I feel bad for people ...

Who don't know how amazing Clevo machines really are based on price : performace.

The news that the Razer Blade sold out within 30 minutes just frightens me. Marketing is everything I guess ...

$2800 for something that isn't even close to the power of a Clevo base model

 

The people who would buy a Razer don't care about any of that, because they definitely know about Alienware too and even passed on them.

For some, what you may consider the wise use of money just doesn't matter more than having what they want.

 

I had an interesting conversation about that new Razer with my friend who is a hardcore (desktop) gamer. He said, that just by looking at the beast and its features he would grab one, if he ever needed a laptop and had 2.8k spare cash. And the motives are simple, the machine is close to ultrabooks in size and very stylish, very "gaming" oriented (here's where I personally object). As for performance, he doesn't care, since he's got a powerful desktop.

 

Well to be the devil's advocate here: isn't this similar to how desktop owners might feel about someone spending twice as much to get a humongous laptop with literally non existent battery life instead of a desktop?

 

Maybe, but not really... For me at least, the humongous laptop gives me near desktop performance while at the same times allows me to easily bring my computer between home and my dorm. I didn't play a PC game for 2 years because I refused to bring my 80lb desktop to campus. Now my DTR has the same graphics performance (6990m vs my old 4870x2), vastly more CPU power (2920xm vs qx6700), and more faster RAM (16gb 1333 vs 8gb 1066) while only being 1/10 of the weight at 8lbs.

 

In a way, yes, but this is more along the lines of what Apple would charge for a gaming laptop under them. Since, that's what it looked like to me.

 

Care to link what a ''Razer Blade'' is for us UK folk please!

 

Razor's website for the Blade

Same company that makes gaming mice and keyboards.

 

Looks awesome but with a 555M GT I would rather go for a M14X R2 when it hits the streets personally for a much lower price and still with all the fancy features.

 

People complain about what a price this is, but no one realizes that this is honestly the msrp of a macbook pro, with almost the same powered sepcs. (the gpu is not as good as the ati one in the 17inch pro) but you also get the special trackpad and buttons, now how that is useful to gamers who use mice, I do not know at all. You could argue that mac pro is a better deal (mac osx, apple "quality", windows as well, 19:10 screen[good for some people])
I mean if you can not see the macbook in this thing, you are freakin blind.

 

That the power of branding
Branding > specification

 

How counter-intuitive this all is. EC101 tells us that a rational consumer maximises his dollar-value in the market. Yet I see all these kids running around, wielding apple products, and now, razer blades...

 

Well, it's not exactly similar. First, you can get a laptop with an xtreme CPU that can be OC'ed and if that's not enough, you can even get one with the 3960X or Xeon's. Second, nowadays dual GPU configs like the 580MSLI and 6990CF are performing at about the level of the desktop GTX580! Which means, that you can have a laptop with a real desktop power in it.

Battery life is also an open subject. My M18x outlasts most ultralight's out there with up to 6 hrs of up time on a single charge, so you can't really say that battery life is non-existent BTW, that Razer has a battery life of up to 2 hrs, which is ridiculous, especially since they claim it to be the most portable gaming laptop, lol.

As for the fancy macro keys, both the NP8180 and AW M18x have those and as a person who loves using them in games and for normal computing, I can assure you, you won't be using more than just a handful of bindings. With 15 mappings on my M18x, I'm only using about 4-5 and even then there's a chance of confusion, hehe.

And instead of the magic little touch screen, I'd prefer having a ThinkPad style trackpoint, which is far better for on-the-go gaming, IMHO.

 

The sad life of easy manipulated individuals. Oh sure, those advertisements seem legit! The Razer Blade must the best gamer computer out there, as stated by Razer "Razer Blade - The World's First True Gaming Laptop"..

I just don't get it how hard is it to google is the laptop really is worth it? Is it that easy to take all that branding for granted? Damn

 

To be fair, the design is a really big factor. And the keyboard is quite innovative as well.

And Razer has done an amazing job with marketing and branding.

 

M18x upgrade to 2960XM costs $900 + the cost of original processor. A similar performance of desktop with i7-2600K is $300 of total value.

Dual GPU upgrade on M18x is $600 + the cost of original gpu option. With your config it scores around 7,600 points in 3DMark11. A single Radeon 6970, which I coincidentally have, is about $350 of total value, gets the same score in 3Dmark11. GTX 580 would get 12,000.

No matter how you look at it, the laptops would never get the similar performance as desktops for the same money. The more money you invest into a higher grade laptop trying to get desktop like performance, the further your laptop would be from the desktop you could have bought instead. Desktops could have SLI/Crossfire as well you know

The main point of my argument is that we can't judge people who purchase seemingly overpriced things, because most of the time they have their own reasons for doing so. Just like you had a very good reason to buy M18x instead of a desktop, an owner of Razer Blade might have had a good reason to get it instead of M18x or anything else.

 

maybe some people are just dumb?

 

just a bit scary if it does become successful and the other manufacturers starts to follow the formula of success lol.

