Razer Blade 14 - Not worth the Trade up

I really want to consider this as my next laptop. But still need to know if I can upgrade the SSD myself without voiding warranty. I refuse to pay a $500 upcharge for a 512GB SSD "upgrade". If it's truly M.2 at least I have options, but if Razer is going to wag their finger at me, I'll just have to bite back.

But is the 14 day return very painless? If it is I may bite just see if it's for me, and if not just return it.

 

They just want everything back in like new condition, boxes included, you pay shipping. Pretty easy and straightforward, just contact support



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For the first one changing the ssd voided warranty, but there was more or less no way for them to know, so many just put the old one back in or more common took the second one out, and returned or exchanged without issues.

Who knows if that will again be the case, but so far they have been good about that.

 

According to "support" added a second SSD doesn't void the warranty, I'm not sure if I believe it but that's what I've been told in the past. My question is, if it voids the warranty, couldn't they tell you opened it up by the seals over the screws being removed? I haven't heard of any good ways to reattach them.

 

I guess that's what I was wondering. Are there any "warranty void if removed" type stickers? I just think that's a cop out on Razer's part. I understand to some extent it's hard to warranty an item that users have fiddled with, but things like upgrading SSD/HDD and RAM should always be accessible IMHO. I know RAM is soldered in this case, so just adding an SSD is the way to go. If they had more reasonable cost increases for SSD I'd probably just bite for the 512GB from them. But since I can buy a 480GB M.2 for less than $300 or two 240GB for about $260... $500 up charge for the 512GB is a bit ridiculous, considering they're removing the stock part to begin with and recover some of that money too.

If there's a free spot for another mSATA or M.2 that would be fine as long as Razer is none the wiser or doesn't break any seals. So has anyone confirmed it's M.2 or mSATA?

I found an m.2 to mSATA converter here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121297581601

I am going to try it out in my Sony Vaio Pro and see how well it works. Total height is less than 5mm, so it should package OK. I'll have to check the height of an m.2 drive to see the difference.

 

No stickers or seals on the first. Second msata slot was open.

I guess we will see soon for the second revision

 

I guess for this much coin I'm not willing to be the guinea pig. Then again, I have 14 day return policy too.

 

The RBP and RB I purchased during the 20% sale do not have any seals on the screws on the outside or inside so there would be no way for Razer to know if it was opened up.

 

Yes, it's very much worth the trade up just for the screen alone, but then again I never had 14" Blade but did try a friends and was utterly disappointed with the sub par 900p screen especially when it costs so much.
The new blade will be mine Kepler or not as long as it handles the temps and is relatively quiet under load.
I'm just waiting for user reviews to start rolling in to see if everything works as it should.

 

I know for a fact they put seals over the screws on the very last 2013 models on the Pro, as that's what I got stuck with. But if you look on their site it says opening up voids, but support says otherwise. I don't trust them one bit. I'd wait till the warranty was out if I was going to do anything to it. The last thing you want to do is something major goes wrong and you send it end, and they say, it'll cost $800 to fix it because you opened it up, and they won't believe you if you say support said it was ok, unless you could get support to say it over email maybe, where you'd have proof? Given how shady they've been on answering the question I'd not open it unless you are prepared to lose your warranty. That's just my opinion on it. But if you wanted to take the chance, I'd ask support over email and see what they say, so if they say yes it's ok, then you'd atleast have something to stand on.

 

It's a little like how car manufacturers may not accept warranty claims if you've modified your car. Especially if you've re-tuned the engine with a programmer, it gets very muddy on what they do or do not have to cover. I've always modded from day one on my cars, and if I'm not worried about 30k plus vehicle I'm sure not worried about a 2k laptop.

Don't worry, I will be the guinea pig and report back on what I find when I open it up I cannot tell you the last time I've ever had a computer hardware issue and did warranty repair, probably been 20 computers ago and 10 years if I had to guess.

