This is the review of the new Razer Blade also known as Blade R2
This is not an unboxing or review of the Blade but our views of the Blade.
The packaging
The package comes with a free Razer Abyssus gaming mouse. Before I dive into the review, I wanted to begin by citing some of my reasons for purchasing this laptop, that quite a few have already paned as “underpowered,” “gimmicky,” and “overpriced.” Out of those three adjectives, I am most likely to concede the last one. This is an expensive laptop. There, I said it. Now it is up to the potential purchaser to determine if the price is worth taking the plunge.
I am a fairly serious gamer and also someone who tends to trade-up in computer tech frequently. Cutting edge tends to matter to me. Most recently I’ve had in my possession an Alienware MX11x and on the opposite end of the spectrum, a Dell XPS 2010 the humongous. There are things I love about each of these laptops.
I love the Dell XPS 2010 for its looks: its aluminum construction, its large 1920x1080 display, and certainly its processing/gaming power. I could run nearly every game without a hitch. The Dell XPS 2010 is a great laptop, but I had to be honest, it’s really a massive desktop replacement. Don’t think you want to carry it around as it is very heavy.
I bought the Alienware MX11x Air for three primary reasons: portability, durability and aesthetics (aluminum unibody), and versatility. Unlike the XPS 2010, I brought my MX11x to work frequently, and have some games while travelling. My three main strikes against the MX11x involved limited battery life, limited memory and processing power for games and some apps, and not enough screen real estate. Again, I’m not flaming against Alienware or Dell here. I love both of these notebooks and will likely purchase from both companies in the future at some point, but I wanted something different from these two, but with some of their strengths.
Enter Razer Blade
Here’s what drew me to this particular laptop, in order of importance.
#1 Eye Candy: Outward appearance matters to me. As with both the MX11x and Dell XPS 2010, I wanted a beautiful machine, not some tacky, plastic, cookie-cutter notebook. While I will never own a Ferrari, for example, I want to own a head-turning, Ferrari-like notebook. The Razer Blade, I believed, would meet that requirement, with black aluminum finish, neon green lighting, and the very unique Switchblade keys/touchpad.
#2 Durability: Both of previous two laptops were durable, and I’m never going back to plastic. From here on out its aluminum, carbon fiber, or some other fancy alloy. Keep in mind I take good care of my machines, but don’t want to grab a laptop with one hand and hear creaking noises or anything. My biggest issue with it was that, even though I pampered that notebook, the rubbery red texture on the edge of the display began to fade, rub off. Durability matters.
#3 Gaming/Processing Power: I knew my next laptop would not be anywhere close to the M18x, but I wanted one that would be able to run some of my favorite modern games at decent settings, including Dragon Age, Starcraft, maybe even Hawken.
#4 Portability: I wanted a portable 17” laptop. The 11” wasn’t enough screen for me, and didn’t want to settle for 13-14” either. I wanted it to be light-weight, something I could slip into a backpack or a sleeve, and actually take it to work with me. Under 7lbs and some crazy thin and light PSU (will get to that) sounded pretty good to me. Battery life wouldn’t matter to me quite as much if the PSU was truly as portable as Razer claimed.
The beauty is now the beast
As I plucked the Blade out of the case three thoughts came to mind: “This thing is really, really big! Wow, this thing is really, really thin! This thing is really, really light!” While the Blade is certainly thin, less than 1”, it does have a large footprint, wider than most typical 17” laptops. You would think that having the touchpad moved to the right of the keyboard, the laptop would be less wide than most notebooks. The cold aluminum felt just like my Macbook Air. I don’t think this Blade uses the same unibody construction, but it feels extremely solid. Opening up the lid, there is absolutely no wobble, even if I shake it vigorously. Again, feels like an absolutely solid piece of metal, quite impressed with Razer’s first foray into notebook design. Did I mention how light it feels? I am currently writing this review with the laptop sitting comfortably on my lap.
The top of the laptop is very clean, simply solid aluminum with a matte black finish. Unfortunately the laptop is not immune to fingerprints, though they can be easily wiped clean. I feel like a thief at night covering his tracks, or maybe more like Golem polishing his Precious. The laptop is not fingerprint prone like a glossy black laptop or anything, but I can see maybe now why Apple doesn’t produce any other color but silver in their notebook lineup.
However, I still prefer the black finish over silver. The corners are smooth and rounded off. The middle of the notebook actually protrudes in ever so slightly leaving two noticeable vertical lines on the top. In the middle sits the iconic triple-headed snake logo. Its sort of a faded green when the laptop is powered off, but lights up neon green when the display is lifted up. The logo is plastic, but then again, so is the glowing Apple on the Macbook Air, no big deal, looks awesome. Have to say I was pleasantly surprised the logo lit up, wasn’t even sure it did prior to purchasing.
On to the sides. The right side of the notebook, aside from being very, very thin, only has a fan out and a security slot for a lock. This laptop is obviously more right-hand friendly than most. Still, I wouldn’t have minded a USB port or two on this right side. Quick note about the fans. The right fan I believe is for the CPU, because it runs much, slower and cooler, and I almost never hear it running at all.
Min-Liang Tan described his frustration with a production company telling him for the Razer, he wanted it green. They told him they couldn’t do that, so he replied back, “Screw you, we’ll make it ourselves….” Nice. Again, the little touches here mean a lot to me, and keeping the neon green and black theme consistent keeps this notebook looking so classy.
Next we have the Switchblade, 10 clear plastic keys with customizable LCD screens underneath, and an LCD touchscreen that doubles as a touchpad. I will discuss the Switchblade UI a little later, but just to give my initial impressions prior to powering the laptop on: They keys are all plastic, give a nice clickly, tactile response. They touchpad is also made of plastic I believe, not glass. Too bad its not gorilla glass, and the set comes with a screen protector to protect it.
Last thing to make note of with the exterior: the power supply. The power supply was designed by some crack-pot Razer engineers. This 120 watt PSU is about an inch thick (or less). I think other PC companies should take notice to what Razer did with this power supply unit. Simply wonderful.
I think Team Razer took the best from the Macbook line and then refined it, gave it their own flair, with gamers in mind all the while. This laptop meets and exceeds my Eye Candy requirement. Even without the Switchblade UI, this laptop would still be amazing to look at, and hold, and drool on…. *Wipes the drool off with the free microfiber cloth.
As stated on the carton….. For Gamers By Gamers…….
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