Deciding between Asus ZenBook Pro UX501VW vs. MSi PX60 Prestige

Hey guys,

I used this forum when I decided on my last laptop about 4 years ago (HP Envy 15 3033cl). It's getting to be about that time to put this one out to pasture, though, so I figured I'd pop in again. You guys have been very helpful in the past. I'll hopefully be able to get a new laptop before the end of the summer, so I've got a few months. Maybe something new will come out, but as for right now, I'm liking what I'm seeing from the Asus ZenBook Pro UX501VW and the MSi PX60 Prestige.

I know I'm supposed to fill out the form, but seeing as how I've already got it narrowed down to 2 laptops I figured it's pretty pointless.

What I like about both of these:

- i7 6700HQ
-16GB DDR4
- slim form factor
- 15" display

^^ those 4 things are hard to find all together. If anybody else has any ones I'm overlooking, please let me know. There are some with one or the other, and 16GB of DDR3, or an i7-6500U in the other's place, but getting both of those in a nice form factor is rare, and some models have 1 or 2 of them but in a 13" display. The HP Envy 15t Slim Quad has DDR3 and I have no idea if HP makes upgrades easy, it's also thicker, but it's something I'd consider my 3rd choice.

Zenbook Pros:

- Better looking chassis/smaller bezel. Sexier in general. I know, shouldn't be #1 priority... but it's hard to turn down a sexy machine lol
- 4k display
- touchscreen
- Comes with SSD

Zenbook Cons:

- More expensive
- SSD will need to be upgraded, 512GB isn't enough for me
- Glossy screen

MSi Pros:

- Cheaper
- more storage off the bat
- matte screen
- slightly thinner and lighter

MSi Cons:

- HUGE big ugly bezel
- no touchscreen
- HDD instead of SSD (even though the extra storage is good... I'll get to this later)

Both have the same graphics card, so that's a wash. I don't do a lot of gaming, but I do like to play CK2. My current Envy 15 with a quad-core i7 2670QM and 8GB DDR3 likes to overheat even with just that (pretty sure there's a memory leak issue) so I'm hoping I won't have that same problem with whatever I get.

Both look good, nice thin aluminum bodies, but the bezel on the MSi is an eyesore.

Whichever one I get, the idea will be to eventually get a 2TB SSD down the road and put it in. In the meantime...The Zenbook has a 512GB SSD to start which is great for speed, want those quick load times... but it's definitely not enough storage. Meanwhile the MSi comes with a 1TB HDD, which will allow me to store more while I save for that big SSD, but in the mean time I won't have any of the benefits of SSD.

I know a lot of what I'm deciding on comes down to personal preference, but I guess what I'm asking you guys is if any of you have experience with both of these and if so, what you liked better. I doubt I'll be able to find either of these in store, especially the MSi, to compare.

And for anybody who owns either one, any glaring issues with either of them? Couldn't find "Owner Threads" for either of these models.

Also, as a final question, are there any new models from good companies coming down the pipe that look to satisfy my requirements? (16GB DDR4, i7 Skylake quad-core, 15", thin sexy form factor.)

EDIT: Forgot to mention, the Dell XPS15 matches my requirements as well, but it's like $400 more expensive than the Asus, and to add on the 4K screen it would be about $700 more. So I'm not really considering that one.

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Deciding between Asus ZenBook Pro UX501VW vs. MSi PX60 Prestige