New Razer Blade & Razer Blade Pro

There are all sorts of other factors that could affect a battery test. E.g. if the antivirus decides to do a full system scan, or system restore decides to take a snapshot. Ditto for the file indexing system.

 

Honestly, I could force the 1.5-inch superbricks in college. I told myself I'd be alright with carrying 6-9 pounds around for the extra performance. Now that I'm going to work, though, it just looks and feels ridiculous. I'm no emo hipster. I grew up a huge tech nerd who never spoke out about it to feel "nerdy in the hipster way". A bullied, persecuted, 90's nerd here. I will always cherish performance, but at some point practicality steps in. It may not be that time for everyone on this thread yet, but the superbrick era of my life is over. The Blade really fits my lifestyle, so I'll gladly get one and vouch for it as it pertains to my life. I won't, however, assert that there is some prototypical personality associated with every performance laptop. I'm neither authoritative nor insistent enough to do so. I'm glad people have strong opinions, but we're all gamers, professionals, students or what-have-you here. I like to think we're wiser than to sling tortured cliches and ill-formed heuristics at one another

Kojaku

 

If anyone happens to come across a similar review but for the Pro, please share it here too!

 

However, they also did mention this :"What's amazing about the Blade's design is where it gets hot."

 

^

I'm not entirely convinced that the 'localized' heating was an intended consequence. I think they simply could not find a feasible way of insulating that area of the top plate. I have doubt how much heat is actually transferred to the surrounding air through this hot surface. Maybe an engineer can chime in here. It feels more like a preempted strike against people saying that area is unacceptably hot.

If they really want to make that localized cooling a feature they should put some laser etched holes along that top edge and direct some air through it.

 

Just thought this image may sway some alienware fans
Also from what i can discern from the anandtech review, the screen is incredibly bright, 450 nits!, ie if you turn the brightness down it is possible the contrast will increase as the black levels may be high due to the strong backlight, the colours are decent with a 50% gamut and the viewing angles are poor. All in all the screen is not bad per say but in comparison to the price it is a let down, particularly when the rest of the laptop is so well engineered. The fact of the matter is it does`t have a 1080p matte display but those who are serious about colours and video editing will likely have a desktop setup and external monitor and as the laptop is built for portability the thing razor looked at when deciding the screen was brightness to compensate for varied and outdoor environments, still a shame though, could have been perfect.

 

That's no fair, you're comparing an entire M14x unit and a laptop screen only. Oh wait...

 

it's sad but I'm pretty sure Alienware made the lid thicker than it needs to be to 'balance the design'. It would look and feel strange from a design point if the lid was as thin as the blade.

 

LOL that Alienware 14 looks like a laptop i might have bought 7 years ago. The razor blade is 3 times thiner. What a joke.

Also, Who is gonna be the first one to install a second SSD?

 

the localized heating IS the intended consequence. When you pack the heatsinks and the exhausts in the same area you dont expect another area to be hot.

and the chassis has the vents there, with its grills directed to the base of the screen.

and lets stop this nonsense of comparing the aw 14 with the blade, they arent in the same level, they dont compete with each other.

 

Temps after playing 1 hour of gaming

 

@wrecks,

Excellent readings!

 

This thing clowns the 14. It's beautiful.. Sleek... Stunning... Portable. The design is better then any other laptop I've ever seen. And the performance is strong too. I don't know why in the world someone would pay for an Alienware 14 when they can buy this. Especially after that hideous redesign. I have an Alienware m18xr2 myself and I want this machine to be my truly portable, and my other rig My mobile desk top.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

Well it costs half as much. As karamazov said they are not in the same league. I agree, but they do have similar specs- so people will compare them. It's a no brainer for you and me if you have the cash, but maybe not to a high schooler working a summer job. Price can be a big factor. Just don't tell me it's better is all I ask...

 

I appear to have wiped my UEFI menu somehow (messed with the partitions trying to revert to Windows 7). So, I see nothing but a black screen when the system boots (though it does boot to Windows, since I can use the assistive tech. to turn on screen reading). I'm sure that F1 is still entering the UEFI settings menu, but since there's no display output I'm kind of lost.

Looks like mine is headed back to Razer, unless there are any ideas on how reset or otherwise reflash the firmware.

