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    New Razer Blade (2015)

    Discussion in 'Razer' started by .PoNeH, Feb 3, 2015.

  1. ChrisAtsin

    ChrisAtsin Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey when you have the time it'd great if you could inform us on Temps and battery life. Thanks!
     
  2. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    I would be happy to, especially since you guys have been great!

    Just got it 20 min ago, so I need it to charge. Currently at 26%.
     
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  3. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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  4. .PoNeH

    .PoNeH Notebook Evangelist

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    I didn't even know about Aorus. Wow. Really can't compete with those specs and that price. How's the build quality in comparison to the Razer Blade?
     
  5. .PoNeH

    .PoNeH Notebook Evangelist

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    Do they do a CES Appreciation sale every year? If so, I'll just get the 2015 version early next year. I believe that 30% off the price is a fair value for the Razer Blade. At least, that's how I felt purchasing my 2014 RB last month.
     
  6. daza100

    daza100 Notebook Geek

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    build quality is not as good as the blade but specs and size are quite the same and the Aorus is a little cheaper
     
  7. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    Check my review in sig.
     
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  8. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    It's not a yearly thing. Just happens they did it. They knew they were replacing the 2014 w/ 2015 models so they were trying to liquidate them.
     
  9. jpl20

    jpl20 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Any word on this year's Blade's heat performace?
     
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  10. .PoNeH

    .PoNeH Notebook Evangelist

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    Well, hopefully they'll do a similar sale next year so I can upgrade my system. For the meantime, the 2014 seems to be holding out pretty well.

    BTW, thanks for the review. I guess the RB is more aligned with my style and the build quality seems to be superior. For $1,490, I think I made the best investment I could between power/style/portability. What do you think?
     
  11. brrrt

    brrrt Newbie

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    This woman has both the 2014 and 2015 variants of the RB 14.



    Although it's barely a technical review, she is taking requests for any benchmarks/tests you guys might be interested in. *shrugs*
     
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  12. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    I haven't had time to do this (so busy at work), but according to Battery Bar I am seeing an estimate of 5 hours. This is with brightness set at 50% (Which is still suprisingly bright) and standard wifi browsing.

    You could easily turn the brightness down ALL the way and work comfortably.

    This laptop is sick. Everyone at work is drooling!
     
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  13. Matthew9559

    Matthew9559 Newbie

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    I know I'm getting the new Razer Blade but I just can't decide between the 1080p and QHD+ 256 GB SSD. I do have a recently built gaming desktop so I don't feel like the ram will be a huge issue cause I do most my heavy workload on there. This is mostly just to play games when out of town and Visual Studio for at home and I'll have it for next couple of years (3 years max) before I'll sell it off. I feel like 8 GB of ram will be fine but I dunno. Already 2k deep. ;)

    EDIT: Would love impressions from all you guys with the laptop but I know it's going to be a bit before ya get a good feel for it. I'm planning on getting it at Microsoft store which I read will be available Feb. 16th.
     
  14. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    Although i have the 2015 QHD+, i would probably recommend the 1080p 2015. I use mine for work and play and need all 16GB for all that I plan to do with it. I actually like the touchscreen and use it. If you don't need/want that then this may be an easy decision.
     
  15. zShaw

    zShaw Notebook Guru

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    Does anyone have any idea as to why Razer don't feel like selling this in Europe? The UK in particular.. the whole hassle of ordering it using Bundlebox without knowing the dimensions and weight of the actual box make it pretty hard to estimate how much import tax there is going to be slapped onto it.

    If anyone could share that information regarding the postage box dimensions and weight (Not just the actual laptop box) I'd greatly appreciate knowing.
     
  16. aaronjb

    aaronjb Notebook Consultant

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    I really wish the 1080P IPS model came with a 16GB RAM option. I really need that memory for VMs at work.
     
  17. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    Wish I knew why, there'd be a huge market for it here!

    I could be tempted to do the Bundlebox thing, though I expect with taxes and everything the price will be steep! Would as you say be good to know the shipping dimensions and box weight.

    BTW apart from the cost of importing it, 2 other things make me a bit concerned about doing this:

    * Razer will provide no warranty whatsoever for customers residing outside of the country of purchase. I've confirmed this with a Razer rep. Also, given that it's probably not as easily repairable as more typical laptops, if it does go wrong, where would you be able to take it to get repairs carried out? Send it back to the USA?

    * I'm not sure how true this is, but I read that the nice small Razer power adapter won't work in the UK, not just because of the plug (would be easier enough to get another lead), but it doesn't work on 220/240V or something, so you may need to get a new generic 150w power supply (not a major issue, but annoying).
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2015
  18. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    BTW if importing the top spec QHD screen 512Gb SSD model would cost at least £2125 if you include 20% VAT (possibly more if there are additional customs charges), ouch! I think a similar spec MSI GS60 would be about £1800, though obviously the design isn't as nice, it's bigger (which could be both a pro and a con), and has worse battery wife
     
  19. jpl20

    jpl20 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sidenote to the discussion of the Blade 2015 : anyone know of anywhere to sell a very lightly-used 2014 edition while avoiding the huge ebay or Amazon seller fees?
     
