Whether you’re buying a new laptop for school or trying to find a gaming laptop, Black Friday may be the best time of year to find deals. This year, more than others, you should act fast! The persistent shortage of supply chain means that there may be fewer PCs this holiday season and they may take longer to ship. Read on for shopping tips.
We add new offers as we see them and remove older details when they are sold out. Of course, we will also keep an eye on all the deals on laptops on Black Friday itself!
Buy tips for Black Friday laptops
If you have previously shopped online for Black Friday laptop deals, you are probably aware that there is a huge variety of portable configurations available.
A good place to start is with the processor. Buy laptops with Intel 10Core chips or higher series, such as Core i5-10510U or Core i7-11800H (for even more details, see our Intel 10th Generation Mobile CPU Buying Guide); or go with an AMD Ryzen processor (but does not an AMD Athlon or A-Series chip). Avoid laptops with Pentium or Celeron processors unless it is a Chromebook (running Chrome OS). You also need to be wary of gaming laptops, as some GPUs, such as the RTX 3050 Ti, do not offer much lift compared to their RTX 2xxx series cousins, and Nvidia has dropped the Max-Q designation at certain low power opportunities. Our laptop CPU and GPU cheat sheets can help you shop smart.
Do not buy laptops with 4GB of RAM or 128GB of SSD storage – but on a Chromebook, this configuration is acceptable. We have several explanations in our notebook buying guide for Chromebooks, as well as in our primer on how to buy a cheap Black Friday laptop without getting screwed.
Reviews can be helpful. Although you can not find a review of a specific configuration, try related models. They will often give you a good idea of the build quality and performance. Also buy from brands you trust. Amazon’s daily deals on laptops right now are full of brands we’ve never tested or talked to (Broage, Teclast, DaySky, Jumper), and it’s just a good idea to be vigilant.
Most older laptops run Windows 10, and that’s fine – there’s no rush to upgrade. Windows 10 S, though annoying, can be easily replaced if you find it on a budget laptop. If you want to buy a Windows 10 PC for the purpose of upgrading to Windows 11, we recommend that you start here with a list of older laptops that are Windows 11 qualified.
Where can you find early Black Friday laptop deals?
- Amazon Amazon has quietly begun its Black Friday pre-sale with a specific “computers and video games” section and a daily deals page on laptops.
- B&H Photo B&H is currently running its “Holiday Head Start” offer.
- Best Buy Best Buy has launched its “Best Buy Black Friday Prices Guaranteed” sale, where it will refund the difference on any product whose price falls before November 26, when the sale officially starts.
- Costco Black Friday sales began Nov. 1 and run through Nov. 29.
- Dell Dell sales are part of its “Black Friday Sneak Peek.”
- HP.com HP is hosting its own Black Friday sneak peek. The company has announced its Black Friday sale here from November 25th.
- Microsoft Microsoft is running deals even though the company has not shared its Black Friday sales yet.
- Target Target has not yet released its Black Friday offers and has not announced when it will happen.
- Walmart Walmart’s “Black Friday Deals for Days” is underway now.
Early Black Friday laptop deals
Gigabyte G5 MD
From: Newegg
Var: $ 1,199.00
Now: $ 949.00 (after discount, $ 250 discount)
Gaming laptops are hard to find at a discount right now and this is a decidedly mixed bag of pros and cons. Inside is a Core i5-11400H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD behind a 144Hz 1080p display. The RTX 3050 Ti is usually considered a bum deal compared to the RTX 3060 … if you can find one? And yes, there is a $ 100 discount card you need to fill out? However, if you are willing to jump through these hangers, the price and savings are not bad.
See Gigabyte G5 MD at Newegg
Gigabyte Aero HDR 17.3 inches
Gigabyte AERO
From: Adorama
Var: $ 2,499
Nu: $ 1,999 ($ 500 off)
If you are looking for a first-class powerhouse to play games at, the Gigabyte Aero HDR 17.3-inch is a great option as it has some seriously powerful mod. Inside you’ll find an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card, an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage.
Watch the 17.3-inch Gigabyte Aero HDR at Adorama
Asus 11.6-empty Chromebook
From: Best Buy
Price: $ 219.00
Nu: $ 99 ($ 120 discount)
Great price! Best Buy users rate this Chromebook highly, and the specs (an Intel Celeron / 4GB RAM / 32GB eMMC storage) do not really give us a break – you typically do not store too many apps or documents on a Chromebook, so the limited storage space is not a big case. With Best Buy’s extended vacation return period (through January 16th), you’ll have plenty of time to decide if this little Chromebook works for you.
