Type-C chargers will also work, but somewhat slower. There’s a 3.5mm combo audio socket on the left, and one standard USB 3.0 Type-A port on the right. There’s no SD card slot. The power button is also on the right so you can get to it in laptop or tablet mode.

Unlike some of its competitors, Lenovo doesn’t include any dongles or adapters in the box. We also would have liked a sleeve or even a microfibre cloth (which could really come in handy).

Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition specifications and software

Because Lenovo is only launching the top-end Vibes Edition in India, there are no options when it comes to hardware – Lenovo thinks that people who are shopping for laptops in this price range are only looking for the best, so this is the top spec. We have Intel’s recently launched 8th Gen Core i7-8550U “Kaby Lake Refresh” processor, with four physical cores and Hyper-Threading. It runs at 1.8GHz when you aren’t doing anything heavy, and can turbo up all the way to 4GHz with one core if necessary to complete tasks quicker.

You get 16GB of RAM and a 512GB PCIe SSD, and we wouldn’t accept anything less at this price. Lenovo uses Intel’s integrated UHD 620 graphics rather than a discrete GPU, which means that there’s very little potential for gaming. The Yoga 920 has JBL speakers and the company’s website alludes to a software update coming in February 2018 that will enable Dolby Atmos enhancement for headphones. There’s also Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.1. Lenovo says that the 4-cell Lithium polymer battery will deliver 10.8 hours of battery life because of the 4K screen – the variants with full-HD screens can get up to 15.5 hours, but these aren’t available here.

Lenovo ships this laptop with Windows 10 Home. Because the Yoga 920 has a touchscreen and stylus, Windows automatically spaces out icons and other elements a bit more than usual. The UI scaling is set to 300 percent by default because of the screen’s incredibly high resolution, but we found this to be too high. It effectively gives you the same usable area as a 1280×720-pixel screen, and we were much more comfortable at 200 percent or less.

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The Windows Ink Workspace is a panel that you can pull up with one tap on a taskbar icon. It gives you quick access to apps that specifically benefit from a stylus, as well as the Windows 10 sticky notes and screenshot annotation features, and Microsoft’s own Sketchpad app. You can do neat things such as draw straight lines against an on-screen ruler, and post your scribbles directly to social media.

There are two Lenovo apps pinned to the taskbar – Lenovo Vantage and Lenovo Settings. The latter guides you through a few setup options before informing you that all its functions have been merged into the Lenovo Vantage app, which makes us wonder why it’s there in the first place. Vantage lets you check for system updates, run diagnostics, check your warranty status, download recommended apps, and manage the webcam, mic, trackpad and power saving features.

Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition performance

The Yoga 920 gave us no trouble at all in day-to-day use. It was pleasant to work with, and handled over a dozen browser tabs plus assorted other programs without breaking a sweat. The CPU and amount of RAM are more than enough to make Windows feel snappy and responsive. We were able to hear the fan spin up sometimes, even when we weren’t doing anything particularly stressful.

In benchmark tests, we found that this laptop was quite a solid performer. We got 3,138, 4,644 and 2,869 points in PCMark 8’s Home, Creative and Work scenarios respectively. POV-Ray ran its render benchmark in 3 minutes, 31 seconds, while Cinebench gave us scores of 170 and 555 in its single-core and multi-core runs. SSD performance stood out in particular, with random read and write speeds of up to 431.5MBps and 444.9MBps respectively. We also found that the top half of the keyboard got quite warm when the Yoga 920 was pushed to its limits during benchmarks.

High-resolution videos, including 4K files, looked and sounded great. Other than having to find an angle that didn’t reflect our overhead lights, we thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment capabilities of the Yoga 920. The speakers are on the bottom, and can get muffled if the laptop isn’t placed on a flat surface. They work best in tent mode, and are somewhat obstructed in tablet mode. Sound quality is great for a laptop, with no distortion at high volumes.

On the other hand, like most ultraportables, this machine is not at all suited to gaming. Only a few premium models such as the Asus ZenBook UX430U have basic discrete graphics processors and can handle games at low to medium settings, and the Yoga 920 is not one of them. We got scores of 498 and 420 in 3DMark’s Fire Strike Extreme and Time Spy tests respectively. Unigine Valley running at 1920×1080 at medium quality gave us 18.1fps. We tried a few games, but Rise of the Tomb Raider wouldn’t even load when set to 1920×1080. We were able to run it at 1280×720 with the Low quality preset, and still got only 15.79fps on average in its built-in benchmark. You could probably enjoy quite a few casual games and even some older 3D ones, but if gaming is a priority, this category of laptops isn’t for you.

