Razer Blade 2023 edition

[maflynn]

Trackpads are mistakenly registering input due to poor palm rejection

I had an earlier Razer blade (a generation earlier then my current model) and it was horrible with palm rejection. That being said, I can say easily that this isn't a new problem. Maybe some software/driver update will clear that up.

For me, I rarely use my laptops with the trackpad, Mouse only so as long as I can adjust the sensitivity or do something so the trackpad doesn't interfere I'll be happy.

 

[pshufd]

The 18 inch with 4K sounds interesting. I wonder what it weighs though. I'm sure that it would fit in my 2008 MacBook Pro 17 inch laptop bag as it would probably be smaller than my old laptop.

 

[GoldfishRT]

It's really interesting to me that they also refreshed the 15" instead of axing it. I guess it makes sense with where they're positioning these product's prices.

The main appeal of these remains that I could replace two devices with one. But, I rather like my small gaming desktop and the old 2018 MacBook keeps trucking (and now has a new keyboard, battery, and top case thanks to the repair program).

That said, if I were to downsize my life I would be hard pressed to pick between the current MBP and one of these.

 

[nikster0029]

Razer Blade 18 Firmware and Blade 16 and 18 Screen Flicker and Image Retention Updates | Razer Insider

Hey Everyone, For those of you experiencing trackpad issues and palm rejection on the Blade 18 there’s a new firmware update that may help resolve those issues: Razer Blade 18" (2023) | RZ09-0484x Support Furthermore, for those of you with Screen Flicker and Image Retention issues on your Blade...

insider.razer.com

Good news, fixes for all the issues I previously listed

 

[maflynn]

So far, it seems that feedback, and reviews that I've seen - both professional and personal all seem rather positive for the 16"

I've seen less about the 18"

The cheapest 18" is 2,900 and the cheapest 16" is 2,700. Everything is equal, but I believe the 16" uses a mini-led display (I'm not entirely sure the base mode does - will need to confirm). I know the 18" doesn't use the min-led displays at all. With my aging eyes, the 18" getting to be a temptation, but traveling with that monstrosity would be a struggle. I have Amazon and Amex rewards + plus work gives me $$ for a new computer. So I may take the plunge. I need to see if Microcenter has both the 18" and 16" on display.

If I were to get a 16" model, I'd probably opt for the RTX 4070, but keeping this under 3k is a must

 

[1BadManVan]

So far, it seems that feedback, and reviews that I've seen - both professional and personal all seem rather positive for the 16"

I've seen less about the 18"

The cheapest 18" is 2,900 and the cheapest 16" is 2,700. Everything is equal, but I believe the 16" uses a mini-led display (I'm not entirely sure the base mode does - will need to confirm). I know the 18" doesn't use the min-led displays at all. With my aging eyes, the 18" getting to be a temptation, but traveling with that monstrosity would be a struggle. I have Amazon and Amex rewards + plus work gives me $$ for a new computer. So I may take the plunge. I need to see if Microcenter has both the 18" and 16" on display.

If I were to get a 16" model, I'd probably opt for the RTX 4070, but keeping this under 3k is a must
View attachment 2172344

The base 16” blade doesn’t have the mini led. Mini led is the UHD screen that can be turned down to 1080p with the higher refresh rate. Which is the $3300 model, the $3k model with the 4070 is the regular ips display

 

[maflynn]

is the regular ips display

Great, thanks for the clarification and correction

 

[nikster0029]

Purchased the 16”, 4090 model with the mini-led display the day I mentioned the fixes were released for the computers from Micro Center. I have attached some photos. The computer performs so well, that it is equivalent in performance to the 3090 GPU in my NZXT PC from 1 year ago. The only difference is the noise from the fans compared to the whisper quiet operation of my PC. Going to run some undervolting and see what I can do, but Razer finally released a keeper for me.

 

[1BadManVan]

Purchased the 16”, 4090 model with the mini-led display the day I mentioned the fixes were released for the computers from Micro Center. I have attached some photos. The computer performs so well, that it is equivalent in performance to the 3090 GPU in my NZXT PC from 1 year ago. The only difference is the noise from the fans compared to the whisper quiet operation of my PC. Going to run some undervolting and see what I can do, but Razer finally released a keeper for me.

