Razer's Edge: Battery Life And Conclusion
The Edge can do what no other tablet can currently match, and that's a viable argument in favor of its price premium. The games Razer had out on display, DiRT Showdown and Rift, ran smoothly at high detail settings. In Home Console Mode on a large television screen, the Edge drove Dishonored at 1920x1080 with no performance issues.
With all of that said, we know a little something about PC gaming hardware, and it won't be difficult to find titles able to push a GeForce GT 640M LE beyond its limits at 1920x1080, or even at the display's native 1366x768. This is the best graphics processor you'll find in a tablet, but it's not a high-end component by notebook standards. On the desktop (one of this device's proposed usage models), the GeForce chip would barely be considered an adequate entry-level GPU. So, you can't expect miracles from the Edge.
How about battery life? Power is what makes or breaks a mobile device, after all. Razer tells us to expect between four to six hours of run time from the Edge if you're cruising around on the Windows desktop. It'll only last about an hour if you're gaming on it, though. The extended battery pack adds another 40 Wh of capacity, and can stretch you out to two hours of gaming, at best. Even then, using the extended battery means buying a Keyboard Dock or Gampad Controller to mount it in.
Alas, physics catches up to the dream of 3D gaming during a cross-country flight. Razer, your customers were willing to buy a device two times heavier and two times thicker than an iPad. I think they probably would have accepted a nice, big battery to keep the party going a little longer.
Despite its idiosyncrasies and compromises, I still want Razer's Edge more than any other tablet that exists. The reason is simple: it's the only one capable of playing enthusiast-class games, and I'm a gamer.
For me, the ideal application of this thing would be keeping it on a docking station with a keyboard and a mouse as a lightweight desktop, with the versatility to take out for short jaunts whenever a tablet could come in useful.
But as with most innovative ideas, I'm more excited about what the Edge might become in a couple of generations as Intel and Nvidia further improve performance at lower power ceilings. If Razer were to bundle an Edge 3.0 with a docking station for the same price and give it a few hours of battery life in games, it'd be the home run I thought it'd be the first time I saw it.
Razer says the Edge will be available for purchase before the end of this quarter. We're looking forward to taking it for a spin, and getting a better sense for how it compares to the Shield and Surface Pro.
Related Stories :
- Project Fiona Now the Razer Edge: A Full-on Gaming Tablet
- Razer Assesing Interest On 'Project Fiona' Gaming Tablet
- Razer's 'Project Fiona' Gaming Tablet Concept is Awesome
- Razer Edge Gaming Tablet Will Ship with Steam
- Razer Edge: Hands-On With The x86 Gaming Tablet At CES 2013
- Razer Giving Away Edge Pro Gaming Tablet
- Razer Edge Tablet Pre-Orders Finally Begin Next Month
- Razer Teases Final Project Fiona Hardware Specs
- Facebook Users Give Razer's Project Fiona the Go Ahead
- Hands-on: Razer Edge is a Whole New Class of Device
I could actually see this being useful for long trips with children. Although, this makes for an expensive pacifier...
Precisely. And this is why Razer Edge is going to fail on release.
It would have been better if they had waited and put in a Haswell CPU in it.
I'm a gamer, and I do a lot of business travel, so the Edge appeals to me for use on airline flights. My only concerns are about the battery life and whether its comfortable to hold with the game controller for extended periods of time.
I wonder whether someone could build a device that was only a 7" or 10" screen attached to a game controller with HDMI and USB connections. Combine that with a gaming laptop and a huge battery that could fit in a laptop case under the seat in front of you. Then you would get both light weight and extending gaming time. Obviously, you're not going to fit an M18x down there, but something like a W110ER with a 200 watt-hour battery could work nicely.
Hmm. I'd never, never buy one of these, but I sincerely hope it succeeds.
Why? Simple. If it does, then there will be more people wanting to play split screen games on the windows OS. That means that there will be more of said games made, which means I win.
I dont understand. Is the batterylife extended with 2 hours gaming with the additional batterypack, or is it extended with one hour of gaming?
Both batterys are the same size, but all reports about batterylife says different things.
Usually its 1-2hours of gaming with 6-8 hours non gaming tablet use.
But does this mean 2-4 hours of gaming and 12-14 hours of normal use with the extended battery pack, or does it mean 30 minutes to one hour of gaming and 3-4 hours of normal use without the extra battery?
