Product Listing

Razer Blade 14-inch (2013) - The Supermodel of Gaming Notebooks

By Kenny Yeo - 6 Aug 2013

Conclusion

Portable but Powerful

Gaming notebooks used to be big and bulky machines, but notebooks like the new 14-inch Razer Blade and MSI GE40 are changing the way we think about them. The two are genuinely compact and portable machines, but yet pack enough horsepower under the hood to play the latest games - at moderate to high settings even!

Even though the Razer Blade and MSI GE40 share many similarities and are pioneers in this new category of notebooks, there have many differences too.

First and foremost, price. The MSI GE40 was targeted at bargain hunters and value seekers and therefore is attractively priced at S$2099. On the other hand, prices for the Razer Blade begin at S$2599 for the 128GB variant and top out at S$3299 if you want the one with a 512GB drive. The 256GB model which we reviewed costs $2799 - significantly more than the MSI GE40. A point to note is that unlike the MSI GE40, the Blade has no additional hard disk drive, so think carefully about how much storage you need.

However, the premium is well justified. For one, the Razer Blade is noticeably slimmer than its competitor, and it is better built. The anodized aluminum chassis is well-sculpted and solid, and the backlit keyboard is a joy to use and looks cool - pity that the trackpad’s performance was not up to par. Furthermore, in terms of specifications, it offers more flash storage, a slightly more powerful GPU and Killer Wireless-N connectivity.

Slim, portable and powerful. The Razer Blade is quite easily one of the best portable gaming notebooks around.

With the latest 14-inch Blade, Razer is signaling its intent on being a significant player in the PC hardware market, which is impressive if you remember that it has been less than two years since we saw the first Razer Blade notebook. The first generation Razer Blade was a bit of a letdown with its slightly dated specifications, but Razer has learned fast and its latest 14-inch Blade notebook is packed with the latest hardware and performance is really good for a notebook of its size.

All in all, the new 14-inch Razer Blade is a rather impressive offering and was clearly designed with gamers in mind. Honestly, there is much to like about this notebook. Now if only Razer could improve the dull-looking display, finicky trackpad and offer more connectivity options, it might have an unbeatable winner on its hands (provided that it doesn't cost even more).

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8.5
  • Design 8.5
  • Features 8
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 7.5
  • Mobility 9
The Good
Well-built, compact design
Good performance
Good keyboard with cool green backlight
Killer Wireless-N connectivity
The Bad
Display is substandard
Trackpad is erratic to use
Connectivity options can be better
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