New Razer Blade & Razer Blade Pro

Woohoo, right after I posted this I got my shipping confirmation. Ordered Blade 256GB for $1800 on July 19th, shipped out the 26th and will be arriving the 1st of August

Also, for anyone interested in adding an mSATA (which won't void warranty because there's no seal), this looks to be a very good deal! Crucial M500 240GB for $170 + $4 shipping

http://m.tigerdirect.com/applicatio...ffiliateID=lw9MynSeamY-Tb4bp3q16wLg10JlNofUww

 

I made an account just to say this. I just received my Razer Blade 14 256GB this morning (ordered the 11th), and the screen really is not bad at all. If I hadn't read all the reviews, I would actually think it looks pretty great. Everything else about the laptop is absolutely incredible. Screens are just the current reviewer circle-jerk. And I'm not trying to sound immature by saying that, there just isn't really a better way to describe it. This thing is awesome. If you're on the fence, buy it.

 

Is that $1800 with the student discount?

 

Indeed. I regret buying the 256GB version though, I could have gotten the 128GB base for $1620 after discount, then bought the above M500 drive for $175 and total cost would have been $1795, cheaper than what I spent for the 256GB Blade but I would have had an extra 128GB mSSD as well...

For all you who bought the 512GB for $2300, what was the reasoning for that? I'm curious if others are planning to increase storage or just use as is.

 

I think it is because there just isn't anywhere to buy a 512 GB mSATA SSD right now. I expect them to be near $400-$500 anyways. It would make sense if you plan on going 2x512GB.

 

I don't plan on opening up my blade to add storage. 512 GB is perfect in combination with my 3 TB external usb 3.0 drive of course

 

So why didn't you go 2x256?

 

I do not want to open up my blade and void the warranty.... and in a years time maybe I will upgrade to 1 TB of storage ...

 

@nick11

Pretty much my thinking as well, and with the current pricing off the 512gb msata, the price increase wasn't that unreasonable.

 

Interesting note. I played about 30 mins or so of Starcraft II on the nvida card using battery power. It blew through 70 percent of the battery. Going to test it tomorrow with the pc choosing power consumption etc to see what it does....

 

I will eventually add another 512GB for 1TB.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Anyone know the exact size of the torx screw on the bottom of the Blade 14? I have a set or torx screwdrivers I bought from Lowes, but all were too big. I want to buy a new set off Newegg, but want to make sure I got the right one.

 

If anyone with a Blade Pro could post that they successfully added in a new SSD, I'd like to know please!

 

I've tried and failed. My Blade is currently bricked, and I can't put a new OS on it because it refuses to boot from any USB stick I've tried.

 

Doesn't the pro only have one mSATA + one 2.5" bay (albeit with no connector)?

 

The Blade pro has the connector, but nobody has figured out the cable yet..

 

Yeah I believe I've read that somewhere too. But until someone is actually able to try and test it, I'm not going anywhere near that yet =p it doesn't help that I'm not experienced or have any expertise in opening up laptops either.

 

anyone waiting for the Blade 14-inch 128GB? ordered on 26th June, still waiting meh... hope it comes before I return to the UK

 

My blade arrived yesterday right on time with FedEx shipping estimate. This is a replacement for my M11X R3, and have to say really enjoying it so far and starting to stretch it out a little bit (not a huge fan of windows 8 though). Form factor and build quality are excellent. It's pretty amazing what they've been able to pack into this form. Only done some lighter gaming sessions (MMO's for about an hour) but thermals are solid and performance is on par with reviews I read. Thermals to this point have been solid, CPU temps in the upper 80s and GPU in the upper 70s.

I have to say I think the screen concerns are pretty overblown. No it's not a MBPr but the screen is perfectly fine. For single person usage, viewing angles are not a problem. Color's aren't quite as vibrant as other panels I've seen but I was expecting oblivion based off some of the comments on this thread. For anyone who's on the fence because of the screen I suggest you give it a whirl and utilize Razer's return policy if it's not for you.

 

Are there people who ordered from Amazon and already received their order? How long did you wait?