I also want to know how easy it is to pause the game, pop out the tablet from the mobile controller dock, change battery in the dock, and pop the tablet back.
If this is easy to do, and if the batterylife of one battery is 1-2 hours of gaming and 6-8 normal use, i will not see batterylife as a problem. I will just buy some extra batteries for 5-10 hours of gaming and 30 - 40 hours of tablet use. But i will skip this machine if batterylife of one battery is 30min -1 hour of gaming, and instead hope others will buy and wait for the second generation razer edge.
I like it .. and all people who say negative things about it , like Battery life , and wait for next CPU .. wake UP
this thing STILL HAS HD4000 , and you CAN shutdown the 640M GPU , and use the HD4000 for battery life like any tablet in the market.
and when there is a POWER source near you ... plug it and use the 640M , like in Trains , Planes , etc ...
but I tell you somthing , some people who "want it" and cat have it , are ....
I dont understand. Is the batterylife extended with 2 hours gaming with the additional batterypack, or is it extended with one hour of gaming?
Depends on the game.
But demanding games will be 1 hour of battery life out of the package, and 2 hours with the extended battery.
Depends on the game. But demanding games will be 1 hour of battery life out of the package, and 2 hours with the extended battery.
Sorry but that is just not going to cut it especially for the mobile gaming market (which what this appears to be targeting).
This is a great idea but technology and pricing just are not quite there yet. This needs to be capable of gaming on the standard batter for ~3hours and they need to be able to package the thing with the gaming dock for $1000
This is a great idea but technology and pricing just are not quite there yet. This needs to be capable of gaming on the standard batter for ~3hours and they need to be able to package the thing with the gaming dock for $1000
Sounds like our conclusion.
"the Edge drove Uncharted at 1920x1080 with no performance issues."
Did I read correctly that you were playing Uncharted on a PC?
Wonder why i got the dislikes...
Thanx for your answer Cleeve!
If batterylife of one battery is not going below one hour when i stress the hardware in a demanding game, i will surely by the pro version and some extra batteries. Im starting to look forward to this. What im actually is going to use it for is connecting it with the home console dock, and use it to perform digital improvisational music live at different places. Easy to bring around, and it has a cpu that handles heavy audio processing. I can also connect a portable projector and show visuals. I will use a razer hydra for live modulation of sounds. It will be a great portable instrument that i also can game on, make notes and surf the web while on the go. At home i can connect it to a good keyboard and use it to type texts, more like an office computer, and i will also use it as a htpc/console for my telly. I guess its a not so bad move from the weak first generation atom netbook i use for everything right now.
Did you notice if it was difficult to change batteries on the dock?
Im hoping its as easy as changing tapes on a ghetto blaster
Did I read correctly that you were playing Uncharted on a PC?
Derp Derp! It was Dishonored. Fixed.
Sorry, I transcribed it directly from the audio recording I took during the demo. Someone in the Razer demo room misnamed the game in the interview.
Did you notice if it was difficult to change batteries on the dock?
it's not hard to change the battery, but the battery requires the Mobile Console (gamepad attachment) to sit in.
I suppose in theory you could have a couple of batteries with you, but at $80 a pop for each extra hour, that's going to get heavy and expensive fast...
"the Edge drove Uncharted at 1920x1080 with no performance issues."Did I read correctly that you were playing Uncharted on a PC?
odd, I read that an immediately thought, dishonored.
I think Alienware X11 beats this in general.
Why not partner with someone and build a battery into a laptop bag (maybe Slappa hardbody) made to fit? I am on an m14x, which is great, but you can't exactly walk into the shitter at work with it. A Vita or 3ds fits nicely into a pocket and a tablet, well at least you'll be perceived as doing something productive. I like to game while in the car while my wife drives, so hopefully the draw won't blow my car outlet fuses. Don't really want to game on battery, but as long as I can take it to the gym and watch movies while I do my cardio, this would be the device for me.
What I'd like to see is a tablet that allows me to plug in an external gpu of my liking. It would be nice to have a tablet/hybrid to take to work every day and bring home, dock, plug in a gtx 670 or 7950 and game away.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/l [...] 17520.html + tablet plz.
i do like the idea of handheld gaming, but the price is a bit too steep for me to consider purchasing, ill be looking prob at the nvidia based tegra4 handheld system,