Razer Expands Blade 15 Gaming Laptop Lineup
Ron Perillo / 6 years ago
New Base and Mercury White Model
Razer is further expanding their Razer 15 gaming laptop line with the addition of two new models. These are the ‘Base model’ and a new ‘Mercury White’ model. Making the initially announced Blade 15 essentially the new ‘Advanced’ model.
What is Different Between the Base and the Advanced model?
This new Base model strips away some features to bring the notebook down to a lower price. It still retains the sturdy aluminium frame and includes a dual storage configuration with a m.2 SSD + 2.5-inch HDD. So it has both high speed and generous storage capacity for game installation. Both storage options are also upgradeable unlike the Advanced model which only has a single SSD.
For connectivity, the Base model has built-in 802.11ac WiFi but has an Ethernet port as well. This lets users dock their laptop and attach it to a more consistent wired network whenever possible.
Concessions were also made on the keyboard backlighting. Although the Base model still has RGB LED backlight, it is only has single-zone lighting. Meanwhile, the Advanced version has per-key Razer Chroma backlighting.
As for the core hardware, this Base model combines an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H CPU with 16 GB of upgradeable system memory. Moreover, the display uses a a 15.6-inch thin bezel Full HD (1920 x 1080) 60 Hz refresh rate display, powered by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q design GPU.
What is New About the Mercury White Model?
The new Mercury White limited edition model offers the same configuration as the Advanced model. Except of course with the contrasting white colour, making it a unique gaming laptop. The entire chassis has a matte white finish, but the USB ports are all black. There is a tone-on-tone non-illuminated three-snake logo at the back as well. In comparison, the standard Blade laptop comes with a matte black finish with Razer green USB ports and LED lit logo.
The keyboard is also RGB backlit and it also retains the same CNC aluminium chassis base with vapor chamber cooling for the internal hardware. It is available now with 8th gen Intel Core i7 CPU options, along with the choice of either NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or 1070 Max-Q design GPU.
Its 15.6-inch screen uses a full-HD (1920 x 1080) 144Hz panel, and it ships with 512GB SDD as well as 16GB of RAM.
How Much are these New Blade 15 Models?
The Blade 15 Base model configuration will be available for purchase starting October 10, 2018. US, Canada and China will get it first, followed by EU and APAC by November 2018. This Base model configuration includes a 128GB SSD and 1TB HDD for $1,599 USD. The 256GB SSD with 2TB HDD model costs $1,799 USD.
As for Mercury White Limited Edition model, it will be available for purchase in Q4 2018. However, it is only available exclusively from Razer in the US and Canada. The GTX 1060 Max-Q version starts at $2,199 USD, while the GTX 1070 Max-Q version costs $2,599).
