New Razer Blade & Razer Blade Pro

If you really, really want it asap, there is a huge online marketplace that has the blade for 300$ more than the usual price, but with worldwide shipping.

 

Just a heads up for potential buyers that wants to save $200+, Amazon is now selling the Razer Blade 14 256gb model for $1,886 on sale brand new with free shipping and no taxes on 38-40 states.

This is definitely a better deal than the 128gb version from Razer website since that one is $1,799 and after taxes you end up paying around $1,900.

 

Does amazon do a quality check before they ship? I really hate buying one through forwarder then receive a defective unit.

Has anybody ever receive a defective Blade 14 from amazon?

 

Well, I love Amazon. Paid $1999.99 for mine 2 weeks ago, called Amazon up and they gave me the price difference as a refund ($103)! You might want to give them a call if you ordered it recently

 

Well, amazon changes Blade 14 from In stock back to pre-order state. What a bummer

 

Just thought is share this with everyone because I was looking into maybe getting the blade myself. Here is the screen info from the blade 14 its an AU Optronics AUO103E

Source: Razer Blade 14-inch Gaming Notebook Review | Custom PC Review

 

now the question is, how do we order a batch of custom replacement screens for this beast

 

Well I was just doing some quick looking it looks like its the same screen on the Dell XPS 14 L421x confirmed here: Review Dell XPS 14 Ultrabook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

Look at some other threads on here Some people with the XPS L401x were able to swap it out with an LG LP140WD1-TLA1: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...cial-swapping-xps-14-l401x-screen-thread.html

I could not find anyone that tried using the LG panel in the L421x but I'm still looking through that thread to see if anyone tried but it might be worth a shot for relativity short money with a little surgery, I would try it myself if I had a blade 14.

 

I couldn't find the panel, its listed in the anandtech review of the 14, I know its used in 3 notebooks so far, but I can't find the LVDS or eDP info for it, thus making a replacement only possible if someone has the guts to open it and checking it out. I think the best panel to replace it would be the one in the x1 carbon, its a good enough panel, but 14 is inherently and completely usual rubbish for panels. the other option is when the IGZO 14" arrives to 3rd party sellers, but I don't think it would use LVDS thus eDP or some other connector. in the end its only speculation until someone opens it and see what the connection is

 

Anyone played Splinter Cell: Blacklist on the 14" Blade? What frame rates are you getting with high settings?

 

Well guys here is my mini review and my own personal feelings regarding the Razer Blade 14 256gb. I'll be giving it the pros and cons below.


GOOD
- Premium and splendid feel on the outer casing with its cold metal aluminum
- Amazing performance with a gtx card and a haswell quadband cpu in such a thin and light laptop
- Very good battery life while on balanced mode w/ 40% brightness and wifi on just web surfing, was able to get 5.5-6hrs from 100% to 5% hibernation track via task manager. Huge improvement over my former W230ST, Y410p, Alienware14 where I was only able to get 3-3.5hrs with the same scenario and condition.
- Absolutely no keyboard ghosting on any key combination with no flex at all
- Full performance and same frames per sec even when on battery


BAD
- Display resolution is actually perfect at 900p and the brightness, colors, black levels, and viewing angles of the TN panel are good enough but that's not the reason why I don't like the display. I usually like anti glare matte tn panels especially when they are clear but the damn matte display on the Razer 14 is so grainy and smudgy.
- The Razer Blade 14 has a hitch pitch buzzing sound and it could be a cpu or gpu whine and the sound stays and intensifies when scrolling with mouse or touchpad
- The power Brick also has a ticking and buzzing sound
- The touchpad's 2 separate buttons are good but the touchpad itself is too erratic
- The keyboard feels cheap and clanky but I do like the responsiveness and its anti ghosting tech with the pretty green backlit



OTHER INFO that Might be Good or Bad for different folks
- No Card Reader
- No Ethernet Port
- No Optical Drive


Unfortunately, I just returned it for a full refund. Razer did an amazing job on putting all those powerful components inside a very thin and light machine that feels very premium with its aluminum body and I am hoping on their remake or 2nd revision of the Blade 14, they would put a much better display. To be honest i'd rather have a glossy panel and i'll glady sacrifice and live with the glare as long as the panel is clear than get stuck with a matte panel that is so grainy and painful to look at.

 

I got the 14 inch and kept it. I've been using it as my main machine using linux. It is an amazing machine. The only issue is the jittery touchpad (but I think it's just a linux driver problem).

Here's my notes on getting everything to work and reviews on what works/what doesn't work.

