Razer Blade Ultrabook: Huge Power, Tiny Frame

Slowly but surely ultrabooks are emerging as a reasonable compromise between the portability of tablet computers on one hand and the power and performance of regular laptops on the other.

Now, hardware maker Razer has unveiled the Blade ultrabook, a 14-inch device that features blazing-fast performance in a tiny frame.

You've probably heard of Razer before -- they're the hardware company that started out building peripherals but in recent years have branched out to laptop and tablet devices.

In fact, the company's Razer Edge tablet is quite possibly the world's most powerful tablet PC.

Blade Features Haswell Chip, 2GB GPU

Now, Razer has unveiled the Blade ultrabook. It comes equipped with a next-generation Haswell Intel processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB solid state drive (upgradeable to 256GB), and a 2GB Nvidia GTX 765M graphics card. (Source: digitaltrends.com)

And that's really what sets the Blade apart -- you won't find that kind of a graphics processing unit (GPU) in any other ultrabook. Period.

Of course, buyers will also get three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI out, a wireless adapter, and Bluetooth support.

Also impressive: Razer has squeezed all of that power into a 14-inch frame weighing just four pounds. Given that there's enough power in this device to play even the newest games, that's stunning.

High-Power Laptop, Sky-High Price

Of course, you'll be paying for all of that power. The Blade, which goes on sale June 3, 2013, will cost $1,800 -- about twice the price of your average ultrabook computer. Add a 256GB solid state drive and you'll be looking at paying more than $2,000.

Another downside: early reports suggest the Blade gets extremely hot when playing games, meaning you won't be engaging in serious gaming sessions while away from a proper desk. (Source: pcworld.com)

Will Razer's Blade be successful? That's a tough call. Given the current state of the PC market -- and the fact that Microsoft and Sony are planning to release new video game consoles this fall -- the time may not be ripe for a high-power, high-price ultrabook.

Still, it's hard to not get excited about a device that packs this much power into such a small frame.