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List Price: $1,999.00
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I'm a bit of a computer junkie, which means I'm constantly buying a "new shiny toy" and this is especially true with computers. Luckily enough I've always found my laptops super-on-sale so after using them a few months I'm able to sell them for profit to purchase a new one. Eventually this meant going from $500 laptops all the way to this bad boy. I've compiled some information regarding this laptop which may assist someone else:
Why did I buy this laptop?
-Incredibly thin and lightweight
-Battery life lasts a VERY long time
-8GB RAM is perfect Any more seems to be a waste for my needs
-256GB SSD is a great medium between cost and size. Of course a 512GB would be nice, but I have an external for media files anyway.
-HDMI Out Essential component that many "budget" computers lack (This is definitely not a budget computer)
-Three USB3.0 Ports I never use more than 2 at a time anyway, but I understand that some people will need more ports. Personally I prefer to use Bluetooth so there are no wires.
-Serves as a good desktop replacement
Below are some questions people often ask me about it:
1)How hot does it get?
-It feels pretty hot when I play certain games like Crysis 3 on max settings; however, I checked the CPU core temperature only to realize it was actually cooler than my previous laptop had been. I believe this may be due to the bezel being made out of metal which can more easily transfer heat than plastic.
2)Can it play games?
-This is always my favorite question because it's a gaming laptop and people love to ask if it can play games. In short the answer is yes. So far I have run into no problems playing games except with radial flora shadows on Battlefield 3 and motion blur in Crysis 3. Both of these settings need to not be on extreme or the FPS take a hit.
3)How is the battery life?
-Great! Best out of any laptop I've ever had. I'm sure this is directly correlated with the new Intel Haswell processor that is inside since Intel's big selling point with this generation was lower power consumption. While playing games I generally can get about 5-6hours on battery and doing low power tasks such as browsing the internet and typing a paper I get about double the battery life. It's hard to get an exact number, but with my screen brightness all the way down and battery saving options enabled I was able to get a good 14 hours off one charge. Sure screen is a little harder to use with the brightness so low, but eventually your eyes adjust and it's fine.
4)Are there any weird "quirks?"
-When I first purchased it I noticed the internet was a bit spotting. I avoided using the built in NIC card by using a USB Wireless Adapter that I used on my desktop, but what's the point of having a good laptop if the internet doesn't work well on the go? So I did some research and realized my Killer drivers were out of date. (Of course--it's always a drivers issue!) After fixing that I haven't really had any problems at all with the internet.
5)How long does the laptop take to turn on?
-People ask me this all the time because my last laptop had a dual-raid SSD so it could boot in about 7 seconds. This laptop (thankfully) can boot in about the same time. I haven't really timed it, but if I push the on button then grab my laptop mouse--the computer is on and at my desktop before I've put the mouse case back in my bag. Any faster would really be a waste considering the work it would take could go into improving something else.
6)What did the Windows Experience Index place the laptop at?
-The base score is a 6.9 and here's the breakdown:
o Processor: 7.8
o Memory: 7.8
o Graphics: 6.9
o Gaming Graphics: 6.9
o Primary Hard disk: 8.1
7)Did it come with any bloatware?
-It depends what you consider bloat. There were no programs such as Norton's Anti-Virus installed; however, there was some of the Razer software such as Razer Comms and Razer Synapse 2.0 installed. I use these programs so it wasn't a big deal for me, but I could see where someone else might not want them.
8)How is the screen quality?
-When I was looking to purchase the laptop I definitely considered it a downside; however, since the screen is smaller it doesn't really make much of a difference at all. Coming from a 1080p screen on my last laptop I don't really notice the difference at all. Of course there will always be people who claim they can see the difference, but speaking per inch a 17.3 inch screen with 1080p resolution is 127.34PPI, a 15.6 inch screen with 1080p resolution is 141.21PPI, a 15.4 inch screen with 1080p resolution is 143.05PPI, and a 14 inch screen with 1600x900 resolution is 131.13PPI. With that being said--I'm satisfied with the screen. Sometimes I feel like people are chasing pixels they can't see. . .
I think that sums up my review. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will reply to it as soon as I can.
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The 2013 Razer Blade 14 is a fantastic laptop. It's lightweight, well put together, and packs a TON of power in a small package. They've chosen to provide a premium experience at a premium price. This is truly the laptop I've been waiting for. For the past 10 years I've exclusively purchased Apple MacBooks (or PowerBooks for you old school people) and run Boot Camp to sneak some gaming in. So this is from the perspective of someone who loves a well built aluminum machine.
The battery life easily matches what only ultra low voltage laptops can deliver, except the Razer has an NVIDIA GTX 765m GPU that lets you enable high or max settings in all the current games. I have had run-time vary between 4-7 hours browsing/doing work, or about 2.5-3 hours when gaming. This thing is a beast. I bet you're thinking, "Dang, you really like this thing." And you'd be right, but with some reservations.
