New Razer Blade & Razer Blade Pro

Ah, I see the port. So wait, are ssd's in this configuration plug and play? Just drop the second drive in and BOOM, second drive is available on windows?

Kojaku

 

If I could get my own ssd in there, why bother getting razers expensive ones...

 

For those living outside of US/Canada like me, I don't think we'll be able to place any order for at least another month or so. For the time being, let's just wait and watch some videos i guess.

 

For those of us that don't know how to place in new SSDs =p

 

That what I'm waiting to find out is if there is a way to add a bigger SSD I will be more then happy to purchase the Pro just don't want to have to shell out $2799 for 2 of the 512gb version .

 

Does this mean i can add an extra ssd such as an 840 pro? are msata ssd`s slower, i notices the ssd had terrible write speeds in comparison to most other high end ssd`s?

 

Can somebody confirm the possibility to add our own ssd's?

 

I love it, the guy that pointed the existence of the 2nd msata slot was right, we could be able to put a msata ssd in there, now to wait for someone to try it.

 

Sorry if I missed this but has anyone, now, pre-ordered on Anazon for the 17 inch blade pro/ know when they would come in?

 

I wonder what the bios look like can we tweak Anything at All? Seems like the CPU has some overhead.

 

Er.. did you mean 'headroom'?

 

Yes, both are very easily accessible. The first one only requires you disconnect the ribbon connector covering it.

Tip: order the 256GB on Amazon, and buy another 256GB crucial M4/240GB Crucial M500 for ~$160 (M4 has been that price before). You won't have to worry about Amazon getting the 512GB and 256GB should keep you going (plus save you quite a bit).

And no, a 840/840 Pro will not fit since those are 2.5" drives. You would need to use either Samsung PM831/841 or some other mSATA drives (like the M4/M500, Mushkin Atlas, MySSD etc.). There is no difference asides from form factor, some have said mSATA don't last as long but spec wise they should be about the same (maybe slightly slower due to interface optimization).

 

the plextor m5m is a good choice as well for msata ssd. I would actually wait for the 480gb version from them or crucial, so that all the channels are populated, or just buy the XP941 from samsung, it should be compatible with msata

 

256gb plextor is on sale at newegg for 189.99 with Promo Code: EMCYTZT3682 if anyone wanted to try it out for us... just saying.

Does anyone know, the pictures above are from a 256 model razer or the 512? Just hoping they dont put in 2x 256 for the 512 model...

 

the m5m is a good enough drive

btw scratch that talk of XP941, here is some comparison pics between the NGFF/m.2 and the msata of the plextor m5m
AnandTech | Hands On with Plextor's NGFF SSDs
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6575/DSC_9285.JPG

AnandTech | Plextor M5M (256GB) mSATA Review

m5m review

 

I meant try it out in the blade. No issues with the drive

 

Cool. I got the 128 Blade 14 on order. They said I should get it after Jul 8. My plan is to buy two Mushkin 480s. Put one on the empty slot, then us the same imaging software I used for my Edge and do a copy disk. Then take out the 128, shelve it as a backup, and have two 480s (C: and D no raid 0.

 

I could somewhat justify paying ~600 for a 512 GB mSATA due to the availability of them, but if there are 2 available mSATA, my gut tells me they will use 2x256GB instead. I expressly contacted Razer support solely to ask them if the 14" had 2 mSATA and they told me it only had only one. Though I am happy to see more slots for upgrades later, I will have to alter/cancel my order if it doesn't have the single 512 GB mSATA.

 

Yeah, that's what I was worried about. If it's not a 512 gb drive... also probably won't keep it. Better to get the smaller drive and upgrade myself.

 

That's awesome!!! I hope that the 512 folks are actually getting a 512gb msata ssd and not two 256's in Raid 0 or something...I mean, the only 512gb I have seen is the Samsung PM841, so they're pretty rare...

Kojaku

 

So anyone have any thoughts on this? it's going to kind of determin if I keep the Blade Pro or not.

 

I don't think the XP941 will be compatible, it uses m.2 PCI-e interface that is incompatible with mSATA ports.

 

Can't really see the second msata slot is it in between msata 1 and the wifi card?

 

Would it be possible to remove the WiFi card (and use an external USB wifi) and replace it with a mSATA SSD? Wow! There is room for a whole 2.5 inch drive in the pro. Hope you can find one of those cables.

