Gadgetory

well this is David with the verge and this is the new razor blade razor has always been known for making gaming mice and gaming keyboards and crazy Windows gaming tablets like the edge but this time it's built an even crazier gaming laptop the goal is simple this is the Alienware 14 a gaming laptop that's 1.6 inches thick and this is a MacBook Air Razer wants to bridge the gap between the two and then add some more on top of it using practically the same components as the Alienware in a thin aluminum frame the 14 inch razor blade is attempting to completely merge gaming laptop and Ultrabook into one awesome machine the craziest part is that razor might have pulled it off then laptops are always filled with compromises but they're surprisingly few here for instance the fully customizable keyboard is a little bit shallow but typing is still quick and accurate the touchpad is really smooth though it has some trouble with responsiveness and it's not quite the silkiest we've seen the laptops frame is solid and durable and its hinge has just the right amount of weight and tension so that it stays in place but doesn't jostle the laptop when you lift the lid the speaker's aren't going to win any awards but they do provide pleasingly wide audio for games the biggest thing missing is ports there's no SD slot and no Ethernet jack among a bunch of other omissions but really if there's anything to harp on it's the blade 1600 by 900 screen which isn't quite as sharp as we'd like and has fairly poor viewing angles too but the combination of low resolution and high performance in the blade does mean the most demanding games run perfectly Borderlands 2 and Max Payne 3 runs smoothly at 60 frames per second even at very high settings and even battlefield 3 is playable on ultra in a pinch and yes it can play crysis 3 the aluminum frame helps a little bit to dissipate the heat from the processors but it also directs that heat straight to your hands and lap the worst-hit is on the back edge of the laptop which probably won't be in direct contact with your body but should still be avoided at all costs then there's the price to consider at $799 the 14 inch blade cost more than many beefier gaming laptops and $300 more than a similarly configured Alienware 14 which comes with a much better screen anyway and sensibly there's no space for a full harddrive you'll have to shell out 2 grand for the version with a 256 gigabyte solid state drive if you want to install more than a handful of games that's way out of the reach of most ultrabook buyers this is still very much a gamers laptop but it's a gamers laptop that's never really existed before if you're looking for a stylish windows computer that can fit in a messenger bag get hours of battery-life and still play all the games you can think of there's really no other choice out there razor has been trying to meld thin and powerful for years but this time it's finally built a blade that's worthy of the name