1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:08,320 I've had a review unit of the Razer Blade late 2016 since launch. In fact, I 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:12,160 bought a dozen of the first ones off the production line back in October so I 3 00:00:10,559 --> 00:00:18,000 could box them up and give them out at my staff Christmas party. So, why then 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:27,279 did it take me so long to do this review? because I was waiting for a very 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:29,439 special blade. A one-of-a-kind signed LT 6 00:00:27,279 --> 00:00:34,399 edition blade that will soon be in the hands of a very lucky winner who 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:40,400 graciously agreed to let me showcase his beautiful prize in my review before 8 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:49,360 sending it along. So, here we go. 9 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:56,079 Tunnel Bear is the simple VPN app that makes it easy to browse privately and 10 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:59,079 enjoy a more open internet. To try Tunnel Bear for free, check out the link 11 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:03,520 in the video description. The unboxing experience 12 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:08,360 really hasn't changed a lot since the original Razer Blade 14. You get a 13 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:14,720 laptop, Razer's characteristically compact 165W power adapter, and some 14 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:19,680 papers to accidentally throw away before you remember about the Earth. And in 15 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:25,600 fact, not much has changed outwardly about the machine either, aside from the 16 00:01:22,159 --> 00:01:27,439 textured LT design by Ed, which you 17 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:32,960 won't find on the one that you buy at the store anyway. It still rocks a 18 00:01:30,159 --> 00:01:39,920 normal non-magnetized power cord. [ __ ] magnets. Hint hint Razer to go 19 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:46,000 with its three USB 3 ports, audio jack, Thunderbolt 3 port, and HDMI port. And 20 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:51,040 like it basically looks like the same damn computer, still with the black, 21 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:55,920 still with the rubber feet, still with the dime thickness, and still with the 22 00:01:53,680 --> 00:02:00,240 bright green Razor logo on the back that causes gamers to rush the stands and 23 00:01:58,399 --> 00:02:04,560 professionals to refuse to go into meetings with their laptops because 24 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:12,560 they're too embarrassed. Even most of the key specs are the same. CPU same, 25 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:15,760 RAM same, battery same. Though the 26 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:20,239 maximum NVMe SSD size got doubled to 1 27 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:23,360 TB and the GTX 970M from last gen has 28 00:02:20,239 --> 00:02:26,080 been bumped to a GTX 1060, which means 29 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:32,400 the newest Blade is a very capable little VR machine, and that both the 30 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:35,680 Thunderbolt and HDMI port can handle 4K 31 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:39,680 60 Hz. Now, not that a 1060 will run 32 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:41,519 most games at 4K 60 frames pers anyway, 33 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:47,200 which is where my favorite difference from the last gen comes in. The Blade is 34 00:02:44,319 --> 00:02:55,280 now available with a glass topped 3200 by800 touchscreen or a matte 1920x 1080 35 00:02:52,519 --> 00:03:00,239 non-touchscreen that's cheaper, saves a little battery, avoids any issues with 36 00:02:57,599 --> 00:03:05,440 poor resolution scaling in Windows, and translates to up to double the frame 37 00:03:02,159 --> 00:03:07,159 rate in games. Now, obviously, you can 38 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:12,319 turn down the touchscreen model to 1080p, but then you're dealing with 39 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:17,920 interpolation instead of a crisp native resolution image. And for me personally, 40 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:22,239 the difference in sharpness has a much much smaller impact on my gaming 41 00:03:20,159 --> 00:03:28,319 experience than the massive difference in frame rates that make animations on 42 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:32,000 the 1080p late 2016 two to three times 43 00:03:28,319 --> 00:03:34,080 faster than other blades. I mean, sure, 44 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:40,959 a Razer Core upgrade would boost performance as well, but that things 45 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:43,840 like 500 bucks plus a video card, so it 46 00:03:40,959 --> 00:03:49,920 got some upgrades, but many of the complaints from previous Blades do still 47 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:52,319 exist. They run hot. Interestingly, the 48 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:56,640 higher frame rates of the 1080p model puts