New Razer Blade & Razer Blade Pro

Would they really know if you snuck in a second msata and took it our for warranty? I did that for my mac and they never really noticed or cared. Even the genius reminded me to do that when i came in for service

 

Good point. From what I've read so far it doesn't seem there's a way for Razer to know whether or not the case has been opened. Hopefully not anyway

 

Got my 14 earlier today, I have to be honest and say the screen for me is a deal breaker. Its so dull and increasing the brightness does not help.

For 2500 I expect at least a decent screen even my macbook air 13 screen makes the razer look bad.

This is just my opinion and other than the screen I think its a fantastic system, if you can live with the screen congrats.

Mine will be going back and hopefully the Clevo 13 will fill my empty spot for a smaller gaming system?

 

K, my screen is day and night better. I guess I forgot to calibrate the screen.

Yeh dark, it's dull, but I think it is cause I'm use to having glossy displays. Having a matte reminds me when people put anti reflective screen protectors on their phones making it look grainy.

 

Matte can really be a blessing and a curse. Bright room? Best thing ever. Dark room next to glossy ips, man that thing looks like sh$t.

What did you do to calibrate it?

 

just windows 8 calibrating tool. Basically it just really improved the black levels.

 

Hi Wrecks,

Congrats on getting the Razer Blade. How's your user experience with it so far? And did you notice that battery is spelled "Betty" in the pic you took of the internals? LOL

 

Hi Everyone,

I'm contemplating getting the new Razer Blade with 512GB SSD. Having never owned any Razer products before I'm concerned about its durability and longevity. I frequently travel for business and spend a lot of time overseas, where repair/warranty would be difficult to obtain. So could those of you that have owned previous Razer Blade's, please chime in and comment?

I'm also a bit concerned about the quality of the display. Although to a lesser degree. I noticed that some of the negative comments regarding the TN display comes from Mac owners. Having a basis for comparison which sets ones expectations will influence one's opinion. So coming from an 1.5 year old Asus N53S (also a matte TN panel) myself, something on par would be sufficient. Ideally, I'd prefer an IPS touchscreen, but there's always the next model I guess. I'd appreciate it if someone coming from a similar machine would comment on the Razer Blades display.

Thanks in advance!

 

Nice review here of the xps 14
Review Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews
same screen as the blade, 400 nits brightness nice!, not many laptops can get even close in this size category, contrast is poor due to low black levels however the blade should be a tad better due to the matte coating.

 

Razer CEO Min Liang Tan i think lied or messed up on his claims about the 14inch display. As we all know by now, the new Alienware 14 has a FHD 1080p IPS display with 72% color gamut. No offense to Razer but just letting people know.


" Why not a fullhd? Simply because this is the best screen available w/ 1600x900"

Computex 2013: The 2013 Razer Blade Pro and 14-inch Razer Blade with CEO of Razer, Min-Liang Tan - YouTube. Starts at 05:12 when he is describing the display

 

Razer CEO Min Liang Tan i think lied or messed up on his claims about the 14inch display. As we all know by now, the new Alienware 14 has a FHD 1080p IPS display with 72% color gamut. No offense to Razer but just wsnt to point it out


" Why not a fullhd? Simply because this is the best screen available w/ 1600x900"

Computex 2013: The 2013 Razer Blade Pro and 14-inch Razer Blade with CEO of Razer, Min-Liang Tan - YouTube. Starts at 05:12 when he is describing the display

 

Min is quick with the hyperboles. I'll give you that. Im not a huge fan of the way he sells his products. I think the products are good enough to sell themselves.

But your statement is not quite correct either. Alienware uses a 1080p display, razer may have the best 1600x900 since i dont know of any IPS displays with that resolution.

I believe razer chose the 900p display because they cant claim to run ' crysis 3 on high' at 30fps+ on a 1080p display and that would put a dampener on their marketing rhetoric. During the demos it seems the razer 14 was pretty much on the edge of smoothness with crysis 3 on high.

I hope with Maxwell GPUs, Razer can upgrade to IPS 1080p while still achieving good frames.

What this also means is that Alienware 14 will be slower than razer 14 at it's native resolution.

 

Hmm, compare the photos of R2 and PRO model. Looks like the PRO don't have Sata Connector beside battery like the R2. the mSata have the same location for both PRO and R2
(I just compare two opened back panel photos from Cyanide and darth_duchy)
My wild guess the RAM slots must be beneath of the motherboard. just like R2.

