New Razer Blade Pro Owner's Lounge (17")

It turns out the device ID of the 765M on the Blade Pro is not in the drivers .inf files. Somewhere in the other big thread someone posted a modified .inf to include the device ID of the Pro. And even then, you have to restart Win 8 in... I don't remember the exact name, but it's mode which allows the installation of unsigned drivers.

I used them for a while, everything worked fine and performance did go up a bit. The 326.19, though Beta, installs fine. You just have to select a Custom installation and remove the 3D Vision modules of the driver. I haven't actually run benchmarks to see how it compares to the 320.49's or even the original 311's, but it's all working as expected.

I'd try the new ones, but currently I'm coding an application I have to turn-in by Saturday, so I don't wanna risk anything for the moment.

 

I'm unsure if I should start a new thread for this, but id figure id start here other then clutter up the main page.

This is to those who own the first and second revisions of the Razer Blade (Pro now) and have or plan to open them up. I am trying to find a connector for the R3 Razer Blade Pro to connect a 2.5" drive as there is still space for one even with the upgraded battery. I am simply asking for a picture of the SATA connector the next time you open your Razer Blade R1 R2 or Pro. Mainly the connector that plugs into the motherboard along with the one on the motherboard. I am searching threw old laptops of mine looking for one that are comparable to the ones in the photos, but I cannot see the mother board connector. This would be great and help me out a lot. Don't feel inclined to open your laptop if you don't already plan to.

 

I did a double-take at this, even when I got my shipping notice.

It's Ontario, California, not Canada.

 

Oh I actually Google'd Ontario and saw the word Canada come up, so I thought it was there. Lol.

My bad!

 

So does that mean Even though I got 2-3 day shipping it may take longer then that to get here because of customs at the border?

 

I've seen some "horror" stories about the shipping/fulfillment times with the 14" RB...are they just as bad on the RBP side of things?

I'm really not interested in getting a 14" laptop so I'll be ordering a 17" within the next few days (either 256 or 512) with the student discount. I know the 256 is far and wide the most popular version but I assume the SSD is probably the last thing they put into the laptop so their inventory of the different memory levels likely fluctuates based on the current demand.

Any help would be super. Coming from a MASSIVE Alienware m15x that I purchased around 4 years ago this Razer Blade pro is going to seem like a Macbook Air to me lol.

 

GamerFenatic and I both ordered the Blade Pro 256 on the 8th and ours have yet to ship. The estimate for it to be shipped was 2-3 weeks but they extended it by an extra week. I've tried contacting Razer and have received very poor service in attempt to get an accurate date instead of these bull "estimates".

 

For those of you looking to get a cooling pad with the Pro, I currently have the U3 CoolerMaster one. Here are some photos showing how it's looking.







I was concerned that a cooling pad would ruin the impact of the Blade, but so far it's been better. The only thing I'm looking towards doing is actually cleaning up that cluster of wires from the left-side of the Blade, since all the USB ports are there. I'm looking for a USB hub I have lying around to try and consolidate all the non-essential USB connections I have there (cooling pad and mouse for now).

I think it's been doing a good job keeping my Blade cool as well, even after a couple of hours of GW2 on Gaming Mode from Razer Game Booster, the supposedly 'hottest' areas to the left and right of the power button were far from very warm and I could keep touching it. A cold ambient temperature surely helped though.

 

Just got an email back from Razer and was given no help at all... They told me the Blade Pro is currently out of stock and to order the laptop now and I'll receive it when they get more in. I specifically said in my email to them that I already ordered the 256 gig Blade Pro and was delayed my shipment a week already... Razer Phone Support says they can't help me, and Razer's email support just isn't working... I don't know what to do now... :I

 

I just ordered mine last night so I don't really know how you feel yet but what exactly do you expect anyone, especially customer service reps, to do? They likely have absolutely no direct communication with the manufacturing at Razer and they likely receive bi-weekly or weekly updates as far as production numbers are concerned, likely with instructions not to release those numbers. Hell, they probably aren't even located in the same state. To put it more directly, there is a very good chance they know as much as you and I when it comes to when exactly you'll be getting your laptop.

So, my question is, what exactly do you expect them to do for you? They aren't going to give you a discount and they don't want to lie to you about the delivery times again so from a customer service perspective there is essentially nothing they can realistically do to make things right. You're paying just as much as the next guy so it's not like they'll put you in front of the line because everyone who ordered one is waiting just as long if not longer for the thing they ordered. Plus, I'd rather wait an extra few days for them to quality test any laptops they produce as opposed to trying to shove them out the door as quickly as possible. If you were to get a defective unit because of it you would still have to wait another week at least to use it so might as well do it the right way first.

