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Razer carves out a place for budget-minded gamers with new Blade Pro

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Razer Blade Pro
Image used with permission by copyright holder
There was some good news for laptop gamers, and their wallets, out of IFA on Thursday, August 31, as Razer announced a new configuration for its top-end 17.3-inch Blade Pro laptop. The new model boasts more modest internals at a much more modest price, starting at just $2,300. The original, fully loaded, Blade Pro starts at $4,000.

It’s still a premium gaming laptop, so its price isn’t exactly as budget-friendly as, say, the Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming, but it’s much more attainable as a desktop replacement than the previous model. Not to mention, the $2,300 Blade Pro has a few unique features which set it apart from the competition.

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The new Blade Pro features a matte 1080p IPS display panel, with a refresh rate of 120Hz and support for Nvidia’s G-Sync. The new display isn’t a touchscreen, but that refresh rate is promising.

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Internally, it features an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 2TB mechanical hard drive.

But wait, there’s more! Razer promises the new Blade Pro will be user-expandable, meaning a few of those baseline specs can be upgraded over time. The new Blade Pro comes standard with 16GB of RAM, but enterprising owners will be able to pop the Blade open and add another 16GB of RAM, bringing the total up to 32GB.

The storage options can also be expanded. You’ll be able to replace the existing 256GB M.2 SSD with larger offerings all the way up to 2TB. The mechanical drive can also be replaced with any compatible mechanical HDD up to 4TB.

On top of all that, the new Blade Pro features the same high-quality construction featured on the original, with a robust “military-grade” aluminum chassis, a real mechanical keyboard, and of course Razer’s signature Chroma lighting setup.

We don’t have an exact release date just yet, but Razer has the new Blade Pro slated for a third quarter 2017 release on the Razer Store, and a fourth quarter 2017 release worldwide. So we should see it on store shelves before the end of the year, and if you’re particularly eager to get your hands on it, keep a close eye on the Razer Store in the coming months.

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Jayce Wagner
Jayce Wagner
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.
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