Razer Blade 14' 2013 vs 2014

Razer Blade 14' 2013 256G is only $1499 now
Razer Blade 14' 2014 128G is $2199, 256G is $2399, and they both have to wait 3-4 weeks.
Which one should I get?
The 2014 upgrade are mainly the screen and GPU
Does the $700/900 price premium really worth it?

 

For the money you're almost better off to go with something like the MSI GS60 Ghost [$1599]. The 860m is a pretty decent upgrade from the 765m, and the screen is a lot better [also 1920 x 1080]
If you've absolutely GOT to go with razer, it really depends on your needs. The 765m is still a decent card, but the screen is generally regarded as being 2nd rate. the 870m is a beast of a card, but you'll essentially be running it in 1600 x 900 ANYWAY because at native resolution you 1) will have icons so small you'd need a magnifying glass to see them and 2) will be imminently faced with 3800 x 1800 resolution on med/low settings or 1600 x 900 on high/ultra.

Yes, there is display scaling. I haven't seen the 14" blade, but I *HAVE* seen the lenovo with the 3800 x 1800 screen, and at 125 and 150%, it was as amazingly blurry as my Surface Pro 2 with similar scaling settings. The hardware HAS NO BEARING on this... it is a function of software.

Ultimately it's going to come down to the choice of "last year's hardware and too little screen" [2013 Blade] "this year's hardware and arguably too MUCH screen [too ambitious?] 2014 Blade, or different manufacturer and a balance of the price of the 2013 with hardware that will PERFORM SIMILAR to the 2014 at native resolutions

 

The 765m is a decently powerful GPU, just the 870m is probably 50% improvement. Screen is personal preference, but the 2013 Blade 14 has had a LOT of complaints about the poor quality of the screen. That being said, 128GB is just too little of storage space to be useful, you'll want at least the 256GB version, if not 512GB which really pushes the cost UP by quite a bit. For the Blade you're really paying for appearance and the thinness more than anything else.

 

The 2013 Blade has one serious advantage - namely a readily accessible second msata port which means for an extra US$100 you can add another 256GB in RAID 0.

The screen is a problem though. When I got the Razer I didnt think it was too bad (next to all the terrible reviews). I also dont use it that much as it is usually plugged into external screens. But when I do use it I do find it pretty terrible. My biggest complaint is that the viewing angles are simply terrible. So unless you are going to use the Razer mostly plugged into external screens I wouldnt go for the 2013.

 

Did anyone successfully transplant a better quality screen into the 2013 Blade? The machine is still relevant and with a decent screen could be quite a bargain.

 

There was a guy on the forums that did just that. Do a quick search he was active recently.

 

By the time you add in the cost of the screen you're already spending more than a brand new MSI GS60 tho, and then you have to add in the hour or so of retrofit. Not to say it's not worth it if you absolutely *HAVE* to have a Razer product, but at that price point is it really worth it for the 765m vs 860m Kepler?

 

Like everyone said, the current best spec'd product for your price range is the MSI GS60 Ghost

 

Which is not to say that the 2013 Razer Blade is *BAD* per se. It really depends on what you plan on running on it. If you're simply rollin' through SouthPark or TF2 or those types of games, the 765m will perform admirably. Heck, it ran Mechwarrior Online in the 30-50 FPS range with just about everything on max, and that program is the single worst piece of un-optimized [expletive deleted] I've ever had the misfortune of running!

[don't get me wrong here, I *LOVE* The Battletech IP. . . I just can't stand how PGI is . . .mis-developing it]

But for just around $100 more, you get this year's video card and a MUCH better screen. As to whether or not the 14" 2014 is worth the price premium, that again is a personal judgement call. It's got a nice 3800 x 1800 screen attached to a 14" form factor. It's also got the 870m which is approximately 20-30% more powerful than the 860m so that it can DRIVE those resolutions....if you look at the 870m @ 3800 x 1800 vs the 860m @ 1920 x 1080, you're going to find the 860m outperforming it simply because it doesn't have to work as hard. You can absolutely drop the resolution down on the 14" blade to 1600 x 900 but then. . why have that kind of screen resolution attached to it if you just have to scale it back?

It's a back and forth that'll give you a headache, but I can make one suggestion that will make the choice relatively easy: Ask yourself: Of these three machines, which one do you *WANT*? If there's a clear winner, get that one: because you won't be happy with anything else and will always think in the back of your mind you've "settled". TRUST ME ON THIS, I HAVE BEEN THERE!

 

Just a quick question ? Where did you see that the 2013 Blade now costs 1500$ ? On Razer's website it's still 2000 bucks for the 256gb version. And I'm talking about the 2013, no worries. Is it second hand Blade, or another website (Amazon ?) ?

 

Just picked one up on Amazon. 1500$ for the 256gb version.