So far we’re thoroughly impressed with the Yoga 920’s looks and performance as a laptop, but we also spent time with it exclusively in tablet mode. The stylus is comfortable to use, and it feels extremely responsive. There’s zero lag, and you feel like you’re writing directly on the surface of the glass under the tip. It takes some time to get used to Windows 10’s text input panel, but handwriting recognition is pretty good most of the time. We tried Microsoft Word and OneNote as well as assorted drawing apps and the annotation features in Microsoft Edge, but felt that stylus input is still more of a novelty than an everyday convenience. Sketching is fun, but there aren’t many reasons to choose to write or edit documents with a stylus rather than keyboard.

The battery lasted for 2 hours, 2 minutes in our high-stress Battery Eater Pro benchmark. With ordinary use including a lot of video streaming, the Yoga 920 made it through a workday but needed to be plugged in by the evening. It took just over an hour to charge when in standby. This is decent enough performance for a thin-and-light notebook, but we think that some people would like the option of a full-HD screen rather than 4K if the tradeoff is nearly 50 percent better battery life.

Verdict The Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition is attention-grabbing and that’s exactly what a lot of people will love about it. It’s far better as a laptop than as a tablet, but even if you never use it that way, the flexible hinge and touchscreen are great to have. The hardware is top-notch, and it can handle pretty much all your office work and entertainment needs without breaking a sweat. We would have liked a few little conveniences such as an SD card slot, more USB ports, and a better way to carry the stylus around, but overall the usage experience is pretty slick.

Lenovo has chosen to stick to the high end with only one variant which costs Rs. 1,49,999. It checks all the boxes for a premium ultraportable, but it’s up to buyers to decide whether they actually want to spend that much, when alternatives such as the HP Spectre series, Asus Zenbook Ultra, and Dell’s XPS 13 (recently refreshed with a new, ultra-slim design) are available at much lower starting prices. Lenovo’s own Yoga 720 costs a lot less and isn’t very different, though the company hasn’t yet refreshed it with 8th-gen Core CPUs. Even in such an expensive niche market segment, you have a lot of choices.

Lenovo Yoga 920 Vibes Edition Price: Rs. 1,49,999

Pros

Premium, unique look and feel

Bright, vivid 4K screen

Good performance in everyday tasks

Cons

Unwieldy when used as a tablet

Keyboard gets warm when stressed

Awkward stylus retention bracket

Ratings (Out of 5)

Design: 4.5

Display: 4.5

Performance: 4.5

Software: 4

Battery life: 4

Value for Money: 3

Overall: 4

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tech-battery · 4 years

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MSI GE66 Raider Review: Good-Looking 300 Hz Powerhouse

If you’ve ever wondered, “Why aren’t gaming laptops flashier?” the MSI GE66 Raider is for you. With an RGB light bar and keyboard, aluminum build and trim design, it’s as beautiful as its price suggests -- $1,899 to start, $2,999 as tested.

Packing an RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics card and 10th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU, The GE66 Raider proved it’s ready to make ample use of its mind-blowing 300 Hz display, too.

MSI GE66 Raider Specs

CPU

Intel Core i9-10980HK

Graphics

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q (8GB GDDR6)

RAM

32GB DDR4-3200

Storage

1TB PCIe NVMe SSD

Display

15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 resolution @ 300 Hz, 3ms

Networking

Killer Ethernet E3100 LAN, Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2*2ax), Bluetooth 5.1

Ports

2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (DisplayPort 1.4), HDMI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort 1.4, SD card reader, 3.5mm headphone/mic jack

Camera

1080p

Battery

99WHr

Power Adapter

280W

Operating System

Windows 10 Home

Dimensions(WxDxH)

14.1 x 10.5 x 0.9 inches (358.1 x 266.7 x 22.9mm)

Weight

5.3 pounds (2.4kg)

Price (as configured)