Not trying to be a but I had to work in CS for a few months and most people don't understand that CS reps know exactly what they are told and that's usually not a lot.

 

My best advice would be to send as simple an email as possible. From experience, CS representatives seem to be more receptive and responsive to succinct emails (probably cause they appreciate it).

I would list:

Order #
Order Date
What you ordered
How long you've been waiting
Back-order length

And then tell them explicitly that you'd want an update. Add in a "=)" for good measure. They are people after all and would probably appreciate a little humour in the middle of their day dealing with agitated customers

 

[original post has been EDITED to remove inaccurate information. It originally contained a question about the dual SSD configuration on the 512GB Razer Blade Pro, but I've realized I was misinformed and the 512GB RBP comes with a single msata 512GB Samsung PM841 (thanks to proteus77 for confirming this).]


BTW, I've had the chance to compare 3 different R2 17" screens (manufacture dates between Jan and Mar 2013).....IMO the Razer screens are pretty lousy. They aren't anywhere close to the 15.6" Vaio S that I own.
You lose a lot of brightness from the matte coating, but much more problematically, the color temperature of the R2 17" screen changes very dramatically with viewing angle (especially vertically). As you move from high to low viewing perspective, the temperature changes from cool (bluish) to warm (reddish). Also, all 3 R2's were shipped with very blue-skewed color balance. This is pretty common with consumer displays and it's kind of a cheap trick manufacturers play to make the screens appear brighter.
This means when you color-calibrate the screen and tune down the blue, you will lose some overall brightness.

All of this, to me, makes the Razer unsuitable for any kind of color-sensitive work with photography or web design. It's still my primary work computer cos I don't do a too much color work, but if you do photography or design you will definitely need a secondary display to check your work.

 

The reason why I'm frusterated is because I called their shipping/return phone line and was told that only customer service can help me with getting an accurate date on shipment. Then the customer service team doesn't even help. I don't expect them to treat me any different on my order compared to anyone else but would hope they would try to help me as well as others on getting a date of shipment instead of just estimated weeks. I'm not expecting a discount or anything. I'm just tired of waiting in the dark hoping the laptop ships and want and want someone to actually contact who's in charge of all this to get me and others waiting for this laptop answers.

 

Dual SSDs? Nope. The Razer Blade pro has ONE msata. Mine has a Samsung PM841 512gb. There is also an empty space where a 7mm ssd COULD go, if anyone found a way to cable it.

The screen, while not IPS, is very nice, with good viewing angles. I never need to readjust. Some adjustment using Win 8 monitor calibration, and the nvidia tools is advisable.

 

Thanks proteus77! I had a mistaken impression based on earlier and, in hindsight, more speculative posts dating from around the announcement date of the RBP.
In an effort to avoid spreading misinformation I've gone back and annotated the question in my original post.

It looks like Razer has some supplier diversification on its panels, so maybe they are phasing in better panels on the pro and you have one that's better than the ones on the Jan-Mar R2 builds I've worked with.

 

I'm looking into getting a cooling pad for my recently purchased Blade Pro. I've heard that you don't really need a cooling pad, but I want to keep my blade in as good of condition as I can, for as long as I can. Since I haven't gotten mine in yet (waiting on shipping like others), i'm not sure what the spacing is between the vents and what pads it will fit on. Would you (or anyone else) recommend this pad over say the Coolermaster Notepal X3 or Thermaltake Massive 23 lx if those will work? The thing is since I've never owned a cooling pad, I don't know if I would prefer it to have the sloped design or the option to lay it flat like the Notepal X3. Any other suggestions not listed would also be appreciated.

 

I personally like the elevated position since it gives me an easier (better) viewing angle and allows for better posture when I'm on the Pro. The only other cooling pad I've used was actually a Logitech one but was more for lap usage than surface usage, I've been happy with the U3 with my past m17 and current Pro.

It's not perfect either, I wish it had better things, but it gets the job done

 

Good to know . Do you have any data points of how well it cools on your Pro comparatively to it without the pad so I can get a rough idea what I can expect if I go ahead and purchase this model?
Like I said though, I am using it mainly for hopefully improving the longevity of the device, so I may not necessarily need a performance model since the thermals are decent as is.