Most of the reviews overlook an issue or two. The screen, webcam, and occasionally defective power adapter. Fortunately, their customer service sent me new power adapters until I received one that didn't make loud clicking noises. I'll break everything down below:
Display This is a tough one. If you see people complaining that this doesn't have a 1080p screen, they are wrong to criticize it. 1600x900 is an excellent choice at 14" and is the appropriate resolution for the GTX 765m graphics card to power. Viewing angles on the other hand are pretty atrocious. It is difficult to find the "right" angle and the screen washes out if you move your head at all.
That said, I understand why Razer chose a TN panel; we can't have slow response times when gaming, but the color gamut and contrast is about a 3 on a scale 1 to 10. It makes dark scenes in games difficult to see and webpages with grey text hard to read. There is one positive aspect of the screen though The extreme brightness and matte finish allow you to use this computer in well lit environments, even outside.
Webcam The webcam is a pain point for me. When you have any type of florescent bulbs, or poor lighting at all the camera responds in an extremely terrible way. It attempts to adjust for the light and starts FLASHING green. It is absolutely useless, but I suppose you don't buy this laptop for Skype/Google Hangouts. I want to be clear, my laptop is not defective. All Razer Blade 14s exhibit this bad behavior and I even received a response from the company stating this. Unfortunately for Razer, I have quite a few devices, and NONE of them flicker/flash like this. Check out this short video for an example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP74XeviTy8
Performance This is where the Blade 14 truly shines. The new Haswell i7, NVIDIA GTX 765m? So. Damn. Fast. It runs all my games at high or ultra settings. It is simply mind blowing to be using a laptop this small and thin with this kind of ridiculous performance. I don't even need to dedicate a large section to this, you won't find a faster laptop at this size and quality.
Build Quality Speaking of quality. If you've owned a MacBook Pro, or handled a new Retina model then you know how this computer feels. Solid, dense, well built, no flex. Just add fingerprints and that is how this computer feels/looks.
Aesthetics This computer stands out and it is striking to be using a Windows 8 machine with this form factor. Combined with the sweet Razer green lighting, you have something truly unique and people will stop to comment on it.
Heat There is no getting around this, the Razer gets hot... in all the right places. The palm rest and bottom cover of the computer get a bit warm, but they are totally in line with what I expect (and very similar to the MacBook Pro 15" Retina). Now if you place your finger near the power button you're going to get burnt. It is well over 100 degrees there, but what do you expect when they shove over 100 watts of pure performance in such a small package? Just get a Squaretrade warranty ;)
Noise At idle, and just browsing this thing is dead silent. During gaming the fans obviously kick in, but it isn't that loud at all. It is much much quieter than my friend's GS70 Stealth.
Trackpad Probably the first Windows trackpad that I've truly enjoyed using. If you consider the MacBook trackpad a 10 (and they are), then this is a solid 8. With just two finger scrolling and edge gestures enabled it isn't necessary to plug an external mouse in for day to day usage. I also find the real buttons a pleasure to use, though a bit small to press. It doesn't earn a 10 because it can misread on occasion when scrolling/tapping.
So overall, I have to give this computer 4 out of 5 stars. The Razer Blade is their first shot at a 14 inch notebook and they have almost nailed it. It is a beautiful, thin, high performing machine that I will definitely be keeping. It has a few flaws like the screen and webcam, but if you're willing to make a few trade-offs you gain an incredible amount of graphics horsepower to game on the go. And that's what this computer is built for. Gaming.
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I love this laptop. I am selling my pimped out Origin EON15 S now that I've received this one.
I go to college and I have big gaps in between classes so I wanted a laptop that I could bring with me to school, but still play games in between classes. This laptop weighs nothing (take into consideration I'm coming from the Origin) and on top of that, the brick is soo small. I hated bringing my Origin to school because the fans were loud and it just looks ridiculous when you place it on your desk to use microsoft word. I have a desktop at my house so there was no point in having a desktop-replacement-style laptop.
The battery on this thing is insane. It lasts longer than my old 15" Mid 2010 Macbook Pro which I always thought was really good. I get through 2 back to back classes and still have battery to spare. I've never seen a notification telling me that the battery was low.
The thing that had me most reluctant to buying this was that I thought the screen was going to suck, but this is not the case. The screen is really good. Not crappy or just "ok" like many of the reviews say. The viewing angles bother me more than I thought they would have, but that's just because I can't sit still in class so I'm always adjusting the screen. Games look sharp and crisp and the color looks great as well.