Question, where is Sata Connector? Unless this thing have 2 mSata slots. If they do, does this Z87 have raid controller?

 

For the AW fanboys. I was one. But common............this is a joke. If the thermals on the AW14 ends up being similar to last years version, it would mean the razer owners would have something that was nearly 3 times thinner, 2 pounds lighter, cooler AND performs better at native resolution....

common alienware, get your act together!

This is Alienware 'bulldozer'. Us AW owners waited for the redesign for 5 years and this is what we got. a piece of alumium on the lid and some tron lights.

Poor effort on Alienware/dell's part and as consumers we need to let them know.

 

Yeah but dell/alienware are going through some rough times right now. Losing money, talk of stock takeover or buyout by the Michael dell personally. They probably don't have money for rnd, so this is what we have.

I agree the 14 is not progressive at all. They should have dropped the optical drive years ago but they are trying to make money after all, not necessarily passionate about pushing the boundaries. This is why dell wants to buy the company back. He says that you can't take risks when it's run by the stock holders. Seems to be true...

Ips screen sounds nice though. Maybe on the next blade.

 

^\
I honestly hope that happens. I really like the fact that AW still lets people tinker with the laptops, unlike razer.
I hope someone like google buy alienware and infuse some chromebook pixel design into the alienware line.

haha......wishful thinking.

 

Thanks for all the info that you share.
Thinking about this laptop. Kimd of disapointed by the screen, especially after reading the xps14 review and seeing that : Apart from the maximum brightness, the rest of the results are less than convincing. With respect to the high entry-level price of over 1000 Euro (~$1230) we were expecting an IPS panel or at least a better quality TN one.

at 1200 dollars the screen is already define as cheap for the xps14, and define as not the best TN one...

the other part is that I wait to know if I will be able to change the ssd, or add a second one in the blade 14. Due to the fact that we speak about the 14 and the pro in this topic, sometime i m confused. do the blade 14 have the possibility to put 2 ssd?
I know that this will void the warantly. but if possible i will defenetly buy the 128G version and add a 256 or 512 on top.


anyway thank you all for all those information.

there is a lot of comment about the screen, but at the end just for playing and internet /video, is this screen that terrible or still ok?

thanks all

 

Between 35-50 FPS

 

So it appears that for the most part the screens are not subpar? Can't believe there is still a review embargo out there (or the appearance of one given the lack of reviews). The laptops have been out in the wild for at least a week....

 

I assume you mean at Ultra preset? I don't think you understood my question properly.

 

wrong. gt730m (no overclocking involved)can run crysis 3 on ultra without AA on 1080p.at 30 fps Crysis 3 - ULTRA ON NVIDIA GT 730M - YouTube gt765m can surely run crysis 3 ultr without AA at 1800p. If I remember right the razer ceo said in an interview that the best 14 inch display at the momment is 1600x900 on the razer blade but he should already know 1080p 14inch from gigabyte and alien. I did not buy the razer because of the screen, next year it will be so far from igzo 3200x1800 which can be played max with next gen graphics. some tablets and phones already have better resolution. 8gb ram is a bit of bottleneck as well. I just dont like a laptop that is not as good as it can be because the razer blade can be better but it will be improved next year atleast. I will add that the design comes from macbook pro retina.


For the ones who have existing laptop , just wait next year

 

But what do we do next year, when the next great thing is just one year away?

The basis of your argument has no merit in technology purchases. Decisions are point-in-time and made with the contemporary pool of products using currently available technology.

 

Well, many of us waited to buy an Alienware till the June reveal and look what crap they are trying to shove up our asses. My point is, you simply cannot expect a certain feature to appear in a piece of tech simply because of requests. Also, by that time, more developments would have taken place and they may give us a good screen but lack in a gpu. Just be happy that they managed to fit a friggin' GTX card in 0.66 inches of metal.

 

I am happy about that!

 

That reasoning is just not acceptable. Just because it will give a little bit more fps running @ 900p display, does not justify it using a mediocre subpar HD+ screen. The problem here is not even the resolution since 1600x900 is actually good enough and way better than 1366x768, the problem is that these screens are not of very good quality and tend to be low quality with low color gamut, poor contrast ratio etc.