Linux Mint Forums • View topic - Linux Mint 15 on Optimus - Bumblebee works NVIDIA/Intel

 

I have the 2013 Razer Blade Pro and I love it. I have it to game on in my living room and generally have it on my lap.

I have a Targus dual fan laptop cooler with foam on the bottom which works well for the device on my lap. However I was wondering if anyone had found any better laptop coolers which are larger to use in this situation.

Thanks!

-Nacho

 

Is anyone else getting a high pitch buzzing sound that Benchmade42 mentioned? Or is that just likely to be a defective model?

 

My power supply buzzes when its not plugged into my machine. Its done that with both my first and second machine. We'll se how the third one is. But at the same time when I have my HP's old power supply plugged into the same power strip it buzzes too. IDFK

 

Mine buzzes. Seems to be a common "feature" of the power supply. Just put it on the floor away from your head. Mine is 3-4 feet away and I can't hear it even in a very quiet room.

 

Same here, I've never had issues with the brick noise unless I actually sit it next to my head or ear (which is never, fortunately).

Regarding the BSOD, I got one today for playing FFXIV. It's only happened on it though and these BSODs seem to "fix" itself over time. I used to get a lot for GW2 which disappeared, I also used to get them frequently for FFXIV but has now died down. I'm confused though, since AFAIK, BSODs are hardware issues. Unless it was a driver/client issue with a specific game?

 

not necessarily BSODs happens a lot because of software as well, kernel errors or other irrecuperable errors are very common causes

 

I finally got this machine! Absolutely love it. The screen is not that bad either!
A couple of issues though, what application I need to close to get 7 hours of battery?
Why is the battery percentage doesn't show up?

Cheers

 

Steam seems to be the biggest offender, but there could be others. Enable the tray icon to monitor when the nVIDIA GPU is ON.

Get BatteryBar for the battery indication - it provides other information as well. The free version is good enough for me.

 

BatteryBar works for you? All I get is 00:00 for remaining time on my Blade 14. The dev has yet to figure out why

 

I see. Kernel errors pertain to what mostly? When I reviewed the Event Viewer, it seems Kernel keeps popping up before the BSODs.

 

Just purchased a 14'' 256GB
Super excited!!

 

its best to google the number of the error, that gives you clues to what is happening

 

With my new 256gb 14 showing up tomorrow, I figured it's time to make an account and start posting!

I've dug through the forums some to see if anyone's successfully put the Windows 8.1 preview on - looks like there are some potential issues, though I didn't find anything recent.

Has anyone successfully installed and kept 8.1 on a 14"? If not perfect, at least in a usable state? I figure the time to get the preview on is before I start installing games.

 

I have windows 8.1 RTM running on my Blade 14". It was pretty much the first thing I installed only because I had the Windows 8.1 preview running on my Sony Z and like it before. I havent run into any problems or hiccups but I am not a wildly technical guy so I wouldnt say there arent any. FTW I used the Windows 8 key on the back of my Blade 14" to successfully activate it.

Also I would reiterate what several posters have said about installing a second msata SSD HDD. It is impossibly simple although you do a need a proper Torx screwdriver and if you are running iit as a secondary disk you will be installed and up and running in 15 minutes.

 

Hi,

I have a small question, I have a razer blade 14. I was thinking about buying a mouse mat like the razer kabuto
If I do so, do you think I can put the kabuto mat between the screen and the keyboard hen the laptop is closed?

Putting it inside when the laptop is close without altering the pc from complety close.

What do you think of the orochi mouse? good with the razer blade?

Thanks

 

How long does Razer usually take to ship?? On the website it says it ships the same day if you order before 11 a.m.... Well i ordered mine last Saturday....

 

Does Razer Media Player crash for anyone else why trying to add songs to it? :x

 

I have a Kabuto mouse mat, and I store it on the keyboard when I am traveling with my Razer Blade Pro. The laptop still closes fine.

There are plenty of reviews on the Orochi. Personally, I found it to be too small. I have big hands, though, and I am much happier with my Naga.

 

I own the Kabuto. When you place it over the keyboard the screen on the Blade does not fully close.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

I'll second that. I have a 2013 Orochi I keep around for Bluetooth use, but the Naga is far more comfortable. I've also found the USB connection on the Orochi to be a bit suspect.

I've tried the Kabuto, but it's a slow/friction surface which I'm not too fond of.

My Blade 14" is great so far. Windows 8.1 is running with no issues (thanks robbie36) and surprisingly solid performance. The screen is slightly underwhelming as most reviewers have stated, but it's a solid enough machine (which, to be fair; I'm largely running with an external monitor) it's not much of a hindrance.

