Digital Storm Triton review

Thin gaming laptops are in. We've already seen a few spectacularly slim and powerful mobile rigs including the Origin EVO15-S and MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 3K. Not to mention the Gigabyte P35W v2 from yesteryear, which managed to stuff an optical drive into a laptop chassis measuring a mere 0.83 inches thick. At CES 2015 we only saw the thin laptop revolution continue with the Alienware 15 and 17, both of which now feature a 1.4 inch thick frame.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, Digital Storm has produced an interesting new number called the Triton. Straight out of the box this 15.6-inch laptop is a doozy with a body less than an inch thick and outfitted with Haswell Core i7 processor and Nvidia's new Maxwell GPU, the GTX 970M. The best part? All these components come standard with a 1080p screen for just $1,512 (about £996, AU$1,835).

It's quite the bargain on paper. Now the question is whether this affordable, powerful and thin laptop can fit the bill.

Design

The Triton has a sleek, futuristic look to it. Bucking the tradition of making every laptop a plain rectangular slate, Digital Storm has trimmed all the corners of this slim gaming rig at an angle to look like something out of Battlestar Galactica. In fact, the machine features sharp angles almost everywhere; the front lip bevels backwards slightly, and the keyboard deck dips below the palm rest following an angled edge before rising again to the slanted Onkyo speaker bar.

It's a sharp design and the angular aesthetic matches well with laptop's thin shape. Still, the laptop is by no means small. Digital Storm has outfitted it with a large trackpad and keyboard complete with a number pad, though at the expense of a shorter right shift and tilde key.

Digital Storm Triton is also comprised of a mostly metal body, making it feel a bit more premium while adding to the laptop's overall rigidity. Both the screen lid and Triton's underside are made of metal, the latter of which helps to passively cool the laptop to a degree.

Heat pipe

One major design misstep is the laptop comes with only one exhaust port on its left side. Although the laptop is running a very efficient chipset, it still produces an incredible amount of heat that all has to be forced through one tiny slot.

[Editor's note: Digital Storm has informed us the Triton actually has two exhaust ports with the second located on the laptop's rear right side. However, even with this new information our issues with the amount of heat this machine produces are still warranted.]

It's a problem that makes the Triton uncomfortable to use whether it's resting on your lap or even a desk, unless you're using it to keep a hot beverage warm. During heavy gaming sessions, the Triton can practically double as a space heater.