Razer Blade Pro 17 Inch Gaming Laptop 256GB - Windows 8.1 Review
The Razer Blade Pro: 17" HD Screen, Intel Quad Core i7, nVIDIA GTX 765M; comes with built-in professional-grade SBUI applications for creative professionals
Price : $2,499.00
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Razer Blade Pro 17 Inch Gaming Laptop 256GB - Windows 8.1 Feature
- Intel Core i7-4700HQ 2.4 GHz
- 8 GB DDR3
- 1 GB Solid-State Drive
- 17.3-Inch Screen
- Windows 8.1
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Costumer review
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
A Very Solid, Niche Product
By Joonbeams
UPDATE (10/15/2013) - I've decided to keep this. I tried the GS70 (128 gb SSD model) over the weekend from a local store and have to say that in almost every way other than price, the RBP is a better machine: display, battery, heat, noise, build. And though I'm not in love with the Switchblade, it's better than the touchpad on the GS70 which is less responsive and has no R/L dedicated buttons. Not much more to say there, just my personal preference and others may disagree.
A few additional follow up points. On the "heat" issue, I think that's markedly improved with use. Can't really explain why, but this can be set on your bare skin during gaming use if you really wanted to. The battery is a real pleasure. It's so good that I don't always notice that it's not plugged in. It's not 8 hours, but it's phenomenal for a machine of this caliber.
The Switchblade remains gimped, frequently resetting itself, not allowing tapping to be disabled, dedicated buttons becoming non-responsive, etc. So if you use this, you just need to account for the fact that you will need to occasionally need to press the "razer" button to "refresh" the switchblade, but then you have to alt-tab out of whatever you're doing, open up the synaptics settings, disable tapping, and go back to what you were doing. You will do that several times a day. That's aggravating but doesn't kill the overall experience. I really do like the Switchblade touchpad, now that I've fully customized it and I find that it's great to use when it works.
BOTTOM LINE remains that this is a truly portable gaming notebook that is made of solid hardware but with some troubling, but not deal-breaking software issues. If you can deal with the lack of solid support, and if you understanding EXACTLY what you're buying, you will get what was promised.
UPDATE (10/7/2013) - with no help from Razer, I spent hours over the weekend troubleshooting the issue. What I've come away with this that most of the issues with this machine are related to the switchblade software, rather than hardware, and specifically the interaction with the Synaptics software drivers (the stock touchpad drivers on most PC notebooks which I assume is licensed by MS) and also with Win 8 drivers. From my basic understanding, the Switchblade is actively trying to override the baked-in functionality of the Synaptics/Win8 software. This is what causes the conflicts. What I ended up doing was connecting an external mouse, then I uninstalled the Razer Synapse software first, then rebooted. Then I uninstalled the synaptics drivers completely, and rebooted again. I then reinstalled the Razer Synapse update (which necessarily installed the Synaptics software) and voila, touchpad was again operational and smooth. I should note that by using an external mouse, the system did not appear to automatically reinstall the synaptics software after reboot, which was happening earlier. In any event, this seemed to do the trick for me. I have till Oct. 20 to return, so I'll keep you updated. I've upped the rating back to 3 stars now - one dock for price (from original review) and another for customer support, which is utterly useless. Still like the machine and have a lot invested in it (financially and software-wise) so I'm rooting for this thing. I'm more reassured that it's well-built, and that software (usually fixable) issues are the only hiccups. Sorry for vacillating, but I figure those who are planning to shell out the money for this would like a real user perspective - good and bad.
UPDATE (10/4/2013) - the honeymoon was short-lived. Last night I was prompted to download and install an update to the Razer Synapse 2.0 software. For those who don't know, this software is required in order to operate your touchpad/switchblade. Well, since the "update" my touchpad is bricked. Buttons work, including L/R mouse buttons, but the touchpad no longer works - the cursor is frozen. I tried fruitlessly to find answers from documentation/support - zilch. So I contacted Razer support and got useless responses (I will say that helpless answers came quickly). The first was to uninstall and the reinstall the updated software (i.e. the one that bricked my machine). I tried that and the problem persists. I contacted Razer again, asking if there is a driver rollback, keyboard shortcut (I may have accidentally pressed), etc. I got a canned response of I need to do a system restore. Well, I've spent dozens of hours downloading and installing games and programs and customizing various things - I'm not doing a system restore for a simple issue like this and throwing all that work down the drain! I told this to Razer and said I'd be returning this (2 week old machine) and their response was "Not a problem. Glad we could be of assistance." LOL. I spent $2500 and that's the response and service I get?! I'm flabbergasted. Um, no thanks. This puppy goes back and I won't be getting another. Will try the MSI GS70 instead. This Switchblade feature, a key selling point, really proves more cumbersome than it's worth (see my original review about the tapping, etc.). My advice, given the total lack of support for this machine is to stay away until Razer resolves these issues. Dropped rating to 1 star for both questionable workmanship and horrendous support.
Original review below:
Long review...
