Razer's Second-Generation Blade Notebook Review: Focusing On The Z

[bokeh]

Wait... you need to register to use the laptops UI? And stay connected?
Da F... is this ? Hardware DRM?

I feel the same way you do. I personally hope Razer will offer a completely offline mode for the Synapse software. Right now they are just syncing settings for their devices and nothing else. If you really want to get freaked out, check out how much info Steam and Origin are collecting in their services.

 

[vittau]

I'm left-handed, and I would find this completely unusable.
Not just because the touchpad is to the right, but also because I normally use the numpad instead of WASD keys to play.

 

[Asif1987]

Can someone please explain why was Sniper Elite V2 chosen for testing?

 

[kiniku]

I travel a good deal. Certainly more often than 2 days a week 3 times a year. For now I have an ASUS G73J gaming notebook. Since I am on the road equal or more time lugging that gaming laptop through the airport, removing it during security and raising it up into sometimes cramp overhead aircraft bins get old. Quick. A slimmer gamer notebook without it's brick for a power supply is appealing for me.

 

[bokeh]

Can someone please explain why was Sniper Elite V2 chosen for testing?

A real world game where the GPU is the limiting factor for both AMD and Nvidia. Very light CPU load.

I will be rotating in new games and rotating others out. I welcome any suggestions that you have.

 

[nforce4max]

Nice looks and a few neat features but to be honest that isn't enough. The cooling is a real concern especially for gaming/DTR style laptops in the long run and to make matters worse the gpu isn't MXM so if it fails the board is bricked. I don't care to much about looks provided the performance met my needs and wasn't pink.

I still like those old school Dell DTRs like the Inspiron 9300 and the XPS M1730 ect.

 

[g-unit1111]

[citation][nom]g-unit1111[/nom]I very badly need to get a new laptop but this one is way too rich for my blood. I would definitely consider this if it were about $1K less.[/citation]
Lenovo Y580/Y500 GT650m SLI

Cool, I've been checking that one out. I would like to get a back lit keyboard though. The 16GB SSD is a pretty nice feature, I will admit.

 

[Wask]

Great Review....For me the Razer blade is more a gaming ultrabook it is in a category of its own, the x17 etc are pc replacements they are not even laptops so its difficult to compare. Portable is key you just have to look at the power brick compared to anything else 15" upwards. Also the razer blades overall weight is in the 15" gaming machine bracket . For me being a mature gamer i don't really want my machine to look like something from star wars so the best looking laptop tag is another plus. One of my favs is the switchblade ui the possibilities are endless, for me being able to watch the footy/movie on it or have facebook running while gaming is a big selling point no more windowing the game in case you need to go back to windows environment mid game. It is a closed unit but after warranty you can easily upgrade the msata to 256gb (probs be a 512 about by then) put a 512gb ssd again probs 1 tb as well as upgrade the wireless card and with a bit more difficulty put 16gb of ram in there, so it does have some legs... so i disagree with the statement that 'it is not worth the money' for me it is worth every penny...

 

[Wask]

This DRM nonsense is crap, so will you be accusing toms hardware forum of drm because you have to give them your email to sign in to post? some people have nothing better to do than bad mouth... Its all about the cloud

 

[crysex]

The 2nd Generation already come out? I didn't even noticed about the first generation. They should do a better job on marketing. Or this product sucks really bad.

 

[Guest]

Whats up with that GX60 riding the Struggle Bus for some of those benchmarks?

 

[Wask]

AMD having issues with APU + 7970 throttling good card/cost otherwise...

 

[Estbarul]

They always say FPS under 30 is unplayable, but now that this machine almost can't get 30 in any game it's ok less than that? Seems to me like trying to make the product look better than what it actually is, I'm not saying is bad, it's just no so good.

There are A LOT of better notebooks out there 1000$ less than this razor. For me, it's not worth the price, not even at 2000 bucks.

 

[Wask]

If you want to play every game in ultra settings @1080 you also compromise that it will be 10lb+ and twice as thick Estbarul so if you dont mind it looking crappy as there is only so many ways to style a brick. you have a point...

 

[g-unit1111]

The Blade's Switchblade UI is the same one found on Razer's DeathStalker Ultimate desktop keyboard. The UI is made up of a multi-touch LCD track-panel and ten dynamic adaptive tactile keys. Each of the ten keys has a small 115x115-pixel display that can be customized to different uses. The multi-touch LCD track-panel is similar to having a 4” 800x480 smart phone (minus the phone) built into the touchpad. Together, they are capable of providing a highly-customizable interface for gaming and other tasks.

