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We examine the many faces of the Razer Edge.After discovering that Razer had brought along its Razer Edge tablet for gamers to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), we knew had to infiltrate the company's suite at all costs and take a closer look. So, that's exactly what we did. The Razer Edge, if you missed our previous coverage, is the shipping name for what was previously known as Project Fiona. It's a high-end gaming tablet, notebook PC, and console all rolled into one.
Gaming aficionado and Online Editor Jimmy Thang got to see the Razer Edge up close and personal in its many forms. The 2-pound tablet is supposedly the world's most powerful slate. It runs Windows 8 and ships with either an Intel Core i5 dual-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz (Razer Edge) or Core i7 dual-core CPU clocked at 1.9GHz (Razer Edge Pro).
Razer seemed reluctant to talk about how much the system weighs when you attach the keyboard dock (possibly because it won't ship until Q3, and the design may change by that time), which transforms the device into a notebook PC, but the rep did demonstrate how it works as a cover. There's also an extended battery tucked into the keyboard dock.
DiRT Showdown appeared to run smooth on the Razer Edge, which is powered by an Nvidia GeForce GT640M LE. The same was true when the Razer Edge was beaming content to an HDTV.
Razer shared with us the price points of all the different pieces. It breaks down as follows:
See it action below and find out how Razer thinks its tablet compares with Nvidia's Project Shield console. Also be sure to check back often throughout the week for more CES coverage and videos. You can also subscribe to our Youtube channel at MaximumPCMag.
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Comments are closed on this article
gene8
January 21, 2013 at 6:30pm
Why couldn't they find a way to make the side controllers on the Gamepad tablet detachable? That way, the same tablet could be used as the PC table, the gaming tablet, and the console tablet.
SeeThruHead
January 11, 2013 at 7:59pm
I can't help but think that if they had waited just a little bit they could have released a substantially better device. Haswell seems perfect for this, even the integrated GT-3 graphics should best the 640m LE and Haswell is purported to have much lower power draw than Ivy bridge. Only 1 hour of gaming without the gamepad and 2 with it is pretty abysmal. Probably would have been able to make it thinner and lighter (or just add a bigger battery) by using Haswell too.
Ninjawithagun
January 10, 2013 at 11:53am
The idea of having gaming tablets is pretty cool, but the cost of entry is just too high. I personally would buy a 14" gaming laptop for about the same price. The gaming laptop would have a lot more CPU and GPU power than any gaming tablet.
Also, the author made a mistake. Intel Core i7 CPUs are all either quad-core or hexa-core architectures. So in this particular situation, you will pay $300 more for the Razer Edge Pro for a quad-core CPU that is also happens to be clocked at 200Mhz higher than the dual core CPU in the lower Razer Edge model. That makes a huge difference for those that are seriously considering buying either version. More and more games are being developed that take advantage of more than two thread processing states.
Arlips
January 09, 2013 at 9:01pm
I was excited for this until I just learned via this article that the game pad will be sold separately at a whopping $250. I'd previously assumed that at least the more expensive Edge Pro would come with it.
To not come with any accessories at all, including one of the main devices that makes it a gaming tablet, and still charge $1000 at the minimum is asking a bit much.
That aside it still seems like a better buy than the Surface Pro, but $250 just for the game pad? At that price it should have an extended battery inside it like the keyboard accessory will have.
I hope it at least has a stand built in so you can easily prop it up and use your own controller.
Duckster
January 10, 2013 at 2:09am
If you compare the price of the Edge with the competitors I think you'd notice that, for what you get, Razer has priced the Edge around the same price as other tablets, but the Edge will be way better for gaming.
I'd agree that the accessories are a bit expensive, but overall I think the device looks great and it is something that is bringing innovation to the PC market.
RUSENSITIVESWEETNESS
January 09, 2013 at 3:55pm
A hybrid that fairly well justifies its price....Wow.
Cool little device.
