Amazon doesn't have any good early Prime Day deals on gaming laptops. Here's where to shop instead.
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.
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
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
MSI Prestige 14 (Intel Core i5-1240P, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $699.99
$999.99(save $300)
Early Prime Day gaming laptop deals under $1,500
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
Acer Nitro 16 (AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,299.99
$1,399.99(save $100)ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,399.99
$1,599.99(save $200) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptionMSI Summit E14 Flip Evo (Intel Core i7-1260P, Intel Iris Xe, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,399.99
$1,599.99(save $200)Acer Predator Helios 18 (Intel i7-13700HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,424.99
$1,699.99(save $275) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription
Early Prime Day gaming laptop deals under $2,000
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
ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (Intel Core i9-13900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,599.99
$1,949.99(save $350) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptionMSI Stealth 16 Studio (Intel Core i7-13620H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,649.99
$1,849.99(save $200) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptionAcer Predator Triton 14 (Intel Core i7-13700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,699.99
$1,999.99(save $300) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptionLegion Slim 7i Gen 8 (Intel Core i9-13900H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,749.99
$2,099.99(save $350) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptionRazer Blade 14 (AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,799.99
$1,999.99(save $200)Razer Blade 15 (Intel Core i7-12700K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,999.99
$2,999.99(save $1,000) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription
Topics Prime Day
Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons.
