Triple Strike With Razer’s Project Valerie
We recently did a post on the release of Razer’s new Blade Pro gaming laptop and just as we thought that was it for the next few months, Razer dropped Project Valerie on us this weekend at CES 2017. So what exactly is Project Valerie? Well to state the obvious, it is a triple display gaming laptop that seems to be based off of the Razer Blade Pro. Yes, that is right, Project Valerie features three 4K displays, which gives it a massive 12K of resolution.
As mentioned, the laptop features three 17.3-inch 4K displays, with two of the displays folding out with an automatic deployment system. Project Valerie offers a combined resolution of 11,520 x 2,160 and supports NVIDIA’s 3D Surround View, which will allow you to game across all three displays. These three displays also fit seamlessly next to each other and the only thing that I can see that might annoy some users is the fact that there is a bit of a screen bezel between the three displays. However, this is a minor issue that many will not care about.
From what we can see from the official Project Valerie site and from various videos online, the display gives you a similar feeling of that of a curved ultrawide gaming display. While the Project Valerie laptop will be far thicker than the new Razer Blade Pro due to the added displays, it will still be around the same thickness as some of the gaming laptops from Acer or ASUS.
Project Valerie should not only appeal to gamers, this laptop has huge potential for designers, video and photo editors and even those producing music. The three displays will allow you to streamline productivity with various tools or folders being open on the two side displays. From what we have seen online, the current prototypes only have a single touchscreen panel in the center. While this might change with future versions, we will have to assume that the two side panels will only act as standard displays when the laptop finally reaches production. While this is not a train smash, this could annoy some who enjoy using the touchscreen function while working.
They Shall Not Pass First Impressions
Frontlines:
This has to be one of the best game modes that I have experienced in a long time. It combines both Rush and Conquest in one awesome game mode. When they first announced Frontlines I had my reservations and was not 100% sure how they were going to execute it. But it seems like EA Dice have managed to create a game mode that is completely unpredictable. Some of the games that I played I thought we were going to lose, as the enemy team was already arming our objectives. But, somehow we managed to turn it around and battle our way into their base and take their objectives to win the game. This is the unpredictability that I wanted from Battlefield 1 and this is a refreshing change from the other game modes that are either close games or complete white washes.
New Operations:
I have spent a lot of my time playing the Operations maps as they are a lot more fun than just playing Rush, Team Deathmatch, Conquest or Domination. While the maps are still fun, it is nice to see two new Operations maps being added as the Oil Of Empires map is not that much fun to play. I have played through both the new Devil´s Anvil and Beyond The Merne maps numerous times to make sure that I can give it my fair opinion. If you read my previous post on the lead up to They Shall Not Pass, then you would have seen that I mentioned that the Verdun Heights map, which is the first part of the Devil’s Anvil Operations, would be dominated from the top. Out of the games that I played, we hardly ever lost or took the hills to get into the second stage of the Operations map. Much like Operation Metro in Battlefield 3 and 4, the team at the top would dominate those trying to get up. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is not impossible to take the hill, however you do need some good team work or a terrible defending team to break through. It must also be noted that the Devil’s Anvil Operations map does not have a Behemoth or any vehicles. I also played Beyond The Merne several times to get to know the map and while I really enjoyed the Operations, the Devil´s Anvil is more my game style. Seeing the Char C2 in action was quite awesome. When I first saw the videos of it being used by the test community I thought that it would be unstoppable. However, there are loads of field guns and other weapons to take it down quite quickly. The anti-tank kit makes light work of the tank and as long as the player has an ammo crate next to them then this Elite Class is quite a force to be reckoned with. Even the limpet mine was quite effective against it as it is a slow moving vehicle.
The addition of the French army is a nice addition to the current armies, however all you really get are some new player skins in blue uniforms and some French flags. What I really cared about were the new weapons. Just like in Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4, these new weapons have to be unlocked by completing certain tasks in their respective classes. These range from using specific guns to perform a set amount of headshots to using gadgets such as the mortar. I unlocked two of the guns fairly quickly and so far I have unlocked all but the new shotgun, out of the new guns I must say I like the Chauchat Low Weight the most. I spent a bit of time playing with the new French Assault tank, and I personally still prefer using the small Renault FT to annoy enemy troops rather than breaking through the enemy’s defenses. Taking this new tank down is just as hard as the Heavy tank or the Landship from what I have experienced from playing both as Assault and support. This gives it a great fighting chance for those who prefer the bigger tanks. I have had very little time to use the new Trench Raider Elite Class, however it is quite fun bashing people with the deadly trench club.