 

If your talking about the Blade Pro there isn't a 2nd mSATA. There is just a giant hole where the 2.5" HHD was on the Blade R2 and a standard SATA connector.

 

Just to let you guys know according to HWINFO64, the 512GB Razer Blade model does use one 512GB drive. Model: SAMSUNG MZMTD512HAGL-00000

 

Hey! Im back.

So, have any of you been able to install the new nVidia beta driver on the Blade Pro? It's telling me that it does not detect supported hardware.

I wonder if there was a modification done on the chip in order to be able to fit the form factor? I hope not, because that would suck :S

 

I'm sure people have seen this, but this is a solid review. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX9A6kucPdA

 

It sure does as shown in the picture I've taken of the 14

 

Thanks for confirming the 512 drive is single guys!

 

That's less a review and more a "first look".

 

John review is pretty bang on.

My second touch pad button is not even like his too.

Only complaint is the screen is really sub par (reminds me when I bought my first LCD TV, the black levels and colors are very washed out). Do yourself a favor and get rid of the wallpaper razor installed on your laptop. It will drive you crazy due to the bad viewing angle. People will say just stay in the sweet spot and don't move around. I'm sorry to say the sweet spot is really not there. Overtime you just accept the TN screen and it's not that bad. It just suck that in the back in our minds there is better technology.

If you have the patience wait for razor to change the display to IPS. Otherwise this is a great laptop. It plays all my current games flawlessly... Rift, Bioshock, XCOM, SimCity, and BF3.

Even with the complaints I have above, I think I'm going to keep it. Been laptop less for a few years waiting for a perfect laptop. Though this laptop is not perfect, the form factor and performance is to good.

My current dream laptop would be
1. Put a IPS screeen on Razor Blade and 780m GPU
or
2. Put a 780m GPU in the Vaio 13 Pro or New Samsung Series 9.

Maybe next year.

 

What is the maximum setting you can crank it upto at native res while getting about 40 FPS in BF3? And are the fans quiet and work effectively?

 

Sigh the screen reviews and the driver issues are making me batty..... I hope the driver issue at least is resolved quickly.

 

I'm wondering what screens/laptops, the guys that are b*tching about the Blade's screen, had before.

 

Could someone do me a favor? Could you go into the device manager and provide the model number of the screen? That way, I could see what other laptops use that screen, and most likely, more reviews would be out for that laptop.

 

Having spent much of last night testing the fans on mine I can safely say they are ultra-quiet. I honestly wasn't sure if they were both working.

The CPU fan on the left kicks in from time to time but even when I was running furmark the GPU fan only kicked in once. They seem to do a great job keeping temps in check. I don't think I've ever had the GPU fan kick into full speed while playing a game, and that's including MLL, Crysis 3 and Far Cry 3. CPU fan is the only one that has and you can't hear it over the game sound. Definitely kudos to Razer on that. The screen is another story, but I am going to try a different wallpaper.

 

Never going to happen. TDP for the 780M in a laptop with the form factor of the Razer Blade is too much heat to dissipate.

 

Yeah not to mention battery and psu required... but 865 or dare we hope 870?

 

I told everybody the fans were mouse fart quiet and nobody believed me...

 

Looking for help guys, I'm looking to keep my Blade extremely clean (especially the screen and the keyboard area), I have this screen spray for my TV that's amazing in keeping it clean, removes all blemishes and dust, etc. Would that be fine to carry over to the Blade? I'm just not sure if it's safe to do so.

Also, any tips on the keyboard area? The body is aluminum right, so I should find a spray appropriate for aluminum?

Otherwise, all the reviews and investigations are looking great! Maybe when my warranty expires will I break it open =p

 

because no one believes mouse farts

btw could you go into the devices and check the model number of the screen? I betting its the one from the x1c

I just use a moist towel to do the cleaning of my mbp, it does the job and no need to freak out about sprays and stuff. aside that I dont know how they did the paint job, so you may damage the finish with other chemical products aside water

 

They changed shipping dates from 2-4 weeks down to 5-7 days. I couldn't help myself and ordered a 256. Gah tried to click that buy button so many times in the last few days. Glad it's finally done.

 

So, how bad is the screen really, coming from a matte early 2011 15" MBP?

 

It's an AU Optronics (Acer) panel: AUO103E



A quick search shows it's used in the Dell XPS 14 (with a glossy Gorilla Glass cover). Possibly also in an HP Envy 14.

