Razer Edge gaming tablet to be available in March

Razer has announced that its gaming tablet, the Razer Edge, will be available for pre-order from March 1, 2013, on Razer’s own store. Those who pre-order the tablet will have it shipped to them in March itself. The company had originally unveiled the tablet and announced that it would be available this year back in January during CES.

“The Razer Edge combines the features of full-functioning PCs, touch-enabled tablets and gaming consoles into one incredible, portable form factor,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “Furthermore, the Razer Edge’s powerful chipset, unique among all tablet computers, ensures that you can take advantage of the world’s most sophisticated games, programs and apps on these multiple platforms anytime.”

Coming in March

The gaming tablet for PC gamers was also designed by PC gamers, says the company, as a massive crowdsourcing effort put into place by Razer targeted millions of gamers to determine the final specifications for the Edge. Razer let its community (and the PC gaming community as a whole) decide the end-game chipset, weight/thickness, features and even price for the Edge, and hosted the initiative on its social media pages.

The Razer Edge and its Intel i5 processor and 64 GB SSD, and the Razer Edge Pro with an Intel i7 processor and the option of a 128 GB or 256 GB SSD, will begin shipping this March. The gamepad controller, home console dock and extended battery accessories will be made available for pre-order and shipping concurrent with the Edge on March 1. An optional keyboard dock is slated for launch later this year in Q3.

The Razer Edge Pro will additionally be offered in a bundle package with a Gamepad Controller in both the 128GB and 256GB SSD model.

Four dedicated configurations offer versatility for Razer Edge users: Tablet mode, Keyboard Dock mode, Gamepad Controller mode and Docking Station mode.

Tablet mode avails the Razer Edge with multi-touch capabilities for full Windows 8 applications, movies and music playback, in a traditional tablet form factor.

An optional keyboard dock gives the Razer Edge the laptop experience with a traditional keyboard and mouse, supporting a removable 40Wh battery, so gamers can play their favourite keyboard and mouse reliant PC titles.

An optional gamepad controller turns the Razer Edge into a mobile console, offering an immersive, portable gaming experience. A fully programmable dual controller interface with precise analog sticks is unique among all tablets, featuring the ability to play any PC game out of the box along with immersive vibration-feedback, so players can "feel" every in-game explosion and recoil.

An extended battery is able to connect with both the keyboard dock and gamepad controller, and doubles battery life for the Razer Edge.

Finally, the Razer Edge can be docked in the Docking Station as part of home console mode, which serves as a full desktop and charging resource with three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI 1.4 port, mic-in and stereo-out. Hook-up the Razer Edge to the big screen with multiple gamepad controllers and Razer gear and tag team PC games with your friends for a complete home console experience. It's the most versatile tablet on the planet.

The all-in-one Razer Edge PC gaming solution starts at $999 (approximately Rs 53,800).