 

Oh trust me, I've disassembled dozens and dozens of laptops, computers, and other electronic devices for the last 25 years at least. And I've sent items in for warranty repair because I didn't want to pay for it out of pocket but in some instances came back that it wasn't covered and in one instance wanted $600 to replace a $200 motherboard. In that case I'll gladly pay the $200 and do it myself. But problem is with the Blade, everything is soldered on this machine, CPU, GPU, RAM... so if any part of that goes bad, I'm sure a replacement motherboard will cost $1000 at least, if they'll even sell you one. That's my concern.

 

On the face of it - and if I have read the specs right - this upgrade is a little disappointing. Clearly the new display and graphics card as fine but....

1) We still have 8gb ram with no 16gb option
2) We still have HDMI 1.4a as the only display output (well there is usb 3 I guess). This limits display resolution to 1080p (you can do a bit better with usb 3.)
3) But worst of all is the move to m2 sata. I dont actually see what advantage m2 sata offers over msata - it isnt as though they have gone to m2 pcie. I would hope they still have a second spare slot as that is one of the best things about the original Blade. Msata currently has 1TB options while m2sata has much lower capacity options.

Still cant say I am too bothered as I am happy with my Blade and wasnt really thinking of upgrading. Still not every innovation seems to be moving forward positively.

 

The more I've thought about it, the less I'm interested in the Blade for exactly the reasons you mention robbie36. I don't like having to be locked in to my RAM and storage capacities from the factory. It's fine if it's a netbook that you don't plan on gaming on, but for a powerful system like this you want some sort of upgrade path. They could have put 8GB on board and added a single RAM slot even, or at worse like you mentioned, a 16GB RAM option. I just don't like the fact that they don't allow user access to at least upgrade the RAM and SSD.

 

Wait. You can upgrade the SSD. And for RAM, every other laptop of this size is soldered as well with MAYBE one available slot. Considering the dual SSD slots and the cooling setup required for this device I'm surprised they even allowed that. While 16GB RAM would be nice, most applications are becoming more efficient as we move towards mobile platforms and anything I would want to do that requires that load is probably better done on an optimized and heavily cooled workstation. 8GB is more than enough for most tasks and gaming.

On a side note, I HATE what mobile devices and tablets have done to the electronics market and consumer mindset with their yearly update cycle. Ofcourse its probably not worth updating last years 2K laptop to get this years. These laptops were made to operate AT LEAST 4 years (hopefully) and thanks to the console boat anchors, should be capable of running modern games on some combination of settings for that timeframe.

If you're an enthusiast and have the cash then by all means upgrade yearly, but if you have that kind of income to do yearly upgrades of a niche market device you probably shouldn't care too much about what the updates are, as long as they're there. Razer threw in a lot more than most companies would with a yearly update imo, but I plan on keeping it for 4 years before considering an update again, so it better make it that far, haha.

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Watchdogs already states 6GB RAM for min sys requirements.So it's possible we are already at 8gb for games 2 years from now.
You mentioned consoles, but these consoles already have 8gb, with no full OS like a pc, so they can probably use 7gigs purely for the game itself whereas PCs cant do that.
But except games, this laptop is also interesting for 3D models, and there 8gb is already on the lowend, TODAY.
Considering the 400$ extra they ask for the 2014 model, i would like to have seen an upgrade.
I think it is quite expensive, considering you should atleast have 256gb (128 is useless, it lets you install max 4 or 5 games..): 2399$

 

Watchdogs is a unique butterfly, reliant on tons of AI/backend processing for the game. That said, it could also be poorly written. I'll wait for reviews to make judgement. Considering the fact that they stated the delay was due to them re-working the game to match what players expected based on their own description of the game causes me to hesitate. The fact that it recommends 8GB RAM on top of whatever RAM should be used from the GPU makes me feel like the port just isn't PC optimized.

But that's 8GB RAM for the whole system. This computer technically has 8GB RAM for the system AND 3GB RAM dedicated to the graphics card. Like I said above, it sounds like poor optimization/resource sharing to me.

