Razer Blade -- Discuss

Mine is set to arrive before 3PM CST. Have my Camera ready to go. And yes, will run futuremark tests so people can finally have an idea of the dual core/555m configuration. I'm not expecting it to come close to my M18x or even M17x. Graphics power alone was not the sole factor for this purchase. Wanted portability, aluminum chasis, and a capable GFX card. The LCD keys/touchpad are a sweet bonus.

The only laptop I owned for over a year was the original Envy 15 Beats edition, which was in some ways very similar to the Blade. It was one of the first i5/i7 notebooks, SSD, a 5850m card, no Optical drive, and looked amazing. Wasn't the most powerful notebook on the block, but I kept it for all the reasons mentioned above... Still a little sad I sold it.

Again, please stop pointing out the price of laptop and that the GFX card is not in the upper tier or I'll just stop posting my feedback here. I am well aware of those things. Do I need to set up a new threat under other manufacturers for this notebook?

 

Cant wait and see it!! I just love his look so im also buying it, but a little later)

 

Regarding the 555, I think we can see from the Envy 15 (7690) vs. the Envy 17 (7690 xt) that this tiny bit of extra clock-speed doubles the framerate when trying to push 1080p. So, while the 555 is only slightly slower, it may seem much slower. I do love the Blade's chassis though. Hopefully Ivy-Bridge and Kepler will make this the bomb.

 

Can you also post pictures of the BIOS and see if there's any way Optimus can be disabled?

 

Looking forward to hearing some impressions of the actual machine from an owner .

Regardless of the specs i think the blade looks amazing .

Too rich for my blood but exciting none the less and i know if i had money to burn i would have been on that first waiting list .

 

well i don't have money to burn... Sold my M18x and my Macbook Air to cover the cost.

 

Hopefully you will enjoy the blade.

We all look forward to your small review(?) or small feedback about the machine after you play with it.

 

Well sir then I hope it meets or exceeds your expectations.

To me though razer really created something unique with the touch pad and it's nice to see some innovation instead of the same old.

Also the overall design and form factor are just to cool not to appreciate IMHO.

 

Your situation is about the only one where I think the Blade kind of sort of makes sense. I can see where you would not want to care for two systems, and the Blade does a decent job of melding a slim form factor (like the MBA) with gaming aesthetics and capability (Alienware).

As long as you're aware of what it actually will be capable of versus what Razer marketing is telling you, then enjoy it.

 

Agreed. The Blade does look nice and very sleek so design-wise, it is something that the entire PC laptop industry should look to move towards in terms of aesthetics. I guess in the end if it ends up being a great compromiser between portability and decent performance, then I guess it will be a good system.

Personally, I still think despite the wonky Boot Camp and stuff, I found myself using the MBP as a more practical solution for my needs if I had the dough to go exquisite laptops of this caliber. However if you want a pure and smooth Windows experience, then the Blade still cuts it I think.

To each of their own in the end really. I would still like to see from a hands-on point of view of the laptop so I guess I will be looking forward to any input. In the end as I said before, if you can justify for yourself that the over $2K price tag is worth it this laptop when it comes to your needs and lifestyle, then no one is stopping you from buying and enjoying it. I guess all the criticism is coming from the point of view on money optimization on the best bang for your buck kind of thing.

 

my blade arrived today! have church tonite but will start unboxing in a couple hours when I get back home.

 

Congrats, can't wait to see the sexy beast in the flesh (Aluminum?)!

 

I have since questioned them as to why the Blade is any different than the other products they already ship to Canada, and stated I am open to any shipping method.

Very unfortunate they don't seem willing to ship out of USA.

 

Maybe support issues from outside the USA and them covering shipping plus dealing with customs if there was an issue with the laptop.

That would be my best guess as something they dont want to deal with right now.

 

Reading this thread and a couple others, makes me wonder whether Razer's apparent "sell out" within 30 minutes was all just a marketing gimmick

 

Baka thinks it is possible to "sell out" in 30 minutes if all they had in stock was a dozen or two ._.

 

At their CES booth they said the initial wave was a few thousand units. They have actually been intentionally delaying opening the ordering because they wanted to have a good size initial wave. You gotta realize they have tens of thousands signed up for the notify, so selling 2000 units in 30 minutes is not at all hard when you have people lined up to buy them, and you send out an email before hand saying they go on sale at such and such a time.

 

that doesn't mean much though for the consensus on their product. it just means they figured out how many people were going to order one right away, and then stocked less than that.

With a 555m and 2nd gen core i7, I have to say that's it's really comparable to a well equipped macbook pro, actually.

 

I look so forward to your unboxing! Maybe a video?

 

double post victory accident.

 

Or the less pessimistic view is that they are producing them as fast as they can, it might not be the case on this forum, but out in the more casual gaming circles the Blade is extremely popular. I don't know why everyone here hates the Blade so much. If having a super thin and light laptop was my goal the Blade would be my #1 choice easily, nothing else really compares.

