Last year Intel had a concept tablet at its CES booth that was dubbed Project Fionna. This was a prototype gaming tablet with two analog controllers mounted on the sides that provided a unique experience. This year, Razer has refined its technology and has produced a commercially viable product. The development of the Razer Edge stemmed from months of crowdsourced initiative that solicited its hardcore community to provide feedback on hardware and software.
The Razer Edge features a 10.1 inch screen with a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. Underneath the hood is an Intel i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM. The graphics are tremendously accelerated with a Nvidia GT 640M GPU processor. Make no mistake, this is a pure gaming tablet, which is reflected in the price of $999.99 for the base model.
This is one of the first tablets to ship with Windows 8 PRO and will allow gamers to play Diablo 3, Star Wars – Old Republic, Warhammer 40k, and any other game that tickles your fancy. One of the display areas had a television set hooked up to the tablet via the HDMI cable and had two people with controllers playing Diablo. This can be a legitimate substitute for a dedicated gaming system.
The one huge downfall of this system is that battery life will only last 2 HOURS! This is totally deplorable, but what could be expect? A hardcore gaming tablet will destroy your battery and your social life. Razer is going to be issuing extra batteries that can be inserted on the back of the device and docking stations to give you a few extra hours. This is the type of tablet that is not going to replace your Playstation Vita or Nintendo DS.
Razer said it will begin to sell the device from its website. The company also mentioned it will try and get some retail partners behind this product, like Best Buy, but did not elaborate if Newegg, NCIX, or other resellers will carry it. All of the accessories will hit the virtual shelves around the same time, though the docking keyboard is in the prototype stage and will be issued this summer.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