It would also be helpful if anyone could give me a measurement of the distance apart the vents on the Pro are from the outside, so I can narrow down my usable options. It sounds like, for example on the Coolermaster Notepal X3, that 17.3 inch laptops will overhang and if the vents will be in that area, then that won't do me any good.

 

I don't actually, since, like you said, the thermals are already quite good. I'm really just using it since I have nothing to lose from doing so =P

From what I've read/experienced, the fan strength of the U3 isn't that great. I do like being able to customize where you want the fans though. If I remember correctly, there was a photo of the vent distances on one of the Blades in the other thread, I think that was a RB 14 though...

For what it's worth, the Pro + U3 vents can be aligned well

My ambient temperature is also quite low, seeing as it's winter here (Sydney) and my window is right next to me.

 

Thanks, I think i'm going to hold off for now on a pad and wait and see if I need one later. Looking around, it looks like you aren't getting that significant of a temperature drop with most models anyways. Plus, I could use that extra money to get a better mouse or other peripherals .

 

Agree, I had this cooling pad before I even had my Pro, so I might as well use it =P Given the choice, I wouldn't have bothered getting one.

I could see it now, Razer cooling pad, Razer external monitor, and so on...

 

Well today makes the 4th week since I ordered my Pro 256 gig. Any luck for anyone else? :/

 

I got my last notification email at nearly midnight a week ago, I'd expect the email notifying its been delayed another week will show up around the same time.

 

What do folks think of the newly announced MSI GS70?
MSI unveils lightweight GS70 gaming laptop, hopes to take Razer's crown

Competition is good for Razer. The hybrid SSD-FDD storage on the MSI is a non-starter for me and I think the Blade looks better, but the MSI is a half pound lighter and the steelseries keyboard may be higher quality than the Razer's.

 

When I first read through the product page, I was really really impressed as well. A pound lighter, with similar, if not, better, specs, and cheaper? It seemed like a better deal.

I'm hoping that the build quality is as good as Razer's. I'm loving the aluminum body on my Pro, as well as its minimalist style. Indeed, competition is good. I just hope it's effective competition, and not one that actually proves the superiority of the Blades so much more. Lol.

 

PSA: Do not install windows 8.1 preview. It will screw everything up and cause you lots of boot errors and misery.

Also, do not install the latest Nvidia 700m series beta drivers. They will also cause you boot errors and misery!

 

To install the new beta drivers, you have to do a Custom Install and deselect the 3D Vision components. After that, it's all good.

 

Would you say it's worth it? I mean, is there a noticeable boost in performance?

 

So?!! GamerFanatic and caeg, are you guys still waiting for your pros to ship? I ordered mine around August 4th with a 1-2 weeks backorder but I am getting worried now especially that I will be moving to a new place around August 31st. Do I cancel and get MSI GS70 from newegg or stick with this order

Thanks

 

Mine arrived last week. I waited just over 4 weeks for it. From what I've heard about the MSI GS70 is bad battery life compared to the Razer Blade Pro.

 

Same here, not just bad. I mean very bad. Apparently 90 minutes for even non-gaming? I don't know if that's right. Defeats the purpose of having a portable gaming laptop when it needs to be plugged in constantly anyway =/

 

As far as performance, I do not notice any actual diference.

What I do notice is that I am not getting audio when using the HDMI... the nVidia HDMI Audio does not appear in audio devices. Hum... ponderer and ponderer.

 

Just to let you all know, I fixed the HDMI audio problem. I did uninstall the nVidia drivers and installed the most current betas (326.41 Beta). It's all working okay now.

Oh, I did a custom installation, checked the box for a clean install and disabled the 3D Vision part of the drivers.

Cheeri-o!

 

Thanks for this, will look into getting those beta drivers as well. No other problems from it so far?

 

Be careful with the beta drivers. I tried that a few days ago -- custom install without 3-D Vision drivers -- and it led to a looping blue screen of death. I had to restore everything to factory default to fix it. Happily, I had recently backed up my files.

I don't think the new drivers are worth the risk until they show up as approved for the Blade Pro.

 

Well, one of my Blade Pro's USB ports wasn't working, fans wouldn't always work, and sometimes wouldn't charge. Had to send it back and now have to wait for more shipments in so they can replace my laptop.

 

I asked Razer support if it was possible to put an additional 2.5 inch hard drive in the blade pro, and they told me there was space for it, but the sata cable is missing. Do you guys think it would be difficult to get this cable and install the hard drive in myself?