In terms of performance, the blade does everything I want from it. I mostly play League of Legends, which isn't a graphics intensive game, so I don't really push the computer. I recently installed Dishonored and Fable: Lost Chapters and it runs both of those really well. I average 90 fps on max everything, windowed-borderless in League of Legends. I could get 140 fps on my Origin, but I can fit 3 blades inside that laptop haha.
Things that could be better:
The laptop doesn't sit flush/flat on desks. It has a slight wobble that is pretty annoying.
A magnetic charger would have been cool. I'm always paranoid that someone is going to trip over my cable and send it flying (who cares about the injured person).
My Origin laptop had a key that turned off the trackpad which is really cool when I use a mouse (all the time) so my palm doesn't mess around with the trackpad at the same time the mouse is. You might be able to change this with razer synapse 2.0, but I haven't checked yet.
I hate the fact that they stick the windows key on the bottom of the laptop and the intel sticker on the top of the inside of the laptop. I tried taking off those types of sticker before with little luck and this only seems worse because the finish of the laptop is matte. The intel sticker is also slightly crooked which makes my eye twitch.
tl;dr The Razer Blade is amazing as an actually portable laptop that you carry around with you everywhere. It isn't a desktop replacement, but it can do 99% of what I need it to do.
Honest reviews on Razer Blade 14 Inch Gaming Laptop 256GB - Windows 8.1
Let me begin by saying that I've owned Alienware laptops including the M14x, M15x, M17x and M18x among other laptops not so highly rated, and while thr M18x and the M14x hold a special place in my heart, the Razer Blade has completely redefined the Gaming Laptop or even the Laptop concept with this new laptop.
For starters, the laptop is truly an engineering marvel to say the least, it's barely over half an inch thick and weighs 4 pounds, that alone is a worthy to mention, however what makes the Razer Blade something special is how much power it packs under the hood, it's simply an unbelievable achievement.
By know, you know this thing has a Haswell Processor i7 4702HQ, and a full fledged Nvidia 765GTX 2 GB, we're talking the latest mobile technologies for both CPU and GPU! And sure enough, there are more powerful configurations out there, but none come anywhere near the size and weight of the Razer Blade. To have all this power means that one can not only do their every day work on it, but for the first time, be able to carry a Laptop under the arm that can play ANY game out there today at High/Ultra settings, that's gaming with no compromises on the go.... For the first time EVER, I find myself actually taking my laptop with me to even short trips.
I would even take it a step further and say that so far, I have not even used my 4770k/780GTX desktop that much, the Blade has pretty much become my every day computer.
Some of the negatives you'll hear are to be taking lightly... for instance the resolution is 1600x900, many claim they wish it had a 1080p display, however it's the actual resolution that enables the Blade to play all these games with maxed settings, when you put these specs on a 1080p display, you automatically lose between 20-30% performance in gaming.
I will say that the 14" TN LED display could be better, no doubt, I'm not in love with the viewing angles or the color depth, but because of what the Blade does and for how long the battery lasts (6+ hours browsing/office and 2-3 hours gaming)it's not too hard to forgive the screen quality, in all fairness as bad as it is, it works just fine.
The build quality is also the best I've seen in any laptop, it goes above Alienware and even Apple, presenting a top notch looking device with the best Keyboard/Trackpad on the market.
There are two minor details that I found.. 1) One of the Laptops had a clicking noise inside, as if a fan was hitting a piece of plastic, lasted for a few seconds but it was consistent. The Web camera is sub-par, in all fairness, the screen is good compared to the webcam.....
Because of the clicking noise, I did call Amazon customer service and they were incredible, they shipped a new Razer overnight at their expense and arranged a pick-up for the replacement at my place... in short I had to do nothing at all to get the exchange in my hands, just a simple call.
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Razer ran a promotion on twitter a month ago, the #RazerB2S (back to school giveaway). I won, so here is my review. . .
Lets start with appearance. The design is very simple, no weird angles or bevels, just a clean smooth design with rounded corners. The finish is a beautiful matte black, so it looks great and doesn't take finger prints. While some have complained about the green Razer logo, I think it looks striking, especially since it glows when the screen is on.
Next up is the physical build quality which is superb. It feels sturdy, and will not bend/flex (well, the screen will, but anything that thin would). The keys feel solid, and there are two long rubberized feet on the bottom (running most of the length of the front and back). The charging brick and cord are solid (and wonderfully small and light), and the connection feels very good. Many charging ports feel as if they would break under a tiny stress, this one feels like I could dangle the computer from it without damage (note: I'm not going to try it, you probably shouldn't either). Of course that can be a disadvantage if you are apt to trip on the cord, as that could pull the laptop onto the floor. A magnetic solution (similar to a Macbook) may have been an over all more robust solution, but for a standard charging cable, it feels great.
