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New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

arstechnica.com

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Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#121

Post by falcolas »

sandGorgon wrote: post #58
falcolas wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I had to guess, I'd say that it's easier to cast and mill the aluminum unibody than it is to mold the carbon fiber. Probably cheaper, as well.

hmm.. I honestly never thought that was the issue, given how popular graphite tennis racquets are. What about fiberglass then ? I even saw a show on TV, where they remade a car chassis by handfilling fiberglass filaments and the resulting could withstand sledgehammer blows. does fiberglass/carbon-fiber affect laptop cooling ?

The processes for Fiberglass and carbon fiber are nearly identical (both use mats of the material and resins that have to be formed/cooked (in the case of carbon fiber)).

I would imagine carbon fiber wouldn't conduct heat quite as well as aluminum, but I don't have any data on that.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#122

Post by falcolas »

phaus wrote: post #118
ianl wrote: post #100

I think you are all missing the point. There already is a massive market for high end gaming pcs and laptops. Compare these prices and specs to what is available from Alienware or MSI. This laptop only misgiving is the fact it does not have an SSD. However, it is competitively priced in comparison to its competition and with a sleek sexy design this is a very interesting entry into the market.

There is no way this laptop is competitively priced with Alienware and MSI. For about $1200 you can get an Alienware with the same GPU(which accounts for 90 percent of your framerate). For under 1500 you can get an MSI or Asus laptop with a GTX 560M which is significantly better than the GT 555M. If you actually wanted a high-end gaming system you could go all out and get a M18X Alienware with dual 6990M GPUs. Just s…

Owning one of those Alienware M15X Laptops, I can say that they are heavy and bulky. The form factor of this new laptop is a lot better, and would make a huge impact on my desire to buy it if I actually want to take it anywhere.

Hell, I about broke my back trying to lug my Alienware around a conference. I'll never do that again. I'd pay quite a bit for the ability to actually have my notebook computer be portable, and yet still able to play games.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#123

Post by 9999 »

Pheter wrote: post #114
wtallis wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 17" MBP has a quad-core processor, a 60% larger battery, an optical drive, a vertical resolution of 1200 instead of 1080, a 500GB 7200RPM drive instead of 320GB for the Razer, and still weighs 5% less than the Razer. On the other hand, the Razer will offer a much better GPU and will be $150 cheaper than the high-end MPB 17". It's hard to compare machines built for such different specs, but I'd say the $150 premiu…

GPU becomes a lot more important if you are going to be using the laptop for gaming. Ultimately they serve two different needs and therefore two different markets. For one person the Macbook is a no-brainer, but for someone else, the Razer laptop is a better choice.

Someone could use an external GPU on the MBP via Thunderbolt (the Razer could too if it has an express card slot).

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#124

Post by falcolas »

makira wrote: post #117
pragmatic wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't play PC games on a MacBook...

Hmm, are you aware you can install Windows on a MacBook ? see BootCamp..

I have a few friends who did this. They were barely able to get WoW to run at the lowest settings on their MacBooks.

Able to and want to are definitely different when gaming on MacBooks.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#125

Post by jarin »

samlevine wrote: post #26

This is a great marketing gimmick for the keyboard they're selling: http://www.razerzone.com/swtor/keyboard At around $200 this is a lot more likely to sell.

I really like the concept, but practically for MMO play it's faster to use the left-hand hotkeys or click buttons in the UI. I could see the video touchpad having a lot of awesome uses though (minimap, buffs, quest log, etc), and the buttons above the trackpad would be pretty useful for non-combat items like inventory, settings, character screen, crafting and things like that.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#126

Post by phaus »

falcolas wrote: post #122
phaus wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way this laptop is competitively priced with Alienware and MSI. For about $1200 you can get an Alienware with the same GPU(which accounts for 90 percent of your framerate). For under 1500 you can get an MSI or Asus laptop with a GTX 560M which is significantly better than the GT 555M. If you actually wanted a high-end gaming system you could go all out and get a M18X Alienware with dual 6990M GPUs. Just s…