Let me start by saying that no-one 'needs' this machine. It's ridiculously expensive, has 'high-mid' (by gaming standards) specs, and it's distinguishing feature - the switchblade UI - is a currently a mixed bag. So the only reason you're even here considering this (and reading this review) is that you are likely a gamer (or suffer from IGL - "incurable gadget lust"), with some spare change, who craves the "Holy Grail" - the 'beast' portable laptop that can run all the latest games on highest specs, with solid battery life, and with maximum portability. That machine doesn't exist, but this is darn close. It delivers the latest CPU, and mid-high graphics card (again, by gaming standards), decent battery life (2-3 hrs depending on use) with no meaningful throttling on battery (that I've noticed), and it's pretty portable for a 17" machine of these specs.
The only other thing on the market that competes in this small niche is the MSI GS70 - another great machine. In the end, between the two it comes down to priorities. I chose to pay extra for the switchblade which is the main (meaningful) distinguishing feature other than price - the GS70 is about 20% cheaper and has more RAM (largely fluff IMHO), more ports, slightly lighter, and an included spinning storage drive (again, not needed IMHO). They share the same processor, GPU, and resolution, etc. So, once you've accepted the absurd price for these machines, the question is, does the switchblade justify the 20% higher price? In short, I'd say yes - but that's given the market these machines cater to. Face it, these machines are luxury products, tailored toward gamers who are always looking for a distinguishing edge. There is really nothing else like the switchblade UI on the market, and once you spend some time tinkering with it and tweaking it, it becomes a pretty cool accessory. However, it takes some time to get used to the placement of the interface, to not having a tactile number pad, and to customizing the buttons/display. But the Razer Blade Pro is not without negatives.
Cons:
1) Price. Simply no argument, this is overpriced by modern standards.
2) No dedicated number pad. Remember I said this was tailored toward gamers? Well gamers tend to use the numpad. So it's omission is a "negative," but one you know about coming in. The switchblade is not really a "replacement." It's a totally different tool that offers many things a numpad doesn't, and even some rudimentary (and clunky) digital numpad options, but in the end, just ain't a numpad.
3) Left and right mouse buttons (an overall plus compared to a single, mac-like touchpad) are flimsy feeling and hard to locate. They're the only part of the machine that feels cheap.
4) "Tapping" - yes, this annoying "feature" that has persisted for 10 years or so is here and it cannot be turned off. Nope, if you turn it off in the settings, it will re-emerge. I've confirmed this with support and, believe it or not, this may be the reason I return this machine. You simply cannot be productive on a multi-touch interface when tapping is enabled, or at least can't be disabled - and it's Razer, not Synaptics or MS, that's to "blame". The reason is the trackpad always returns to defaults when you switch pages or apps (which you will do often). That said, most gamers won't game with the trackpad anyway, but you are more likely to consider gaming with this one than with a standard trackpad so this tapping issue is very annoying. Support said to wait for a patch...
5) Unable to use windows 8 gestures. This is a feature of the switchblade (along with tapping) that is unchangeable. It's minor, and there are workarounds (e.g. binding shortcuts to the switchblade).
6) Very sharp edges all around. This one was unexpected. But the build of this machine (very solid and purty brushed black aluminum)results in very sharp edges at all points surrounding the keyboard and switchblade. What this means is that if you rest your palm up near the switchbade, your wrists get exposed to sharp angles (not to mention resting on a very firm surface). This is a direct result of the switchblade location, and thus the trackpad, being on the right of the keyboard. Were it down at the bottom, you wouldn't rest your palms/wrists on the corners of the machine and this wouldn't be an issue. I'm toying with some makeshift padding options as a 'workaround.'
7) Odd keyboard layout. Fn is on the right, spacebar is not wide enough, arrow keys (up and down) are "mini", delete and backspace keys are in atypical locations in upper right, etc. It feels unnecessarily cramped for a 17 inch machine. I've owned and own others that have a numpad taking the same real estate and they don't feel as cramped.
8) Support. This is +/-. Customer support is responsive, but you need to email them. Also, there is very little documentation for this device. Yes, a lot is self-explanatory, but even things like updating drivers (i.e. how do you know you're up to date), how to switch pages on your 10 buttons, etc. take a lot of digging. It's net-negative because for the price and for the unique interface, robust documentation and support should be included or readily-available.
9) Very few "apps." This is meh. The customizability of the switchblade makes this less of an issue, but still, there is a ton of untapped potential at this point.
10) No included sleeve/case. Come on Razer. For this price?! This is actually an essential 'omission' since this is supposed to be portable, it's very expensive and well-made, but still very susceptible to scratches, dents, etc. MSI tosses a decent one in with its machine. You can buy one from Razer for $50! Or grab one here or at a retail store for about $20, that's just as good if not better.
11) No touchscreen. Win 8 is made for touch and is inferior and intrusive to Win7 without a touchscreen. I know that's a major challenge for price, battery, performance, etc. so this isn't really a negative to Razer. But worth noting if that matters. And FYI, nothing that can be 'respectably' considered a "gaming" laptop has one.
Seems like a lot of negatives, but for most of you, they won't matter much and they pale in comparison to the positives.
