Ever since Razer started making its skinny 17-inch Razer Blade laptop, I’ve been wondering when a gaming PC company was going to come along and deliver a powerful gaming laptop with the slender form factor of an Ultrabook. That would be today. Meet the new Razer Blade, a 14-inch gaming laptop that’s skinnier than Apple’s Macbook Air.
I’ve been comparing the original Razer Blade to the regular Macbook since day one. It’s an apt comparison, what with the same short profile and all-metal chassis. The 17-inch blade is still a sexy beast, but holding on to that 17-inch screen meant that even at under seven pounds, sheer bulk was still an issue. I’ve got one of the originals, and finding a case that fit it was a chore.
But that won’t be the case (sorry) with the new Razer Blade. At under 14 inches wide, 9.3 inches deep and a ridiculously tiny 17mm high, the 1.9kg machine Razer is presenting at a special event in San Francisco today is small enough that our own Kirk Hamilton, currently attending the event, should be able to slip it under his shirt before he leaves.
Slightly slimmer than the 17mm tall Macbook Air, Razer has managed to pack a whole lot more power in the new Blade than any laptop with a similar form factor has ever dreamed of. It’s sporting an Intel Haswell processor, 8GB of ram and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M with 2GB of GDDR5. The smaller size means it’s got to rely on an SSD for storage (128GB, 256GB or 512GB), but a frugal gamer should be able to keep a handful of titles loaded at even the smallest size.
“We’ve designed and built the thinnest, most powerful 14-inch laptop in the world,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director via official announcement. “Thinner than a dime and more powerful than other traditional desktop replacements today, we’ve created an entirely new category of thin and powerful laptops that is generations ahead of other PCs.”
Of course being generations ahead of the curve doesn’t come cheap. The new Razer Blade starts at $1799. You could easily build a comparable (or better) system at a fraction of the price, but it would’t be so skinny you could barely see it in profile.
For fans of the original 17-inch Blade, don’t worry — it’s getting an upgrade as well. The upgraded Razer Blade Pro, now aimed at both gamers and PC professionals, goes up for preorder on June 3, the same day as its smaller, sleeker replacement.
Product features:
- Future 4th gen Intel Core processor (formerly codename ‘Haswell’)
- 8 GB Onboard Memory (DDR3L — 1600 MHz)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (2 GB GDDR5) & Intel HD4600
- Windows 8 64 Bit
- 128 GB SSD, with optional 256/512 GB SSD (mSATA)
- Qualcomm Killer NIC N1202 (802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth® 4.0)
- 14.0 in. HD+ 16:9 Ratio, 1600 x 900, with LED backlight
- Built-in stereo speakers
- 3.5 mm audio microphone/headphone combo jack
- Array microphone
- (3x) USB 3.0 port (SuperSpeed)
- HDMI 1.4a audio and video output
- Dolby® Home theatre v4
- 7.1 Codec support (via HDMI)
- Built-in full HD webcam (1.3 MP)
- Compact 150 W Power Adapter
- Built-in 70 Wh Rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery
- Razer Anti-Ghosting Keyboard (with adjustable backlight)
- Razer Synapse 2.0 Enabled
- Kensington Lock
- 13.6 in. / 345 mm (Width) x 0.66 in. / 16.8 mm (Height) x 9.3 in. / 235 mm (Depth)
- 4.135 lbs. / 1.876 kg
Comments
15 responses to “Razer Debuts The World’s Thinnest Gaming Laptop”
That actually looks really sexy.
The thought occurs that the only barrier left for laptops to continue to slim down is the size of the ports rather than the internal hardware.
The thing is with these gaming laptops though is that you can’t use the keyboard for serious gaming, due to the space in front of it where the trackpad is.
I tried playing Starcraft 2 on a friend’s Macbook, and while it ran fine, I couldn’t actually use the keyboard properly because I’m used to playing with my wrist slanted down in front of the keyboard. Instead it was sitting flat on the area where nothing is next to the trackpad. I imagine it would be the same story when trying to play an FPS, although perhaps less so since your fingers on your keyboard hand tend not to move around as much. Maybe others, perhaps those that are used to using them, wouldn’t have as much of a problem, but for me I just couldn’t get my keyboard hand into a comfortable position (not to mention the fact the keyboard itself spaced the keys apart a little further than normal PC keyboards).
If these are to be used as serious PC gaming machines, you’re going to still need to invest in a decent keyboard and mouse. You’ve still got the convenience of it being portable I guess but IMO you’re better off with a desktop if that’s what you’re going to end up doing.
I think I’m in the same boat, I tried playing some HotS when it came out on my laptop, contorting your body in order to game its so counter-intuitive, it needs to be more lucid, more natural, also my earphone and mouse cable would constantly obstruct my mouse since the length of the cable was obviously meant for a desktop.
This all may be choked up to inexperience with gaming on a laptop idk.
actually i find gaming on my macbook pro i have to use an external keyboard because it gets really hot around that same spot as WASD on the keyboard, but i dont really use it to play games very often so not really an issue.
i’m down for the new razer 17 inch blade. the original 1st and 2nd was horrible. specs were so 6 years ago at least they upgraded it to 2 years -14 months ago
Looks really good. Any news on Australian Availability/Pricing? Website only ships to US & Canada…
Can’t wait for this, looks like a solid win!
Could not see a price but i’m guessing this things going to end up costing around 3-4k?
http://www.razerzone.com/au-en/store/razer-blade
$2499. I currently am using a Alienware m14x (For Work) and this execrates faecal matter all over the current alienware offeringings. I might pick one up although i will probably get the Pro as i like the larger screen.
And somehow US$1799 == AU$2499. $700 markup, close to 40%. Australia tax strikes again.
At this point I wish I had US relatives that could buy it and send it over.
Do want.
does the ceo of razer think he is jony ive?
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!