1

It always to seems to work out that in the non-profit world when a grant is expiring they will tell me that we need spend x amount of money and i have x amount to buy 5 computers. The catch is, it has to be spent by a certain date and received by a certain date. So here is the question I normally order from lenovo and hp direct as we get discounts but with this whole tariff and availability thing i have run into a snag. I ordered from lenovo and got a delivery date of May 21st, then extended to June 26th, and now no known date. Hp doesn’t meet my spending budget and I have been shopping around. I have found a MSI desktop that is an equal matchup for the Lenovo. Do you all have any experience with MSI computers as a whole. I am partial to lenovo and hp due to durability and all around experience with them. Should I take the chance to see if anything new pops up for Memorial Day sales or just pull the trigger on the MSI machines. Your thoughts?

6 Spice ups
2

I like sticking to the business labeled companies when possible. I’ve used MSI motherboard and laptops previously for personal use. If you’re on a time crunch give them a try. If they give you problems, then steer clear in the future for your business needs. MSI is definitely a gaming branded company. I don’t think I’ve seen them used in a business since I’ve been working in IT.

3 Spice ups
3

I use MSI gear all the time for personal. It works fine. But you lose features that business units from the big 3 (Dell, HP, Lenovo) have.

Such as firmware updates via windows update, vPro, Easy Warranty Lookups, Etc Etc.

none are deal breakers, more Nice to have things from a management perspective.
From a user does it work perspective they won’t notice anything… except maybe a more gamer stylized case with Glass side and LED lighting

Just depends on your company and preferences

4 Spice ups
4

Plenty of MSI tech around me. Not a fan of the brand myself, but that is a purely personal leaning not based upon any use cases or issues.
In fact, no MSI gear has annoyed me in recent years, while both Lenovo & HP have pushed themselves dramatically downwards in my overall rankings - leaving their ‘current’ scattered useless remains around me…

2 Spice ups
5

I have five MSI gaming laptops for me and my kids to game with on the weekends. They have worked for well for me personally. I bought myself a sub $1k MSI laptop for work, and wish I would have either, a.) bought a better MSI laptop, or b.) went with a different brand. It just feels like it lacks power to do what I need at times. I do need to replace my main personal MSI laptop this year since it doesn’t run Window 11, and plan to get another MSI gaming laptop. I will very likely install Linux on the old laptop and keep using it for something.

I have bought several (four or five,) MSI desktops for our (house) print departments. I have had to send one for repair, which was covered by warranty. I believe that the issue was a faulty graphics card, if I recall correctly.

However, for Lenovo, I simply am not a fan. I have heard a lot of good things about them, but for me they have been some of the worse laptops I’ve used. For full disclosure, I’ve only had a couple of them over the years, but I’m 0/2 with those laptops. The first one died at a year and a half, and became a brick. Lenovo support would have replaced the faulty chip that was a common failure on those models for me for $500, which I declined so I use that money towards a different brand’s laptop. I have a new external drive now from that one. The second one was for our general manager, who wanted me to get one for him. It lasted a week before it needed a tech to come out and fix it. If I recall, I think he had to replace the motherboard. I simply have not have a good experience with them.

1 Spice up
6

I would stick with a good business brand instead.
MSI are for gamers and they have been known to have battery issues
I would stick with Lenovo, Dell or apple.
What are the non profit needs?

1 Spice up