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Razer's budget version of the 17-inch Blade Pro is $2,299

Razer's budget version of the 17-inch Blade Pro is $2,299

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If you want a big, powerful gaming laptop but don't want to buy a pickup truck to carry it around, the 17.3-inch Razer Blade Pro is a nice option. Unfortunately, it starts at $3,999, which is a lot of money. Today Razer is adding a new $2,299 17.3-inch Blade Pro model to the lineup. It’s still a lot of money but, you know, less of a lot.

Unfortunately, the new Blade Pro is a lot less "Pro," too. The new laptop has a GeForce GTX 1060 instead of a 1080, a matte 1080p 120Hz screen instead of a 4K G-Sync touchscreen, and the membrane keyboard switches from the 14-inch Blade line instead of the mechanical keyboard the high-end Blade Pro has.

Can you guess which is which?
Can you guess which is which?
Razer

There are some upsides to the reduction in power, however. The new model is lighter, runs cooler, and only requires a 165 watt power adapter — all of which should improve portability. The laptop’s single configuration comes with 16GB of RAM, but you can upgrade that yourself to 32GB. The 256GB PCIe SSD and 2TB hard drive are also upgradeable, and the 7th-gen Core i7 7700HQ processor isn't bad.

Basically, Razer made a hybrid between its 17-inch and 14-inch Blade laptops, which seems like a logical thing to do. It's not exactly price-competitive with the 17-inch offerings of MSI or Asus, but what did you expect? The new Blade Pro should ship in September.