I'll have to keep my wife from seeing this release or she'll find a reason to upgrade her blade 15 lol

 

[maflynn]

Purchased the 16”, 4090 model with the mini-led display the day

You're killing me - I don't need any more temptation

Congrats on your new baby

Going to run some undervolting and see what I can do, but Razer finally released a keeper for me.

How's the fan noise, when the laptop is on idle? I have my current razer set up, where the fans are not noticable under normal conditions

 

[nikster0029]

You're killing me - I don't need any more temptation

Congrats on your new baby

How's the fan noise, when the laptop is on idle? I have my current razer set up, where the fans are not noticable under normal conditions

I will get back to you on it! Going to try it out not gaming today

 

[Vref]

I have a asus ROG, got to be 4yrs old now, still plenty fast for everything I do, including the occasional first person shooter, though that razer is impressive if I was going to upgrade

 

[maflynn]

I have a asus ROG, got to be 4yrs old now, still plenty fast for everything

My razer is about 3 years old. I'm finding 16GB of ram to be an impediment. Many of the games I play seem decent enough, while no where near as powerful as the 40 series RTX card, the RTX 2070 seems ok enough. Its really the larger screen, and more ram that is tempting me.

 

[1BadManVan]

My razer is about 3 years old. I'm finding 16GB of ram to be an impediment. Many of the games I play seem decent enough, while no where near as powerful as the 40 series RTX card, the RTX 2070 seems ok enough. Its really the larger screen, and more ram that is tempting me.

Can always just bump up the ram. We did that last year on my wife’s blade 15, bumped it to 32gb ram. Ram prices are getting cheaper finally

 

[nikster0029]

My razer is about 3 years old. I'm finding 16GB of ram to be an impediment. Many of the games I play seem decent enough, while no where near as powerful as the 40 series RTX card, the RTX 2070 seems ok enough. Its really the larger screen, and more ram that is tempting me.

I have to say that the computer is somewhat loud unless you specifically put it in silent mode, which solves the issue.

 

[maflynn]

Can always just bump up the ram.

Yeah that's certainly in the cards. I'm in no rush, but I need to contemplate how best to proceed. I don't want to put money into this laptop and then buy a new one. Given the high cost, the odds are getting a new one isn't all that high

I have to say that the computer is somewhat loud unless you specifically put it in silent mode, which solves the issue.

I suspected as much. I don't have those modes for my Razer but I have the undervolting set and I can also disable turbo, and that actually keeps things very quiet

 

[1BadManVan]

Yeah that's certainly in the cards. I'm in no rush, but I need to contemplate how best to proceed. I don't want to put money into this laptop and then buy a new one. Given the high cost, the odds are getting a new one isn't all that high

I suspected as much. I don't have those modes for my Razer but I have the undervolting set and I can also disable turbo, and that actually keeps things very quiet

You don’t have the razer synapse app? You can manually control the fan settings that way with it, also different preset modes.

I also find turning hers to balanced mode really keeps the fans at bay for just using it for office work. Then can crank it back to best performance when you’re gaming

 

[maflynn]

You don’t have the razer synapse app? You can manually control the fan settings that way with it, also different preset modes.

Yes I do but I have less features. I think each model has a slightly different take on synapse.

My ability to control the fans is somewhat limited

 

[maflynn]

This review says mostly what other reviewers have already stated but they mentioned a couple of things.
1. Image retention. This was resolved with an update by razer. So that's not an issue now
2. Synapse is a horrible application that sometimes stops working. That was my case, I've needed to uninstall and reinstall.

Overall, I'm not seeing the value for the dual resolution option - this reviewer mentioned that you need to reboot when choosing the native 1080p or the 4k. Its probably not really noticeable playing the games at 1080p using the 4k resolution option, that is most people will not reboot or really take advantage of the dual displays - just my $.02

 

[maflynn]

You don’t have the razer synapse app? You can manually control the fan settings that way with it, also different preset modes.