$2,999

Design of MSI GE66 Raider

How does a laptop manage to look more mature and more wild than your typical gaming clamshell? A cool and classy chassis underscored (quite literally) by a stunning RGB bar, that’s how. The GE66 Raider isn’t the only laptop to incorporate colorful LEDs on its deck. The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G732 has a light bar on three sides. However, I’d argue that the GE66 Raider does it best. The boldness of the light bar and its beveled glass encasement make for a crystalline vibe that goes galactic with the right color scheme. The default settings (a combination of fuchsia, blue and green) is enough of a show to cross the Aurora Borealis off my bucket list. (Okay, not quite). But with those same default settings on the keyboard, it’s one prismatic phenomenon that’s probably as showy as RGB can be without inducing nausea.

Speaking of the keyboard, this one is from SteelSeries and offers per-key programming via SteelSeries’ Engine 3 software, as is the RGB light bar. But only the default setting was cosmic enough for me to warrant this level of RGB spectacle.

The aluminum lid is a royal shade of gray, fitting for the dragon shield that tops it. The logo’s raised silver outlining is the sort of attention to detail that makes company logos more forgivable. Plus, a dragon emblem is way cooler than someone's last name in a circle (for example). Sadly, silver only lives on the lid; the rest of the laptop is black, which, perhaps, helps the RGB pop.

On the left side of the GE66 Raider’s black deck is a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port (20 Gbps), a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10 Gbps) port, plus a 3.5mm headphone/mic jack. The right side has a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports (5 Gbps) and, surprisingly, an SD card reader. There are more ports on the laptop's spine, namely HDMI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort 1.4, and RJ45 Ethernet port and a port for MSI’s proprietary charger. MSI really has all the bases covered here.

The underside of the laptop has what MSI calls “Dragon armor carving,” which is really a bunch of stretched out hexagons. Overall, this feels like a solid machine with only a small amount of flex in its thin, 15.6-inch screen. MSI says it increased the torque on the hinge by 14% over the last generation (the MSI GE65 Raider) and widened it 9%.

The sleek black deck is smooth with a very subtle hint of shimmer. Combined with the 5mm thin bezel around the display, 82% screen-to-body ratio and, again, the mesmerizing effect of the RGB keyboard and light bar, you’ve got a machine that seems premium where needed and fun where wanted.

The GE66 Raider stacks up averagely when it comes to 15-inch gaming clamshells. The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550, for example, is 14.1 x 10.6 x 0.8 inches and 5.3 pounds, while our MSI review unit is 14.1 x 10.5 x 0.9 inches and the same weight. You can get sleeker though. The MSI GS66 Stealth, as its name subtly suggests, is slightly lighter at 4.6 pounds and trimmer at 14.2 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches.

MSI GE66 Raider Gaming Performance

With an RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics card, our review unit of the GE66 Raider easily hit 60 frames per second (fps) in most games. I enjoyed Battlefield V at ultra settings typically in the 80-90 frames per second (fps) range. During intense battles, it’d drop to roughly 73-76 fps, and when I crawled through some grass it climbed as high as 130 fps. After I added ray tracing into the mix, framerates stayed around the 70-80 fps range, hitting 99 fps during calm moments and the low 70s in heavy battle.

When it came to running the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark (1920 x 1080, highest settings), the GE66 Raider averaged 75 fps. That’s 6 more fps than the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 and greater than the MSI GS66 Stealth’s 66 fps average. Both laptops use the same GPU as our review unit. Meanwhile, the Alienware m17 R3 with a Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Super came close to matching the GE66 Raider at 74 fps.

Our review unit outperformed its sibling MSI machine and the ROG Zephyrus Duo when it came to Grand the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (1920 x 1080, very high) as well. However, the Alienware bested the MSI by 7 fps.

The Far Cry New Dawn (1920 x 1080, ultra) benchmark ran at 99 fps on our GE66 Raider. That’s 10 more fps than the Asus and Alienware and 14 more fps than the GS66 Stealth averaged.

The GE66 Raider also comes out on top when looking at Red Dead Redemption 2 (1920 x 1080, medium). Our configuration ran the benchmark at 58 fps, which is slightly faster than both the Zephyrus Duo and m17 R3 and 9 fps quicker than the other MSI machine here.