Even the last years gpu of gtx 660m kepler and gtx 670m fermi were potent enough to run at FHD resolution and the gtx 765m is faster than those 2 so using the argument of "Oooo Razer went and chose the subpar TN 900p display because it will give a lil bit more fps instead of actually putting a proper FHD IPS display but they didn't and still charge premium price anyway" is just BS. That's like saying i'd rather have a 1366x768 display because it will give me more fps than a high quality FHD display which is ridiculous.


And as far as the thickness and weight of the Alienware 14, Frank Azor wrote this “There’s a thousand thin notebooks out there.” says Alienware’s Frank Azor. While most companies are focusing on thin models like the Razer Blade, Alienware’s latest products are actually built like tanks. The new Alienware 14, is 1.6 inches thick, and weighs a full six pounds. “We want our users to be physically fit” said Azor.


The only advantage Razer has is the very thin and light footprint for a gaming notebook ( if you are into that sort of thing since not all gamers would want something that thin and light that can compromise longevity) and that's what it is all about and which is why they are charging almost $2,000 after taxes because it is a unique gaming laptop that is super thin and light. But it loses a lot of things that most gamer and regular people need like ethernet port, multi card reader, optical drive (you might not need those but it doesn't mean other people don't need it) and then comes the warranty. Does Razer pay to cover both ways for shipping in the event you needed warranty repair? Does Razer send a tech to your location to do warranty repair?


All these things matter and the argument of Razer charging more than 2 thousand dollars or close to it after taxes with a subpar 900p screen and the lack of ports etc just because it is thin and light is not good enough for me, it is probably good enough for you and few more other people but not for me and i'm sure a lot of other gamers and regular users will find out it is not good enough.


I'd take the Premium Alienware anyday over the new premium new comer in the world of gaming laptops Razer and I would gladly take the extra added inch thickness and 1-2lb if it means proper cooling with longer longevity, better warranty, customizable alienfx lighting, has the ports that a gamer and any regular user would need like dual headphone port, optical drive, multi card reader, Ethernet port.


Even if the Razer 14 is only 2lb and half an inch, but then lacks a great quality screen and ports and on site warranty, you can have it.


I rest my case

 

If alienware would drop the optical drive, put in a second fan for adequate cooling, I think I would get that in a heartbeat. Alienware has been good to me in the past. I am not getting mad at alienware owners if they enjoy their computer! Let's all enjoy our toys!

All things being equal I would prefer thin and light, and am willing to pay the premium. If you aren't, that's a perfectly valid choice as well.

 

+1
Thin and light was a requirement for me. You have to admit it is an impressive amount of hardware for such a small package. This is, to my knowledge, the first of a new wave of gaming laptops. Thin and powerful in a sub 15". I feel that a current Alienware 14 will look downright silly because of its thickness in 1-2 years, while a Razer 14 will still be a somewhat capable and very portable machine.

 

The empty msata ssd housing can be used with the blade 14. So yes you can add a second ssd, but must remind everyone you risk voiding your warranty.

 

No "regular user" is going to buy either of these notebooks. Everyone who buys one knows exactly what they are getting themselves into, the specs are stated on the web sites of each company in an easy to read fashion.

Personally I would never use dual headphone jacks or a card reader, or an Ethernet port for that matter. That doesn't mean someone else won't, I'm not saying that.

Clearly these two notebooks are not directly competing with one another. They are different enough that people who are buying them have their own legitimate reasons for doing so.

Also, stating that the AW 14 is more durable than the Razer is a baseless claim at this point, you have no idea what you're talking about there.

 

This is helpful, but I looked up the review for the Envy 14 Spectre, which is supposed to have the same panel, and the Dell XPS 14 (both AUO103E), and they appear to be two completely distinct panels. One has good contrast and black levels, mediocre brightness, and solid viewing angles, while the other has crappy black levels, mediocre contrast, fantastic brightness, and awful viewing angles. Judging by the comments here I'm betting we're working with the Dell XPS 14 panel, but it's worth keeping in mind that a model number isn't totally unambiguous.

 

So you managed to stick another mSATA ssd in and it worked no problem? It just showed up as D?

 

Coming from an M17x R4, there's a lot to improve on the Alienware units.

The optical drive sounds nice to have, but I can't remember the last time I had to use it versus just getting it online.

No dual mic/audio port.

Cooling was actually good on that unit. The M14 is the one that's too hot, imo. Brother has one.

