Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm a bit of a computer junkie, which means I'm constantly buying a "new shiny toy" and this is especially true with computers. Luckily enough I've always found my laptops super-on-sale so after using them a few months I'm able to sell them for profit to purchase a new one. Eventually this meant going from $500 laptops all the way to this bad boy. I've compiled some information regarding this laptop which may assist someone else: Why did I buy this laptop? -Incredibly thin and lightweight -Battery life lasts a VERY long time -8GB RAM is perfect - Any more seems to be a waste for my needs -256GB SSD is a great medium between cost and size. Of course a 512GB would be nice, but I have an external for media files anyway. -HDMI Out - Essential component that many "budget" computers lack (This is definitely not a budget computer) -Three USB3.0 Ports - I never use more than 2 at a time anyway, but I understand that some people will need more ports. Personally I prefer to use Bluetooth so there are no wires. -Serves as a good desktop replacement Below are some questions people often ask me about it: 1)How hot does it get? -It feels pretty hot when I play certain games like Crysis 3 on max settings; however, I checked the CPU core temperature only to realize it was actually cooler than my previous laptop had been. I believe this may be due to the bezel being made out of metal which can more easily transfer heat than plastic. 2)Can it play games? -This is always my favorite question because it's a gaming laptop and people love to ask if it can play games. In short the answer is yes. So far I have run into no problems playing games except with radial flora shadows on Battlefield 3 and motion blur in Crysis 3. Both of these settings need to not be on extreme or the FPS take a hit. 3)How is the battery life? -Great! Best out of any laptop I've ever had. I'm sure this is directly correlated with the new Intel Haswell processor that is inside since Intel's big selling point with this generation was lower power consumption. While playing games I generally can get about 5-6hours on battery and doing low power tasks such as browsing the internet and typing a paper I get about double the battery life. It's hard to get an exact number, but with my screen brightness all the way down and battery saving options enabled I was able to get a good 14 hours off one charge. Sure screen is a little harder to use with the brightness so low, but eventually your eyes adjust and it's fine. 4)Are there any weird "quirks?" -When I first purchased it I noticed the internet was a bit spotting. I avoided using the built in NIC card by using a USB Wireless Adapter that I used on my desktop, but what's the point of having a good laptop if the internet doesn't work well on the go? So I did some research and realized my Killer drivers were out of date. (Of course--it's always a drivers issue!) After fixing that I haven't really had any problems at all with the internet. 5)How long does the laptop take to turn on? -People ask me this all the time because my last laptop had a dual-raid SSD so it could boot in about 7 seconds. This laptop (thankfully) can boot in about the same time. I haven't really timed it, but if I push the on button then grab my laptop mouse--the computer is on and at my desktop before I've put the mouse case back in my bag. Any faster would really be a waste considering the work it would take could go into improving something else. 6)What did the Windows Experience Index place the laptop at? -The base score is a 6.9 and here's the breakdown: o Processor: 7.8 o Memory: 7.8 o Graphics: 6.9 o Gaming Graphics: 6.9 o Primary Hard disk: 8.1 7)Did it come with any bloatware? -It depends what you consider bloat. There were no programs such as Norton's Anti-Virus installed; however, there was some of the Razer software such as Razer Comms and Razer Synapse 2.0 installed. I use these programs so it wasn't a big deal for me, but I could see where someone else might not want them. 8)How is the screen quality? -When I was looking to purchase the laptop I definitely considered it a downside; however, since the screen is smaller it doesn't really make much of a difference at all. Coming from a 1080p screen on my last laptop I don't really notice the difference at all. Of course there will always be people who claim they can see the difference, but speaking per inch a 17.3 inch screen with 1080p resolution is 127.34PPI, a 15.6 inch screen with 1080p resolution is 141.21PPI, a 15.4 inch screen with 1080p resolution is 143.05PPI, and a 14 inch screen with 1600x900 resolution is 131.13PPI. With that being said--I'm satisfied with the screen. Sometimes I feel like people are chasing pixels they can't see. . . I think that sums up my review. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will reply to it as soon as I can.