To stress test our review unit, we ran the Metro Exodus 1080p RTX benchmark on a loop 15 times to simulate 30 minutes of gaming. During this time, the game ran at an average framerate of 51.9 fps. The RTX 2080 Super Max-Q ran at an average clock speed of 1,360.4 MHz and temperature of 64 degrees Celsius (147.2 degrees Fahrenheit). The CPU, meanwhile, was running at 4.4 GHz average clock speed and 76.5 degrees Celsius Average (169.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

MSI GE66 Raider Productivity Performance

The configuration of the GE66 we tested has an Intel Core i9-10980HK with eight CPU cores and 16 threads, working with 32GB (2x 16GB) of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. That’s a lot of power, and the laptop proved more than sufficient for running 22 Google Chrome tabs, including one playing Netflix, as well as Slack. I was able to track through an episode on Netflix with a 1-3 second delay. And there were no obvious delays when navigating or scrolling through my numerous browser tabs.

On Geekbench 5.1, an overall productivity performance benchmark, our configuration of the GE66 Raider proved more effective than the other machines here. Its score of 8,347 on all cores outshined the ROG Zephyrus Duo. The Asus scored 8,134 with the same specs as our review unit but with two 1TB SSDs in RAID0. The Alienware also has the same CPU and RAM as our GE66 Raider and a 1TB drive in RAID0. It fell behind our review unit by 720 points. The GE66 Stealth got 6,261, with a lesser Intel Core i7-10750H CPU, 32GB of DDR-2666 RAM and a 512GB SSD.

It took our review laptop 36 seconds to copy 25GB of files, which equates to 745.8 MBps. That’s much slower than the ROG Zephyrus Duo’s 1,413 MBps and the Alienware’s 1,220.4 MBps. The GE66 Stealth, however, was at a comparative crawl.

The GE66 Raider shined in Handbrake. It took the laptop 6 minutes and 59 seconds to transcode a video from 4K resolution to 1080p. That’s quicker than all the other laptops here, especially the GS66 Stealth, which needed 2:56 longer.

MSI GE66 Raider Display

The screen on the GE66 Raider packs a wildly fast refresh rate of 300 Hz, coupled with a 3ms response time. This is part of a growing trend of gaming laptops sporting insanely high refresh rates, including the 300 Hz Razer Blade Pro 17 (2020) and Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 G732.

Even the best gaming monitors are still stuck at 240 Hz max (360 Hz desktop monitors are en route). But while the screen may update with new information 300 times a second, your graphics card may not be so fast, depending on the game you’re running. AAA titles are out of the question when it comes to hitting 300 fps. Instead, you’ll have to play an esports game, like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, FIFA, Rocket League or CS:GO to get past the 240 fps mark.

Overwatch is another contender for high framerates, so I dropped settings to the lowest on the GE66 Raider. I surpassed 240 fps quite frequently. Framerates were as high as 301 during a low-intensity training session, and during actual gameplay it usually was in the 250-260s, sometimes dropping as low as 194 fps and reaching as high as 281 fps.

In terms of image quality, the GE66 Raider’s screen packs a healthy amount of color for both gaming and movies. Overwatch looked as pleasant as ever on the laptop, with tanks featuring their gold tones instead of looking like a pale yellow. I could also see the nuanced shades of gray in Reinhart’s weapon, which can look more washed out and flat on other screens.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout also looked as colorful as I expected after watching it numerous times on a large TV. Green poplars in a garden stood out, as did the subtly olive tone of Ilsa’s jacket. The purple-pinkish haze that subtly covers a scene at an airport at dusk and is often lost on other displays was also visible.

The panel is IPS style, and side angle viewing lives up to expectations. When watching Mission: Impossible from a 90-degree angle there were reflections on the further half of the screen, but it was still watchable, especially for a movie this good. At a 45-degree angle, there were virtually no issues.

Our testing showed that this speedy panel averages a solid 300 nits max brightness. However, every other laptop here has a brighter screen, including the smaller second screen on the Zephyrus Duo. The other MSI and the ROG Zephyrus Duo offer a similar amount of coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut as the GE66 Raider. However, the Alienware is incredibly colorful.

