Razer takes portable gaming laptops to thin extremes
Here's something new for gaming gadget lovers to covet: Razer's super-thin Razer Blade laptop.
The San Francisco-based gaming company is expanding its high-performance gaming laptop computer line with a new slimmer high-performance ultra-portable model. Sporting a 14-inch display, t he Razer Blade laptop is housed in an aluminum chassis that puts it among the thinnest ultrabooks at 0.66 inches.
Weighing in at only four pounds, the Blade will have a new fourth gen Intel Core processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M graphics processor and be available with multiple storage options (128 GB standard, but up to 256 GB or 512 GB).
Razer CEO and creative director Min-Liang Tan calls the Blade the thinnest, most powerful 14-inc laptop available. "Thinner than a dime and more powerful than other traditional desktop replacements today, we've created an entirely new category of thin and powerful laptops that is generations ahead of other PCs," he said in a statement announcing the laptop this week.
The new Razer Blade, which boasts six hours of battery life and a Wireless-N networking adapter, will be available for pre-order June 3 (prices start at $1,799; razerzone.com).
Also unveiled: the third iteration of the Blade Pro, its original 17-inch laptop first brought to market in late 2011. This new model, also available for pre-order June 3 (prices starting at $2,299), also has a 4th Gen Intel Core processor and NVIDIA graphics.
Razer touts that the Blade Pro is four times faster than comparable notebooks and is aiming beyond hard-core gamers to creative professionals by loading it with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro and Maya.
The original Blade began a "technological shift" for Razer, Tan says. "Now, our industry-leading in-house systems engineering team has advanced our thermal solutions to the point that the 14-inch Blade is insanely powerful in an impossibly thin form factor. We see the Blade as the 'fourth gaming console,' so to speak."
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