  20. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    BTW An Aorus X3 Plus V3 of similar spec would also be about £1800 in the UK: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-009-AU&groupid=959&catid=1828
     
  21. .PoNeH

    .PoNeH Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for the video. Wow, the difference isn't that much at all. I wonder why gaming FPS comparisons are quite significant between the two. I guess I should feel better about owning a 2014 version now that I saw this.

    Thanks! ;)
     
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  22. Angelwing

    Angelwing Notebook Geek

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    I'm going to wait on reviews of the 1080p version as well as mid-march for GX501 specs - I dont think I can wait any longer than May/June to pull the trigger. I've dismissed Gigabytes 14inch and just can't pull the trigger on the X3. I think it'll come down to Asus and RB for me personally
     
  23. daza100

    daza100 Notebook Geek

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    Thats why i bought the Aorus x3 because i live in England so i cant buy a razer blade. But i am happy with the Aorus x3 it has the same spec other than touch and the Aorus has an extra Msata slot. Also 6gb vram vs RB 3gb vram.
     
  24. bvbz

    bvbz Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I am about 95% ready to pull the trigger on this thing. Presently I have a MBPr13 for daily stuff and a gaming desktop (980/i7-4970). I do 85% of my stuff on my Macbook and play games on the desktop. Thing is I generally play AAA games on console since I tend to play through them once and can sell them (it's rare for me to love newer games ... will be buying GTA V again when it hits PC though, but liking a game that much is not common for me). As a result, most of the games I play barely tickle the 980.

    With that in mind, I'm contemplating a switch to RB14 + iPad.

    My one major dealbreaker is touchpads. As I'm sure most windows folks are tired of hearing, the MBP touchpad is superb. I played with a friend's Alienware 13 a week ago and to be honest I thought that touchpad was pretty good. This has me hoping the threshold has been crossed for other brands as well. Does anyone have any direct comparison experience between RB14 and MBP touchpad feel? How crisp is it? Does 2-finger scroll work well?

    I suppose the other thing is UI scaling. I don't care if Origin has tiny letters as you really only use it to download games. Are games themselves fine? I remember hearing there was issues running games at less than antive on the RB14 2014 as it would appear as a small screen in the middle of your screen?
     
  25. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    The touchpad on the Razer is as close to Apple's best in class that I've seen on a windows notebook.
     
  26. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    She's boring, didn't watch. The 970m is about a 20-25% increase over the 870m and generates significantly less heat. Not sure what she was doing to get low FPS but to compare on ACU. I get about 20-30FPS on the 870m whereas I get 40-60fps on the 970m
     
  27. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    I would consider the touchpad on the RB to be the closest thing, if not better than, the MBP touchpad.
     
  28. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    That is one of the very reasons i went the qhd+. I admit i have had scaling issues with Remote connection manager, but i will just live with it.
     
  29. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    Craigslist?
     
  30. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    It's pretty damn phenomenal. Its one of my favorite parts about it.
     
  31. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    Running desktop at 1920x1080 has fixed all that for me.
     
  32. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    So you recommend changing resolution instead of messing with settings or finding some 3rd party option?
     
  33. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    I run my desktop at 1600x900 on my 2014. Scaling is actually pretty damn good.
     
  34. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    Do you leave scaling at 200% or change it?
     
  35. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    150% iirc or 100% if you can see well enough :)
     
  36. Pcguy07

    Pcguy07 Notebook Geek

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    Cool. I just wish i didn't have to change it back and forth. I've heard of some apps that can do this but not as easy as i had hoped.

    I just want to play on this thing!
     
  37. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    At that rez, 100%
     
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  38. Oxford_Guy

    Oxford_Guy Notebook Evangelist

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    How's the build quality on the Aorus X3? I'm in the UK so am in the same position as you, though I'm tempted to hold out for the Asus G501
     
  39. thejovit07

    thejovit07 Notebook Guru

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    Any one know if m.2 ssd is user upgradable?
     
  40. aaronjb

    aaronjb Notebook Consultant

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    I was wondering how moving the resolution down by a full 50% on the desktop would work. Sounds like it's not terrible.
    Even with a 970M, I think many games are going to be run at 1600x900 for optimal framerates with a high/ultra settings mix.
     
  41. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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  42. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    ACU runs at 40-60fps on max settings (except AA but on this small a screen you can barely tell with AA on/off anyway) @ 1080p
     
  43. daza100

    daza100 Notebook Geek

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    It's not as good as the razer blade build quality it's plastic/Aluminium. A few creackes but I am happy with mine.
     
  44. daza100

    daza100 Notebook Geek

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    Yes it's a little larger than Msata.
     
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  45. LVNeptune

    LVNeptune Notebook Virtuoso

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    Didn't know you were lurking around here @daza100 :D
     
  46. .PoNeH

    .PoNeH Notebook Evangelist

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    I thought I read somewhere that upgrading the hard drive on your own will void your warranty as there will be evidence of opening the machine. Is this true?
     
  47. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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    Highly doubt it. Two of my chassis screws were partly stripped from the factory. Not sure how they would ever know as long as you put the original drive back before RMA.
     
  48. Ultima123

    Ultima123 Newbie

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  49. hfm

    hfm Notebook Prophet

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  50. aaronjb

    aaronjb Notebook Consultant

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    After some thought, as much as I like the build quality of the Blade, I'm going to go with the Aorus X3 Plus v3. Between the 6GB of video memory, miniDP and better upgradeability, it's the best option for me.
     
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