I agree with the stand that if you really don't mind the weight and size, Alienware is a good system. I can't stand not being able to carry it around practically though.
Back to the actual topic and brand, I just got back to the Philippines and awaiting my unit. Looks like I'll be able to bring it to the beach

Are most people getting their Pros getting them with no defects? I've come across probably 3 people saying that they lost their keyboard lighting when they got the unit. I'd be devastated if that were going to happen to me, seeing as how much I have to ship it back and wait on.

 

Yeh I probably misunderstood your question
BF3 at Ultra.

v \

Rift at Ultrra


XCOM at High


I couldn't hear the fan at all. In fact I could hear the PSU over the fan.

Also where we rest our palms kind of gets toasty.

 

There is alot of positives with this laptop.

Honestly I am on the fence again with this laptop. After playing games where the scene is very dark is frustrating. I'm still evaluating this lappy if I should keep it.

 

Sorry to hear about the disappointing display... But may I ask what other notebooks you've owned as a basis for comparison for the quality of the display?

Also, how well does the cooling system work under load? Does it just get toasty or does it feel like something that has been sitting outside for a few hours on a hot summer day?

Fan noise level under load?

If you were to return the Blade, what would be your replacement of choice?

Sorry about the all the questions. But given the lack of reviews for this lappy and the price, I really want to know what to expect before I order. Thanks in advance!

 

if everything goes ok, my friend will receive the blade pro on saturday. i will tell him to take pics to install hwinfo and test some games!!!

Sent from my MI 2 using Tapatalk 2

 

Really? He said that.

I rest my case too. In this day and age with the rMBP, i dont think its a valid assumption to say only thick and heavy notebooks are 'built like tanks'.

Like a lot of people have said. AW does have it's merits and some people will buy it for those reasons.

 

Honestly if your sole workout plan is to carry a thick and heavy laptop... you're going to have a bad day.

 

You can use it to fight off muggers too. One good whack with the laptop and they're down for the count.

 

I LOL after reading this. That Azor guy really should start selling fitness video.

 

Wow thanks man!

 

really? my palms never get toasty on the palmrest.

 

Nor mine. The only thing under it is the battery and it doesn't heat up much at all

 

Yeh i'm trying to isolate what is causing it. I think it's cause i'm using a targus laptop pad when playing XCOM for an hour. I'll play it on a desk a little later to see if their is a difference.

 

how hard is it to self upgrade the display unit later on after warranty? i remember when people were changing the eeepcs screens to a upgraded touch screen and such when touch screen tech wasn't fairly available for pcs beside fujitsus for fairly cheap. Also is the ssd the only replaceable part on the 14 unit? is the gpu upgrade-able on the 17?


edit drunk typist

 

your thinking too much, upgradeable GPUs only present without heating issue on 2-3" thick machines, a thin heatsink simply won't handle the heat on a removable GPU
changing the screen will be a challenge, requires you to dissemble the A and B panel, however you have to take note that (1) the connectors might be physically different (2) the screen is assembled like the rmbp,where the whole A and B panel is the screen itself(check ifixit teardown (3) hardware detection problem making a blank screen (4) repair cost IF you break something inside, take note this is a small company, so they are unlikely to have spare parts for out of warranty repairs, and warranty repairs might take the following steps: send in unit-->diag-->low parts stock level that serves warranted machines ONLY due to operating cost vs size of company-->repair-->send back
if the third step costs too much to store and the faulty rate is too low razer might take an alternate route of not having any stock but contact manufacturer for 1 part only at a time, costs way more expensive but since the faulty rate is too low its outcome would be much cheaper than stocking spareparts that they know will not get used (unless they snap on 3 year warranty on all machines)

 

Is the any difference in gaming with

512GB SATA III SSD
&
512GB SATA 6 SSD

Thanks

 

Sata III = Sata 6 gb/s so no . They're the same thing.

EDIT: slower storage would only make a difference in loading times, not in actual gaming performance.

 

You mean the difference between a
Sata II 3Gbits
Sata III 6Gbits?

Me personally on my desktop I can't see a difference in load times with the games I play. (Crucial Sata II SSD and Vertex 3 Sata III SSD)

Otherwise I see the difference when I benchmark them.

 

Than you so much +1

one more thing I want to ask is
DDR4 RAM coming this year
Crucial.com - Crucial DDR4 coming soon!

will we be able to upgade them in Razer laptops
& will it make a differnce in gaming

Thank so much