The division, which based on gameplay footage looks pretty spectacular as far as AI and environment go, is rumored to have a minimum spec requirement of only 3-4GB RAM, with 6 likely being the higher end. In the end we'll need to see, but the 3GB dedicated GPU RAM is pretty great.

I'm sorry, but anyone doing real 3D modeling should either be looking at a workstation, or at minimum a system like the Razer Blade Pro. The Razer Blade (2014) is a very powerful laptop with the possiblity of great graphical capability and general application performance. As a developer (web/mobile/native/etc.) I know it will more then suite my needs. This is NOT a system made for 3D rendering, something even MBPs with 16GB RAM can struggle with.

Let's see, for that $400 you get the following improvements:

• .m2 SSD
• Nvidia GTX 870m
• QHD+ Display w/ Touch
• 2.0 MP Webcam
• Wireless-AC

You look at most other companies and getting similar upgrades would cost AT LEAST $400. It's not the upgrades that are unreasonably priced, but the base price of the system itself.

As for the 128GB, yes it would have been nice to include 256GB for the base model, but the inclusion of a second .m2 or mSATA port is EXTREMELY rare on a device like this (assuming it still has one). Instead of replacing the 128G and doing god knows what with it, and adding a 512GB, maxing the system at 512GB, you could just as easily buy a 512GB SSD (which is more reasonably priced then any manufacturer memory upgrade), and now use the secondary drive to store 512GB of games, rather then the ~450GB you would have had otherwise.

That said, I'm usually only playing 2/3 titles at a time, and once beat, I usually don't let them sit on my 256GB SSD anyway. With steam it's only several mouse clicks away and now I have free space to download a new title. I mean unless your without internet access for months at time, which would kinda suck.

 

8GB system memory will be plenty for gaming purposes for at least 2 years.

 

..................

 

HDMI :: Manufacturer :: HDMI 1.4 :: 4K Support

I mentioned in another thread on this subject - I don't see why there is an assumption that HDMI 1.4 doesn't support 4K res. From the HDMI spec, 1.4a support 4K @ 30fps. 1.4b is the same.

HDMI 2.0 will support higher refresh rates at 4K.

 

Real architects use real laptops, two of my friends work city projects always on the go, and don't suffer from fatigue. I'm glad you found one of the 2/3 use cases that are applicable to your argument of professionals who 3D render but run around daily doing so. A more practical solution would be something with pen input and full-voltage CPU, like the T902 or x230t. Both great devices for the on the go professional.

By upgrade I was talking last years model to this one, in which case buying any laptop with that screen and higher gpu from even Dell would cost you around $400 over a more basic model, and probably cost more from alien ware, PowerPC, MSI, etc., also taking into account that its probably coming with a HHD and not SSD.

You're right. We don't know about second slot yet. But I'm not going to hate without knowing.

As for having 2/3 games that really takes into account tour setup. I have a gaming rig with about 50 games on it right now, I only use my laptop when I'm making a trip. So its really dependent on use case. I just happen to know people who operate like I do and was simply letting you know that not everyone sees it as such a massive deal.

In the end you've already made up your mind about this device, and so have I, so there's really no reason to take this further. Just lighten up man
Things will be OK .

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I laughed about Real architects use real laptops and stopped reading
I dont like people who are impolite.

 

Hey, you're right. When I looked not long ago 1.4a and 1.4b had separate resolution support, I think it was on the Wikipedia page. I suppose don't trust it.

Of course this doesn't mean Razer has to support 4K.

 

In the end I really like what Razer has done. Significant improvements with each revision. But the cost is just too high still IMHO. If I could get a 512GB SSD model for ~ $2100 I'd probably reconsider. But $2700 for a system you're stuck with CPU, GPU, RAM and likely SSD is a bit absurd. I know this has it's audience, but even enthusiasts have to have some limits. Not to mention the high likelihood of a throttled or limited 870m performance that an 860m will likely compete with using a reasonable overclock, while still running cooler and less power.

