Amazon doesn't have any good early Prime Day deals on gaming laptops. Here's where to shop instead.

You can save up to $1,200 elsewhere.
By Haley Henschel  on 
the razer blade 17 gaming laptop against a pink and purple gradient background
A couple configurations of last year's Razer Blade 17 have hefty discounts at Best Buy. Credit: Razer

SAVE UP TO $1,200: We've compiled a running list of the best gaming laptop deals around the web ahead of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, the retail giant's fall Prime event from Oct. 10 to 11.

A quick look at the best early Prime Day gaming laptop deals:

Best gaming laptop deal under $1,000
the MSI Thin GF63

Best gaming laptop deal under $1,500
MSI Stealth 14 Studio (Intel Core i7-13620H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD)
$1,299.99 at Best Buy + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription (save $200)
the MSI Stealth 14 Studio

Best gaming laptop deal under $2,000
the Razer Blade 17

It's tough to recommend buying a gaming laptop from Amazon. Too many of its listings come from sketchy third-party sellers, have misleading inflated MSRPs, or feature no-longer-worth-it models that have been discontinued by their manufacturers. (Sometimes all three.) And competing retailers tend to offer much better deals — even when Amazon hosts its spotlight-hogging Prime sales.

As such, we're looking beyond Amazon for gaming laptop deals ahead of Prime Big Deal Days, the retail giant's fall Prime Day-style savings event (scheduled for Oct. 10 and 11). Best Buy is the obvious winner so far, having dropped a bunch of discounts on Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, MSI, and Razer models as part of its monthlong holiday sneak peek sale. But Target came through with one gem for its weeklong Circle Week sale, which runs in stores, online, and in the Target app through Saturday, Oct. 7.

Below, we're keeping a curated list of all of the best gaming laptop deals you can score at different retailers in the week leading up to Prime Big Deal Days. All models have been cross-checked with their brands' websites to make sure their specs, pricing, and discounts are legit so you can buy with confidence:

Early Prime Day gaming laptop deals under $1,000

Our pick: MSI Thin GF63
$999.99 at Target (save $200) with Target Circle

Why we like it

The 15.6-inch MSI Thin GF63 measures just 0.85 inches thick and weighs in at 4.1 pounds, which is about as sleek and light as you'll get with a budget gaming laptop. This specific configuration comes with a mid-range, 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, a newer NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, and you can snag it on sale at Target for $999.99 through Oct. 7 if you're a member of its free Target Circle loyalty program. (That price will appear once you add it to your cart.) It typically retails for $1,199.99.

More gaming laptop deals under $1,000

Early Prime Day gaming laptop deals under $1,500

Our pick: MSI Stealth 14 Studio
$1,299.99 at Best Buy (save $200) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription

Why we like it

Mediocre battery life aside, the latest iteration of MSI's 14-inch Stealth 14 Studio "is a well-executed content creation laptop," writes PCMag (which is owned by Mashable's publisher, ZiffDavis): "It crams lots of power and a brilliant screen into a light package." Best Buy currently has a 1TB model with a peppy 13th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and Geforce RTX 4060 graphics on sale for $1,299.99, or $200 off its MSRP. It also comes with a free 1-month trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate worth $16.99.

More gaming laptop deals under $1,500

Early Prime Day gaming laptop deals under $2,000

Our pick: Razer Blade 17
$1,999.99 at Best Buy (save $1,200)

Why we like it

Last year's Razer Blade 17 is a beefy gaming workhorse with a beautiful 17.3-inch QHD 240Hz display and vapor chamber technology that keeps it cool and quiet. The configuration with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage usually retails for a whopping $3,199.99, but Best Buy currently has it on sale for $1,999.99 — a 38% savings. (That puts it at the same price as another Razer Blade 17 configuration with a slightly downgraded GeForce RTX 3060 GPU.)

More gaming laptop deals under $2,000

Topics Prime Day

Mashable Image
Haley Henschel

Haley is a Mashable shopping reporter based in Chicago. Before joining the team, she covered politics for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, wrote about exotic pet ownership for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, and blogged for several Jersey Shore stars. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games and hanging out with her parrot (Melon) and dog (Pierogi). You can follow her on Twitter at @haleyhenschel or reach her via email at [email protected].


Recommended For You
'Hazbin Hotel' teaser takes an optimistic view of Hell

The best Prime Day Apple deals include record-lows on iPads, MacBooks, and AirPods

200+ October Prime Day deals still live on Amazon: AirPods, iPads, Nintendo Switch, and much more
By Mashable Shopping Team

Target Circle Week is getting a huge head start on Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days this October

'Invincible' Season 2 trailer examines the aftermath of Season 1's huge betrayal

More in Tech

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for October 18

7 skills to teach your daughter by age 13


Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for October 18

The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!