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Razer targets perfect Linux support

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Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#111

Post by poink »

maxsilver wrote: post #72
mathnode wrote: post #36

I am one of many disgruntled Razer Blade Stealth and razer core owners, currently awaiting a refund. Some customers are on as many as their 4th or 5th replacement unit. They have no English support in the UK, just a couple of german phone numbers which nobody seems to answer. The forum is terrible and they can't translate emails correctly. It's insulting. The typical issues are usually related to firmware, which myse…

I also got bit by this. Razer's simpler wired keyboards and mice might be OK, but their systems are fundamentally broken. The Razer Blade Stealth (7500u) has broken Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C support. Most popular devices simply won't work at all, even though they work with other Kaby Lake computers, and even though they work with Razer's own previous Stealth laptop (6500u model). The Razer Core has broken display softwar…

Even Razer's mice are pretty shit quality. I've had them going back to the original Boomslang, and I don't think I've ever had one last more than two years. I just like their ergonomics and features -- and the fact that Razer is good about replacing them when they break quickly, which they often do -- enough to put up with it.

I'm probably harder on input devices than most people, but I have working Logitech and Microsoft mice that are older than Razer itself.

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#112

Post by jrockway »

Slackwise wrote: post #75
jrockway wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be how the world of Windows works. Every peripheral I have seems to need an account to save your settings in the cloud, a feature I pretty much never care about. Every vendor wants you to know that yes, you're using their thing, and that they employ an entire team of engineers and designers that have never seen a computer before. I wish someone would put a stop to it.

This is why I had reservations about many high end mechanical keyboards that had all their macro/lighting/etc support done via software. Found out that Ducky makes keyboards that are 100% hardware configured, no OS even needed, just power. (Also IKBC keyboards do configuration via firmware too, I believe.) As for my mouse, I had to use some Corsair junk to configure the button mappings, sensitivity, and turn down the…

Yeah, I got on board the mechanical keyboard train before it was cool, and as a result my keyboard has no software that can configure it. There's a DIP switch to make caps lock into control. Perfect.

I have a Corsair mouse, and their software is spectacularly awful. (Their other software is also terrible; like configuring fan speed profiles for the water cooler.) No account required, but the button configuration is horrendously complex and in the end completely useless. I never figured out how to make a mouse button show up to Windows as an extra mouse button. Switched to a DeathAdder, and while their software is also terrible, at least the extra mouse buttons show up to the OS as mouse buttons. (Razer's software is terrible in a different way; the UI is overdesigned and I don't want to type in a username and secure password to change my fucking mouse settings... but once you're in there, the software does actually work well, letting you configure what you want in a relatively straightforward manner.)

All in all, this stuff is all super gimmicky. I want the marketing people to know I bought their product _in spite_ of the software they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing. I would be happier without it. The company would be more profitable without it. The mouse is for pointing at enemies and clicking when their head is under the crosshairs. I don't need a "brand experience". I don't need fancy colors or "game optimization". Just translate my hand motion to input events. I'll do the rest. Thanks.

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#113

Post by acabal »

I've been using a Razer Blade 2015 as an Ubuntu-only computer for several years now, and I've recommended it on HN in the past. It's been a great machine, and Linux works surprisingly well. (Of course that means that there are some minor problems, but "surprisingly well" is high praise in the world of Linux on laptops.)

Lots of people here complaining about build quality issues, but mine has been completely solid. The only issues I've experienced are some of the keyboard keys are losing their matte black printing, which is surprising but not fatal.

Additionally, at first I had a hard time getting a Blade that did not have a screen with a pink-to-white tint to it. However this appears to be an issue with all IPS panels--my Nexus 6 has the same issue and you can find people on Apple forums complaining about similar problems on Macbooks. Razer support was very helpful, and they hand-checked a unit to send me as a replacement, which is the one I'm using to this day.

In short, I'd continue recommending Blades for development work as Linux machines, and even moreso if they can iron out the usual Linux driver issues that plague all laptops.

Edit: I should also add that my limited experience with Razer support has been good, in that I got personal replies from people who didn't seem to be reading from a script, and who were happy to accommodate my returns and pickiness about screen quality.