My take on the TN display after using this notebook as my daily driver for about a week: Matte surface and sufficiently strong backlighting makes it usable in bright environments. Contrast, color accuracy, and horizontal viewing angle is good for a notebook display. Vertical viewing angle is limited but acceptable once screen angle is adjusted to your viewing height. The default wallpaper is actually useful for this adjustment: tilt the screen back until the honeycomb pattern at the top of the screen begins to fade to black, this will maximize contrast levels across the vertical length of the display. If your point of reference is a notebook with an IPS or MVA display panel, you will probably be disappointed. I'm using this as a portable development/gaming PC, and usually use an large external monitor or projector for demos. The Blade 14's form factor and CPU/GPU performance is unmatched at the moment, so this notebook suits my needs perfectly.

 

Thanks, maybe I was overdoing it. I'll try this first.

 

Hmm. Makes me wonder if for some reason the second msata slot is disabled or something. Surely they have to realize folks can open it and see two slots. Anyone with a Blade 14 tried adding a second drive yet?

 

When i called up they told me it had 2 msata slots, 1 was unused, but if i.wanted to put another msata in, it would void warranty.

I cant see the msata slot from the blade 14 pics. Can anyone point it out to me? Im guessing its the grey tab in between the filled msata lot and the wifi card

 

Thanks for the info. Really a shame that a company supposedly by and for gamers would have such a policy. Provided you don't somehow physically damage the board, adding an additional drive isn't going to hurt a thing...

 

I agree that as a company that is for gamers by gamers their policies suck, this is an email exchange I just had with them.
Salutations Steve, We operate the repair centers for the Blade, if it is in need of repair we would set the unit up to come in for repairs. As for parts for end-user repairs we are unable to provide these, as the units must be repaired at our center.


We are unable to assist in the disassembly, modification, or end-user repair of the units, as this is not covered under warranty.


I hope that helps in explaining my colleagues earlier email.


-----Original Message-----


Hi James,

As a company that boasts being for gamers by gamers I'm very disappointed, I don't know to many hardcore gamers who don't like tinkering with their game toys. I am almost positive from the pictures of the inside of the Blade Pro I've seen that a 2.5" SSD can be installed, the Bios even shows 4 total potential SATA connections with the installed SSD drive being in the #2 spot & the #1 being empty.

So lets try this again, if I were to be the owner of an R2 Razer Blade and I broke the HDD cable, how would I go about getting that fixed or replaced?

I very much enjoy my Blade Pro, probably my favorite laptop I've owned however the 256gbs model I ordered (nor would the 512 be) is not enough space for me as I do both gamming and video editing. Unfortunately if I can't get this resolved I'm going to have to return my order and get something with a little less form factor but has more internal storage.

Thanks,

Steve


-----Original Message-----

Hi Stephen, I have read over your previous email and as the Razer Blade Pro was not meant to be user upgradeable we do not have any information on the internal components other than what is listed on the website under "Tech specs" on the products web page which I will provide a link to below. I am sorry I could not provide any further information and I hope you have a great day! Razer Blade Pro: Extreme Performance Gaming Laptop - Razer United States Best Regards, James D. Razer Support Tier II Note: If you need further assistance please include all previous replies when/if responding to this message Razer - For Gamers. By Gamers. - Razer United States | cult.razerzone.com --------------- Original Message --------------- Thanks, we have received your inquiry to Razer Systems Support. Generally all inquiries are answered within one working day. Occasionally, due to high volumes of call demand or some inquiries needing more research than others, a reply may take longer. Please accept our apologies in advance for any reply that exceeds this time frame, but be assured we are working hard to get back to you as quickly as possible. If you do not hear back from us in 2 working days please feel free to contact us for an update to your case. You can reach us by phone at 800-6011-456 (Singapore). For your records, your case number is: 00128612 Best Regards, The Razer Team --- Details of Your Request --- Hi, I recently purchased a Razer Blade Pro 256gb and was hoping to make use of the empty 2.5" drive bay. I really need a lot more disk space than even what the 512gb model provided. In order to use this space however I need a SATA cable much like the one in the Blade R2 and was wondering if this is something I can order from you or if you could give me more information on the SATA cable & mother board connector type so I can find a 3rd party cable online. Thanks, Steve