Powering Up: The Laptop for a Day’s Creative Work
Chris Hill usually starts the day with good coffee and a healthy breakfast at home—while editing photos on his MSI P65 laptop. The soft lines and subtle lighting of the P65 help get him in a productive frame of mind. “When I open it up, it helps me get into the creative mindset,” he says. “I know that it’s time to work and it’s time to get inspired.”
Heading out for a day of meetings and photo shoots means dressing up, even if a 21st-century creative like Hill can usually skip the necktie. He puts his computer in his camera bag, which tends to contain about 30 pounds of gear already. At just under four pounds, the P65 is an ultra-thin accessory that can anchor a workstation anywhere, from the train into New York City from Hill’s place in New Jersey to a downtown Manhattan café. And a razor-slim bezel means that nearly all the P65’s 15 inches of panel are screen.
Hill’s favorite place to work? “My couch, hands down.” He’ll sometimes wrap up a workday there, sipping whisky and not worrying about a plug-in. A P65 is likely still going strong at this point, with a lithium-polymer battery that lasts up to nine hours. “Knowing that I can get a full day’s worth of work done without being tied down to a single location is a fresh breath of air,” Hill says. “It’s good to know that I have the latest technology under my hands when I need to get work done,” he adds. The P65’s superlative color accuracy (close to 100% sRGB) is also a major perk for a photographer, and with a graphics card that supports video editing and virtual-reality work, Hill’s got room to expand in new directions.
At the beginning of her workday, Priyanka Naik gets all kinds of things thrown at her—especially since, in addition to advancing her food brand, she also works in tech. She’ll edit photos for her cookbook in one location early in the morning, then transition somewhere else to do social posting or prep for a guest-chef appearance. A laptop that performs well—and that includes basic multimedia editing—is essential to making the full mix work, and the MSI PS42’s 10 hours of battery life give her maximum mobility. But the aesthetics (metallic chassis design, silver hairbrush texture) matter, too. “Having a stylish laptop makes me feel confident about conquering the day,” says Naik.
For her midday kitchen routine, Naik loves the ultra-portability of the PS42 laptop. At 2.6 pounds, it weighs less than a lot of her groceries. “I was able to easily lift it and move it around the kitchen while I cooked and developed my recipes,” says the 30-year-old Manhattanite, who started out in management consulting before becoming a food blogger around eight years ago. “I’m constantly on the go from an office to the kitchen to food events, so a slim and portable laptop is super important for my lifestyle.”
“Everything I wear, carry, and own is a reflection of my personality and my food brand,” Naik explains. That brand is eye-popping and colorful, which the PS42 complements with its vivid color display and an ultra-thin bezel that maximizes the screen space of a 14-inch panel. And when it comes to Naik’s personal style—for cooking and dressing—it’s polished and vibrant without being overworked. “Having a laptop that is equally sleek helps me lead a more effortless yet efficient lifestyle,” she says. “I don’t distinguish between a laptop for fun versus a laptop for work—those worlds blend together.”
