Razer announced its entry into tablet land with Project Fiona at CES 2012. With CES 2013, their project “Fiona” has launched as the Razer Edge Pro, available in the 1st quarter, 2013. The Edge Pro weighs in at 2 lbs and is almost an inch thick. It’s a chunky little beast with an Intel i7 core processor, 10.1” (1366x768) HD display, Nvidia GT 640M LE 2GB graphics, 8G DDR3 RAM and choice of 128 or 256 SSD storage.
The most basic way to describe it would be a Windows 8 tablet with powerful graphics, so any Windows 8 based touch games such as Civilization 5 (which was on a demo model) can be played on the go. It has a 10 point touch surface and response was swift..
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Then we add the accessory that makes it a gaming machine, the gamepad controller. The tablet clips into the controller which has an extended battery ($69) and acts like a case. It has hand grips on either side and works just like an Xbox controller with built-in force feedback. Razer had DIRT running on the model with the controller and honestly, I wanted to drive it like it was a steering wheel but it adds additional weight to a total 3.25lbs and having it on a stand was a much better experience. The gamepad controller will retail for $249.00
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A docking station is available to connect it up to a monitor and other home entertainment devices with HDMI, audio I/O, USB connectors and external power in case you want to share your games and music. The docking station will retail at $99.99
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Last but not least, a keyboard dock is available to turn it into a laptop equivalent. The keyboard dock was the ugly duckling of the lot, but it ships Q3 and was unabashedly a work in progress.
The Razer Edge is a versatile little beast. It is capable of running MMOs such as Rift which was also available for demo. I tried the Edge in all modes – tablet, console and desktop. If you don’t play games that require really heavy graphics, it is a great little portable gaming station. Starting at $999, I am impressed with the amount of hardware Razer managed to cram into that little shell, but I am more impressed with it as perhaps a replacement for my 4lb ultraportable notebook when next I upgrade. A 2lb little workhorse I can put in my purse? Yes, please.