Now, onto the system. Boot time is unbelievable, you can go from cold to fully operational in seconds, which is partially thanks to Razers hardware optimizations, and partially thanks to Windows 8's vastly improved boot times. The OS is pretty much stock Windows 8, the Razer website says that it has no bloatware, which is *true* to some extent. But there are a few programs installed that aren't stock Windows.
Razer Synapse 2.0: I'll give this a pass, since this is a Razer gaming machine, and synapse allows for customizing keyboard hotkeys, and for adjusting the key backlight. However I was disappointed that I could not use the FN key (which controls secondary functions on the F1-12 row) to give keys (even F-row) secondary functions. In fact you don't seem to be able to be able to program hot keys that use modifiers at all. All in all I think AHK will remain my key-mapping solution. It dose make disabling the caps lock key easy though.
Qualcomm Atheros Killer Network Manager: I'm not sure what it's for honestly, it appears to track network (and system) performance, but not in a really useful way. I don't know what the point is, and it keeps bugging me to run speed tests and can't seem to remember that I selected "don't show this message again". It just doesn't seem useful, especially with a memory footprint of up to 100MB (that I have noticed). I don't know how to classify this as anything but bloatware.
Intel/Nvidia stuff: There are settings managers for the Intel graphics and for the SSD, and for Nvidia graphics. All are poorly designed, but are probably necessary for optimal performance.
Razer Comms: Unlike Synapse this has nothing to do with my hardware, it's just a chat/messenger application. . . For a system I don't use, or have any reason to use. Skype works perfectly fine. . . So what's the point? Gotta call it bloat.
Aside from that it's just Windows 8.
Now as too the performance. The Nvidia graphics card kicks in automatically when the intel graphics can't handle the load, so you may see low FPS for a second, that a major spike when it switches over. You will know that the Nvida is on because of a very low hum from the fans that will kick in (though the noise increases as it heats up) as soon as it swaps. I can easily record Minecraft at 1080p and 60 FPS (higher actually, if I don't lock the FPS) with all the settings maxed out. And the SSD is able to write fast enough to not kill the performance. The downside is that at 256GB a 60 FPS raw HD video will fill up the drive rather fast. Unfortunately it gets HOT, really hot. It can become uncomfortable to play games since your hands are resting on the machine, and the keyboard is almost too hot to touch at times. This is unfortunate, but not really avoidable in a laptop that's this small.
The keyboard and trackpad are not the worst, nor are they the best. The keys are a bit on the harder side to press, but they feel clicky rather than mushy. Unfortunately due to the size they are small low-profile keys (which can be annoying to type with) and it lacks a numerical keypad (which is normal for a 14" laptop, it would be hard to fit, but it's missed). Aside from the physical aspect, I have noticed that the back light can be a bit uneven. My Windows key is very bright, and the F11 and F12 keys are rather dim, the back light is a much appreciated feature, but it could have been implemented better. And my last beef with the keyboard? The font choice, it just looks kinda wonky, but I guess that's just personal preference. The trackpad is a synaptics touch pad, with very nice satisfying clicky buttons. it's a fairly large touch pad, with all the multitouch and gestures you would expect, and all the features that normally come with a synaptics device. I think I prefer the (also synaptics) touch pad on my old computer, that was smaller, and had a textured surface. The pad isn't bad, but unfortunately not the best and simply not very game friendly. But what track pad is?
Now about the screen. . . This has to be the most annoying feature the screen is not full HD, and the anti-glare finish makes anything white look grainy. I would really have liked a 1920x1080 screen, especially for recording games, which requires that you have a 1080 screen to record in 1080.
Then there are a few things it completely lacks. First, the optical drive, it has none. I like my BD drive, so the loss is annoying, but well worth the trade off for size and weight. Second is a wired network adapter. An Ethernet port probably wouldn't even fit, but man did I wish I had one when my wireless router was on the fritz.
But my favorite parts? First is the battery: It lasts for hours (when not gaming) even with the brightness turned all the way up. Now if you do start gaming (or utilize the Nvida card) the battery is just not going to last, and you can't expect it too that card is optimized for performance, which requires far more power. The other amazing feature? The weight. It's so amazingly light and thin, and yet packs all the power you would expect from a gaming machine. And it isn't just the most powerful laptop in the size class, but a pretty high level gaming machine in it's own right.
Summary:
Pro:
Wight
Thickness
Battery
Performance
Design
Boot time
Charger
Supports 5Ghz Wi-Fi networks
USB 3
SSD
Con:
Screen resolution
Heat
key size
Back light uneven
No optical drive
No Ethernet
All in all this is an amazing machine, it has its flaws, but I think we need a new tech spec: Performance per ounce, cause this machine would be at the top of the charts.