See the Asus 11.6-inch Chromebook at Best Buy
Asus Chromebook Flip C434 2-in-1 Laptop
HP
From: Newegg
Cost: $ 499
Nu: $ 449 ($ 50 off)
Chromebooks are the next limit (that’s what I always say). Not only are they virtually virus free, but they also make amazing productivity machines as they are designed with daily tasks in mind. The Asus Chromebook Flip C434 has a 14-inch full HD touch screen and an Intel Core m3-8100Y processor. Plus, the 360-degree hinge allows you to turn the screen around and use it as a tablet, making it a more versatile option.
See the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 2-in-1 Laptop at Newegg
Asus Vivobook Home & Business
Asus
From: Newegg
Var: $ 1,639
Nu: $ 899 ($ 740 discount)
If you are looking for a budget notebook for work, you should check out the Asus Vivobook Home & Business. It holds 32 GB of memory, 512 GB of PCIe SSD storage space (plus 1 TB HDD) and a 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor. It’s a powerful combination if you need fast processing and storage speeds, but do no smart video editing or other GPU-heavy work tasks.
See Asus Vivobook Home & Business laptop at Newegg
HP Pavilion x360 15t-er000 touch
From HP.com
Price: $ 749.99
Now: $ 599.99 ($ 150 discount)
HP’s Pavilion laptops and desktops are not particularly fancy, though the inclusion of a dedicated numeric keypad on the keyboard is a good, productive touch we appreciate. Otherwise, you’ll find a basic configuration here at a decent price: 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage, all powered by an 11th-generation Core i5 mounted under a 15.6 HD screen. (Yes, HD: 1,366 × 768. If it’s a little sparse – and it certainly can be at this resolution – a 1080p display option can be added for $ 60 more.)
See the HP Pavilion x360 15h-er000 touch at HP.com
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 + Signature Type Cover + Surface Pen Bundle
From: Target
Var: $ 1,179.97
Nu: $ 849.99 ($ 329.98 discount)
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 7 debuted in February 2020, and our Surface Pro 7 review showed that it absolutely dominated the laptop market. Sure, we now have the Surface Pro 8 (with Thunderbolt), but this is the right SP7 configuration at a very good price.
See the Surface Pro 7 package at Target.com
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go (Platinum)
Microsoft
From: Microsoft Store
Price: $ 899.99
Now: $ 699.99 ($ 200 discount)
We gave Microsoft Surface Laptop Go, Microsoft’s 12.4-inch budget laptop, 3.5 stars out of 5 in our Surface Laptop Go review. We felt it was a little overpriced. Lowering the price by $ 200 on its premium version (Core i5 / 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD) definitely helps! Just be aware that Laptop Go’s screen is below 1080p quality – but in our experience it did not really matter.
See Surface Laptop Go at Microsoft.com
MSI GP66 Leopard 11UH-032
MSI
Var: $ 2,299
Now: $ 1,799 ($ 400 off plus $ 100 off)
If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop to take with you to college, the MSI GP66 Leopard 11UH-032 is where it’s. Under the hood you will find 16 GB of memory, 1 TB NVMe SSD storage space and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU. It also has a varied selection of ports, eliminating the need for an adapter.
See MSI GP66 Leopard 11UH-032 on Newegg
Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7i 82A60015US
From: Microsoft Store
Var: 949.99
Now: $ 629.99 ($ 320 discount)
If you are looking for a stable, reliable PC for general use, Lenovo Ideapad Slim does the trick. With an 11th generation Core chip, 14-inch 1080p display, 8GB of memory and a 512GB SSD, nothing stands out much. At the same time, almost a third of the price is simply a solid deal. For reference, here is our review of a related IdeaPad Slim.
See Lenovo Ideapad Slim 7i 82A60015US at Microsoft
Dell Vostro 3400 laptop
From: Dell.com
Var: $ 1,184.28
Nu: $ 629 ($ 555.28)
If you considered the Lenovo deal above but prefer a Dell instead, it basically sells the same configuration (Intel 11th gen Core i5 / 8GB RAM / 512GB SSD) with a 14-inch screen for the same price. For a larger 15.6-inch screen and 512GB of storage, Dell also offers the Vostro 3510 for $ 729.00 or $ 626.71 off.
See the Dell Vostro 3400 at Dell.com
Dell Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 14-inch
Dell
From: Best Buy
Cost: $ 799.99
Nu: $ 599.99 ($ 200 discount)
The Dell Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 is a good option for most people as it is quite well-rounded. The AMD Ryzen 5 5000 series is considered a medium-tier processor that is lightning fast enough to handle most tasks. Inspiron also packs 8GB of memory and integrated Radeon graphics into its processor. In other words, it is capable of multitasking and some easy play.
See the Dell Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 13-inch at Best Buy
Updated November 22 with additional offers.
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft’s news and chip technology, among other beats. He has previously written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK and ReadWrite.