The calendar might say Saturday, but we’re still seeing some great Black Friday deals on laptops. Whether you’re going for a MacBook, Windows PC or Chromebook, or even maybe a work or gaming laptop, there are a lot of options to pick from. We don’t know how long these deals will last, so be sure to grab one quickly. But not so quickly you’ll regret it: It’s easy for a cheap price to turn your head, but you’ll probably be using this for years to come.
Black Friday isn’t the end of the deals. Cyber Monday continues many of the best holiday deals, and often includes some new sales, too. See the best Cyber Monday deals, and keep up with all the latest deals with our full Cyber Monday live blog coverage.
Tons of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are live at retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart. You can find good deals on manufacturers’ websites, as well. In fact, many PC-makers, such as Lenovo, Dell, HP and Acer, offer discounts if you buy directly from them. CNET’s team of more than a dozen shopping experts is scouring the web daily to find the best deals that will offer you the best return on your spending, so be sure to check back here regularly, as this list is updated frequently.
Best Black Friday laptop deals and PC sales
If you want a great bare-bones device to get online and do the basics, the Acer Chromebook 315 is a great option. With a much lighter ChromeOS, the Intel Celeron N4020 and 4GB of RAM go a long way, although the 64GB of storage might not be much if you don’t stream content. You can pick it up for just $139, and it even comes with a bag to carry and protect it.
Details
This midrange configuration of the Ideapad 3i has a great Intel Core i3-1115G4, which will manage most productivity and day-to-day tasks. It also has 256GB storage and a slightly less impressive 8GB of RAM, although it should be enough for those who aren’t power users. Best of all, you can grab it for $280 and save $220.
Details
If you need something with a little bit more oomph at a good price, the Dell Inspiron is a great option as it has a midrange Intel Core i5 1155G7 CPU. It also comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which will be good enough for most everyday work.
Details
If you’re looking for a great mid-range gaming laptop, this configuration of the Asus TUF has an RX7600S, which is roughly equivalent to an RTX 4060, so it should be able to handle most basic gaming pretty well. You also get 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
Details
The M3 MacBooks have been released, but this 15-inch M2 MacBook Air is still a powerful laptop. You can get another $50 off that if you sign up for My Best Buy Plus or Total (which has a $50 membership fee); if you have a qualified device to trade in, you can also receive up to $850 of trade-in value.
Details
What should you look for in a Black Friday laptop deal?
One of the biggest considerations is which laptop configuration is on sale. Often with the best laptop deals, only a specific version of the laptop is on sale, and making any changes could affect the price. This means that sometimes you find the 512GB model is actually cheaper than the 256GB option, or a similar situation. Be careful when adjusting specs and look out for sudden price changes.
Ultimately, you’re looking for the biggest savings versus not only the price but the usual “street” price for a laptop. Don’t be fooled by list prices. Use price comparison sites or shopping extensions to make sure the discounted price is actually a good deal.
When are the best laptop deals available?
Generally, you’ll find the best laptop deals during back-to-school shopping time in late summer or early fall and a bit later in the year during annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events. There are laptop deals available throughout the year, but if you’re looking for the best deal and can afford to wait a little, these are the best times of the year to buy one.
Which retailers usually offer the best Black Friday laptop deals?
You can usually find deals across a variety of retailers when it comes to laptop sales. Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg and other retailers tend to offer sales on more specific models, while manufacturers like HP, Lenovo and Dell usually host larger sales that cover more models and configurations. If you’re looking for a specific model, you’ll want to keep checking back regularly for the latest set of deals.
More Black Friday deals from CNET