Gamers will get to make up their own minds at Penny Arcade Expo this weekend, where PC gaming manufacturer Razer is showing off its first gaming laptop. The Razer Blade is a high-powered, portable Windows 7-based laptop priced at $2,800 and targeted for the market later this year.
Borrowing a page from Apple’s minimalistic MacBook Pro laptops, Razer’s managed to make an all matte 17.3-inch laptop with a 1080p resolution that combines gorgeous design, portability and uber power in a chassis less than one inch thick and weighs under seven pounds. Based on an Intel Core i7-2640M CPUs (clocked at 2.8 GHz), the notebook measures 17.3 inches and has an LCD with a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (Full HD). 8 GB of RAM are present, as is an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M discrete graphics card, whose own dedicated memory is 2 GB. It also sports a 320-gigabyte hard drive, wireless connectivity and built-in webcam. The sleek computer’s top is emblazoned with the company’s snake logo.
And then there’s the rest of the Razer Blade’s unique design, like its Switchblade User Interface. According to Razer, it’s composed of 10 dynamic adaptive tactile keys for easier access of in-game commands, and an LCD capable of two modes: one mode that displays in-game information when a mouse is in use; and another mode that functions as an ultra-sensitive, multi-touch panel designed for gaming on the go. But it can also be used to display whatever else you’d like. Want to watch a hint video on YouTube while you’re still playing the game? Chat with friends on Twitter? You can do it on the small screen, without having to multitask on the monitor.
We designed a product for ourselves — for gamers, by gamers. Compared with current gaming laptops, the Razer Blade is thinner and lighter: The key for us was to have something that was so portable, that you could pull it out of your bag with a single hand and be something you could bring along with you. And not only is this thinner than the Alienware (laptops), but by the time we were done (designing) it, it is thinner than a MacBook Pro and more powerful. It’s the most powerful and thinnest 17-inch laptop today, said Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan at a preview event.
In short, the Razer Blade is a powerful, lightweight, portable gaming machine with a unique keyboard and layout. Is it enough to shake up the PC gaming landscape? [Razer]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Nbn4bjf6s[/youtube]
