At first glance, the Razer Edge Pro is indistinguishable from other Windows 8 tablets: it’s 2.2 pounds of matte black metal with a 10.1-inch screen and a single Windows button. It feels heavy in your hands, a little bulkier than the Surface Pro and much, much hotter.

That heat flows from the powerful components nestled inside, including an Nvidia GPU and an Intel Core i7 CPU that render Razer’s tablet capable of competing with similarly-priced ultrabooks in terms of performance. I haven’t spent enough time with the tablet yet to know whether or not it delivers on that potential—look for our full review next week—but Razer’s latest leaves a strong first impression the moment you pull it out of the packaging.

Playing PC games on a tablet is fantastic

The most important thing you need to know about the Razer Edge Pro is that it works—you can use it to play contemporary PC games at decent settings, and the battery lasts long enough to let you play for at least 2-3 hours at a stretch before you need to recharge.

You can augment that with the extended battery pack in the Edge gamepad chassis—which Razer sells separately or as part of a bundle with the Edge Pro— but there’s a better reason to accessorize: most PC games suck if you can’t use either a mouse and keyboard or a gamepad. I’ve spent a few hours playing PC games with the Edge Pro, and I’ve had a blast playing 3D games like Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider and XCOM while curled up on the couch with the gamepad chassis resting on my lap. Being able to play complex PC games from the comfort of my couch is amazing, but it wouldn’t work without the gamepad accessory.

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