Razer is a company known for gaming peripherals, most notably their keyboards and computers. They’re also known for the Blade, a thin gaming laptop that combines smooth, minimalistic looks and great performance.
This time around, they’re fiddling with the concept of a gaming tablet, thanks to a full version of Windows 8. A gaming tablet is something that’s entirely possible, since you can install real games on Windows 8. With a bit of patience, Razer was able to come up with a product that crams good performance into tablet form.
Let’s take a look shall we?
Design
The Razer Edge looks just like other Windows 8 tablets, except you’ll find a big Razer logo on the back. It’s made from matte metal finish, giving it a high – end appeal. It’s quite chunky due to the parts used. It measures 0.75 inches thick and weighs 2.1 pounds.
Around the edges, you’ll find the ports you need. Up top, there’s one USB 3.0 port and a headset output. There’s also a front 2.0 megapixel camera for online chats.
Display
The Razer Edge sports a 10.1 – inch touchscreen IPS display. It has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. This works to the Edge’s advantage, since lower resolutions in gaming mean better frame rates.
However, one obvious drawback to this is that the interface looks cheap compared to 1080p tablets.
Overall though, the display works as it should. Colors are bright and viewing angles are good.
Hardware
It’s amazing how much research Razer has put into this product. They managed to cram a video card into the space of a tablet without sacrificing design. The Edge really looks like a Razer product.
Moving on to the insides, the Edge features an Intel Ivy Bridge processor. It’s an i5 – 3517U ultra low – voltage dual – core processor. It has a base clock speed of 1.9 GHz, but it can power up to 3.0 GHz when taxed with demanding programs.
For the graphics, it features NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 640M LE. It’s basically a lower – powered version of the GT 640M. It has 1 GB of DDR3 RAM and a GPU clock speed of 500 MHz.
To complete the package, there’s 8 GB of DDR3 memory and a 256 GB solid state drive.
Overall gaming is good, depending on what games you install. Obviously, weaker titles can have their graphics settings maxed out while more demanding titles need to be scaled back. All in all, the video card finds middle ground between performance and price.
Battlefield 3 can be played at a respectable speed of 38 fps, with all graphics settings set to medium. When cranked to high, it lowers to 24 fps. The popular Skyrim can be played at an amazing 60 fps, with all settings at medium again. Turning them to high gives you 41 fps.
Portal 2 on medium settings gives you an incredible 125 fps. When played on high, you get 90 fps. This means that other Valve titles that make use of the Source engine, such as Team Fortress 2 and DOTA 2 can be played at maximum settings without any problems at all.
Other Features
What would a gaming tablet be without a gamepad? Well, the Edge features a custom made controller that you can remove if you’re not busy playing games. Both sides feature analog sticks. On the left, there’s also a four – button arrow pad. On the right are four action buttons (A, B, X, Y) which will work great on games such as Darksiders II.
Overall, you can use the gamepad to control most games. But if that doesn’t work for you, you can always use a mouse and a keyboard. Thankfully, Razer also has made a dock. The Edge stands up and it has an HDMI out and three USB 2.0 ports. When placed in the dock, you can use Bluetooth with a keyboard and mouse of your choice.
Conclusion
The Edge is an amazing device that is very futuristic. However, it costs $1,500 and that’s something you need to take into account. You’re paying a high premium for mediocre performance, but you’re getting portability in return.
Overall though, it’s a great package that can even act as your main computer at times when you don’t have a desktop.