 

Yeah, I just avoid that app entirely (it even screws with the touchpad tap feature.

I agree with the Orochi inputs, I have one as well and really just leave it in my backpack for times when I just need a mouse. It's semi-decent for gaming, but I wouldn't even compare it with the Naga. I have my Naga 2014 at home which I wish I could bring around with me as easy as the Orochi though.

 

How can you charge your iPhone while the lid closed?

 

you can only do that, if it has an always on usb port, I don't think it has, you can try it 3 times, if it charges...

 

What do you mean by an always? Can you be more specific?

Cheers

 

My Razer Blade 14 is very very hot, Near down key is 40℃ over.
CPU and GPU also no load. Is idle. Elsewhere is not hot.
Everyone so?

 

Sorry, cold after recharging Razer Blade.

 

I'm very much interested in the new Razer Blade, i'd love to know if anyone has any feedback playing Football Manager 13, OOTP 14, Total War Rome 2/Shogun 2 and Civ 5 on the 14'' TN Panel with 900p.... is it sharp and good enough?

And can you do an aftermarket upgrade of the SSD? (is it easy enough?)

 

its simple, what you want is to charge your phone while being on sleep, to do that you need an always on usb port. what you do test that is to plug the phone on each usb port, if it works, it works, if it doesn't you don't have it.

 

I haven't tried it, but I definitely saw the option to enable it in the BIOS on the Blade 14.

 

The second USB on the left side lets you charge when powered off or in sleep mode

 

New 765M WHQL drivers are out! Just updated mine a few hours ago and got a BSOD from playing FFXIV which I didn't get before using the 320.46 beta drivers.

Hopefully this was just a one-time and very coincidental thing, will update if it happens again.

Add:

Quick question to RBP owners, what temperatures should I be at to consider taking a break from gaming? I've found myself going on quite long gaming sessions in FFXIV - most of the work seems to come from the CPU.


Temperature readings show I get about 85-90C variable/max on CPU temps, while my GPU remains relatively lower at 60-70C. Should I be concerned with this CPU temp and let it cool down? I haven't really had any overheating issues (BSODs or freezes/crashes), but I wouldn't want to overstress my Blade either.


Any insight would be great!

 

Let us know if this happens again with FFXIV since I wouldn't want to upgrade if it does.

 

I went a good 5+ hours yesterday without a BSOD. I'm thinking it was just the laptop 'getting used' to the driver, or something. Will update if it happens again today though, another gaming session is in store.

 

Update from this post, sorry for the consecutive posts, no crashes/BSOD from yesteday while gaming for a good 10 or so hours.

Edit:

Aaaaaand another BSOD today after about 10+ hours. I'm not sure whether it was the stress on the GPU (VID_TDR_FAILURE) or overheating since I just got a 2nd 24" monitor and hooked it up to my RBP - coincidental with the new NVIDIA drivers.

So I'm not sure whether to attribute the BSODs to the new drivers or to an overheating/overuse of the GPU. Any inputs?

 

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE?

nvlddmkm.sys?


Just out of curiosity, HOW is it crashing. Is FF freezing and then BSOD 2-10 seconds later, or is it just walking along. . BAM, BSOD like running into a brick wall?

 

Anyone put a second msata in their blade 14 yet? Any recommendations?

 

Yup, those errors.

It starts by freezing both my screens, then it 'recovers' while FF crashes (not responding). It seems to be fine for awhile after, then it immediately BSODs. Does this mean anything?

 

It means you have the same problem I do. I had this within hours of receiving my blade pro, and RMA'd it over it. Unfortunately, Newegg RMA dept. couldn't duplicate the issue, so I'm getting it back unrepaired.

I haven't found an overabundance of information on this issue, but apparently what's happening is that the driver is crashing [causing the freeze] and windows driver recovery [TDR] is failing to recover the driver, causing the BSOD. There is some speculation that it could be due to a corrupt WIndows TDR, a driver conflict [I've seen a few people reference realtek drivers] or corrupt driver install. The other seemingly common thread [and mind you you're talking like 5 cases I've managed to dig up that were similar] is that once you get the issue, it takes a system restore or a complete O/S restore to resolve. It *MAY* be possible to completely uninstall the drivers and clean everything out with driver sweeper, but I haven't run over anyone having mentioned trying or having success with that option.

If anyone out there has had experience with this issue or, especially, RESOLVING this issue, I'd love to hear from them As I learn more I'll keep you posted ^^