Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Started a new thread for the Razer Blade Gaming Laptop. Will begin filling it with more photos and hopefully video links. Purpose of the thread is to answer constructive questions and provide feedback from owners of the notebook.
-
-
As requested, I moved the drivers list over here. Hope this benefits those who bought a Blade
With that, here goes...
Please don't quote everything. It will make the thread extremely convoluted. Please only quote a portion of the listing which you have problems or questions with.
===AHCI===
Intel RST v11.0.0.1032 - Checked 15/12/2011
===Audio===
Realtek HD Audio R2.67 Build 6526 - Updated 9/12/2011
===Bluetooth===
Intel PROSet/Wireless Bluetooth Software v1.2.0.0 - Updated 18/10/2011
===Intel Chipset Driver===
Intel Chipset Driver v9.3.0.1020 - Updated 26/1/2012
===LAN===
Realtek PCIe GBE Controller v7.50.0116.2012 - Updated 20/1/2012
===VGA===
[Note] Install the Intel driver, then the Nvidia driver in order to avoid driver conflicts.
Intel HD Graphics v8.15.10.2622 - Updated 21/1/2012
Nvidia Geforce Verde Driver Release 295.73 - Updated 21/12/2012
Nvidia PhysX System Software v9.12.0213 (newer than PhysX package in Verde 295.73) - Updated 21/02/2012
===WLAN===
Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers v15.0.0.75 - Updated 19/1/2012
===USB3===
Renesas Electronics USB3 v2.1.28.1 - Updated 30/12/2011
The drivers above are all newer than the ones on Razer's website. The drivers have mostly been tested to work fine by myself on my system with the exception of USB3 and LAN. Also, I have no idea what touchpad the Blade uses (probably proprietary) so there's no driver for it as of now. Hope the new Blade owners will like this and congrats to them too
-
3DMark Vantage with Overclocking
![[IMG]](images/storyImages/vantageoc.png)
-
INTRODUCTION
The following is an incomplete review of the Razer Blade Gaming Laptop. The review will be completed after further analysis of gaming, studying battery life, etc. Photos will be added along the way, and perhaps a video clip or two. 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. Most laptops I’ve bought over the last 5 years or so have been put on sale prior to their warranties running out. Cutting edge tends to matter to me. Most recently I’ve had in my possession an Alienware M18x (weighing over 16 lbs with PSU included) and on the opposite end of the spectrum, a Macbook Air 11 (under 3lbs). There are things I love about each of these laptops.
I love the M18x for its looks: its aluminum construction (with the exception of the bottom), its glowing keys/lights, its large 1920x1080 display, and certainly its processing/gaming power. I could run nearly every game at ultra or high settings without a hitch. The M18x is a great laptop, but I had to be honest, it’s really a massive desktop replacement. Even with the Orion backpack, I rarely took it anywhere with me, as it was so cumbersome, so heavy. I also never took it anywhere without the PSU brick. I’m a pastor, and occasionally use my personal computers for church purposes, including multi-media presentations, movies, game night with the youth, etc. Not once did I ever bring the M18X with me to work. My other strike against the M18x was the AMD 6970m cards that I had, which were not very well supported by Dell. That may have changed as of late, but I was getting so frustrated with AMD I wanted my next laptop to use an NVDIA GPU. When I saw Min-Liang Tan, Ceo of Razer, and his interview about the Blade, I was drawn in my his initial comment, “Gaming laptops do not exist today.” I watched him make that remark from my M18X display, but before he continued on I knew what he was talking about… The M18x was a glorified desktop sitting on my workbench. A great computer, but I have honestly owned mini-desktops that weigh less than the M18x. Again, I love the M18x, even Min-Liang was complimentary of the notebook, calling it a “Great laptop,” but its size and weight really limited its practical usefulness for me.
