Razer Blade: “the world’s first true gaming laptop”

Gaming peripherals company Razer finally took the wraps off their first PC, giving it an awesome name – the “Razer Blade,” get it? – and a similarly awesome spec. Naturally, it’s built for gaming, but unlike every other high-end “gaming” system with an edgy design and high-end graphics, when Razer set out to design a gaming laptop, they actually meant it.

The edgy design is there: despite the large form factor brought about by the 17-inch screen, the Blade is relatively slim and light with a .88 inch-thick aluminum body that weighs in at 6.97 pounds. The specs are also spot-on for gaming, with a system that runs on Intel’s 2.8GHz Core i7 2640M, 8GB of RAM and NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 555M graphics with 2GB memory running the show.

Here’s where the “gaming” part really comes into play: the Blade features the Switchblade UI, which consists of an LCD touchscreen and ten customizable buttons to the right of the backlit keyboard.

The idea was basically pulled off the Switchblade concept they showed at CES: the LCD screen can be used to display in-game info (like a map, player status or inventory), or used as an “ultra-sensitive” multi-touch panel for regular mouse-pointing duties. The ten adaptive keys above the LCD can be programmed to run macros and shortcuts, but can be set to show specific icons for the game you’re playing. The UI can be loaded with predefined game profiles for popular titles such as Battlefield 3, Rift, etc.

The rest of the spec includes a 320GB 7200rpm hard drive, HDMI and USB 3.0 ports and gigabit Ethernet, but won’t come with an internal optical drive. The Blade also comes with integrated Intel graphics for running low-graphics apps.

Definitely high-end, and definitely desirable if you’re into a gaming rig that you can take on a trip. It’s also definitely expensive though, set to cost $2,800 when it starts shipping later this year.