2019 Razer Blade 15 FHD (144 Htz) vs. 4k

I recently purchased 1.) 2019 Blade 15, Mercury, 144Hz, RTX 2060, and 2.) 2018 Blade 15, 4k 60Hz, GTX 1070. I could not find either one of these models at my local computer retailers, so I bought both--open box deals on Best Buy.com. The plan was to evaluate which one I liked better, then return the one I don't want. I use my computer for work and play. I use AutoCAD for work and work with very large files. At home I do game from time to time, but I'm not the biggest gamer, in fact I probably have only spent around 20 hours total in the last 12 months gaming. I have gotten very used to the glossy 4k screen. Prior to this switch to the Razer, I have owned a Dell XPS 9560 (4k touch), and before that a Macbook Pro.

Here are my findings:

--4k screen not really much brighter. I could not find online the actual nits for this display though.
--4k display does not have the 'buttery smoothness' of the 144 panel. You can really tell when scrolling text or web pages. The 144 panel text stays clear and doesn't stutter. I have not ran games on either one, pretty sure that will be the same. When gaming though, I am at home using external 1440p, 120 Hz. monitor.
--4k display is definitely over saturated in color (thought it was factory calibrated?)
--4k is much crisper, defined edges and color is better, though over saturated.
--4k blacks are way darker.
--Matte screen on the 114 panel doesn't bother me like I thought it would, and color is pretty good but doesn't 'pop' like the 4k.

I miss my Dell 9560 display already. Hands down the best display on the market.

Still not sure which one to return. I'll make up my mind by the end of the day...
Any advise?

 

4k < 144hz
you don't need that many pixels in a laptop imo and slightly better colors don't do much difference in any applications whatsoever since the people that consume it wont have such good screens for the most part anyhow.
but I'm much more of a gamer so I guess take that for what it is.

 

Dell 4K use igzo Sharp display right? If yes, yeah it’s great display, I had and have it on old Blade 2015 and my current ultrabook stealth 2016, decent display. I think 2018 4K use BOE display? Not quite sure but I like LG display from FHD 60Hz from Blade 2017 and Blade 15 2018, one of the best laptop FHD display out there in term color brightness and deep black color, had difficulty find external monitor that could match it, only ips 4K monitor brightness match it, couldn’t find any high refresh rate FHD that as great brightness as that.
I was also getting used to glossy display on MacBook Pro and Blade 2015 QHD+, First time owning non one in 2017 was also pessimistic but 144Hz worth better imo, anyway I’ve both 4K LG and 1440p 165Hz Predator External Monitors for each needs. So I would go with 2060 Blade for other new features than 2018 model.

 

Yes the Dell is a IGZO SHARP display. A day later and I still have not made up my mind. This is driving my OCD thru the ceiling. Damnit man. The 2019 has Windows Hello feature, though typing the PIN is just as fast on the 2019 GTX1070 and the secondary keys are illuminated, which is nice. The 2018 doesn't and it really bothers me, although I rarely use a laptop in low light conditions. The 2019 also supports up to 64 GB RAM, although I would never need that much.

 

I have the 2018 4k model and the screen for me is amazing. Didn't know they changed it for the 2019 model.
Also remember that viewing 4k streaming tv etc will look great on the 4k.
You get a lot of screen real estate for doing lots of windows especially for hyper v etc.
Done a lot of YouTube tech videos on my 4k model and will do many more.
Posted a few on this forum.May help you decide.

I have said that the hardest decision is choosing the screen size. I will add that because the screen is edge to edge and the laptop is smaller and closer to you, its more like a 17inch screen.
Have fun choosing.
◄iDATUS►

 

What about gaming? I don’t game that much but enjoy it when I have the time. I read conflicting info regarding whether downscaling the 4K to 1080p is effective solution for gaming on a 4K laptop as far as getting the frame rates back up. Also I’ve read conflicting stuff about the image becoming blurred due to downscaling. Any advice from you gaming guys?