Pros:
1) Switchblade. This is overall pretty cool. Once you customize it (e.g., you can get royalty free icons online to make it even purtier) and get used to its placement, it really becomes a joy to use. You can bind any keystroke (except ones that use the win key), macro, or program to the 10 dedicated keys. And there are a few apps including a digital numpad. You can also assign multiple pages of 10 functions, theoretically giving you an infinite number of dedicated options, but in reality it's rather cumbersome when gaming to deploy the needed 3-finger swipe to get to the next page. But the overall functionality and versatility more than makes up for the loss of the numpad.
2) Sturdy, premium materials. Big kudos here.
3) Thin and light (for a 17" bona-fide gaming rig). I should add that the power supply is nice and svelte - gone is the massive power brick of old. The laptop is just slightly heavier than you might think, but it's still very light and easy to lug around. You can carry this in one hand by your side and: a) not look like a moron and b) not need steroids.
4) Handles games comfortably. I've played the following games without even a slight hiccup on high to highest settings (never lower than high): SWTOR, Rome II TW, Skyrim, Saints Row IV, Fallen Enchantress. I've also run, again sans-hiccup, Abode CS6 suite items including Photoshop (e.g. I've made some cool icons and wallpapers for this even using PS on battery!!). That said, for the obsessive, you won't get "ultra" settings with 60FPS with the 765M in here (I also haven't tried any CPU overclocking). So if you want absolute max performance, this ain't your machine. But expect a very stable 30-60 FPS on most of the demanding games. Also note, this thing has a very fast reboot time - around 7 secs.
5) 'Phenomenal' battery. Look, this has to be plugged in for real, extended gaming use. And it only gets 2-3 hours (closer to three or even more depending on use), so why phenomenal? Because given how light it is, you can port it around pretty easily and do basic web surfing, Word docs, etc. on battery and get a couple hours. You can even game without throttling on battery! This is a first for me (and I've owned a lot of rigs). I walk all over the house with this thing unplugged (kinda like a MBP) without worrying about throttling or a 25-min battery life. Silky smooth.
6) Runs 'quiet and cool.' Again, I've read about how hot this thing gets - that's true. And about fan noise - also true. But this a all relative. When gaming, it gets hot underneath - and frankly not as bad as what I read. If this was on your bare skin it could be an issue - but again, who would really do that? The top stays cool, so if you are clothed or on a table this is a non-issue. As for fan noise, it's dead silent for most non-gaming tasks. When it fires up for games, it can be heard, but it's not even close to what I've dealt with in the past. I think Asus has the best cooling around and quietness too, but those machines are ginormous. Other than Asus, this is the quietest of the gaming rig laptop fans I've experienced (and I've owned and/or tinkered with many).
7) Gorgeous display - it's not retina, but it's quite purty nonetheless.
In the end, I cannot give a $2500 laptop 5 stars that's not made of gold. So that's a dock right there, and there are a few other nits. But in pretty much every other way, this machine more than delivers for the niche market it caters to. At $700 less, I would be totally smitten with "my precious," but that feeling likely won't come until a few more months after the sticker shock has worn of.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Finally, an attractive and portable desktop replacement!
By tac0
My wife and I live in a small condo, and had an unexpected addition to the family. I had to get rid of my gaming desktop to make room for the nursery, and made due with console gaming for a while. We have a Macbook Air that we've been using as our primary computer since it can be left around the house without being an eyesore, or being difficult to relocate as needed. So, that was my criteria for a gaming laptop; I wanted find a laptop that could play games and not look ridiculous if I left it on the coffee table. I had been eyeing the Blade and decided to go ahead and give it a shot.
I'ts been about 2 weeks and, overall, I am very happy with it. The screen is beautiful, it plays everything I've thrown at it perfectly (Skyrim, Farcry 3, Bioshock Infinite, Dishonered, Metro, and a few others), and performs well outside of games as well. The Switchblade is a little glitchy, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but it's a solid trackpad and the extra features are cool, you just can't rely on them. I have had zero driver or compatibility problems; I turned the computer on, activated Windows, installed Steam, and got right into the games I had been missing.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Nice product with high price, be aware of the cooling when gaming
By Xuyun Ding
Honestly speaking, this is a cool gaming laptop. However, the price is too high compared with other gaming laptop(MSI GS70) with almost the same configuration. The switchblade is a nice breakthrough but may take some time to get used to it. Since it i quite thinner than those traditional gaming laptop (such as the alienware :D), the cooling can be a problem especially when playing some high-performance games.I have tried some games like the Skyrim and the COD 10, and they run quite smooth with the suggested configuration, but the keyboard area can get quite hot(not that hot depend on the game) after 1 hour. Maybe a cooling pad is needed for future game playing.
By the way, the amazon's delivery is usually fast and accurate. But this time I am quite disappointed at the delivery. Although I have chosen the one-day shipping, I actually waited for almost a week to receive the laptop.
Anyway, if you are really a fan of Razer and have enough money on hand, it is worth buying.
Do Not Buy a Toshiba
True Quality and Awesome design