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#114

Post by danjoc »

ktta wrote: post #50

Non-mobile link: https://www.facebook.com/minliangtan/photos/a.11684295504016... dang, can we get the link changed to this since most phones will redirect to the mobile version, but for some reason, people haven't figured a way to redirect to desktop versions from mobile?

As a counter point, the mobile version works without javascript. That's important to some of us :)

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#115

Post by brightball »

bitcharmer wrote: post #100
thaumaturgy wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's unfortunate. Razer was my leading choice to replace my aging Dell laptop. Thank you for taking the time to let other people know about these issues.

Same story here. Had to replace my 4yo Dell. I suggest you look at XPS 15 or Precision 5520. Extremely good value for money (and you can get them with quite beefed up specs)

Bought a 7710 for the same reason and love it.

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#117

Post by vetinari »

tallowen wrote: post #71
robertdpi wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another signal about the reliability of the company is how they handle logistics. So if you are an US citizen living in Germany, you cannot buy a laptop with US keyboard layout. The assumption that razer makes is that if you access the website from a Germany, you are a german citizen, speaker and someone who uses a QWERTZ keyboard.. Im literally trying to purchase their product, but they discourage me with this absur…

Have you had a different experience with other companies? My experience living in Germany has been that its been pretty hard to get American keyboards. Apple for instance only lets businesses oder laptops with US keyboards in Germany.

Is it that different between Germany and Austria? I've ordered Apple laptops with en_GB keyboards with no problem. Well, they arrived with UK power plug too ;).

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#118

Post by vetinari »

enknamel wrote: post #84
Mikushi wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I you weren't already doing iOS dev, why have an overpriced paperweight like a MBP?

It's a high quality linux-ish environment and has a huge ecosystem of developer tools. You can get almost anything that runs on linux on your MBP and you can also get a ton of things you can't get on linux that come from Apple or from enterprise companies. It's also probably the number 1 dev environment for a ton of use cases so you get support and network efforts in the ecosystem. Are you a fullstack dev? Then OSX i…

If by 'almost anything' you mean 'some, mostly using node.js or ruby', then yes. Otherwise, no. For example, Docker has to run a Linux VM underneath to just work.

Both linux and macos have different strengths and weaknesses, and one is not a fully capable replacement of another, not even just for the cli/daemon stuff.

I'm writing this on a rMBP - and there are still reasons to ssh into a centos box.

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#119

Post by emcrazyone »

maxsilver wrote: post #72
mathnode wrote: post #36

I am one of many disgruntled Razer Blade Stealth and razer core owners, currently awaiting a refund. Some customers are on as many as their 4th or 5th replacement unit. They have no English support in the UK, just a couple of german phone numbers which nobody seems to answer. The forum is terrible and they can't translate emails correctly. It's insulting. The typical issues are usually related to firmware, which myse…

I also got bit by this. Razer's simpler wired keyboards and mice might be OK, but their systems are fundamentally broken. The Razer Blade Stealth (7500u) has broken Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C support. Most popular devices simply won't work at all, even though they work with other Kaby Lake computers, and even though they work with Razer's own previous Stealth laptop (6500u model). The Razer Core has broken display softwar…

I also have had countless problems with Razer products. I own a couple blackwidow keyboards and have had a few of their mice. The Naga Epic is littered with complains about the scroll wheel not working and their draconian approach to installing mouse drivers that remind me of how HP's printer drivers pop adds in the system tray. Apparently I was not alone in noticing these issues; ArsTechnica did a scathing story about this:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/11/why-the-hell-does-th...

Re: Razer targets perfect Linux support

#120

Post by vvanders »

Keyframe wrote: post #90
mathnode wrote: post #36

I am one of many disgruntled Razer Blade Stealth and razer core owners, currently awaiting a refund. Some customers are on as many as their 4th or 5th replacement unit. They have no English support in the UK, just a couple of german phone numbers which nobody seems to answer. The forum is terrible and they can't translate emails correctly. It's insulting. The typical issues are usually related to firmware, which myse…

That's a damn shame. I was looking forward to new laptop in 14" form with nvidia 1060 and strong battery. Damn. XPS then?

If you can step down to GTX 965M the Surface Book is a very nice piece of hardware.
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