I'm just changing my personal preference to spend $2000 on a 17" notebook with SLI 870m and use my Clevo W230ST if I need gaming portability.

 

Aorus X8 HT?

 

Not impolite. Just honest. I've seen them sit down, digitally markup blue prints and diagrams and email em off in just a minute. Very powerful tools. And the t902 is comparable to this in price, can have full voltage i7, 16GB RAM and spare battery. On the other hand this system would result in compromises, but that's the price you pay to have mobility+gaming.

Yeah. This was the route I used to take. Then I found that my gaming laptops always just sat on my desk anyway. Now I'm looking for something more portable that doesn't necessarily have to play every game on max settings. Luckily I did some development for my brother free of charge and he's footing half the bill. Otherwise I'd probably be looking at MSI, love their systems.

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Ok maybe I am missing something here.

You list the inclusion of the m2 sata ssd as an improvement (the specs do definitely say sata).

Now I am not aware of 'any' advantage an m2 sata gives over msata. Ok, it can be slightly smaller, I guess. But m2 sata drives are more expensive and not available in decent capacities for most m2 sata drive lengths.

Whether there are 2 drives slots or 1 is a different issue. If there is only 1, I wont be getting another Razer ever. I need decent storage space.

I dont expect huge expandability with a model such as this but I dont expect Apple restrictions either.

 

Well we haven't reached Apple standards yet. For that to be the case nothing would be replaceable. We at least know that there is at least 1 m.2 slot available, but I'm still really hoping there's two. I agree removal of that second slot might be a deal breaker for me as well.

As for m.2, as manufacturers move towards more thin/portable PCs it will become the user upgradeable standard simply because of the space it saves. Basically future proofing at the cost of dollar/GB, though it can still be found at less than $1/GB now. Just like mSATA prices have fallen drastically, m.2 will fall as it becomes the new mobile standard. Many of Lenovo's new portable laptops are using m.2 and considering its the only PC manufacturer still making profits, its likely to lead the market.

That said there are definitely several alternative ultraportable gaming machines that are about to hit the market, though they sacrifice some of the size and portability to get the specs you desire like the MSI Ghost Pro.

I also have high hopes for the IGZIO display which is supposed to be power efficient compared to traditional LCD displays and probably the future of display tech. It also allows for faster response times then traditional panels, though that will be limited by the fact that this display isn't oled.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium_gallium_zinc_oxide

And here's a pretty good description (post 3):

http://www.overclock.net/t/1449080/igzo-vs-ips-which-one-is-better-in-terms-of-display-quality

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Hello,

First time poster here. I received my razer blade 14" 2013 (the 765m version) in January. Although I am dismayed a newer shinier version has come out shortly after.. I have to say I have been very happy with this machine. It has been great to travel with. It is a beast. I have played games such as; dota 2, cs:go, planetside 2, battlefield 3, hawken and cryis 3 on this machine medium settings without incident. More recently I use it for a variety of 3d rendering applications ( architects aren't the only cad monkeys) such as vray, solid works, revit, rhino, keyshot and lightroom, These run fast and beautifully, even with large files thanks to the ssd. The all round build quality is great, keyboard is great and the speakers on this are surprisingly good! It does get very hot in my Australian climate... I have gotten the cpu up to 78 degrees... In my experience the cpu seems to take the brunt of the heat and work. The gpu seems to be a bit underused? Perhaps I need to change my settings. I have the 256gb config, and as you can imagine with the programs and games I have mentioned here, there is not much room left... Not sure if I will get a msata upgrade.. ( the samsung evo 840s look nice!) or just go external. The newer model does not faze me that much, sure an extra gb of video ram would be great, but tbh I would really like to get a wacom cintiq companion to go with this which would give me qhd and better touch anyway. The matte screen of this model is definitely a plus for working on the go.