So far the decision to purchase the Premium Pass has been a very wise one indeed. The DLC has not been priced yet for those looking to purchase it on 28 March, however, expect it to cost no less than $15 when it is finally released. Hopefully the follow-up DLCs are going to be just as good, as some of the DLCs for Battlefield 4 were not that great. If you are looking at upgrading your setup and are looking for a great gaming laptop to play this awesome DLC, then have a look through our guides where you might find just what you are looking for.
An NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
A good Full-HD IPS display
Seventh generation Kaby Lake processor
Three zone backlit keyboard
Both SATA and M.2 slots
Configuration options on their site
The i3 processor in the base model
No option for either the standard GTX 1050 or the GTX 1060
Tiny storage option for the base model
While this might be a shift from their previous cheapest laptop which was priced at around $1700, the base model leaves a bit to be desired as it is not quite as powerful as some of the competing $999 gaming laptops. So what exactly do you get for $999? Well for $999 you get a seventh generation Intel Core i3-7100H processor, yes you read that correctly, an i3 processors. While this processor is from Intel’s Kaby Lake architecture, it only offers two cores and weirdly has been based off of a Quad Core design with the exclusion of a turbo clockspeed. So in essence Intel have taken a Quad Core processor and deactivated two of the cores and the turbo to offer the i3 chip set at a much lower price point. Luckily this can be upgraded to either an i5-7300HQ for an extra $67 or an i7-7700HQ processor for $128. Meaning that to get the same processor as many 2017 gaming laptops, you will already have to fork out an extra $128. But it doesn’t end here, the $999 model features a tiny 120GB SATA based SSD. You can customize it and add a larger 250GB Samsung 960 EVO M.2 SSD for an additional $149 and instead of the tiny SATA SSD you can go for a 1TB 7200rpm mechanical drive for an additional $23. This is a far cry from some of the $999 options which come standard with a 1TB HDD or both a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. Memory wise, the base model comes with 8GB of DDR4 2133MHz RAM which sounds average, however Origin PC do use Kingston HyperX Impact RAM for the base model which offers better performance than some of their competitor’s RAM modules. You will be able to upgrade the RAM to a maximum of 32GB and Origin PC also offers the ability to customize it with either 2400MHz RAM or even 2666MHz RAM. 16GB of 2133MHz RAM will add another $52 to the price. Opting for a higher frequency RAM will add an additional $66 for 16GB of 2400MHz or $171 for 16GB of 2666MHz RAM. While most of its hardware is customizable, Origin PC only offer the EON15-S with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. It would have been nice to see an option for the GTX 1060 on their configuration page as it is a more future proof GPU that would only push up the price slightly. Another option which would have been great would have been the standard GTX 1050 and a slight reduction in the $999 price. This would have allowed users to save some money with the cheaper GTX 1050 which they could put towards a better processor or storage option.
When all is said and done it would seem that the guys at Origin PC have taken a page from their former employers and offer a seemingly attractive price while offering a below average system compared to its competitors. Dell and Alienware have been doing it for years and I still remember spending a lot more on my fist XPS laptop in 2006 than I originally planned on. And honestly they have done the same thing with their EON15-S laptop. It almost makes more sense to purchase one of last year’s cheaper MSI or ASUS laptops than to spend the $999 on the i3 EON15-S version. Sure, some of the MSI laptops do not feature backlit keyboards, however you will still get an Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor and some change left over for a larger SSD. To be honest you are better off looking at the Acer Aspire VX5-591G-75RM as it is currently on special for $999 and features slightly better specs than the EON15-S. If the Acer Aspire VX5-591G-75RM is not quite what you are after, then head over to our Best Gaming Laptops Under $1000 guide where you might find just the gaming laptops for you.
6 Big Gaming Titles Not To Miss This Year
Battlefield 1