Seems quite a bit better than the Macbook to me. For the same specs a Macbook 17 would run $3200, and if you added in bootcamp to try and game it would be upwards of $3400. The Blade is $600 less, the faster clocked duel core will beat the slower quad in the majority of applications, and you get the fancy second screen touch pad and customizable OLED keys, not to mention the Blade is actually thinner, and IMO much better looking.

 

my version is definitely true, your version could be true. i'm not saying it's going to die a slow and painful death. i'm just pointing out that being able to "sell out" is marketing and doesn't mean much (good or bad) for their product.

why not an apple or a sony that costs much less but provides the same performance and form factor (and better style cough cough)?

there even may be some models which provide higher end graphics, still in the same form factor. maybe hp? not sure on that.

edit: wait- the razor blade is on a dual core? oh man. i just assumed quad core. well, it's no good. unfortunately, high end games are starting to pick up on quad cores already. it's 2012.

 

Aluminum yes. The backpanel logo does light up by the way (wasn't sure of this until now)

 

The power supply is uber thin. I mean macbook air power supply thin. Its actually thinner that the air in height and width, but longer. Really like that.

 

I'm redownloading 3dMark, will take some time. Will take more photos and do video. Post them later.

 

almost missed the Orochi mouse in the box, was hidden in the corner under manilla crumpled paper... Don't throw it away! I already had a blue one but green matches better.

 

There is nothing in the same form factor that is significantly better. Style is personal, but I like the Blade far better than the same old Apple design, Sony has some nice looking laptops though.

For the same specs and form factor you will be unlikely to get anything much cheaper, and companies like Apple still run $400+ more for a similar machine (gotta pay the Apple tax after all).

I am not sure which games you are referring to, but a duel core with hyper threading running 400+mhz faster will easily beat the current crop of quads in games and most anything else, no current game even stresses modern CPUs. It still gets 4 threads, and the cores run significantly faster than the true quads.

 

First impressions: Macbook Air sturdy. Very thin, easy to hold. Very large though, longer and wider than a normal 17" though not by much. Solid construction. Powering it up, looking at the matte screen makes me smile. Its like my M18X and my Macbook Air 11 had a baby: a 17", lightweight, radioactive green glowing baby. Even though its a matte black aluminum finish, does leave some fingerprints, not as bad as my M18X did though.

 

Awesome man, keep the impressions coming as you use it and play games, we will be interested to hear how it really is using it. Sounds like a truly high quality PC, something that offers excellent quality in every department.

Matte screen, man, that sounds awesome, probably my biggest complaint with Alienware is the shiny screen.

 

it's partial 2-way concurrency and 2 cores. it's not anything like having 4 cores. unless your application is specifically built for hyperthreading, it's almost just as likely to hurt performance as it is to help. Meanwhile, games can have many threads running at once, as well as other processes. 2.8Ghz is only clocked about 15% over 2.4Ghz, but you're dropping 40% the overall processing power. I don't know of any benches specifically for dual core i7's vs quad core i7's, but I'm sure others can provide them. Plenty of games stress modern CPUs, but it depends on your graphics card and settings. With a relatively weak 555m, it's probably matched decently with a dual core i7.

At the end of the day you're dropping 3 grand on pretty mid-level graphics and cpu, and a physically large system.

Some other stuff to consider:

are you going to be gaming on the battery on the go? With a mouse on a desk (and therefore easily plugged in?)

If it's on a desk, how much is fractional thickness worth? You have to keep in mind, you aren't even trading thinness for dollars, you're trading thinness for performance AND dollars. Plus, it's still going to take up a certain amount of desk space by the nature of it being 17". You're still going to have to plug it in and get a mouse if you're doing any serious gaming. If you're doing serious gaming and have 3 grand, why would you get such a low powered machine when you could get a lot more for your money?

If you're not doing serious gaming, and you want more portability, why would you get a 17" 7 pound laptop in the first place? 13" tops and 3 pounds would be way better in that case.

I suppose the tradeoffs just don't make any sense to me.

 

I really hope you guys post some pictures and first impressions about it.

Also, try to take note of the heat while gaming. I am a little skeptical about the heat displacement

 

I would have jumped on this without thinking if this was in the 13" form factor.

Wow, the unbelievable thinness would have gotten to me then.

But yeah.. I personally don't see the need for a super-thin 17", it's classified as a DTR due to its footprint & weight, not just weight alone.. It would occupy the same space as the Alienware m17x and the 17" workstations..

I personally agree with masterchef in how they failed to prioritize or see what the 17" users want in a laptop..

Well we'll see how this goes, and there should be reviews everywhere soon, I'll be sure to look around youtube as quite a few will want to flaunt the Razer purchase.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do this, john.

We all really appreciate your comments!

 

Could you post out a GPU-Z reading for it? I want to see exactly what variant of the GT 555M they went with.

 

Baka personally wants a Blade if Baka can afford it ._.