more strain on the CPU while 49 00:03:54,319 --> 00:04:03,360 gaming. They are loud when you're pushing them hard, and the input lag on 50 00:03:59,599 --> 00:04:05,680 the mere 60 Hz display with no G-Sync is 51 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:10,879 far from the best I've seen on what is purportedly a gaming notebook. With that 52 00:04:08,879 --> 00:04:15,920 said, the webcam is still pretty good, even if it hasn't improved much, if at 53 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:20,400 all. The trackpad took a major leap forward in responsiveness and 54 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:25,520 acceleration curve tuning in both 2016 models. And the keyboard thankfully 55 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:31,280 bears no resemblance whatsoever to the one in the higherend Blade Pro. It's one 56 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,360 of my favorite laptop keyboards ever in 57 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:38,320 spite of the lack of illumination of the secondary functions. a downgrade from 58 00:04:35,759 --> 00:04:43,120 the 2015 model that seems to have been born from a desire for RGB backlighting 59 00:04:41,199 --> 00:04:49,160 and one that bothers me pretty much every day. So, on the surface then, not 60 00:04:46,479 --> 00:04:54,800 a lot has changed, even going back a few generations. But when you look closer, 61 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:58,880 Razer has been absolutely refining the experience with the improvement to 62 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:02,960 surface temperatures of the device during use being one of the most 63 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:08,639 noticeable day-to-day. And while the Blade has been good enough for a while 64 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:12,160 for me to use as a work first, game 65 00:05:08,639 --> 00:05:14,639 second kind of person, it wasn't until 66 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:18,520 this generation that it was good enough for me to spend real money on it, 67 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:26,520 dropping over $25,000 on these machines for my entire 68 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:29,120 staff. So, in spite of the very small 69 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:34,720 improvements, do I think the Blade Late 2016 is the best blade yet? You're damn 70 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:39,600 right I do. Let's just hope that they don't trash the 2017 model by putting 71 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:45,840 that awful keyboard from the Blade Pro on it. Or the next time my employees get 72 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,840 new computers, they might be from 73 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:54,080 Apple. Okay, so you run your own business. Let's say you got uh you know, 74 00:05:51,919 --> 00:05:59,600 invoices you got to send, expenses you got to track, and hours you've got to 75 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,720 somehow not only track but also manage. 76 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:05,759 How do you do all that stuff? FreshBooks. FreshBooks is the cloud 77 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:10,240 accounting solution that lets you send professionallook invoices in less than 78 00:06:07,759 --> 00:06:14,720 30 seconds. Set up online payments with a couple clicks, getting paid up to four 79 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:17,840 days faster, and lets you see when your client has seen your invoice, putting an 80 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,759 end to that whole, hey, did you get that? Oh, no. Yeah. Can you send it 81 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,800 again? Yeah, actually, no. I have Fresh Books. I know you already got it. Now, 82 00:06:23,199 --> 00:06:28,800 pay up. So, FreshBooks lets you keep track of 83 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:32,960 all that stuff, even if you're not a numbers person, especially if you're not 84 00:06:31,039 --> 00:06:36,600 a numbers person. And if all that sounds great, try out a 30-day free trial over 85 00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:40,720 at freshbooks.com/teips and enter Linus 86 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:44,000 TechTips in the how did you hear about us 87 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:47,440 section. So, thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to 88 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,479 do. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit that like button, or 89 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:54,240 check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video 90 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:57,360 description. Also linked in the description is our merch store, which 91 00:06:55,440 --> 00:07:00,800 has cool shirts like this one, and our community forum, which you should 92 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:04,479 totally join. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering what to watch next. So, click 93 00:07:03,199 --> 00:07:12,000 that little button in the top right corner to check out my review of the 94 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:12,000 Blade Pro, the bigger, better brother.