HOW A HUGE UPGRADE FEELS

POPULAR MECHANICS’ US copy chief (a former level 90 druid in

World of Warcraft) tested the new Razer Blade (R25 000). How does it compare to her R3 500 Lenovo 110S laptop? It feels sentient, a sleek black idol waiting for you to do something worthy. It’s total overkill for Stardew

Valley, a pixelated retrostyle farming game that, on my Lenovo, is, well, playable. On the Razer, Bumblebee Farm looks cozy and lush. Footsteps are weighty, and the cows, goats, and sheep sound alive. On the 110S, my farm seems to be covered with layers of old plastic, and the sound is muddy. Of the more graphically demanding games I tried out, only one would even fit on my little Lenovo. The Witcher 3 was exhausting to learn, but nevertheless, the woodsy world looks lovely. The sky changes throughout the day, and rivers twinkle as the sun sets. There is no lag at all, so much that the 360-degree viewing makes me dizzy. (An online forum suggests Dramamine.) Next, I defend against an ear-crunchingly realistic mech attack in Mass

Effect 2, then go spacefaring in Stellaris. After selflessly collaborating with other players to defeat a few bosses in The Lord of the Rings Online, I am quickly engrossed in Path of Exile, levelling up Onderel, my witch character. I can n feel the Razer running g quite hot. These games take ake a lot of energy, it seems. ems. Clearly, this is a powerful, rful, precisely engineered machine, hine, and incredibly fast and d easy to use. The Razer wins this one. It does a freaking beautiful job.