 

Min Liang Tan just responded to the screen issue on Facebook:

 

Hmm...I seem to remember someone mentioning TN panel speed a few pages back...

Kojaku

 

Well I've seen 3+ reviews that are indicating battery life north of 6 hours, I doubt they all messed up their measurements somehow. CNET, Verge, Anand and Laptop Review all show very high battery life that is conflicting with reports from users on this thread.

This will be major factor before I put $2000 out for this (nearly all my summer earnings, I'm a high schooler as someone mentioned )

 

I don't see how it costs half as much. When you upgrade it to a GTX 765m, 1080p, and a 256GB SSD, it costs $1800!

 

So I’ve summarized the battery reports of most of the new reviews coming in. Not sure how the first 6 reviews listed are getting these numbers when other results are ~30-40% less.

Laptop Mag – 8 hours 7 minutes, regular web surfing
CNET – 7 hours 46 minutes, video playback test
The Verge – 6 hours 49 minutes, 65% brightness + switching through HD pics and web surfing
Engadget – 6 hours 30 minutes, using "Engadget’s standard battery test", also claiming "multiple 4+ hour stints" using heavy mixed usage
AnandTech – 6 hours 20 minutes, light surfing; 5 hours, heavy surfing + MP3
Forbes – 5 hours 30 minutes, watching Full HD movie looped; 6 hours 30 minutes to 7 hours, mixed usage (web, typing etc.)
Tech Radar – sub 6 hours, web browsing and typing
Wired – 5+ hours, regular browsing/activities(?)
Destructoid – sub 6 hours, medium use (YouTube, emails, surfing)
Kotaku – sub 6 hours, "could see 6 hours" but "could be better"
IGN – ~5 hours, "for casual applications"; 3 hours, gaming
Gizmodo – sub-5 hours, "everyday work“ but concludes "no where near the claimed 6 hours"
Digital Trends – 4 hours 58 minutes, PeaceKeeper web drain application
PC World – 4 hours 30 minutes, regular browsing/activities(?)
Maximum PC – 3 hours 59 minutes (239 minutes), gaming or regular surfing(??)

 

I think more research into battery profiles, graphics switching, etc. is necessary. I'll add some info once amazon starts shipping.

 

When I get my replacement today I am going to look into seeing if I can monitor optimus. With some brief research I am guessing that's how I got my low battery life. Apparently steam may be keeping the gpu online and not letting the cpu take over. Again only with ultra brief searching did i come to this hypothesis. I'll report back after I do some useful testing.

 

MSI afterburner and GPUZ will keep the dedicated GPU active so for people running those and looking for battery life be 100% sure they are turned off before pulling the plug.

 

I had the same thing happen to me with my GE70. Steam would destroy battery life when just using it casually unless I forced it to run with integrated GPU instead. That might be the issue here. Good insight.

 

Exactly, some people prefer the metrosexual look like thin and light and same thing with women, some guys prefer anorexic runway model look alikes and then there's guys that prefer women with a little meat on them for more cushion for pushin instead of getting poke with bones. Same concept with cars, some drivers prefer muscular and thick mustangs and Camaros then you have guys that like the slim and light all carbon fiber Corvette or the tiny and small and compact prius.

So I don't understand why some AW hater or Razer nuthuggers try and bash AW for being an inch thicker and 2 lbs heavier when it actually has a purpose like fitting in a blue ray or dvd optical drive, having more ports like a multi card reader, ethernet port, having a faster cpu i7-4700 at 2.4-3.4ghz compared to i7-4702 at 2.2-3.2ghz and having more room inside for better cooling and magnesium alloys for longevity.


Btw more info on the screen of the Razer 14 and why it is unacceptable for such a premium device


Anandtech Wrote

"It's unfortunate that one of the hallmarks of Windows notebooks seems to be that the vendor can get almost everything right, and then have one massive, gaping flaw. Unfortunately this remains true of the Razer Blade 14-inch as well."