Thank you

 

I would like to know this as well. Has anyone been able to successfully order from Amazon yet?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

From what I understand, yes you can order from Amazon, but at a pre order state and with no ETA. I doubt anyone has anything close to receiving a unit yet though

 

Finally received the 17" Blade Pro/256G. It's a beautiful machine - very fast, sleek etc.

But...

We can't get it to stop crashing.

My son and I pulled it out of the box yesterday, and started loading it up (Java/Minecraft, Steam) and immediately starting getting lockups. After futzing around trying to figure out what we had done wrong, we found that just going into the Nvidia control panel with the 3D spinning logo will either freeze the application, lock up the laptop, or freeze the whole thing.

We resorted to a "system reset" - wiped out everything and started over. We set a restore point there and were able to watch the spinning logo make more than one revolution. Ok, everything's good, install Java and Minecraft, set a restore point. Minecraft works! Hooray! Things were looking up. Then, it looked like Microsoft automatic updates were on (crap!) - on the next boot, it decided to install a crap-ton of updates. After that, Minecraft locked up, spinning logo locked up.

No problem, right? Restore to the restore point where everything worked. No luck - still crashing. Then we restored to when we had just done the system wipe - no luck, still crashes.

Now I'm on my second "wipe everything" routine.

W. T. F. ? It's Sunday, so I'm guessing Razer support is not available (maybe I'll try anyway).

Edit: Wiped, installed Java (32 and 64 bit) and it's dead again. This is nuts.

 

I am assuming your getting BSOD... Determine what is the error causing the BSOD and you will quickly figure out whats the issue "Likely either the Hard Drive or the Board itself depending on the errors your getting". In any case call Razer and RMA the notebook.

 

Agree. With what you've said, it's sounding more like a possible hardware issue rather than software.

My Pro just had an RMA for a new mobo as well, and it only took a few hours of actual repair time. Add in a few days for shipping back and forth.

 

Can others give me your battery times using system to play games? And did you designate Intel chip to play with etc?

 

May well be a hardware issue. Strange that it's fine with "out of the box" software on it. Maybe because the video card isn't being worked.

And it's not a BSOD, really, though it's Windows 8's equivalent. Turns out it's a bugcheck in nvlddmkm, which looks like Nvidia's driver to me.

What issue did your Pro have that you needed to RMA it? I've sent support an email and have a ticket open.

 

Hopefully you didn't wipe the original SSD but if you did you can order a USB recovery stick from Razer support.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Nope - did the "Reset PC" (or some verbiage) that resets Windows back to "out of the box" condition.

 

My issue was a hardware issue causing static noise from a plugged in earphones/headsets when the laptop was being active. Grounding issue from what I could tell or research on.

Could most definitely be a video card issue

Best of luck!

 

I am finally reuniting with my Blade Pro tomorrow, will be quick to test everything out as I'm also leaving again back for Sydney studies the next day. Fingers crossed it's defect free! I was guaranteed that it would be.

 

I wouldn't use that (if you are in fact using the Windows 8 refresh feature), If its some kind of driver conflict it might not get fixed. Press F9 at bootup and reinstall the entire system from the recovery partition. If you still crash after that then you might have hardware issues.

 

For those waiting or suffering through, I want to tell you it is very much worth the wait. I love my Razer Blade, screen and all. I have gotten completely used to it now and I am SO glad to dump my Mac Book Air to get back to a Windows PC again.

I hope we will start some pages to address maximizing battery life, usage, etc. as that I am sure will be extremely helpful to everyone once we get past the delays in shipping etc.

 

Somewhat unfortunate update: had to ship my Blade 14" 256 GB back over the weekend.

I had noticed that while the fan noise was not specifically loud, there was a slight but audible clicking (as if the fan blades were coming in contact with some part of the inner housing). Reached out to Razer Systems Support and after getting a bit more detail (I actually sent a sound recording of the noise) they asked me to send it back in. Have seen varying posts from folks on fan noise, so I'm interested if anyone else has had a similar experience with their new Blade.

