What can we say about the Razer Edge tablet? It's truly one of the most incredible mobile gaming devices ever conceived, but you probably wouldn't want to own one. We got to play with the Razer Edge gaming tablet at PAX East in Boston and were equal parts amazed and confused.
The Razer Edge Gaming tablet can literally run Crysis 3. Not some tablet port — actual Crysis 3 running on Windows 8. The Razer Edge probably has better specs than your home PC and likely costs more too — starting at $999 for the base model and going up to $1,449 for the Razer Edge Pro variant with 256GB memory. The base configuration comes with a 1.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, a NVIDIA GT 640M LE video card with 1GB memory and 64GB internal storage.
The Razer Edge Pro, which is the version we were able to try out at PAX East, has a 1.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 chipset with 8GB RAM and the same video card, but with double the memory.
Razer did not have an official booth at PAX East, but just about everyone on the convention floor had heard the rumors about Razer Edge sightings in various locations. We finally tracked the Razer Edge down on the last day of the show at the Intel booth, where a company rep explained that Razer was at PAX to support its partners.
After testing out a few games and watching a half-dozen or so convention goers do the same, our impression, in a nutshell, is basically this: the Razer Edge gaming tablet does everything the company says it does. Further, there's a definite novelty to be enjoyed in a device the size of an iPad running native versions of high-end PC gaming titles.
However, as one PAX attendee remarked, "it's too damn big," and therein lies the problem. The Razer Edge is a mobile gaming tablet that isn't very mobile. The two controllers on either side of the case are an innovative control scheme, and although they're detachable, you'll want them on for playing games (don't forget this is also a full fledged Windows 8 machine). However, you'll likely find it difficult to use the Razer Edge on a bus or subway with the controllers attached, because they simply make the tablet too long. For the most part, you'll probably need to confine most of your Razer Edge gaming to your own home, where chances are, there's already a PlayStation or Xbox.
