Redfox WizBook Razor XR133 Review

With all the laptop manufacturers introducing their own CULV line of notebooks, it’s becoming harder to choose from among a dozen or so contenders. Redfox’s Razor XR133 also wants to be near the top of the heap so we look at how it fares.

Among the CULV line, the most prominent feature of a notebook that’s been sacrificed is the optical disk drive (ODD). Redfox wants to prove you don’t need to drop the DVD drive altogether and the WizBook Razor XR133 comes with a built-in DVD+RW. The only other model I know of that has an internal ODD is Sony’s Php120k Vaio T.

The two-tone black and silver matte finish of the WizBook Razor gives it a nice looking appeal (the logo kicks ass too) that also prevents the surface from smudges and fingerprints. It’s thin but a bit on the heavy side (3.67lbs) probably because of the ODD, with a wide and comfortable palmrest and a trackpad.

The keyboard layout is nicely oriented, thanks to the well-proportioned keys for the Shift, Backspace, Ctrl and arrow keys as well as the extra-large Enter key. I think this is one of the nicest laptop keyboard I’ve ever used in terms of orientation and key size — Redfox really maximized the space here.

Like most other ultraportable notebooks in the 13.3″ category, the Razor XR133 is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo SU 7300 running at 1.3GHz. The specs are really pretty standard with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, an Intel GMA 4500MHD and 320GB HDD.

And because they’ve included an ODD, there’s little space left for the 2 USB ports, an HDMI port, and SD card reader on the side.

However, there’s an empty slot of the left side which I think could be as cradle for a 3G SIM card slot (probably an optional upgrade).

The screen is glossy and while that allows for a clearer and more crisp display, it’s really hard to use it in the outdoors when there’s glare. The screen resolution is also maxed out at 1280×800 pixels and not the usual 1366×768.

In terms of performance, we took a screenshot of the Windows Experience Index and got this. Results are pretty the same compared to a similarly spec-ed Neo Edge Z3265 we reviewed earlier.

The complete PassMark benchmarks are posted here.

The 6-cell battery is rated at 4400mAh and gives a decent 3.5 hours. Not that impressive but not bad at all.

The Razor XR133 also has a 1.3MP webcam and WiFi 802.11N but seems to be missing the Bluetooth (the specs say it’s Bluetooth capable so that must be an option).

For a price tag of Php42,999, the Redfox WizBook XR133 is competitively priced (about Php3,000 to Php7,000 less expensive than similarly spec-ed Asus UX30 and Lenovo U350). It’s definitely an option to consider. That missing Bluetooth is a bummer though and the cheaper 11.6″ version (XR116) is also interesting since they say it’s 3G-ready .