Owning one of those Alienware M15X Laptops, I can say that they are heavy and bulky. The form factor of this new laptop is a lot better, and would make a huge impact on my desire to buy it if I actually want to take it anywhere. Hell, I about broke my back trying to lug my Alienware around a conference. I'll never do that again. I'd pay quite a bit for the ability to actually have my notebook computer be portable, an…

I agree that gaming laptops are a huge pain to carry around, but Razer's system is outrageously expensive for what you get. You could still save hundreds of dollars by purchasing a normal laptop for 300-500 to take to the office and then buy an Alienware or Clevo with a 6990M in it for about 1500-1800. If you decide to buy a desktop instead of the Alienware, you can save another 1k. If one is happy with a GT 555M's performance, you can find a 5.5 lb laptop for about 700-800 dollars which has the same card and the same CPU.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#128

Post by pnathan »

dstein wrote: post #80
blhack wrote: post #72

These guys took out an ad in The Wall Street journal drumming up hype for this release. Guys: I can buy a Sony Playstation 3 for a little over $200. Call it $300. I can then buy an large television for $1000, and a solid set of speakers for $200. That's $1500 all-in, for something that will play every single PS3 game flawlessly. Why would I spend $2800 on this? What I am getting for $1300? If it's the variety of PC g…

Selling expensive products to rich people is a lot easier than selling affordable products to poor people.

Which reminds me of the statistics for Android vs. iPhone app sales.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#129

Post by darklajid »

zobzu wrote: post #127

Incredibly thin and light for a gaming laptop mm? Arstechnica got paid to write that I guess. I can fit 4 light AlienWare gaming laptops of 13" for the weight of that 17". Even a big MBP is lighter... Odd.

You are really comparing a 17" gaming laptop with

- 13" gaming laptops (really? Those are lighter?)

- a popular 17" laptop that lacks in gaming power

Why the snark?

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#130

Post by idle_processor »

pragmatic wrote: post #108
ianl wrote: post #100

I think you are all missing the point. There already is a massive market for high end gaming pcs and laptops. Compare these prices and specs to what is available from Alienware or MSI. This laptop only misgiving is the fact it does not have an SSD. However, it is competitively priced in comparison to its competition and with a sleek sexy design this is a very interesting entry into the market.

Exactly. And this is the first one. If this succeeds with the high end people (you know those that spend $4000 on a gaming pc), then the price will come down. This is the best thing I've seen in long time.

Some people use expensive hardware as a status symbol, and having something expensive with a flashy UI will probably appeal to them. I don't know how common this type of person is.

Others spend a lot on hardware to eke out as much performance as possible. The Razer laptop will fail miserably with these people, because the specs obtained for the cost are abyssmal.

________________________________________________

Razer at $2800:

2.8GHz Intel® CoreTM i7 2640M Processor

8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory

NVIDIA GeForce® GT 555M (2GB VRAM)

________________________________________________

Sager/Clevo at around $2700 (using xoticpc).

3.2-3.46GHz Intel® Core™ i7-960 8MB L3 Cache

ATI Radeon DUAL (2) HD6990M's (4GB VRAM)

12GB - DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory

________________________________________________

The GT 555M's 3DMark 06 score is 10586.3. The Dual HD6690M has a score of 23292, more than double. I would have honestly expected at least a single GTX 570M (preferably 580) from a cutting-edge gaming laptop housing an NVIDIA card.

The Sager will be a bulkier laptop, but my experience (with dragging an Asus G73 to and from university and work) is that carrying bags/backpacks mitigate the weight issue, and that bulk is never a factor. An inferior gaming experience due to weaker hardware, however, is.

Sources:

http://xoticpc.com (for configuring/pricing a Sager/Clevo laptop)

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark... (for video card benchmarks)

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