No wonder this thing is so expensive!! You could cut out the LCD keys and charge literally $1K less for the same product! Talk about an unnecessary feature!

 

[Achoo22]

I wouldn't buy this laptop, even if it were priced $1500 cheaper. Requiring users to sign up for and login to a cloud-based service to use their keypads is insanity. Even if it is possibly for savvy users to block further communication via firewall, you still have to create the account/etc. This is just absolutely unacceptable, and Razer should be absolutely persecuted for it.

 

[slomo4sho]

[citation][nom]blazorthon[/nom]Although I agree with what you say about the costs, to be fair, you can get $1500 or so laptops that compete with the last low-end SBM system (which was $600, not $500) in gaming performance. For example, a $1450 configuration of one of Clevo's laptops get's a quad-core i7 3640QM (a little better than the one in this Razer) and a Radeon 7970M (much, much faster than GTX 660M).[/citation]

You are correct, my apologies. I was thinking of the Q4 2012 build.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/budget-gaming-do-it-yourself-computer,3364.html

But as you have suggested, spending another $900-1000 to obtain the same performance as low-end desktop build in a gaming laptop is a hefty premium for mobile gaming.

 

[cobra5000]

"extra $450 does buy a lot more portability". It sure does, $450 buys you a whole new laptop!

 

[Pyree]

@cobra5000
What is portable and what's not is very subjective. Some people, like me, find lugging an 8 pounds laptop easy, without breaking a sweat. Some people find carrying anything more than an iPad excessive. But I agree, $450 can get you a new laptop. It's also too steep to pay compare to Y500 (15.2 x 10.2 x 0.6 - 1.4", 5.95lbs <actually lighter than the Razer; BTW, the Y500 is also smaller than the Razer Blade volume wise approx. 2541 vs 2642mm^3, optional GT650m SLI, backlit keyboard, replaceable battery and, RAM, HDD and mSATA SSD are serviceable parts). Even if you get the 1080p model of Y500 with the optional GT 650m in DVD swap bay and DIY put in a 128GB mSATA SSD for OS and app, works out to be around $1150. You can buy 2 Lenovo that outperform Razer Blade for the price of 1 Razer Blade with money left. The introduction of this laptop is welcomed because it has the "slick factor" (I called it "slick factor" because it is neither lighter or smaller than the Y500 in volume) and some people looks for that (it used to be an Apple only feature). But it does not change my top laptop recommendation at the $2500 price point. That crown belongs to Clevo P370EM configured with Crossfire 7970m, i7-3740QM, W8 and 256GB SAMSUNG 840 PRO. And why is my post chopped when viewed on the comment section but in forum view it is perfectly fine? I have resubmitted so many times hoping it would update on the comment page; the editing record looks silly with so many resubmission. Must raise this issue with Joe.

 

[Wask]

@Pyree i think the clue with y500 is the 15" bit also it has the styling of a industrial sellotape dispenser you could buy 3 ford cars or you could by a porsche 911 carrera, i know what i would spend my money on, @Achoo22 you gave your email to toms hardware so you could CREATE A ACCOUNT to sign in to this forum JUST so you can demonstrate your Paranoia! should they be persecuted? I bet you are a Steam client? itunes? on and on some people are really silly...

 

[pinkfloydminnesota]

What exactly does possessing an Omega Speedmaster say about a person?

 

[Wask]

That they would rather save their money and buy something of Quality rather than over time wasting the same amount of money on cheap Crap...

 

[bokeh]

What exactly does possessing an Omega Speedmaster say about a person?

The Speedmaster is associated with my deep respect for the engineers that sent people to the moon. They tested many watches and the Omega Speedmaster was the one chosen for astronauts to wear in the early 60's. It was used during the first moon landing when the lunar module's timer broke down. It helped save Apollo 13 when they used one to time a mid course correction rocket burn. It is also an expensive watch that not a lot of people have. Most people would see the watch and not notice much more than a nice analog chrono. A small number of people would see watch and understand the history associated with it.

 

[Metroidam11]

This is the start of next generation gaming laptops. Really looking forward to seeing the performance grow as processors become more efficient. Will never replace my desktop though.

 

[pcperson7]

Yeah the blade is WAAAAAAAAAAY too overpriced for what you get.