"The Razer Blade 14-inch may be enjoying a 1600x900 resolution that's perfect for the gaming hardware included within, but the panel itself is atrocious. Razer was able to jack up the brightness to a respectable 453 nits, but it's a linear boost: the black level is a heinous 2.24 value. There's just no excuse for this; Lenovo was able to get a 14", 1600x900 panel in their X1 Carbon that walks all over the Blade's. And Alienware is offering a 1080p IPS panel on their Alienware 14, a notebook that may be thicker but offers the same GPU, an optical drive, and a faster CPU. I was stunned by the Blade's beautiful design, and I was equally stunned by its dire screen quality, which suffers from the same nasty "no correct viewing angle" problem that cheap TN panels typically do."


"Where Razer threw the game is the display. Almost everything else about the Razer Blade 14-inch goes so, so right, and then there's the dismal 1600x900 panel. The resolution isn't the issue; 1600x900 is actually just right for the GTX 765M. It's the panel quality that kills."


Yikes color gamut is only 48% which explains the dull look and lack of color and then the black lvls of the Razer 14 screen is at 2.24 cdm under 220 contrast ratio is just atrocious, the Sony Vaio S13A @ 1.21 cdm black lvls look so greyish and horrible, can you imagine the Razer 14 @ 2.24cmd black lvls with only 200 contrast ratio!

 

I find both the Razer and Alienware 14 sexy looking but I prefer the design of the AW 14 with its faster cpu, better warranty onsite, alienfx lighting customization, extra ports/optical drive and the beefier muscular look compared to anorexic Razer with mediocre display and lack of ports and optical drive. It's only you who is a hater and a razer nuthugger and instead of giving constructive criticism just says Alienware 14 is ugly like a little kiddo. We get it, you don't like the Alienware design but it doesn't mean other's won't like it except maybe for you and some others. So stop comparing both because they are two different niche products.

 

A very similarly configured AW 14 will cost $1799 + tax. This includes Windows 8, 256GB mSATA drive + 750GB HDD, i7-4700, 8GB DDR3L, GTX 765M, IPS 1920x1080 and all the other extras (card reader, ethernet, slot-loading DVD-RW, AlienFX etc.).

It also comes with a $200 gift card if you're a student, yet still is not quite half the price. $1800*1.075 tax - $150 GC (approx. resale value of $200 Dell GC) = $1784 (or $1934 if not a student). Compared to $2000 for the Razer Blade, I think the Blade is not overly overpriced (in comparison to the AW of course, it gets shat on in terms of value compared to a Lenovo Y410p/510p) and is justified if you don't mind not having a physical HDD (750GB worth) for music, movies and games, OR a nice 1080P IPS display.

@Colpolite
I think it's just you who prefers the BBW of laptops. No need to make your opinion apparent here, go to AW forum and bask in the thickness. I don't know anyone who would like holding a +2lb heavier, +1 inch thicker laptop for the hell of it. If you do, then get a M18x, not the M14x which is targeting portable gaming on the go.

 

At the end of the Anandtech review as much as he hated the display he certainly wanted to hold onto the machine and or buy one for himself, i think that says the most about the review and the machine in general.

There is nothing else like the Razer 14 overall even with the dismal display so for now without any real alternatives to weight/size/build quality etc the Razer is standing alone with no real competition in those areas.

I do not believe the AW14 and Razer should even be compared to each other because they are so vastly different in all areas even down to the size of the PSU .

The closest thing to the Razer would be the MSI 14 incher and that certainly has its own share of issues. People concerned about the quality of the panel should judge for themselves and purchase from a place with a fair return policy in case they are not happy. Everyone has a different idea of good/bad/acceptable like we are seeing on the forum already with owners who are satisfied.

 

exactly that, another model would be the clevo w230st

Im hoping that next year IPS is a go, or at least that they use a better panel.

I find amusing all this talk about response times and none regarding the color reproduction. I guess games are indeed black and white these days

But still, I find this a very compelling notebook, which gets almost everything right for me, except 16gb RAM (hardly something that they will put in the next iteration), Screen, lack of Thunderbolt (Quite the elephant in the room, while docking for gaming is good, are gamers interested in docks?)

 

Hi there,

I have just one, but (to me) very important question: Is the screen of the Blade really that bad or is it just not that good when it comes to comparison with screens like the retina...? My sister owns a Macbook pro 2012 with 1280:800 resolution, so my question is if the screen of the Blade is much worse?!

