A tale of two gaming laptops: The x17 vs. the Blade Mk2 | ARS

ARS: Razer's Blade gaming laptop is nothing if not unique. The first version of the attractive-but-expensive laptop launched at a whopping $2,800 and wasn't the fastest laptop on the block. It tried to make up for it with a stylish design and unique touchscreen-turned-trackpad with configurable buttons.

To help see where the Blade falls in context, we'll be comparing its looks, its build quality, and its performance to a more conventional gaming laptop—Digital Storm was kind enough to send us one of their x17 gaming laptops for comparison.

[jetpacksheep]

The blade is such a nice machine but sooo expensive.

[Coach_McGuirk]

i cringe every time i hear someone utter "gaming laptop"

[hellvaguy]

I been gaming on laptops for over 5 years now. The experience is far superior in most aspects to me. I can take it on the go or to work. Most importantly, I get a sore back easily from sitting in desk chairs so with a gaming laptop I can lie in my recliner chair.

I have a Sager notebook that allows you to upgrade any component almost as easily as a desktop. (Sager/Clevo is the only notebook I know of which allows you to do that. I tried replacing graphics cards and wireless cards on ASUS, and they wont let you do any of that).

To me, I cringe whenever I hear someone say desktop pc.

[Coach_McGuirk]

I didn't mean to offend anyone, so I apologize for that. I'm just used to people asking me to advise them on a good gaming laptop, then they'll tell me their budget is $1000..
I'm fully aware of Sager laptops and their quality. If I were to need a good laptop, I'd definitely go for them. What makes you cringe about a desktop pc though? The fact that you can game on them for about $1000 less than a laptop with equal performance?

[hellvaguy]

No need to apologize. Just different opinions floating around.

Your always gunna pay more for laptops vs what you'd get in a desktop which has no size or heat restrictions to hold them back. You can find real good deals on ASUS gaming laptops priced under $1,000 from www.newegg.com, especially if you look under the refurbished section.

Whenever I spec out a desktop, I can never keep it under $2,000 with the monitor. I just like higher parts and get greedy, hehe. But obviously that's a gaming monster in that range. I've resisted pushing the buy it now button for the past few years, because I mainly play online mmo's that don't utilitize all that power.