MSI GE66 Raider Keyboard and Touchpad

I love a trim gaming laptop, but in the GE66 Raider’s case, that comes at the price of a spacious keyboard. MSI said it enlarged the keycaps, especially the left Ctrl key, compared to the GE65 Raider. But there are also some (but not all) navigational keys squeezed into the right column, and the arrow keys that aren’t offset enough to be easily locatable. At the end of the day, you’re left with keys that are pretty close together and very flat, making it easy for the fingers to slide across to other keys accidentally. There are also some weird choices, like the abomination of the left FN and Ctrl keys crammed into one space.

When gaming, this resulted in mispressed keys and me having to look down more often than usual to reorient myself. The larger Ctrl key helped, but I still found it hard to find other keys when holding down Ctrl, like when I was trying to slide in Apex Legends. And when trying to input combos, I had to look down to figure out where I was in a sea of flat keys.

On the 10fastfigners.com typing I test I averaged 113.7 words per minute with a 96.6% accuracy rate. That’s pretty typical for me and only slightly below my 98% average accuracy, likely due to how snappy the keys are. But my fingers felt a little worn out afterward.

On the other hand, the keyboard’s quite functional. As mentioned, you get some navigational keys, like Home and Page Up. You can also use the function row to toggle the webcam off (handy for privacy), activate crosshairs for training, enter Game Mode, quickly turn the fans to max speed and toggle through the keyboard and light bar’s premade RGB effects simultaneously or control RGB brightness.

The GE66 Raider is also rocking a 4.1 x 2.5-inch touchpad, which I found to be a good size. It isn’t very slippery, instead offering a healthy amount of friction for control. I had no problem navigating Windows 10 with touchpad gestures.

MSI GE66 Raider Audio

The MSI GE66 Raider’s two 2W speakers live on either side of the deck, a more logical location than speakers that are under the laptop, which can result in muffled sound. They’re Dynaudio brand (if you forget, a logo on the deck will remind you), and MSI says they support up to a 192 KHz sampling rate and 24-bit Hi-res audio and go up to 122 dB.

In Overwatch, the overall sound was a little tinny. But I’ve heard worse, especially on other gaming laptops and thin ultraportables. The battlegrounds sounded like there were people banging on different types of metal trash cans as opposed to firing off different weapons. The audio didn’t sound as layered as usual, and even Reinherart’s voice was more metallic. When I switched to external speakers, I could hear more bass and a greater variance in weapon noises. The speakers’ volume, on the other hand, was ample, even with all my windows and balcony door open on a rainy day.

Music also sounded different than usual. When I played “Like Glue,” Sean Paul sounded like he was singing far away down a tunnel and higher pitched. Moving to speakers resulted in a warmer voice with more bass. The instruments in The Strokes’ “What Ever Happened?” didn’t sound as detailed on the GE66 Raider either.

MSI GE66 Raider Upgradeability

Once you remove 11 Philips head screws and apply some elbow grease, you can pry off the GE66 Raider’s cover for upgrading. You can replace the RAM to reach up to 64GB (mine had two 16GB sticks), and my unit also had an empty spot for adding another M.2 SSD by removing an additional Philips head screw. You can also unscrew the Wi-Fi card.

MSI GE66 Raider Battery Life

Like the GS66 Stealth, MSI gave the GE66 Raider a 99WHr battery, the largest size it’s legally allowed to implement into a laptop, a company rep told me. But while the GE66 Raider may offer a lot of performance in a more portable package, you’ll still want to bring the charger if you plan on using it all day.

The GE66 Raider lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes on our battery test, which surfs the web, streams video and runs browser-based OpenGL tests while connected to Wi-Fi and with the screen at 150 nits brightness. This isn’t bad for a gaming laptop, but the GS66 Stealth lasted 1:39 longer. You can also get over an 1:15 more playing time with the ROG Zephyrus Duo if you’re willing to turn its second screen off. Still, the GE66 Raider’s battery life seems like a lifetime compared to how long the Alienware m17 R3 lasted.

MSI GE66 Raider Heat

As with many gaming laptops, the GE66 Raider can get pretty warm. It was common for me to notice the keyboard heating up, even during light productivity tasks and with fans set to max performance. Despite its thin stature, the GE66 Raider’s fans can get as loud as your typical gaming laptop when blazing at max speed.

In my experience, the GE66 Raider got too hot to use on my lap for long periods, and the keyboard was usually noticeably warm with the space above it being shockingly hot at times, even when just surfing the web.

