MSI should really remove the 'Factory Seal' sticker from some of its laptops

[Redaktion]

MSI G series laptops are generally easy to service and yet most of them have Factory Seal stickers on the bottom to discourage end-user upgrades. We think putting the sticker directly on parts of the motherboard instead would be a more user-friendly approach for gamers who like to tinker and upgrade.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-should-really-remove-the-Factory-Seal-sticker-from-some-of-its-laptops.445921.0.html

[Nakul]

This should clear it up (official MSI reply)

forum-en dot msi.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=302869.0;attach=70822

[Philippos_GR]

Hi, I have bought the MSI GT75 VR with i7 7700 and GTX 1070 and wanted to upgrade the HDD to 2TB and also add a second M2 SSD. After contacting the MSI support, they told me that I can do the upgrade without voiding the warranty, even if the sticker has been tampered.

[Greg]

Just heat it little bit with a hair dryer or something alike and remove it undamaged. Then add you memory and stick it back....

[Superguy]

MSI kept its word with me when it came the warranty.  I had done some upgrades to a GT60 laptop that I bought all the way back in 2013.  I had already added RAM (put a total of 24GB), upgraded the Wifi, and added an SSD.

When I was upgrading the WiFi for the 2nd time, the screen went all wonky and the system wouldn't boot.  I filed a warranty claim with MSI and they replaced the motherboard, CPU (socketed, not soldered), and replaced cabling, along with some dust clean up.

They won't warranty any parts you replace, as should be expected, but the warranty was honored on everything else.

The GT60 was a fine machine.  I still have it and it works well.  I've also done some further upgrades, including replacing the CPU and graphics card. It originally came with a 3630QM and I replaced it with a 3920XM.  The video card uses an MXM slot, so I upgraded the 670M it shipped with to a 970M.  I had to grind a little of the heatsink with a dremel tool (10 second job) and use a modded BIOS, but it runs like a champ.  Before the modded BIOS was available, you had to use a modified driver.  There was a "how to" on another website's forum that has detailed instructions on how to do it.

Thing still runs like a champ, 7 years later.  Only downside I found was that it didn't get along with Windows 10 as MSI never made drivers for it.  So I have Win 8.1 on it with a Windows 7 skin.  Still works great.

MSI told me at the time that the warranty sticker was on there to discourage people that didn't know what they were doing from opening up the system and tinkering, but otherwise the warranty held.  That was true in my experience, and I'd assume it to be true in the future.

Think about it - especially when MSI makes a lot of products specifically for gamers and people who love to tweak their systems.

[A]

"One of the best characteristics of most gaming laptops is their ease of serviceability."

This is true, unless it is an MSI laptop where serviceability is pretty bad. You have to disassemble the entire laptop just to access the RAM or the CMOS battery.

I think MSI is the only one with a factory seal precisely because of how difficult their laptops are to service.

As for warranty goes, in US it is never really a problem due to laws.

[70UNIKITTY]

"One of the best characteristics of most gaming laptops is their ease of serviceability."

This is true, unless it is an MSI laptop where serviceability is pretty bad. You have to disassemble the entire laptop just to access the RAM or the CMOS battery.

I think MSI is the only one with a factory seal precisely because of how difficult their laptops are to service.

As for warranty goes, in US it is never really a problem due to laws.

That's true for some laptops such as the GS65. I have a GL63 8SD and even with the RAM simply being accessable from opening a latch (I had to upgrade my to 32GB after it came with single channel memory). However, even so, the tight plastic latches were very hard to remove, with the case being attached to the headphone jacks.

[Loli]

Hace como un año compré un portátil smi sm-16w1, la batería es malísima, en cuanto lo desenchufo se apaga, lo tengo que tener siempre enchufado desde casi el primer día.
About a year ago I bought a smi sm-16w1 laptop, the battery is terrible, as soon as I unplug it it turns off, I have to always have it plugged in from almost the first day.