My Synapse app is different, I think because its based on your machine, that is newer machines have more or different options.
For me, I have Balanced and custom.
For Balanced I can set the fans to automatic or manual. Sadly with the manual fans the slowest speeds for the fan is 3,700 and they're very audible. Balanced mode offers me near silent operation (when I'm not gaming)

For custom I can only set the CPU/GPU speeds, no fan adjustments. So even with the settings turned low, the laptop is particularly noisy even at idle. I opted for balanced with auto fans and that gives me the best result

 

[nikster0029]

This review says mostly what other reviewers have already stated but they mentioned a couple of things.
1. Image retention. This was resolved with an update by razer. So that's not an issue now
2. Synapse is a horrible application that sometimes stops working. That was my case, I've needed to uninstall and reinstall.

Overall, I'm not seeing the value for the dual resolution option - this reviewer mentioned that you need to reboot when choosing the native 1080p or the 4k. Its probably not really noticeable playing the games at 1080p using the 4k resolution option, that is most people will not reboot or really take advantage of the dual displays - just my $.02

Agreed with you on those points. Good thing is Razer released an update to Synapse two nights ago that fixed a majority of problems. It was horrible before I updated. I have yet to experience one bug yet with the computer since I installed the 3 significant updates at the time of purchase (Bios update, screen retention update, and trackpad update).

I also do not see a point to the dual resolution mode. I have yet to try the 1080p 240hz mode because the laptop is capable of putting up insane numbers in 4k. Apex legends is 200 fps with an undervolt plus GPU overclock. Valorant is also at 300fps average at 4k. Fortnite is 120 FPS at 4k. All maxed out graphics.

 

[nearfield]

I also do not see a point to the dual resolution mode. I have yet to try the 1080p 240hz mode because the laptop is capable of putting up insane numbers in 4k. Apex legends is 200 fps with an undervolt plus GPU overclock.

How do you undervolt these newer systems? I thought Windows 11 prevented you from doing that. I used to undervolt a non-gaming HP Elitebook, but a BIOS update made that impossible.

 

[SteveJUAE]

My Synapse app is different, I think because its based on your machine, that is newer machines have more or different options.
For me, I have Balanced and custom.
For Balanced I can set the fans to automatic or manual. Sadly with the manual fans the slowest speeds for the fan is 3,700 and they're very audible. Balanced mode offers me near silent operation (when I'm not gaming)
View attachment 2173568

For custom I can only set the CPU/GPU speeds, no fan adjustments. So even with the settings turned low, the laptop is particularly noisy even at idle. I opted for balanced with auto fans and that gives me the best result
View attachment 2173569

Yep, and I hate the way my keyboard lights cycle colours on start up until synapse loads my custom setting of blue

 

[RedTheReader]

Am I insane? I don’t have time for a full write up right now, but I tried one of these things, and honestly, I found the keyboard, speakers and screen to be lagging behind my MacBook. The keyboard, in particular, while better than the abysmal one on the Blade 14, is still weirdly mushy compared to the Mac’s keyboard. The speakers, while not expected to compete with the current MacBooks, pale in comparison to the 13 inch I had a back in 2017. The screen’s colors were off, and the miniLED, while incredible, was hampered by the matte coating.

I don’t know, am I expecting too much? I just take these basic things for granted on the MacBook, and want the bigger things to be done well which they are on windows machines, but not here. But then on these windows machines, the basic things aren’t done well.

 

[SteveJUAE]

Am I insane? I don’t have time for a full write up right now, but I tried one of these things, and honestly, I found the keyboard, speakers and screen to be lagging behind my MacBook. The keyboard, in particular, while better than the abysmal one on the Blade 14, is still weirdly mushy compared to the Mac’s keyboard. The speakers, while not expected to compete with the current MacBooks, pale in comparison to the 13 inch I had a back in 2017. The screen’s colors were off, and the miniLED, while incredible, was hampered by the matte coating.

I don’t know, am I expecting too much? I just take these basic things for granted on the MacBook, and want the bigger things to be done well which they are on windows machines, but not here. But then on these windows machines, the basic things aren’t done well.

Yes, your comparing an expensive boutique gaming focus laptop with a high cost consumer productivity laptop aimed at some creatives thats crying out for OLED and has taken 5 years to fix its keyboards LOL