It'll feel like having a macbook but with windows and Baka can carry it to uni

 

3DMark06 12050, about 1000 points below the M14x I believe. Mayrun afterburner later

 

Info on Vantage GPU?

Hows the cooling?

 

LOLWUT? $1600 MBP 17" i7 QUAD HD 6750m
Micro Center - Apple MacBook Pro 15.4" MD035LL/A Laptop Computer - Silver MD035LL/A

You can easily buy THREE "regular" gaming laptops for the price of this Razer. There are definitely idiots with more money than sense.

I don't know about you, but 1/2" extra thickness and one pound more for more CPU and GPU power at half the cost is more sensible to me.

 

I don't see what kind of gaming you are going to get on a 500 dollar laptop, even entry level Llano would get punished cranking up settings. Most 500 dollar laptops don't even get dGPU..

 

I had to delete a few posts. Relax guys, it's a laptop .... an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

Why do you say $500 laptop?

 

It's a misunderstanding, I think. Tsunade mistook the 1/3 comment on the MBP for sale at Microcenter.

But yes, I have to agree, although the form factor is appealing, it is not the form to aim for in a 17"..

 

Even for a premium laptop, $3000 is a lot of money. Macs are nice. I've used them, but still wouldn't buy one at their normal retail asking price. This Razer is more absurd than Macs as far as pricing goes. $1700 is more reasonable for a MacBook with those specs, but still a bit too pricey for my liking.

 

But some people have money to play with so I won't knock them for going after what appeals to them.

Same go's for cars as they all get us from point a to b but some just rather ride in style.

Heck anything of luxury can be compared to the blade honestly as we all know there are cheaper alternatives to just about everything.

If I had money to splurge I would get one in a heart beat and I know all about performance/value etc.

I love what they did to the whole machine from top to bottom just the price is not within my grasp

Hopefully a decent community rises from it and does not get run out by the trolls

 

I understand having money to play with. I used to have lots too (no more unfortunately), but there's still some sense of what's really of value. Even if I had a billion dollars I couldn't justify one of these things. I dunno, just poor planning, design choice, and pricing all around. It's already underpowered an outdated as far as gaming performance. Throw an Ivy Bridge quad and nvidia 670m in there and I might be sold.

 

People with lots of money buy shoes for thousands of dollars so they can wear them once, now To me that is crazy and poor planning but a laptop on the other hand can give you so much enjoyment for many many hours/days, so to some it's certainly worth every penny.

Obviously there is a market for this item. It's clearly not you or I though

 

Even if you had the money, I would still look down upon the people getting this machine if you want a gaming one. I don't mind if you just want it for the style, just don't try to "sell" me that this POS is a gaming machine.

It's just an overhyped, "stylish" mediocre gaming machine that is more akin to getting a honda with a nice finish rather than a lamborghini.

It's performance/price is so low, it makes me angry they call it a gaming laptop. It can barely compete with 14inchers in performance.

My over one year old laptop packs more punch, and even with current upgrades in LCD, dual SSDs, and 920xm, it still cost me overall much less than the starting price of this machine. I plan on getting an HD7000 high end GPU and even then I will have spent less than the cost of the Blade, for much much higher gaming performance. Hell right now I can smoke the GT555m...

I personally wouldn't have much problem with the machine had this just been a regular luxury item. I get really upset when they come with their attitude of how this is the world's first gaming laptop. Doesn't change that I will still facepalm whenever I see it around. Man, I can't believe I would actually just urge people to buy a mac instead if they want to be crazy with their money...

 

They can market it all they want but people will do the homework I'm sure too an extent and understand this is not the end all be all of power machines.

I think many who judge this machine don't have a few grand to blow on such a luxury item and that is where the vocal majority will come from.

Like I said I want one and I have owned plenty of way more powerful machines so I'm not sure where that would put me ? Am I stupid for wanting it ? I don't think so but I know there are plenty who would say I was

 

3dMark11 1570

 

Right, same as ryzeki is saying, that's really what I'm getting at too. It'd be one thing if it was actually a gaming laptop, but it's a dual core mobile CPU with a mediocre year old GPU, both soon to be outdated by much more powerful technology with Ivy Bridge and Kepler. In the next two months actually. The LCD touchpad at the right is a nice touch, but hardly worth a 200% markup. I'd be more impressed if it was in a 13" laptop or heck even a 14" to compete with the M14x, and well, at half the cost even then as well. This year's AAA games will barely play well on it, especially at native 1080p resolution. I have a 6750m GPU which is comparable to a 555m, and it runs BF3 all low at 1080p with 30-40fps. If someone showed me their $3000 "gaming" laptop to see what it could do and it was a slide show with games released this year I'd say they had a screw loose. You can't even compare the Macbook either. It's not marketed as a gaming machine. The Razer is marketed as "The World's First True Gaming Laptop"... hardly.

The LG P330 13" has same specs: i7 dual core mobile 2.8GHz, GT 555m, Aluminum/Magnesium body, < 1" thick, 3 lbs for about $1200.