this is for everyone facing the decision at some point if a razer system is suited for you and if it will make you happy.
I remember facing exactly this decision 1,5 years ago when I needed a new laptop after my old one had given in after 5 years. I had saved some money so considering the Blade 2017 was possible but it was still hard to justify going with it given I knew I'd be using the laptop 80% for standard stuff and not primarily for gaming on the road. I was also considering going the dual route of cheaper laptop and a desktop but did just not personally like the moving between two systems idea back then.
Going back and forth a lot between the blade and considerable cheaper (while also at least partly less powerful) models from LG/HP and a german gaming manufacturer I just decided to go with my heart + dream and take the razer blade.
I've loved it ever since and I have been traveling abroad for 1 year during an internship with it which means I also used it very frequently (although even less for gaming than I first assumed) but I still didn't ever regret the decision. When buying it my only concern was that the blade wouldn't last long enough to justify the big chunk of money it reflected for me. In other words paying 2,3k € for 3,5 years + would be fine but throwing this pile of money away for just 2 years was a big fear. Despite having known that razer products often do have warranty issues from peripherals I trusted the high price segment of the product reflecting longetivity and quality.
Unfortunately despite my big love for the blade my consensus at this very point in time is two-sided. On the one hand, I cherish the quality and feel of the product each and every single time I put it on (e.g. its materials / design / performance) - which is exactly what I've hoped for.
But then there's this:
1) After 2 days I noticed the frame of the monitor had a small gap and if I touched it it moved a bit towards the screen. Being so excited to just have my blade received I didn't really consider shipping it back (a mistake). But after several weeks I got concerned and went into RMA -> after some back and forth I had to send in my blade and it was away full 2,5 weeks and came back with a new screen.
2) While already being abroad and very shortly after the first trip to the razer repair center in Germany I noticed a strange rustling noises for the first time. At first they occured very infrequently like twice a week - but it became more and more frequent. Also I noticed the fans didn't kick in as quickly as in the beginning and the blade seemed to accept some quite serious heating up without kicking the fans in irrelevant of fan setting. I had to live with the issue for quite some weeks because I was traveling abroad and it felt quite bad knowing it could break even more but at the same time not being able to send it in at the time due to lack of a replacement during traveling.
3) At the same time my system started to not shut down correctly every now and then going into a overheating mode if you didn't notice it early enough to shut it down manually.Finally I sent it in back to repair -> broken fan -> both exchanged and some system reset. Once again it didn't take anywhere near the 2-5 working days suggested but rather 20. Finally I had my blade back.
4) Having the great feeling of everything being in top shape again didn't last long...just 2 weeks later for the first time I noticed that while opening the screen there happened some strange noises - once again not every single time but more and more often.
5) Oh right and the clickable left button below the trackpad stopped working, an issue I found out was already present in older blade models after some usage period.
This took quite some time until I decided to send it in again and I just got it back maybe 6 weeks ago. With end of warranty coming closer I once again felt good about my blade - but hell I was certainly pissed by that point. Btw repair took another 2 weeks. Maybe slightly quicker this time but still annoying.Trackpad was replaced as well as a new screen once again (notice this was my 3rd screen without any direct screen issues - but well I won't complain about this.
6) This is when 3 weeks ago my first key on the keyboard broke. Just like that - nothing really special happend. While I have stated I did use my blade a ton (which is true) I mostly used it with a mechanical gaming keyboard attached - so I feel this to be insanely weak that the first keys start to break given my old laptop lasted 5 years without a key every breaking. Doing some research I quickly found out there is basically no reasonable way to just replace the single key and that I had to go into RMA once again. At this point I already was happy about it basically assuming more keys would break shortly. And the warranty really reaching its end soon I think getting a completely new keyboard is not the worst thing.
Btw when I got the last screen due to the broken hinge the new screen apparently wasn't positioned 100% perfectly and there is a small gap to the left. This is something I probably wouldn't have mentioned for another 2 weeks but now hope to get it fixed as well together with the keyboard. Still, I am once again traveling right now during my master thesis and finding the right timing for sending it in is not easy (already knowing how long it usually takes and how bad their feedback on the status is - i.e. no feedback at all).
I received my RMA authorization over 2 weeks ago and am since then still waiting for my shipping label that was promised in this first mail. I already went back and forth about this but it's still not resolved.
While I still have remained all my love for the blade the upcoming issues and the way the repairs are handled is laughable. While at first I was happy with customer support that indeed every of the issues got fixed the back and forth about it and the time the repairs took makes this a horrible experience. Having to live without your laptop 2 weeks - fine. But since having my blade (18 months) I've been almost 2 months without my laptop.
I'm also quite a bit disappointed that razer treats every single claim very separately and I believe if I would have sent my blade in 12 times or 20 times they would haven not even thought about changing the way they approach each issue. What do they care if you have your laptop half of the time in the repair center instead of at your desk. There are companies offering 1 day repair services and even replacement services for almost no money and I have thought about that every single time I had to send my blade in.
My conclusion: I don't even know. I love my blade when I have it but I'm even more scared than ever how long my blade is going to make it - and that's not a good feeling.
In my opinion the company should focus more to get their **** right at the products they sell (and even have been selling for years) instead of throwing out new highly marketed products. I haven't looked at any of the products in detail yet but what should I think about a razer phone designed from scratch when the issues with products they have been selling for several years are even still reoccuring at an incredible frequent rate (if you trust reddit & co.).
Once again -> I love my blade. I'm not even sure if I would decide different going back in time based on how much I love it. But be prepared that this might be what is expecting you if you go blade/razer.
On the plus side I have to say that I am thankful that razer is taking care of all repairs within the 2 year warranty Europe period without any issues. But seriously if you will only have 1 year on a razer system - don't do it unless you can get some way of additional warranty elsewhere. You often hear about the "bathtub distribution" of laptop repairs (i.e. repairs occuring right at the beginning or then after maybe 4-5 years). My experience with razer was much more linear
