A tale of two gaming laptops: The x17 vs. the Blade Mk2

News · 12-20-12, 10:40 AM

How does the Razer Blade Mk2 (right) stand up to a heavy, powerful gaming laptop?
Andrew Cunningham

Razer's Blade gaming laptop is nothing if not unique. The first version of the attractive-but-expensive laptop launched at a whopping $2,800 and wasn't the fastest laptop on the block. It tried to make up for it with a stylish design and unique touchscreen-turned-trackpad with configurable buttons.

The revised Blade doesn't change this equation much, but it is a nice refinement of what came before. More power-efficient chips from Intel and Nvidia (as well as a redesigned ventilation system) help with heat issues while boosting performance. A slight price drop (to $2,500) helps with the pricing issue.

To help see where the Blade falls in context, we'll be comparing its looks, its build quality, and its performance to a more conventional gaming laptop'Digital Storm was kind enough to send us one of their x17 gaming laptops for comparison. The x17, which is really just a branded version of Clevo's P170EM, is a gaming laptop in the traditional sense: big, bulky, and only relatively "portable."

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12-20-12, 10:40 AM	#1
News Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 34,563	A tale of two gaming laptops: The x17 vs. the Blade Mk2 How does the Razer Blade Mk2 (right) stand up to a heavy, powerful gaming laptop? Andrew Cunningham Razer's Blade gaming laptop is nothing if not unique. The first version of the attractive-but-expensive laptop launched at a whopping $2,800 and wasn't the fastest laptop on the block. It tried to make up for it with a stylish design and unique touchscreen-turned-trackpad with configurable buttons. The revised Blade doesn't change this equation much, but it is a nice refinement of what came before. More power-efficient chips from Intel and Nvidia (as well as a redesigned ventilation system) help with heat issues while boosting performance. A slight price drop (to $2,500) helps with the pricing issue. To help see where the Blade falls in context, we'll be comparing its looks, its build quality, and its performance to a more conventional gaming laptop'Digital Storm was kind enough to send us one of their x17 gaming laptops for comparison. The x17, which is really just a branded version of Clevo's P170EM, is a gaming laptop in the traditional sense: big, bulky, and only relatively "portable." Read 31 remaining paragraphs \| Comments More...