Thanks for all your hard work in reviewing this laptop an all the detailed information you provided I found it very helpful.
However, it is a bit confusing because you indicated there are better choices but all of your comparisons charts have MSI GL75 9SEK near the top of the laptops you compare it to for the price/hardware.
MSI gaming laptops do seem to run hot, it should probable be run on a table top with an external fan on it to prevent damage overtime to the internal fans.
I guess your main issue with this laptop is the external 30hz hdmi, however, I think the other external port even the older DisplayPort 1.2 is capable of 3840×2160, 4K, at 60 Hz; or 1080p resolution at 144Hz. mdp v1.3 came out in 2014 so for whatever reason probable marketing MSI is choosing to put older external display chips in several of their models thus those folks looking to setup uhd external displays with high Hz would have to purchase the much more expensive GS, or GT versions of this laptop instead of the GL version. Otherwise it looks amazing to me for the price/hardware.