This is of course a pain but I will say that the CSAs could have just as easily told me not to sweat it - I appreciate that they took the time to read up on my ticket, listen to the recording I made, and make the call to issue an RMA. Will keep folks posted on the turnaround time for the repair and/or replacement (kind of hoping repair, since replacement means another 10 hours of re-downloading content, but what can you do : )

 

After going through all these emotions with this, I'm now waiting on FedEx and wishing I had paid for the faster shipping

 

That was one of the problems mine had.
Upon opening it, there was nothing getting in contact with the fans... So I assumed it was an electrical problem.
I did try to figure out where it was coming from and the noise appeared to be coming from the left side of the machine, close to the ac connector.
Please do keep us updated if it gets sorted out or if they replaced your unit.

 

Hey there, man;

I was having a relatively similar problem. It started happening after I updated the nVidia drivers to 326.19 Beta. Over at the Blade Pro Owner's Lounge, SpartanJet suggested to disable the 3D Vision part of the driver installation. After I did that, I stopped getting BSoD.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/raz...ade-pro-owners-lounge-17-a-2.html#post9295018

I don't know the technical reason of what the problem actually was - probable the "Beta" in the driver's name is a hint -, but that solved it for me.

Hope that helps!

 

I thought that the *Reset* feature of Windows 8 (NOT "refresh") would reinstall from the recovery partition.

RESET PC in Windows 8 - Windows 8 - Software & Operating Systems - Dell Community

If using F9 is different, I'll definitely try that.

I believe I have reset/reinstalled so I'm using 311.?? (I'm at work & don't remember the version). I recalled seeing that post some time ago but couldn't find it - I'll give that a try too! Thanks.

 

(double post)

 

They are not the same thing and the Windows Reset (I am 99.9% sure its called Refresh) will simply restore your system to its original configuration which might not help you because something might have gone wrong during setup. When you restart your system press F9 at the Razer snake logo and you will boot into a small program that will give you the option to recover your system from the recovery partition. Hopefully when windows sets up this time everything will be better for you.

 

Part of the reason I sent mine back (aside from the dark pixels in the screen) was a ticking coming from the fans when they were at low speed. It was so quiet that I had to put my ear close to the keyboard to hear it. I don't know if that is a defect, or if it's normal. I will be getting my replacement tomorrow so I will report back.

 

There is a "refresh", but there is also a "reset".

I spoke with Razer support and apparently there is indeed a difference between the "reset" and "F9" restalls. Sadly, when the F9 reinstall was done, the laptop was still locking up on the Nvidia control panel. RMA has been logged and it'll be going back tomorrow. Have to hand it to Razer support though, they made the process easy and they even followed up with a phone call. Nice touch.

 

That's interesting; my fan noise was distinctly from the other side of the unit (right side) on the opposite side from the AC connector. My unit is scheduled to arrive at Razer (via FedEx) by COB tomorrow (30 July), so we'll see what they say.

What ended up happening with your unit? Did you file for an RMA or do you still have it? I was kind of hoping that a few longer gaming sessions where the fan revved to a decent RPM would "break it in" but unfortunately that didn't happen. It occurs to me that it might also be an issue with one of the bearings rather than with the fan blade itself. Would be interested to hear how your situation worked out.

 

In the end they told me I could either get a refund (the screen had dead pixels as well) or they would send me a problem-free one...
As I was on holidays in the US, and I really did not like the screen quality (I had bought an Acer s7-392 as well as I already have an Alienware m18x-r2) compared to my second option (I really want a mix of the alw and the acer instead of having 2 machines...) the s7-392, I had no other option than get a refund.
They did tell me I could keep the machine until the last day of the warranty and decide what to do but I was way too frustrated with them sending defective units out...

 

How's everyone doing? Got a question for razer 14 current owners regarding your Razer 14, Does it have keyboard ghosting, can you tell me if these 3 key combo works when you get a chance? All three combo should light up green when all pressed simultaneously. Mucho Gracias!!!


Q+W+D or Q+W+Spacebar and W+E+Spacebar

Microsoft Applied Sciences Group

 

Gotcha; thanks for the reply. Sorry it didn't work out for you, although I suppose the good news is that it sounds like you're pretty set with kit at this point : )

 

Ordered on the 26th and shipped on the 30th!

 

May I ask what Model and size? I've been waiting three weeks for a Razer Blade Pro 256 Model.

 

I'm curious how the repair process works. Do they send you a shipping box, a prepaid return label? Or are you expected to pay for shipping yourself?

 

Can Anyone test please?