 

I’m mostly set on keeping the 4K 2018 GTX 1070 machine. I do a whole lot of reading on my laptop and the text is just so much clearer, darker, and more defined. If downscaling is effective for gaming then I’m fine with it. Although that 144Hz panel looks so much better when scrolling thru text.

 

Like everything depends on what you are going to play.
Watch this latest video upload I did on practicle ways to approach to more fps or cooling.

Remember you have a lot of options to keep it 4k and if it gets really bad then consider dropping it to 1080p but remember that doing so also adds overheads.
Note: with 4k you can turn off a lot of gameing features such as antialiasing because the resolution is so high you don't need to blur it to compensate for lower resolution.

 

They didn't change it for 2019, it's just one of the other optional configurations (RTX 2060, 1080p, 144Hz, Mercury White Edition)

 

Yes Sir, but how does it look when you downscale to 1080p? Some people are saying that it comes out blurry, and generally looking worse than it would on native 1080p to begin with.

 

Well that's normal for any screen downgrade. Also its not quite 4 pixels to 1 pixel hence the extra humph required to downscale.
What I was trying to convey is that you shouldn't have to downscale in most situations if your aware of tricks such as reducing throttling and reducing options superfluous such as antialiasing.
I will however using the MTG Arena game and wordpad in windows take some screen shots for you.
I will post later today or tomorrow morning. If you would like something else then if I can I will

 

I went from 2018 4k to 2019 144Hz

I agree 4k is more saturated. But I wouldn't say over-saturated. I find it about right.

Just compare the "Razer-green" on with the Logo vs the Synapse green on screen

On the 144Hz it's not saturated enough IMO.
4k looks almost identical

Or is the Synapse logo, and box-lining also over-saturated?



Chris

 

As promised I have the photos of the razer screen before and after changing the settings from 4k to 1920x1080
They are links to drop box rather than inserts as they are large.
I turned brightness to 0% and used my razer phone 2 to take them.
See what you think.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zaqmri9szk9hpc7/IMG_20190413_153236.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cg8h7a746hzvi5h/IMG_20190413_153409.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1rozwtzx195dx1h/IMG_20190413_154945.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v79n9u5dzj8et8d/IMG_20190413_155226.jpg?dl=0
Note these will be up for a while but I will delete them in a month or so.

 

Thanks, iDATUS!. I have been watching your videos and I subscribed too. I decided to keep the 2018 4k blade. So, I'm trying to install a 1TB XPG (brand) SSD and the BIOS will not recognize the SSD. Windows 10 installation media will not pick it up either, but I get the option to load driver in the installation menu. I have searched the ADATA website and they don't seem to have the drivers for the SSD, only some small print somewhere that Windows 10 will already have the drivers. The BIOS version on my 2018 Blade is up-to-date. What gives? Do you have an ideas?

Don Gately

 

Just noticed, thanks very much and wise choice indeed to keep the 4k model.
Your best bet to talk to me about specific stuff is to post on the YouTube channel, website being developed by myself right now or open a conversation with me.
Will be offering a lot of options very soon to help people like yourself who have questions or tech issues.
If your bios doesn't recognise the device then nothing else after that will. Boo hiss.
Do you have a link to the actual item you purchased and if so send it to me.

 

just found this
So I got this because the price to performance was great. Almost the same as the Samsung but for $50 less. Only issue I had was putting this in my laptop. I had the GS65 Stealth Thin from MSI and it had issues booting. I also had a Samsung 970 EVO+ and didn't have the same issues. Installing this nvme did not allow my system to boot. After tinkering around for 1 hour I decided to put it in an external enclosure and format it then install it. Voila that did the trick. A few days later after a shutdown and trying to boot the computer back up it would not. I thought maybe it was because of the RAM I had gotten which were the ballistix that advertised at 2666 but was actually only running at 2400 that was causing the problem. That wasn't the case. I pulled out this nvme and my computer booted back fine. For some reason the format did not stick so decided to return it. Ended up just getting another 970 EVO+ 1TB. Some users might have different experiences but instead of trying another nvme I decided to just spend the extra $50 and went with the Samsung.