After 15 minutes of playing YouTube videos, the Raider’s touchpad was 84.5 degrees Fahrenheit (29.2 degrees Celsius), and the spot between the G and H keys was 107.5 degrees Fahrenheit (41.9 degrees Celsius). But that hottest point was on the underside in the center, where the temperature hit 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.7 degrees Celsius).

MSI rejigged the cooling system compared to the GE66 Raider’s predecessor that helped keep it 0.9 inches thick compared to the GE65 raider’s 1.1 inches. The company’s Cooler Boost 5 cooling system here uses two fans with 53 blades, besting the latter’s 37 blades. Each blade is 0.25mm thick, which is 38% thinner than before and supposed to help drive more airflow. The six copper heatpipes are also supposed to be wider than that of the GE65 Raider.

MSI GE66 Raider Webcam

The webcam on the GE66 Raider is, thankfully, 1080p (at 30 frames per second), rather than the 720p that’s not uncommon in today’s laptop webcams. With video calls becoming a bigger part of the work day, the sharper resolution is more important than ever. And given Asus ditched the webcam altogether on many of its recent gaming laptops, we’re happy to see MSI step things up this way.

The webcam here proved decent. It was slightly, but not very noticeably, sharper than a 720p laptop webcam in a side-by-side comparison, with less fuzz and graininess. But my skin was still slightly grainy, and the color was slightly too cool.

MSI GE66 Raider Software and Warranty

Our MSI GE66 Raider came with several MSI-branded apps.

MSI Dragon Center primarily provides an overview of your PC’s components, namely CPU, GPU, disk, memory and SSD. You can get info like fan speeds, temperatures and amount of space remaining. This is also where you can toggle between Extreme Performance, Silent, Battery and more to control fan intensity. And if you have components or peripherals that support MSI’s Mystic Light RGB, you can sync effects.

MSI True Color offers different picture modes, like gamer, anti-blue and sRGB, with some offering sliders for further adjustments. It also includes a small number of tools, the most helpful of which is the crosshair. And MSI App Player would be handy if I had an Android phone and wanted to sync games between the two PCs.

You also get Killer Control Center, which is useful for focusing bandwidth on a particular app, such as when downloading a new game or streaming. MSI also threw in Nahimic Sound Sharing, which lets you tweak audio on connected speakers or headphones and play with the built-in mic.

Of course, you also get your typical Windows 10 bloatware, like Xbox Game Bar.

MSI backs the GE66 Raider with a 1-year warranty.

MSI GE66 Raider Configurations and Availability

At $2,999, our configuration of the GE66 Raider is as powerful as it gets. It comes with an Intel Core i9-10980HK CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q (8GB GDDR6) graphics, 32GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD. You can find it by the SKU number GE66 Raider 10SGS-057.

The cheapest version, the GE66 Raider 10SF-285, is $1,899. For that price, you get an i7-10875H, RTX 2070 graphics, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. The display also drops to a ‘mere’ 240 Hz, which is, of course, still plenty for most serious gamers. Alternatively, you can pay the same price for a 144 Hz screen; the benefits there are a bump to a 1TB SSD, but you also get a i7-10750H CPU instead, which is a hexa-core processor compared to the i7-10875H’s octa-core chip.

There are three available SKUs in between. The GE66 Raider 10SGS-288 for $2,799 (i7-10875H / RTX 2080 Super Max-Q / 32GB / 1TB) is the only configuration besides our review unit that also offers a 300 Hz screen.

Bottom Line

The MSI GE66 Raider is a powerhouse of a gaming laptop with looks to match. With its high-end but slim shell, powerful GPU, 10th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU and a lot of storage, you won’t be left wanting or bogged down with bulk.

Our pricey configuration usually topped our comparison group more when it came togaming performance. And its 300 Hz screen won’t go to waste if you’re an esports player. We surpassed 240 fps regularly on Overwatch and even climbed past 300 fps during more idle gameplay time. Productivity performance was also comparable to rivals, and I had no issues multi-tasking.

However, if you want a very colorful or bright screen, the Alienware m17 is a much better choice. The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is also better in that regard, plus may be as lavish as the GE66 Raider, thanks to its second screen.

But if you can afford to make this investment in performance and prettiness, the GE66 Raider is pure premium gaming luxury.

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