If that's not the case, i'm considering buying this little great machine. Sorry for some grammatical errors! Ah and one second question. I am from Switzerland, would you recommend to ship it in or should i wait until they really get into the european market? University starts in September...

Thanks for your help guys!

 

WOW! This pic puts things in perspective, yeah the M14 has a optival drive but it's incredibly thick, just looking at the lid part is almost as thick as the entire Blade.
Amazing

 

Heh. Still waiting for Amazon to even get them in stock. Hopefully another week or two. I guess the screen is what it is, but shouldnt really impact things sufficiently for me to look elsewhere. No AW here and I don't see another slim function gaming solution other than the Clevo. I suppose that would be the only thing to keep an eye out for around the same time.

 

The GE40 is also a good alternative for slim and light but it has no backlit keyboard and has a gtx 760m instead of 765m.

 

I'm still torn, I love the form factor but if I watch a movie on netflix or want to show someone vacation photos or something, I'd really like the screen to at least have decent colors, which it sounds like the brightness is great, but the colors are washed out.

Anyone have any pics of the screen showing photos? Something that might give you a better idea for what the color depth is?

 

I don't believe it is as well made as the Razer though. I think there were complaints it was a bit plastic-like.

 

actually the mbp 13 screen is better than average. just the res is pretty sub par.

 

I've owned both a rMBP and a regular 15" MBP, and now a Blade 14. Their screen quality is far superior to the 14" Blade no question about it.

 

heuristic |hyo͞oˈristik| adjective
enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves:

 

Or you can use The Razer Education/Indie Discount Program, and take the 10% discount coupon.

$1800 for the 256gb version, nice trade.

 

the 10% off code only works for like 4 schools.

 

I wish the 10% worked at more schools. It says you need your school administrator to sign up for the discount. I somehow doubt my school will qualify (which I'm attending next year) since its a large research university and doesn't really have a strong arts, graphics or gaming focus.

 

if i order the blade 14 off amazon does anyone know if i can purchase the warranty thru razer? or is the squaretrade one for 3yr $349 gonna be good enough?

 

I think you can purchase through Razer. The way I understand it, the extended warranty is like an entirely different item and doesn't come with the Blade.

You basically register the Blade, then register your extended warranty if you have one. You've got 90 days from the day you register your Blade to register an extended warranty, IIRC.

 

Oh, I meant it in the psychological analysis way, as in a snap judgment based on a quick summation of prior experiences. A really popular lecture term for first-time psych classes

Kojaku

 

Just an update from NCIX if anyones interested. I'm in Australia so I needed to purchase one through a reseller. NCIX said razer told them their having delays on the laptops sent to the distibutors. So it went from a July 2-4 arrival to a no estimated ETA. I'm seriously considering to cancel my order now and take the refund. Anyone else found a reseller with a blade in stock?

Or does anyone want to sell theirs to me? :thumbsup:

 

Haha. Everybody I've spoken to on the forum here seem quite contented with their Blades so I think the best solution at the moment would be to use a shipping forwarder to buy the laptop on your behalf and ship it to your address. But with the way to AUD is looking at the moment it seems that it won't be a cheap option.

I'm very close to doing this myself, with not a word from Razer Australia on the launch of the Blade 14 here. Even a rough timeframe would be quite nice.

 

I'd actually want to trade my Pro for the Blade version

 

I think steam was the culprit with my poor battery life. If anyone is interesting and double checking to see if they are having an optimus issue. Go into the nvidia control panel and under desktop along the top you can select "Display GPU activity icon in notification area". When i did that i found personally that steam was managing to to keep the gpu active. You can just force within the nvidia control panel steam to use integrated gfx. Hope this helps some, laptop is amazing now that I seem to have the battery life issue fixed.

 

I just had a quick question with the recent experiences with the Blade,

Could anyone provide any estimates on how these performances carry over to the Pro?

For example a 40 fps game on the Blade would roughly be how much on the Pro? I know we're talking about the same GPU, but with 20% more pixels. Is it safe to assume 20% less FPS too? What about the battery? Any insight would be great.

 

It would probably be even slower because the gpu only has a 128bit memory interface, ie it would get saturated at .1080p as it is already struggling at 900p.