The size of the M18x is really what compelled me to go to the other end of the spectrum and buy a Macbook Air 11 (2011 edition). I love the Macbook Air, don’t really want to sell it, but it needs to go to pay some bills. I bought the Macbook Air for three primary reasons: portability, durability and aesthetics (aluminum unibody), and versatility. Unlike the M18x, I brought my Macbook Air to work frequently, and have been able to use it for wireless powerpoint with our network projectors. My three main strikes against the Macbook Air 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 Apple 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: I am a typical red-blooded American male, meaning I can be very superficial. Outward appearance matters to me. I told my wife while I love her for all her internal characteristics, i.e. personality, sense of humor, caring nature, I never would have asked her out if I didn’t think she was gorgeous. As with both the M18x and Macbook Air 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. I owned an M17x 3D last year, another great laptop. 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 Skyrim, Mass Effect 2, maybe even Battlefield 3. I did my research on the 555m prior to purchasing this notebook, saw this it was an upper-middle tier card (notebookcheck) and put up good numbers, somewhere near the ball park of the M14x.
#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.
UNBOXING
So, bearing all of those factors in mind, on with my review. Let’s start with the unboxing. I was a little anxious about how Razer would ship this laptop. Again, this is an expensive beast, I wanted it to be protected. Also, given the sticker price, I was sort of expecting them not to be too stingy with the packaging. I was not disappointed. The laptop arrived inside a box within a box within a box (free overnight postage btw) A non-descript cardboard box, followed by a cardboard box with a large black Razer Logo with the motto: “For Gamers, By Gamers” on it, sealed with a foil sticker and black sticker. After slicing through the seal, I was very pleased to find a black textured box with neon green interior. The boxing, I have to say, is actually nicer than what Apple does. Inside the box, not a whole lot there: the laptop right on top, covered in protective film, the super thin power supply (love it), a black square folder. Inside the folder is a small manual with very limited information, a cleaning cloth, a couple of Razer stickers I guess to help promote the brand (ala Apple) and two adhesive transparent films, to be used with the Switchblade touchpanel. My only gripe about the boxing is the Orochi mouse was packed away in the corner of the outermost box, hidden under some paper. It did not come with a carrying pouch, as my other Orochi mouse included one. On the subject of carrying pouches, really wish Razer had included maybe a microfiber or some other cloth sleeve for the Blade as well. Would also like them to consider selling Razer Blade cases.
EXTERIOR
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 mddle 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.
The bottom has a giant plate covering the entire base of the unit. Again, its all solid black with only a few words inscribed on it: FCC, Model #, Serial #, blah blah blah. Its written very small so not to detract from the laptop. There is a Windows 7 license sticker on the bottom as well, about 1.5”x.5” in size, in the front right corner. The sticker annoys me. When I owned an HP Envy 15, HP managed to hide the Windows sticker by placing it under the removable battery. I think for licensing issues the sticker had to be included, but I’m tempted to remove it and clean the spot with some alcohol (maybe later). On the bottom are also two fan ports, in the back left and right, about 1.5”x2” in size. They have a chrome-like trim around the vents, which is pretty classy, given this is the bottom of the notebook and most people will never even look there.
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. On the left side I find plenty of ports, 2 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0. If you ever noticed virtually all USB 3.0 ports are blue. 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. A bright blue port would have stuck out like a sore thumb; heck, I would have been tempted to paint it green myself! Right after the USB 3.0 port comes the HDMI-out (really do miss not having HDMI-in, kudos to the first company that can make an HDMI port that can double as input and output), followed by the Ethernet port, and the power input. The fan on the left side blows slowly 90% of the time, except in gaming or video mode, but I have to say at this point even though the fan is not putting out much heat, its quite audible. Sorry I don’t have a way of measuring decibel levels, but when I do video recordings you can clearly hear the fan blowing, especially up close. I would compare the fan noise to that of my Macbook Air 11 fan noise when the processor is being taxed a good bit. Actually makes me wonder if I got a semi-defective fan, seeing as how this is a first-wave notebook. I can get the fan to run less often by downclocking the card. Please note: the sound is by no means a deal breaker for me, I’ve had much louder laptops (Envy 15), but my ears rather enjoyed the mouse-fart quiet M18X. Another quick note on the fans: the air blow out diagonally, like at a 45 degree angle, which is a well-thought out engineering feat.
