Razer Core, does it make any sense?

[bobhays]

I was watching a dave2d video when he mentioned that the core costs 500 and you could just get an itx computer for the price (without the gpu).

A small itx system wouldn't take up much more space than a core + laptop.

Essentially instead of using everything in your laptop except the gpu, you are only taking advantage of the fact that the laptop has a built in display since everything else (keyboard, speakers, microphone, etc.) can all be factored into the price of the razer core. If you have a laptop without a quad-core i7 you can even include a 1080p monitor in the price of the core.

 

The only time I think the Core makes sense is if you don't have space for an itx setup, but do have space for the core + laptop, or have a quad-core i7 laptop and want to use its display.

Thoughts? Agree or disagree?

[TrigrH]

didnt really read what u said but:

the product makes sense

the price does not.

[don_svetlio]

An ITX system takes up the same amount of space or less but offers MUCH better performance than the shitty ULV chip in the Razer BS - it's a pointless product that nobody should buy.

The idea of eGPU is, quite frankly, bad - either use an ITX rig or get a half-decent gaming laptop - the way they want it to work screws up a lot of firmware, has the PWM-littered screen of the laptop be your main, forces weaker CPUs (at least Razer does) and is an overall MUCH more expensive solution than a laptop with a 980M. The core + Razer BS + 980 costs 2000 - for that money you can get a 980 laptop and have better build quality, better cooling, vastly superior CPU performance and better QC.

[Darel321]

its bad.. and they should feel bad about it

[You_are_a_cunt]

Does anything that Razer plops onto the market these days REALLY make sense? RGB mousepad anyone?

[bobhays]

7 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

didnt really read what u said but:

the product makes sense

the price does not.

6 minutes ago, Darel321 said:

its bad.. and they should feel bad about it

I think external gpu's are a great idea, but only if the enclosure itself doesn't cost a lot. That way you actually save money by using the hardware inside your laptop, basically the whole point of the external gpu. If the enclosure costs as much as a system itself then it's useless.

2 minutes ago, revsilverspine said:

Does anything that Razer plops onto the market these days REALLY make sense? RGB mousepad anyone?

Honestly their laptops are great, but I don't know about anything else. I've tried the blackwidow keyboard which was decent, but don't have too much experience with mechanical keyboards so can't really judge.

[TrigrH]

1 minute ago, bobhays said:

I think external gpu's are a great idea, but only if the enclosure itself doesn't cost a lot. That way you actually save money by using the hardware inside your laptop, basically the whole point of the external gpu. If the enclosure costs as much as a system itself then it's useless.

 

the cost doesn't not make a product useless, if you want to run around with that sweet new intel nuc thing and dock it into a amd GPU with Xconnect why the hell not?

[don_svetlio]

3 minutes ago, bobhays said:

I think external gpu's are a great idea, but only if the enclosure itself doesn't cost a lot. That way you actually save money by using the hardware inside your laptop, basically the whole point of the external gpu. If the enclosure costs as much as a system itself then it's useless.

Honestly their laptops are great, but I don't know about anything else. I've tried the blackwidow keyboard which was decent, but don't have too much experience with mechanical keyboards so can't really judge.

Razer Laptops are anything but great - hot, loud, have crappy build quality, poor quality control, break often, thermal throttle, have bloatware - anything but good....

[bobhays]

1 minute ago, TrigrH said:

the cost doesn't not make a product useless, if you want to run around with that sweet new intel nuc thing and dock it into a amd GPU with Xconnect why the hell not?

Obviously its not literally useless it has a function, but it's basically useless since there's better options. For the price of the dock + nuc you can just get an itx system.

[ShadowCaptain]

7 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

SNIP

Agreed, it makes sense on paper but when you really think about it, for the cost of an ultrabook, dock and GPU, you may aswell just get a laptop with  a proper GPU, and just disable it when you want long battery life (and some have really good battery life)

[bobhays]

Just now, don_svetlio said:

Razer Laptops are anything but great - hot, loud, have crappy build quality, poor quality control, break often, thermal throttle, have bloatware - anything but good....

