Razer Blade (2012)

81% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Fast and powerfulExcellent build qualitySlim, beautiful designGood battery life (for a gaming laptop)

Audio is still lackluster (though it has improved)Switchblade UI has potential, but needs work

It's hard to hit the market with a self-given description as the "world's first true gaming laptop" only to get knocked down by critics. Subpar audio, a finicky hinge and crippled performance were all common complaints about the original Razer Blade....

Thin and light ; Slim, sturdy design ; Customizable LCD macro keys

Very expensive ; Runs hot ; Poor keyboard ; Switchblade UI lacks game support

Unrivaled portability for a gaming laptop. Innovative Switchblade UI. Decent gaming performance. Intel Core i7-3632QM quad-core processor. Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M graphics processor. Hybrid drive provides speedy performance.

Expensive, given the components. No optical drive. No traditional number pad. Small hard drive.

Unlike most laptops, there is no touchpad on the palmrest, nor is there a numeric pad to the right of the keyboard. Instead, the Blade is equipped with one of Razer's biggest gaming innovations, the Switchblade interface.

Gorgeous design (even cribbed) ; Solid build ; Hugely customizable keys ; Awesome secondary displays

So-so keyboard and touchpad ; Gaming performance doesn't justify price tag ; Terrible speakers ; Switchblade UI buggy and incomplete

A good first effort

The ; has a slim design with a powerful combination of fourth-gen quad-core Intel processor and Nvidia graphics; battery life is strong, too.

A lackluster low-resolution, nontouch display doesn't fit the high-end design. The baseline 128GB SSD for $1,800 isn’t sufficient for a gaming PC; you'd better pony up for the 256GB or 512GB model.

Ditching gimmicks and delivering on function, Razer's slim 14-inch gaming laptop marries true power and good battery life in an excellent PC. All it lacks a stellar display.

The ; has a slim design with a powerful combination of fourth-gen quad-core Intel processor and Nvidia graphics; battery life is strong, too.

A lackluster low-resolution, nontouch display doesn't fit the high-end design. The baseline 128GB SSD for $1,800 isn’t sufficient for a gaming PC; you'd better pony up for the 256GB or 512GB model.

Ditching gimmicks and delivering on function, Razer's slim 14-inch gaming laptop marries true power and good battery life in an excellent PC. All it lacks a stellar display.

The latest ; has improved graphics and a quad-core, more powerful Core i7 processor in the same thin body, with an excellent 17-inch 1080p display.

The new Blade costs $300 less than the first one, but it's still very expensive compared with competitors. The unique Switchblade UI touch-screen interface doesn't have enough game support to be a killer app.

Faster and better than before, the improved Razer Blade is a better gaming laptop in an impressively thin form, but you're paying for design over practicality.

The ; has a thin, sleek design, an excellent 17-inch display, fast bootup times, and unique touch-pad UI with a lot of potential for gamers.

The innovative Switchblade UI LED buttons are hard to customize, and the Blade has underpowered graphics for its price.

Razer's first laptop, the Razer Blade, is a thin gaming computer with some futuristic design touches, but a high price means you're paying for design -- and for the second-screen signature Switchblade UI interface that doesn't do as much as we hoped it...