MSI Puts AMD Inside Classic CR630 Notebook

Micro-Star International may not have been as active as Acer, ASUS or Toshiba lately, but it definitely looks as though it is just about ready to kickstart its own product refresh. In fact, the PC and hardware supplier has decided to make good use of the AMD Danube platform when it put together the CR630 which, in the company's own words, “features chic starlight design color film print and powerful multimedia performance.” The machine leverages the capabilities of an AMD chip and ATI graphics and is the latest addition to the Classic series.

The CR630 has a screen size of 15.6 inches and a 45-degree beveled construction. The panel itself utilizes the 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio and has a native resolution of 1366 x 768.

As for the system configuration itself, it is centered around an Athlon II dual-core, backed up by up to two DDR3 memory modules with maximum speed of 1066MHz. A 2.5-inch hard disk drive is also present, with a capacity of either 320GB or 500GB, as is the ATI Mobility Radeon 4270.

As far as connectivity and I/O options are concerned, MSI mostly stuck to the norm and threw in a 4-in-1 card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, an e-SATA USB combo, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and a 6-cell battery. All of these parts are crammed inside a frame that measures 374 x 247 x 35 mm.

Predictably, considering that the specs themselves aren't exactly all that out of the ordinary, the company took certain liberties with the aesthetic value. The starlight design color film print technology alone makes the top of the laptop's cover and the area in front of the keyboard capable of shifting their hue, depending on lighting. Unfortunately, no mention was made of any pricing or availability details.