Razer has announced that its Razer Blade laptop now comes in a touchy-feely Windows 8 flavor, but customers can still stick with the older Windows 7 Home Premium platform if they're not ready for the new experience. This gaming laptop costs $2,499.99, but it doesn't even sport a touchscreen to take advantage of the new Windows 8 Modern UI environment.
Razer's portable gaming rig sports a 17.3-inch Full HD LED-backlit screen, an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor with Hyper-Threading (2.2 GHz base, 3.2 GHz Turbo), the Intel HM77 Express chipset, 8 GB of DDR3 memory @ 1600 MHz, a 64 GB SSD with NVELO Dataplex software and a 500 GB 7200RPM HDD. It also packs an integrated Intel GMA HD GPU for normal every-day use and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M GPU with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM for gaming and other graphically-intense processing.
If the price of that laptop is too steep, Razer also offers a cheaper $1,999.99 version, packed with a 17.3-inch Full HD LED-backlit screen, an Intel Core i7 dual-core processor with Hyper-Threading (2.8 GHz base, 3.5 GHz Turbo), the Intel HM65 Express chipset and 8 GB of DDR3 memory @ 1333 MHz. On the GPU front, it has integrated Intel GMA HD graphics for typical computing, and an Nvidia GeForce GT 555M GPU with 2 GB of DDR5 VRAM for gaming. This model does not offer Windows 8.
"The Razer Blade is only 0.88-inches thin, less than half the thickness of traditional gaming laptops of comparable performance," the company said. "Combined with an ultra-slim power supply, the entire system weighs less than seven pounds, less than half the weight of other gaming laptops, making it the lowest profile, lightest gaming laptop of its class. The Razer Blade features equivalent performance to some of the most powerful traditional gaming laptops, but at a fraction of their size and weight."
In addition to adding Windows 8 to its pricier gaming notebook, the company revealed its lineup of 2013/2014 mouse mats including the Razer Invicta, Razer Manticor, Razer Destructor 2 and Razer Megasoma 2. The company said these mats were engineered with new construction methods, and treated with all-new performance-boosting sensor-reactive surface coatings.
For more information about the Razer Blade gaming laptop, head here.