 

FYI supply conditions appear to have eased for the 512GB Pro. I think demand for the Pro really caught them off guard and they have figured out their supply chain problems.
My Pro arrived 2 weeks from the date I ordered it.
.
So far it's been a hell of a lot more stable than the R2 which I had all kinds of problems with (mainly related to the unreliable Dataplex cache system).

The switchblade software is still a bit flaky...it hangs every now and then when the system is busy. I had this problem on the R2 also...I think Razer still needs to work on the asynchronous service architecture for their drivers.
Hopefully future driver releases will fix that.

 

Does anyone else have any issues with the Switchblade special keys not returning after reboots or sleeping? Mine does it all the time after a reboot the keys aren't lighting up. When I press the 3 snake key the touchpad shows a message that I need to log in for full switchblade functionality, but I'm staring at the Switchblade app, I'm logged in and when I press "APPS" from the menu in the Switchblade UI app my keys instantly appear. I have tried updating and re-installing several times it does not seem to help.

 

Whenever I install any Nvidia driver for the 765m I get a blue screen. I have tried 326.19, 326.41 and 326.80.

I was running 326.19 and I installed 326.80 and the system blue screened and I was forced to recover the OS.

Since then the system will blue screen when I try any of those drivers. I have tried not installing 3dVision but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

Anyone else have this or know of a work around?

 

Well... that's the way I tried it and it worked okay. Indeed, before I took out the 3DVision it did gave me the BSoD, but afterwards everything has been running fine - haven't tried the 326.80, though.

 

Just got my replacement Blade Pro because the old one had faulty cooling and a broken USB port. Andddd.... The new one has a dead pixel on the SBUI.

 

So I contacted Razer, the same time I posted this. For the record, I have contacted them twice and both responses were fast and helpful.

I was advised the standard don't use beta drivers bit, but then they said the blue screen will happen if I don't do a clean install. Went through the installation, into advanced, and checked clean install and it worked flawlessly.

Cheers!

Nacho

 

Good to hear!

Just to reconfirm, which driver is this? I've been trying to install 320.49 but still always getting that incompatible hardware issue

 

326.80 (with clean install and without 3d) works great, BUT, still doesn't fix the Civ V crashes. Civ v is still broken.

 

Using the same driver now. Beta, right? So far so good though, but I'm also getting issues with FFXIV: ARR. Maybe because the card is fairly new? =/

 

Anyone using a laptop cooler for this device? I have an old Targus that I would like to replace with something more efficient and a touch better.

-Nacho

 

Using a Coolermaster U3 and I really like it.

Fits well, matches the overall style/look and gets the job done.

 

Thought I'd toss my experience into the mix. Less than 24 hours after receiving my shiny new Blade pro, it's in a box for RMA. Crashes under gaming with DPC Watchdog violation and Video TDR Failure BSOD's. Talked to Razer twice, first time they walked me through installing the 326.80 beta drivers, but unfortunately didn't help. 2nd call I was told to send it back. As far as temps, highest I saw was around 81-82c under gaming [warm room] 78c colder room, and 76c max on the GPU using Hwmonitor. Had the issue with the "log into synapse" switchblade ui, was recommended that I re-download synapse and do a "repair" with it. It randomly sorted itself out before I could attempt this, however.

I have to tell ya though, I'm REALLY disheartened. I know defects happen, and I can see how something like this could easily be missed in the quality check process, but I became extremely addicted to the Blade pro in an insanely short amount of time.

Also, regarding adding a 2nd HDD, the question is not about the cable so much as the port on the notebook. . . does it exist? I know sometimes they'll just not solder the connector port on the motherboard. If someone can get me pics I can do some digging and see if I can find a workable solution for it. I have plenty of time and not much to do for the next few weeks.

Also, regarding heat transfer. I love that the aluminum chassis helps transfer heat from the components. . but I was shocked at how warm the palm rests got. Not uncomfortably hot, but noticeably warm. I figure this is probably typical, but I thought I'd see if I can get others' reactions about it.

 

I don't think the blade was intended for INTENSE gaming sessions like 8 to 10 straight hour marathon every day gaming sessions. I believe it is a gaming laptop but probably for a 2 hour gaming sessions I do believe that it will have overheating issues down the line. I think it was made for short gaming sessions like 2 to 3 hours max and the rest of the day for normal everyday task, like office apps, heavy web browsing, and watching movies.