 

I have to respectfully disagree. If the recent changes to the Razer Blade turn out to be executed as advertised, Razer will have managed to create a Laptop that is a premium on the Macbookpro. Compare the Macbook pro to the Razer in contect of

*Style* Razer Wins IMO
*Gaming Performance* Razer Wins No Question
*Photo Editing & Web Browsing* Tie ???
*Multitasking & productivity* Razer would win IMO
*Battery Life *When not gaming* Apple will still come out on top
*Price* Tie

In my opinion Razerblade comes out on top, and it's not even disputable that it is now comparable to the MBP. Therefore I feel the price-point is completely justified.



Still.... I will NOT be upgrading to the new Razerblade. The 870m is still not enough power to satisfy me as a full-time PC. Playing games at 60 FPS + with a 120 HZ monitor takes serious power that even my 780 Ti can't fulfill at times. As gaming evolves to 4k, 3D, 144hz + , etc. The demands for graphics processing power will grow as quick as advancements in the hardware.

I know what your thinking, nice rant but what does that have to do with the new blade ? My thoughts are for true gaming enthusiasts I would always recommend to having a desktop PC in addition to a mobile gaming unit. If you have both like myself, the current 14'' blade is more than sufficient to last another year. Playing all new titles at 900p at High settings.

Look at the precedent with the Razer releases over the past 3 years. They created a whole new category of laptops that others have quickly tried to copy "MSI, Aura, etc.". Every year the laptops upgrades are so drastic its revolutionary! The innovation of this team trumps Apple with the MBP over the past few years easily!

Next year with a Maxwell mobile graphics card, 16gb ram, 2 x 512 GB flash drive is the blade you should be saving for!! Razer has PROVEN they listen to their customers, so let's get working on dreaming up what ridiculous upgrades we want next...

 

In the same boat, just alternating different years than you.

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Oh I agree. But I think you missed my point. $500 up charge for a 512GB over a 128GB? That's where my issue falls. If technically your warranty is void to upgrade yourself, then they are just taking advantage of the fact that it's not user upgradable.

Additionally, remarks about M.2 being smaller, not by much. M.2 (NGFF) is 1mm thinner for double sided chips and 2mm thinner for single sided (mSATA 4.85, M.2 double 3.85, M.2 single 2.75), but there are multiple lengths. mSATA is 50x30, m.2 goes from 22x42 to 22x110mm. And the higher capacity drives require the longer and thicker version. But I digress. It is the "future" of SSD form factor, but the problem I have is that it's not yet the future, so you pay a premium for that "feature" and it doesn't offer larger capacities like the mSATA does, not to mention price.

 

A lot of people don't realize that the voiding warranty by upgrading hard drive is true for most manufacturers. My MSI had stickers on the bottom saying so, and that even had an extra empty bay available. The point is that once you expose the motherboard you are putting your system at additional risk. That said, whether a company always enforces that policy strictly or not is another question.

As for the m.2 I'll be interested to see what the internal space looks like. Supposedly they upped the cooling factor and in the previous model cables went directly over the SSD. I'd have preferred mSATA, but only fractionally.

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My experience and MSI's website say different: You are allowed to upgrade the internal components of your system without voiding your warranty as long as no damages are inflicted during the upgrade process. (Limited to US region only)

Source: MSI USA

 

Well luckily I never had to deal with it, but screw holes on the bottom had tape. Maybe because I bought through Amazon? Either way, I've definitely upgraded regardless in the past. I'd probably get a square trade for this anyway.

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Who would buy the 512gb when you can just upgrade your 128?

 

Not everyone is confident in swapping out parts in a specialty laptop, plus we're not even sure how easy/hard it will be, and what drives are easily obtainable(or price).

I am going the 128GB route this time since I wanted to do my own upgrades last time but got the 512GB.

 

I have no issue upgrading myself. But if you read my post, the concern gets back to warranty. Apparently the warranty is void if you open the laptop. Whether they will know or not is a different story, but not exactly a good condition to be in. It's the point that they take advantage of the fact that warranty is void to upgrade yourself by way overcharging for the SSD upgrade.

