The input devices are fairly basic: usable, but nothing special. The matte-black Chiclet-style keyboard offers good feedback, though the keys are sometimes a little stiff. The nonbacklit keyboard also has some navigation keys, such as Page Up/Down, Home, and End. The touchpad, which is black and features a circular texture, is ever-so-slightly laggy--the pointer takes a moment to move after you've slid your finger--and cursor movement is not smooth. However, the touchpad does support multitouch gestures, such as two-finger scrolling and pinch-to-zoom. The large, faux-chrome rocker bar below the touchpad offers good feedback.

The X460DX's glossy, 14-inch LCD screen is big and bright, and it has a native resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. The display is attractive, with bold colors, crisp details, and few reflections, even in bright sunlight.

Multimedia playback is what you'd expect on a laptop with a discrete graphics card. HD video streaming is smooth, though artifacting, such as blocky patterns, occasionally appears in darker scenes. The speakers are also as expected for a notebook of this size--not loud enough, a little thin, and prone to tinny voices. This is definitely a laptop for headphones.

The MSI X460DX may not hold the title of "lightest" or "most powerful" or "longest battery life," but it is certainly well rounded. It's light enough to carry around daily, powerful enough to finish everything but the most resource-intensive tasks, and long-lived enough to last through a flight across the country. Plus, its design is forward-thinking with two USB 3.0 ports, and it costs well under $1000.