Front and back. The front is just solid aluminum with an indention in the middle for easier opening of the lid. To the far left sits a small circle that only lights up when the lid is closed, indicating if it is charging or still running while unplugged. The back has a long glossy black strip, similar to the Macbook Pro line. Guessing they do this so the antennas will work better, but I won’t know until I open the bottom up (not likely to happen for a long, long time). Don’t really care for the glossy black plastic, wishing they could have gone with a matte black plastic somehow, as they did with the limited edition mouse it came with. Just nit-picking at this point, however.
Opening the lid. The display seems huge to me for some reason. I’ve owed plenty of 17-inchers, even my recent 18” notebook, but this seems bigger somehow, have no idea why. The display is matte, not glossy, which I greatly appreciate. I’ve spent money replacing laptop displays with aftermarket matte finishes before. Glossy reflects too much for my tastes, and is a fingerprint magnet. The display bezel is solid aluminum, and is very wide (about 1”. The keyboard seems small, given the dimensions of the laptop. Above the keyboard is a good 2.5” of space to the screen. Right above it sits a massive power button, adorned with the Razer logo. The keyboard is recessed slightly, which is great because I hate when laptops leave keyboard marks on the screen when opening them up (Alienware). This is a chicklet keyboard layout, and the keys are black plastic. They are nice and snappy, don’t feel cheap by any means, and there is no keyboard flex at all. They keys all light up (save the space bar) a wonderful neon green. My only complaint with the keyboard is the arrow keys: the top and bottom seem a little too small. The palm rest is 3” or more long, and again all of this is aluminum, not cheap plastic or rubber. The edges are not overly sharp to the point of hurting my wrists, which I appreciate.
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 intitial 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. I put a screen protector on the touchpad as soon as I discovered them. Razer sent me an email 3 days after my purchase reminding me I had screen protectors, and also offer a tutorial on how to install one. Its not rocket science, anyone with a touch screen phone can do this, these screen protectors apply much easier than most, with no air bubbles in my case.
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), and is maybe 2x6.” It weights about as much as my Macbook Air PSU. Wish I still had my M18X PSU to give you a size and weight comparison, I did put it next to my Macbook charger for a side-by-side. I think other PC companies should take notice to what Razer did with this power supply unit. Simply wonderful.
To sum up my impressions of the exterior: gorgeous. Really, really nice. I don’t find it tacky or overly ostentatious. The laptop exudes style in every way, from every angle. 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 a microfiber cloth. -
Great stuff, johnnobts. Hopefully this review will expand, +rep
What driver are you using for your GT 555M? That's a good Vantage score, what clocks are you using? Some things I'd love to see in the review: I'm very interested to see GPU and CPU temps under benchmarks especially overclocked. Did you do a fresh Windows install or kept Razer's? Could you run battery life tests in the future? And of course the type of lcd panel mentioned before.
Thanks for all the trouble of doing this for the community btw. -
-
-
Thanks for all of your impressions and review so far John. I'm glad that you weren't put off by the haters in the other thread... you've become a very popular guy now
Looking forward to hearing more of your impressions on the Blade as you use it more. It seems the Switchblade has become a much cooler feature than I had imagined. -
Yeah ill take matte any day of the week over glossy.
Great work John and i have certainly enjoyed learning more about the Blade from a real owner.
I watched the IGN unboxing video and that thing really is slick.
-
-
-
-
Razer Blade Owner's Lounge
Discussion in 'Razer' started by johnnobts, Feb 3, 2012.