 

Does anyone know for sure that the SSD on the new Blade can be updated? The m2 form factor can be soldered as well as socketed and I'm sure they needed all the space they could get to cool that 100W GPU.


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To be fair though, last year the 512gb ( which i got ) was a single drive, and the price differential from 128gb to 512 gb samsung 830 msata is large, (what they used last year) maybe not $500 large, but its not like it was nothing.

That being said, I really hope there is an extra slot in the 14 again, as it would be really nice to have the option of throwing something additional in there.


@crazy tasty:

I don't think anyone knows if it is removable or not, and if there is an extra slot or not

 

Last I checked building a gs60 at gentech moving to a 512GB evo was approximately +360. That's pretty much the cost of that drive. Of course they aren't refunding the cost of the 128GB baked into the base cost, but still..

 

Right. In addition, considering there's technically no way to upgrade, having 128GB as base model is a bit restrictive as well. Seems stock one should be 256GB. Unless they allow users to upgrade the storage, then I can kind of understand the base model 128GB. But anyhow, I digress. It is what it is. Still waiting to see 870m thermals and performance.

 

I wouldn't put that much stock in Razer's threat of warranty violation, as it would most likely violate the Magnusson Moss act [1975] You can google most of it, but I found this on Kingston's website, and find a very similar situation:

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

Mind you, in Razer's case the "tie in sales provision" is that any and all work done on the notebook MUST be performed by Razer at the owner's [your] expense.Sure, they may [or may not] allow you to send in your own parts and have the work performed by them, but it most likely violates anti-trust laws that you MUST have Razer perform the work in order to maintain the warranty. That's like a car dealer INSISTING your vehicle warranty is void unless all routine maintenance is performed by the dealership that sold you the car.

Whether it's worth the time, money, and effort to FIGHT OVER IT is another story.


[Full disclosure: I am not a lawyer and this is a consumer's interpretation of this act based on experience in another consumer field (automotive) years and years ago. Razer can and will most probably attempt to claim a void warranty status, so make sure you educate yourself/get a free consultation, etc. Author is not responsible for any actions any poster has taken/not taken as a result of reading this post. Post only valid in the USA. Taxes, title, license, and dock fees are extra. No chickens were harmed in the making of this post (yet) ]

 

Thank you for that, but no, pretty much nobody would fight it. Bottom line, it is really at their discretion, and you're at their mercy. If they have "warranty void if removed" tape and it's removed or broken, it's as simple as that. Just by virtue of putting that tape there is enough to show they are most likely going to not warrant the item.

 

Razer's standard line is that their notebooks are not upgradeable. They're supposed to be sealed devices from a consumer standpoint. There's also no service manual like there is for a Dell or HP that lists field replaceable units within the chassis.

Because you can do a thing does not mean the manufacturer meant for you to do that thing. Razer uses enough standard parts and interfaces that some of the innards can be upgraded. That doesn't mean they support doing so.

 

I thought the edge was specifically built with upgrade ability in mind. Didn't Razer say that themselves?

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Upgrading the Edge is not supported. It's easy to upgrade the mSATA and WiFi card as the only thing holding it together is two Torx T7 screws, but they don't sanction it.

 

Directly from the horse's mouth @ Razer Blade 14” (2013) | Razer Support

"Will I void the warranty by opening or upgrading my Razer Blade's components on my own?
Yes, opening the Razer Blade will void your warranty. If there are any issues with your Razer Blade, please contact the Razer Blade support team at [email protected] , or by phone at 1-855-87-BLADE (1-855-872-5233)."

and

"How can I modify or disassemble my Razer product?
We cannot help you in modifying or disassembling your Razer product since that will void the manufacturer’s warranty on the unit."

 

Dam that makes not want to buy one. I am looking for a decent gamer laptop that's light.

 

The only true competitors are msi gs60, gigabyte p34g v2, Lenovo y50