Gadgetory

hey guys and welcome back to another Hard Rock's review the evolution of mobile gaming is actually quite fascinating while the medium of physical device changed the association of light gaming while you're on the goal remains the same that's you know some angry birds here play some pseudocode err and you get the idea but this idea of mobile gaming is being challenged by Razer that is bringing together of mobility with performance so you guys are looking at the Razer edge the most powerful tablet in the world now this isn't product for casual gamers the hefty price tag of the tablet alone puts it in sort of a luxury category so spending a thousand dollars on the basic version of the edge is not for everyone's pocket let along the edge pro which we have here will set you back close to $1,500 plus all the optional accessories that will add up to the bill for example the gamepad controller costs $250 the docking station is another 100 plus any extra batteries that you might want to get is $70 a piece also a keyboard dock is going to be released soon so already if you're planning on using the edge with its intended purpose you're looking at pricing competitive to that of some really good gaming notebooks so pricing is definitely going to be a breaking point and the Razer edge actually may not have that edge when it comes to spec versus spec competition now comparing the Razer edge versus the Pro Edition you can see why such drastic pricing differences exist you get a more powerful processor an additional gig of VRAM for that powerful geforce 640 ml e and double the system memory but the most important upgrade is the SSD now I do wonder why razer opted for only a 64 gigabyte SSD on the basic version as that leaves practically no room for any of your games now let's take a look at the edge pro now this is a 10.1 inch IPS touch display with a resolution of 1366 by 768 I personally don't mind such a resolution at this size especially for intense gaming as it allows me to crank up all the other settings but keep in mind this is a Windows 8 computer crammed into this package so it's a little beefier than your conventional tablets so it's not the most comfortable parents using the tablet on its own at the top of the edge we get the power button and the volume rocker rotation log and a dedicated keyboard button we also have a USB 3 port and a microphone / headphone jack combo I still would have preferred dual jack so I can plug in my gaming headset but one thing to note is that when the gamepad is installed some headphone jacks won't fit due to limited clearance also notice the large exhaust slots that really do a good job of keeping the edge cool during intense gaming now I also noticed a slight play on the exterior cover near the GPU exhaust this is a review unit so it has been passed around so it is used but seeing this happen is a bit alarming as this is caused by the heat at the bottom we find speakers and a charging / docking port now the charger doesn't actually clip in place but instead simply slides in and can just as easily pop out now her product of this caliber I would've expected a bit more attention to detail with regards to this charger now the windows button is located in the middle for landscape mode pretty standard then using the edge in portrait mode for online articles is also an option and lastly we have a 2 megapixel front facing camera with built-in microphones well of course the edge wasn't designed for reading so how does it handle proper gaming well before getting to that let's check out the gamepad dock this is where the edge gets interesting because it turns this year Windows 8 tablet into a powerhouse of a mobile console now each handle features all the same controls as found on console joysticks and of course having the tablet sit right in the middle helps with comfortable holding position so when it comes down to handling simply resting it on your lap with suffice and all the heat is exhausted away from you now you can insert an extra battery into the gamepad controller to just prolong your use but this also adds some weight so with the extra battery the entire package weights about four pounds now what's cool is that the optional battery installed inside the gamepad controller gets used up first so you can continue working with the razor edge after the gaming session and same goes for charging first charges the tablet itself and then answers on to the extra battery so I've gotten a little over three hours of gaming with both batteries fully charged this is on high performance mode so you're looking at an extra hour of charge with the additional 2800 milliamp hour battery now you can also enable vibration on the gamepad controller which is really awesome and makes you feel like a right in the action but I was quite disappointed at the quality of the buttons for your point finger they don't have good feedback and they're very flimsy which is not at all what I was expecting for $250 product also given this a sort of the selling point of the edge I really wish raised it would make the buttons a lot sturdier now the gamepad works like it should with big picture mode on Steam and obviously for all the supported games but there is no other integration in Windows 8 now also cool thing is the various input keyboard layouts are available first we have the standard let's say they are a little oversized and take up a little too much real estate on the screen then we have the full keyboard layout with the numpad and also this handwriting option that detects what you're writing not very useful but it's there regardless but of course gaming on this thing is actually quite interesting I think I pulled over 10 hours on grid alone of course with everything maxed out graphics intensive games like Metro 2033 ran quite smooth with the little optimization now personally I'm not a big fan and not comfortable using the joysticks for FPS shooters so there's really nothing like using a mouse and keyboard for perfect aiming so that's where the docking station comes in with 3 USB 2 ports HDMI out headphone and microphone jack and a charging port the edge simply is placed on the docking station again we have no clips here this is for easy pickup and go situations but I still have preferred more secure docking mechanism now playing some Max Payne 3 and metro 2033 everything set to normal you get really acceptable frame rates it's just not really comfortable looking down in this 10-inch screen so that's why we have the HDMI port on that docking station connecting this to a larger screen then you have yourself a very powerful and capable computer unfortunately the HDMI cable is not included so the Razer edge formerly known as Project fionna a little less than a year ago has come to life with a great list of features and capabilities gamers now can truly take their game wherever they go because the package is so small now this being the most powerful tablet at the time this review make this a unique and an attractive product especially with the gamepad controller that really brings console type gaming to the next level but we also have to consider the non practical aspects of the Razer edge starting with the tablet itself you really have to either get docking station or the gamepad otherwise it's just too thick tablet which brings me to the next radik and that's the price starting at $1000 for the i5 version four gigs of ram and a 64 gigabyte SSD it simply cannot compete to similarly priced notebooks now you are paying a lot for the gamepad which can hold an extra battery and really provide a unique experience but we also have to talk about price here and that $250 is a lot of money for a required accessory given the gamepad controller was included in the price that's another story but otherwise this makes the Razer edge more of a luxury item than anything else it certainly is an interesting and an innovative product but given mobility is not a priority for most gamers the Razer edge actually may not have that edge to alert customers but it still deserves the hardware canucks damn innovative award so thanks guys for watching and we'll see you in the next one