They do get hot, but not really loud. I love the build quality, don't have enough sample size to judge qc. I've never thermal throttled and I don't remember any bloatware but maybe because that was a while ago.

[don_svetlio]

Just now, bobhays said:

They do get hot, but not really loud. I love the build quality, don't have enough sample size to judge qc. I've never thermal throttled and I don't remember any bloatware but maybe because that was a while ago.

Their 2013 one was okay - the 2014, 2015 and 2016 models all have overheating 100W GPUs - the fan noise is also through the roof.

As for build - many people reporting 3-4 RMAs before finally getting a working blade (again, 2014 onward)

 

1 minute ago, ShadowCaptain said:

Agreed, it makes sense on paper but when you really think about it, for the cost of an ultrabook, dock and GPU, you may aswell just get a laptop with  a proper GPU, and just disable it when you want long battery life (and some have really good battery life)

Exactly - buying a ultrabook + desktop ot just a proper gaming laptop is always a better solution - laptops like the 7559 or Y700 have large batteries that last 5-6 hours of regular usage.

[bobhays]

2 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

Their 2013 one was okay - the 2014, 2015 and 2016 models all have overheating 100W GPUs - the fan noise is also through the roof.

As for build - many people reporting 3-4 RMAs before finally getting a working blade (again, 2014 onward)

 

Exactly - buying a ultrabook + desktop ot just a proper gaming laptop is always a better solution - laptops like the 7559 or Y700 have large batteries that last 5-6 hours of regular usage.

I was speaking from experience of the 2013 one which I love. I guess that does make sense since the gpu's in the recent ones are far more powerful and consume a lot more energy, but build quality should remain the same. Speaking of qc I did have an issue with the webcam but their customer service was fantastic. They fixed it remotely and even sent me some screws I needed.

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, bobhays said:

I was speaking from experience of the 2013 one which I love. I guess that does make sense since the gpu's in the recent ones are far more powerful and consume a lot more energy.

The 75W 765M and 35W 3630QM (that was the CPU IIRC) are a much better mix for a thin laptop than a 100W 970M and 47W 4720HQ

[don_svetlio]

5 minutes ago, bobhays said:

I was speaking from experience of the 2013 one which I love. I guess that does make sense since the gpu's in the recent ones are far more powerful and consume a lot more energy, but build quality should remain the same. Speaking of qc I did have an issue with the webcam but their customer service was fantastic. They fixed it remotely and even sent me some screws I needed.

Razer have dropped the ball a LOT since 2013 - you got the last decent laptop they made. The current QC is abysmal - broken keyboards, broken ports, burned screens, bricked fans I also recall an artifacting GPU being shipped - it's a mess.

Can I ask, what temps do you get under load in say Witcher 3?

[You_are_a_cunt]

The problem with Razer these days is that they spend far too much money on marketing their products, alongside with ridiculous prices on their products.

I remember when I had my first "proper" mouse, the Diamondback Plasma LE, which, to this day, still works like a champ (after a cable transpant that was required due to user mistreatment). I've had multiple Razer products along the years and most of them had issues that either caused them to die or became annoying enough to warrant me selling them for less than half their retail price, putting that money towards peripherals from other brands.

I currently have an abysmal Razer Lycosa Mirror which had gone beyond the point where I can sell it due to the keycaps have gone from black to transparent, an issue that seems to be quite common with multiple keyboards.

I sometimes service/repair or downright salvage components for friends and family and about half the Razer gear I come in contact with is beyond repair. I've had mice that needed repairs vary from changing the sensor to replacing the switches. Mechanical keyboards are a pain to deal with when it comes to borked switches and so on.

 

I like the design of their products, but if I'm going to pay the premium I expect to get quality, which is something that they don't seem to focus on anymore

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, revsilverspine said:

The problem with Razer these days is that they spend far too much money on marketing their products, alongside with ridiculous prices on their products.

I remember when I had my first "proper" mouse, the Diamondback Plasma LE, which, to this day, still works like a champ (after a cable transpant that was required due to user mistreatment). I've had multiple Razer products along the years and most of them had issues that either caused them to die or became annoying enough to warrant me selling them for less than half their retail price, putting that money towards peripherals from other brands.

