On Monday Razer announced that its Razer Blade 14 inch gaming laptop and its Razer Edge Pro 10.1 inch gaming tablet are now available for in-store purchase at approximately 100 Best Buy locations nationwide. Best Buy is the first U.S.-based retailer to carry these two gaming devices and an exclusive partner to sell the units in-store nationwide.
"Two years ago, Razer was known as a niche company that made the world's best gaming peripherals," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. "Today, we are leading the charge in tablet and laptop innovation with systems available at Best Buy stores across the country. This is truly a gratifying day for our company and for gamers and computer aficionados alike."
The Razer Blade features a 0.66 inch ultra-thin profile crafted from aluminum, packing an Intel Core i7-4702HQ quad core CPU clocked up to 3.2 GHz, 8 GB of DDR3L-1600 memory, Intel HD 4600 graphics and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 765M GPU with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM. Other features include a 256 GB mSATA SSD, Qualcomm Killer Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0, three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, Razer's Anti-Ghosting keyboard, a 1.3MP webcam and more.
On the Razer Edge Pro front, this tablet packs an Intel Core i7 dual core processor clocked up to 3.0 GHz, 8 GB of DDR3-1600 memory, Intel HD 4000 graphics and a Nvidia GeForce GT 640M GPU. Other features include a 256 GB SATA 3 SSD, Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, 10-point capacitive touch on a 1366 x 768 screen, one USB 3.0 port, a built-in 2MP webcam, Dolby Home Theater v4 and more. This tablet measures just 0.8 inches thin and weighs 2.1 pounds.
Best Buy will presumably carry the peripherals required to turn the Razer Edge Pro into a handheld and living room console. Razer currently offers the Gamepad Controller that turns the device into a handheld gaming machine, featuring backlit D-Pad and action buttons, dual analog sticks, and support for vibration feedback. The company also offers a Docking Station for turning the tablet into a home "console,"- adding three additional USB 2.0 ports, HDMI output, and MIC In/Stereo out jacks. The Keyboard Dock still hasn't been made available despite making an appearance back in January.
Best Buy is currently listing both the Core i5-based Edge tablet and the Edge Pro Core i7-based tablet described above, costing $999.99 for the vanilla Edge model with 64 GB of internal storage, $1,299.99 for the Edge Pro with 128 GB of storage, and $1,449.99 for the Edge Pro with 256 GB of storage. The Razer Blade laptop with 256 GB of storage can be found here for a meaty $1,999.99.
