New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer • Hacker News Board

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#131

Post by MaxGabriel » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:02 PM UTC

jinushaun wrote: post #56

Shenglong wrote: post #30

I can't believe it took this long to make a non-apple laptop that isn't ugly. Simple, sleek and smooth. It really isn't that difficult.

Reading the quotes from Razer in the article, it really makes me angry at the big PC manufacturers and happy that HP got out. Nothing Apple does is truly that amazing or innovative. The difference is that Apple actually has the balls to try to produce a high quality product. Not expensive for the sake of being expensive like Sony, but quality worth paying for. HP and Dell would rather sell low margin crap at high vol…

"Nothing Apple does is truly that amazing or innovative."

That's absurdly unfair, companies like RIM didn't even think the iPhone was possible before it came out [1]. The iPad completely changed the "slate" market in an unimaginable way. People may or may not be wrong about a post-PC era, but its undeniably closely related to the iPad and its predecessor the iPhone (especially given Android's UI before and after the iPhone [2]). If your comment referred specifically to the laptop/desktop market, go back to the original Macintosh GUI, unibody design, the high battery life and relatively low cost of the Macbook Air (sure, they existed in the 90s as slim as an MBA but not with equivalent design or battery--and the rest of the market was into netbooks when the MBA came out anyway), touchpad gestures, and MagSafe. And when other companies announce these features, like Razer here, it usually ends with a $2800 Sure, you can name prior art on alot of these innovations but having 'balls' is PART of innovation--execution is just as important as the idea.

[1] http://www.razorianfly.com/2010/12/28/rim-we-thought-apple-w... [2] http://random.andrewwarner.com/what-googles-android-looked-l...

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#132

Post by timknauf » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:03 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #124

makira wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

MacBook Pros have substantially better GPUs than straight MacBooks.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#133

Post by wtallis » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:04 PM UTC

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.

I understand that. It's obvious, and it's also not the point. The point is that Razer made so many sacrifices to specialize this laptop that they ought to be able to undercut the MacBook Pro by a lot more than $150.

The use of a dual-core CPU instead of a quad-core CPU should cover most of the cost of the GPU upgrade, which means that either Razer's trying to make a lot more profit per machine than Apple's flagship laptop, or Razer's getting screwed on the cost of a bunch of commodity components.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#134

Post by Kenan » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:10 PM UTC

teashorts wrote: post #76

I don't get why they didn't produce the Switchblade [1] instead of this expensive overpowered monstrosity. [1] http://www.razerzone.com/switchblade

From the looks of the pictures in the article I was certain it was the Switchblade, but now looking back at the old pics on their site, I realized that it's not the same Switchblade I saw months ago. In the article they even named it "Switchblade User Interface". They said from the beginning that the Switchblade was a concept, so I'm just glad they are releasing it earlier than I though.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#135

Post by old-gregg » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:13 PM UTC

phaus wrote: post #126

falcolas wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 p…

"CPU... GPU..." who cares? The laptop is composed of a shell, battery, keyboard and the most importantly - the LCD. Nowhere in your post you mentioned the quality of those 4 critical difference-making components. Comparing computers based on irrelevant commodity (chips) is like comparing automobiles by how many wheels they have.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#136

Post by Pheter » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:13 PM UTC

9999 wrote: post #123

Pheter wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Possibly, but it's not really relevant.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#137

Post by w1ntermute » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:14 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #124

makira wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

Were they just doing that as a test? Because there's a Mac version of WoW...

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#138

Post by Pheter » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:14 PM UTC

wtallis wrote: post #133

Pheter wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I understand that. It's obvious, and it's also not the point. The point is that Razer made so many sacrifices to specialize this laptop that they ought to be able to undercut the MacBook Pro by a lot more than $150. The use of a dual-core CPU instead of a quad-core CPU should cover most of the cost of the GPU upgrade, which means that either Razer's trying to make a lot more profit per machine than Apple's flagship l…

There are other costs involved besides commodity components. Developing and producing a new input method costs more than the cost of the components.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#139

Post by MartinCron » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:24 PM UTC

wtallis wrote: post #109

MartinCron wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this laptop can't manage to hit the MacBook Pro price point If you configure a 17'' MacBook Pro to have similar specs as this, the MacBook Pro costs a little more.

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…

I agree that they are too different to directly compare.

For me, the real $150 premium that makes the MacBook Pro justified is the fact that it runs OS X. For hardcore gamers, that's not really a plus. Also, the optical drive is a "meh" at best.

Re: New gaming laptop with innovative UI by Razer

#140

Post by Jach » Fri, Aug 26, 2011, 9:25 PM UTC

old-gregg wrote: post #135

phaus wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 p…

"CPU... GPU..." who cares? The laptop is composed of a shell, battery, keyboard and the most importantly - the LCD. Nowhere in your post you mentioned the quality of those 4 critical difference-making components. Comparing computers based on irrelevant commodity (chips) is like comparing automobiles by how many wheels they have.

Gamers care. The Macbook Air got away with not having normal things inside it because everyone knew it was for looks alone. This thing is being marketed as a gaming rig, which necessarily means you have to care about what's inside.