Want opinion on razerblade 15

Just noticed razerblade got a new keyboard which was my biggest gripe due to the shallow travel. Currently have an Alienware m15 r1 with 1070 Max q and I'm looking to upgrade possibly to this razerblade with 2070 Max q. Anyone have any reasons why I should buy the razerblade over the mag 15 or another Alienware m15?

I'm a big fan of all the ports on the back BUT I hate the hot air exhaust on the sides... Mouse hand gets toasty and the razerblade has the power connector on the left side towards the back which would be less intrusive than msi on the middle right side. Plus I really like the chroma integration and the decent battery size.



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It will be shocking to me if they feel *better* than they currently do. Key travel, i feel, is the largest problem with this keyboard, and I just don't see that improving due to physical space limitations.

 

I think it still feels "better" than the alienware m15 r1 keyboard. The keyboard feels like something you'd find on a cheep-o ultrabook. The keyboard on the alienware m15 r2 is AMAZING and it's not even mechanical BUT that machine comes with soldered RAM and wifi card and that's a big no no for me.

 

Mechanical doesnt make it automatically better, the Mag15 keyboard is liked by some, hated by others. It is the same keyboard as on the Tongfang chassis of which many barebones systems including the Bestbuy systems where based. Personally I do not dislike the Razer Blade 15 keyboard. THe keytravel is shallow but it still is snappy and has a satisfying bu,p to it. The ALienware 15R3 felt better though but that laptop is twice as thick. No contest. But in general it is the travel+ dampenign that defines the keyboard feel. Also the spacing between the keys and the wobbleness of the keycaps. I dont think Razer can improve in those fields because they have to work within the same chassis and component thickness. It is just the mechanism itself that changes. It might only make the keys feel different in terms of tactile feedback. But that part isnt really the problem for many already, it is the very shallow travel that people are divided on.

 

The issue with the Mag15 is, to save money, they created one whole rectangle cut-out for the keyboard (something the new Blade 15 doesn't do) due to it being more expensive and prohibitive to cut individual keys on magnesium.

It is not the optical switches but actually the fact that there is a single cut out which makes the experience mixed on the Mag15 as their is less key stability (somewhat) and pressing one key you sometimes ending up pressing another due to this design layout (and key buckling).

The Razer version should feel 10x better in theory.

 

Thats jsut an assumption that Dave2D made. But they probably did it to keep the space between keys small. Alienwares did this for a looooong time as well and still do it on their Area51 laptops. It changes the feel and a lot of gamers prefer it. Chiclets keys are way more spaced out.

 

Not only D2D, an XMG senior employee believes this is likely to be a cost cutting measure due to how magnesium is to work on compared to aluminum (Fusion 15 is EU Mag-15 equivalent) but he was hoping it could also be for more cooling (I doubt it very much, otherwise everyone would be doing it, but they don't due to the detriment of typing experience).

Anyway, in the end, point was, the new Blade 15 should feel better than the Mag 15.

 

I highly doubt it will feel better, because of the shallow travel distance and the larger spacing between the buttons.

It can save costs yes, But that could be paid for by us customers. But more usually when they cut costs on keyboard decks, The just use a plastic cutout to cover the gaps like Clevo often did. That is why I think this is more of a case where they followed Alienware's direction of having a more gamer centric keyboard with less spacing between keys.

 

The cost of individually cutting keys for magnesium is not trivial.

 

You dont understand my post i think. When they go for cost cutting they just cut out a square but still fill out the gaps between the keys with plastic as they would magnesium but using this as a cost effective solution. Based on the design, key switches etc it seems to have been a choice in terms of feel and not cost cutting. They placed the switches closer together as well. The XMG sales person just as might quote Dave2D as well based on speculations without putting much thought in it.

and again, based on the key dimension, space between the keys etc they seem to have gone for the same style and feel as the Alienware non-chiclet type keyboards which are well liked by a lot of gamers out there. It would be nearly impossible to cut out those individual keys because the space between the keys is just about a milimeter while 2 to 2.5mm is common for chiclet style keyboards.