I currently have an abysmal Razer Lycosa Mirror which had gone beyond the point where I can sell it due to the keycaps have gone from black to transparent, an issue that seems to be quite common with multiple keyboards.

I sometimes service/repair or downright salvage components for friends and family and about half the Razer gear I come in contact with is beyond repair. I've had mice that needed repairs vary from changing the sensor to replacing the switches. Mechanical keyboards are a pain to deal with when it comes to borked switches and so on.

 

I like the design of their products, but if I'm going to pay the premium I expect to get quality, which is something that they don't seem to focus on anymore

Apparently now they burst into flames. Razer is the modern day 2005-Dell
https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/2uxrju/my_tale_of_woe_with_my_new_razer_blade/

[You_are_a_cunt]

1 minute ago, don_svetlio said:

Apparently now they burst into flames. Razer is the modern day 2005-Dell
https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/2uxrju/my_tale_of_woe_with_my_new_razer_blade/

I've only touched a Blade once and it gave me a macbook on steroids vide. Bad juju there.

[don_svetlio]

Just now, revsilverspine said:

I've only touched a Blade once and it gave me a macbook on steroids vide. Bad juju there.

Surprised your hand wasn't burned to a crisp by the Green Furnace

[ShadowCaptain]

14 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

Exactly - buying a ultrabook + desktop ot just a proper gaming laptop is always a better solution - laptops like the 7559 or Y700 have large batteries that last 5-6 hours of regular usage.

some gaming laptops like the XPS13 have like 11 hours (idle)

And yeah then build a cheap i5 desktop with a dedicated GPU

I mean the concept of it being like "plugging" in a gpu is great, but the fact you need a GPU, Case and PSU, you may aswell just have a desktop anyway

If they can make the enclosure like the size of an external HDD, and like £100, then I would say external GPU makes sense MORE so

Then again, the fact that you cannot use a graphics card when mobile ruins the whole "laptop" idea for me anyway, I need my graphics card at all times when on the road, not just when sat at my desk

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, ShadowCaptain said:

some gaming laptops like the XPS13 have like 11 hours (idle)

And yeah then build a cheap i5 desktop with a dedicated GPU

I mean the concept of it being like "plugging" in a gpu is great, but the fact you need a GPU, Case and PSU, you may aswell just have a desktop anyway

If they can make the enclosure like the size of an external HDD, and like £100, then I would say external GPU makes sense MORE so

Then again, the fact that you cannot use a graphics card when mobile ruins the whole "laptop" idea for me anyway, I need my graphics card at all times when on the road, not just when sat at my desk

Exactly - I feel that the current 960M is the silver lining between portable and powerful - maybe even a 970M when done properly (GS60 Ghost Pro) but not when you do it with a "Stove is Okay" mentality ala Razer

[ShadowCaptain]

4 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

Exactly - I feel that the current 960M is the silver lining between portable and powerful - maybe even a 970M when done properly (GS60 Ghost Pro) but not when you do it with a "Stove is Okay" mentality ala Razer

yeah like the GS40 Phantom is 14" super light, decent enough build for most, nice display, pretty cheap, and has 5 hours of usable battery which is awesome and it has a 970m which is killer

here in the UK it costs £1200, which is a bargain for what is inside

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, ShadowCaptain said:

yeah like the GS40 Phantom is 14" super light, decent enough build for most, nice display, pretty cheap, and has 5 hours of usable battery which is awesome

Personally, 15.6' is the sweetspot for me

[bobhays]

20 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

Razer have dropped the ball a LOT since 2013 - you got the last decent laptop they made. The current QC is abysmal - broken keyboards, broken ports, burned screens, bricked fans I also recall an artifacting GPU being shipped - it's a mess.

Can I ask, what temps do you get under load in say Witcher 3?

I don't have witcher 3 installed but in metro 2033 I get 75C on the gpu.

[don_svetlio]

1 minute ago, bobhays said:

I don't have witcher 3 installed but in metro 2033 I get 75C on the gpu.

What about the CPU?