 

You know, my point was not about price but pure performance and battery life. As far as the price goes, yes, high-end gaming laptops will definitely be more expensive than similarly performing desktops, but the thing is, unlike a few years ago, today you can have a true desktop power in a laptop. BTW, my friend has a desktop with a 2600k and even though neither of us is a bencher, my beast scores better in most CPU tests (just because I managed to get a slightly higher OC' on my machine). Still, even though I eventually got an OEM 2960XM, initially grabbed a 2920xm ES for 300$ and got similar performance but higher temps. So, technically, you can have an extreme laptop CPU for 300$. As for the GPU's, dell currently offers 2x580Ms for 600$ on certain deals (M18x). And those score 33k Vantage when OC'ed. So it is not as obvious regarding the price/performance either, IMHO. Also, when I was looking for a decent gaming desktop, even with a non-extreme CPU and not the best GPU, I hit 2k+ easily.

Again, my point is not about price but performance. And mobility. You won't bring your desktop to starbucks while I do it with my M18x on a regular basis and can watch 2-3 full hd movies on a single charge

 

I'm looking at 3dMarkVantage scores and none of the SLI GTX 580M with 2920XM or 2960XM ever hit 33,000 in Vantage. Regardless, my Radeon 6970 hits nearly 30,000 when OC'ed. GTX 580 can hit 38,000. GTX 560ti SLI, which costs the same money as a single GTX 580 can hit 43,000+ To me the price/performance is pretty obvious.

Let's not argue about numbers though. I wouldn't dream of carrying around something like M18x. Ever. I don't even like to carry my 6.7 pound sager around too much, that's why I bought another laptop. Notebookcheck in their review reported 3.5 hours of DVD playback on M18x, so those must be pretty short movies. Regardless, it's still really good battery life for such powerful laptop. So despite that carrying around a 12lbs+ might be totally normal and comfortable for you, it might not be for other people, that's what I'm getting at.

The point is, Razer Blade is not an overpriced piece of junk as long as its competitors could match it and offer it for less price. I'm talking about portability first and foremost.

Clevo W170HR: $1400 with i7 Quad and 256GB SSD
16.26" (w) x 10.93" (d) x 0.99"-1.53" (h)
6.83 lbs with 6-cell Battery

Razer Blade: $2800
16.81" (w) x 10.90" (d) x 0.88" (h)
6.4 lbs with 6-cell Battery

 

When I first saw the Razer Blade, I looked at the price, then looked at the spec's and had to stifle back laughter. A GT555 at that price?!!?!

 

Well I see where its at.

It does have that eye-catching features, and flashy LEDs, which the gaming folks love at LAN parties.

If it helps any, the GT 555m in it is the newest and the most powerful of all the GT 555ms, and the cooling seems to be brilliant for such a thin chassis, 50'c after 3dmark Vantage.

It does have its selling points.

 

Here you go. Check Johnksss signature or just brush through the last 2 pages for more benches from other members, including the moderator, Mr.Fox

Agreed, to each their own. Same as one of my friends will never use laptops and I will never use desktops. However, my point is also valid, you can have the power + battery life. A note regarding the battery life. Notebookcheck tested DVD playback and I always watch from the HDD using lightweight Mplayer version Plus, I have a custom profile to limit the CPU and GPU clocks, disable all the unused devices, etc that makes it almost 4.5hr of video playback. Those are full length movies, BTW.

Personally... agreed

 

These kinds of products are great! They wet peoples appetites to bigger and better things. Eventually they'll realize it just isn't hitting the spot, and they'll come looking for the real thing.

Everyone here started out young and naive in the ways of PC gaming. (Except maybe Malibal #2. He was weened on Mana Potions and Silicon Dust.) Some of us here started on Nintendo Game Boys and Sega Game Gears.

The people buying these Razer Blades will eventually stop wasting their money on mediocrity.

Or they wont, and they'll continue to clog up our local starbucks with their frosted hair and their crappy grammar.

 

Anyone else feel like the Razer Blade selling out it's first batch in 30-minutes sound like another Razer marketing gimmick?

There is literally no one online talking about how they bought a Razer Blade that I could find with Google or Twitter.

Edit: Oh wait.. there's exactly one person on Twitter who tweeted about being "stoked" about getting the Razer Blade.

 

And some of us were writing games for programmable calculators long before the era of Sinclair zx spectrum

That's the consensus, IMHO. Checked a few forums and the product is mostly bashed by haters.

 

Well, I'm not quite that old, my first game was a command line, text based RPG that started out with, "You find yourself in a dark, musty room with no idea how you arrived here. There is a door to the south and a door to the west and an object lying on the floor. What do you want to do?"

You get my point though, we evolve and grow in our hobby's until we're in bars and on the forums growling about young pups and their new toys.

 

This reminds me how old I am

Speaking about evolving, this is what I call the pinnacle of the power mobile:



The only 2 laptops I'd label as "true gaming and power rigs"
Sorry for the poor quality but you get my point.

 

Dude, turn on the light, and take some aspirin!

Then go play a real game like Zork.