Razer Blade gaming notebook touts Core i7 and 17-inch display

By Geoff Duncan Published August 26, 2011

Razer Blade gaming notebook — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Billing it as the “world’s first true gaming laptop”—a claim some might refute—boutique PC maker Razer has taken the wraps off the Razer Blade, sporting a fast second-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce graphics, a high-res 17-inch display, and a full aluminum chassis that lends the rig surprising portability—especially compared to most gaming notebooks on the market. Many high-performance notebooks come in over two inches thick and commonly weigh as much as ten pounds: the Razer Blade is 0.88 inches thick, and weighs under 7 pounds.

“The Razer Blade was designed to give gamers a laptop they could truly use on the go,” said Razer CEO and creative director Min-Liang Tan, in a statement. “Its sleek, lightweight aluminum construction makes it the thinnest 17-inch gaming laptop available today.”

Recommended Videos

The Razer Blade sports a dual-core second-generation Intel Core i7 processor running at 2.8 GHz, with Turbo Boost able to take a core up to 3.5 GHz during intensive tasks. The Blade also features a 17.3-inch 1,920 by 1,080-pixel HD display drive by either Intel integrated graphics (when you’re just checking mail or popping on the Web) along with an Nvidia GeForce GT555M graphics controller with 2 GB of dedicated video RAM for gaming sessions. The system also features a 320 GB 7200 SATA hard drive, one USB 3.0 port and two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI output, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 wireless networking, and an HD webcam.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming

The Blade also features Razer’s Switchblade user interface, made up of 10 tactile keys and a combo LCD display and multitouch panel: users can program the keys for game-specific functions, and while using a mouse the LCD displays game information. In a second mode, the LCD functions as a multi-touch capable input device.

Razer says the Blade should be available in North America in the fourth quarter of this year, with prices starting at $2,799.99.

Razer Blade gaming notebook — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

Hurry! The Razer Blade 17 gaming laptop is 44% off today

Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Razer Blade 17.

Razer is currently running a huge sale which includes one of the best gaming laptop deals we’ve seen in a while. Today, you can buy the Razer Blade 17 for 44% off bringing the price down from $3,800 to $2,100. This is a great price for an equally great gaming laptop and sure to appeal to anyone seeking great laptop deals. If you’re keen to learn more about it, keep reading while we take you through why it’s worth your money.

Why you should buy the Razer Blade 17
Razer is one of the best gaming laptop brands out there. Crucially, it’d likely top the list if it wasn’t that its laptops are frequently expensive so when one is on sale, it shoots right up the list of brands to check out. That’s because Razer laptops are stylish, slimmer than most, while still packing plenty of power.

Computing

This Razer Blade 17 gaming laptop with an RTX 3070 Ti is 47% off

Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Razer Blade 17.

If you want a large screen to accompany your gaming laptop, look no further than the Razer Blade 17. It's an even more attractive purchase right now because it's 47% off from Razer, which slashes its price to just $1,800 from its original price of $3,400. The $1,600 in savings is among the biggest that you can get from today's gaming laptop deals, so if you're interested, it's highly recommended that you complete the transaction as soon as possible because there's no telling when stocks of the device will run out.

Why you should buy the Razer Blade 17 gaming laptop
As you can deduce from its name, the Razer Blade 17 features a 17.3-inch screen with QHD resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate, which will allow you to spot even the smallest details of the best PC games. To maximize the large display, the Razer Blade 17 is equipped with the 12th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, the Nvidia GeForce RX 3070 Ti graphics card, and 16GB of RAM -- these specifications aren't as powerful as those found in some of the best gaming laptops, but they'll be more than enough for most gamers, whether you're just starting out or you've been into PC gaming for years.

Computing

2 gaming laptops you should buy instead of the Razer Blade

Cyberpunk 2077 running on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14.

The Razer Blade line of gaming laptops is iconic. There's no doubting it's influence, and the Razer Blade remains one of the best gaming laptops you can buy today.

But it's also expensive. It's beyond high-end -- existing in its own echelon of pricing, perhaps rivaled only by the MacBook Pro. Just to give you an idea, the cheapest version of the Razer Blade 16 costs $3,000 and comes with an RTX 4070, 16GB of RAM, an OLED 240Hz screen, and 1TB of storage. That's quite a powerful configuration, mind you, but it's considerably more expensive than similar laptops. If you really want to max it out, you can spend up to $5,500. The Razer Blade 14 is a bit more affordable, starting at $2,200, but can quickly get expensive when you bump up the specs.