Black Friday offers some of the best deals on laptops, notebook PCs, and Chromebooks of any time during the year—and the great deals aren’t confined to just the day after Thanksgiving. We’ve rounded up the best deals on portable PCs that we know of so far, and we’ll add to this list as the week progresses.
(Note that there may be decent deals on new models, but it’s the laptops that are slightly older that often receive the sharpest discounts. In part, that’s because laptop vendors have just introduced their latest gear, and may be clearing the decks.) Acer likes to discount its notebooks, and right now it appears to be offering the best deals, especially on Amazon’s favorite budget notebook, the Aspire 5.
Note: We’ve struck out deals (like so) that have expired, and added new ones that have appeared. Updated at 2:00 PM PT with new Microsoft deals.
Black Friday deals on Dell laptops
One of the best deals Dell is offering is a doorbuster at 2 PM ET/11 AM PT on Black Friday: PCWorld’s Editors’ Choice, the Dell XPS 13Remove non-product link for $799.99, which is a savings of $400, or 33 percent, off the list price of $1,199. Yes, this Core i5/8GB/256GB config is last year’s model, currently selling for $949.99, but it’s still a terrific machine!
We also really like another doorbuster: 6 PM ET/3 PM PT on Thanksgiving: This Inspiron 15 5000Remove non-product link laptop is on sale for $399.99, $200, or 33 percent, off its current price of $599.99. It’s got an entry-level Core i5 Ice Lake chip with somewhat minimal 8GB RAM/256GB SSD specs, but for the price, it’s worth it. It’s now back to $599.99.
Dell’s also selling its Inspiron 14 5000Remove non-product link 2-in-1 for $599.99 (20 percent or $150, or 20 percent, off), which includes a new 10th-gen Comet Lake chip, designed for speed. (A Dell Inspiron 15 5000 at the same price — the deal below — has now expired.) The 8GB RAM/256GB SSD/1080p configuration skimps a bit on storage, but not much. On Black Friday, Dell will sell the Inspiron 15 5000 2-in-1 LaptopRemove non-product link, for $599.99, $150 off its MSRP, and $100 of its current list price. It’s basically the identical configuration to the 14 5000 model but with a 15.6-inch screen. There’s also a regular Inspiron 14 5000Remove non-product link, with a 10th-gen Core i5 “Ice Lake,” plus 8GB memory and 512GB of storage, on sale for $599.99, or $100 off. A Core i7 modelRemove non-product link is $649.99, or $150 off.
This Dell XPS 15Remove non-product link, is on sale for $1,599 or $500 (24 percent) off. It features a 9th-gen Core i9 and an Nvidia GTX 1650, a decent midrange GPU, and features a whopping 1 TB SSD.
We’ve also begun recommending that people stop paying for antivirus software, but this 1-PC, 1-year license to McAfee Antivirus is just $4.99Remove non-product link.
Black Friday deals on HP laptops
First, a word to the wise: HP is advertising its 15t laptops at monumental “discounts”: touting savings of as much as $770 on its Black Friday site, with prices as low as $499 on Black Friday. But know that HP 15t laptops are currently sell for a low of $579.99, so in reality we’re talking about a 13 percent savings.
HP’s Spectre x360 13tRemove non-product link is currently on sale for $719.99, about $320, or 37 percent off the $1,149 retail. This seems like a legitimate sale, as it’s hovered at that price or even a bit higher for most of 2019. HP’s Spectre x360 laptops are generally excellent. A limited-time doorbuster starting at 4 PM PT on Black Friday will bring the price down to $800. (Oddly, HP seems to be taking slightly more off the laptop as the say goes on.)
HP also has a nice deal on this HP Spectre x360 2-in-1Remove non-product link for $1,099.99 ($500 off or 33 percent off) the $1599 retail price, though this Amazon listing implies it’s more like $300. No matter. There’s a 10th-gen Core i7/16GB RAM/512GB SSD (with 32GB of Optane) hiding behind a 4K screen. A 4K display usually means a bit less battery life, which may not matter to you. We’ve really liked the earlier models.
The HP Envy x360Remove non-product link notebook on sale for $899.99, 50 percent off the $1,699 MSRP, probably isn’t quite as good as it sounds, but it’s still a solid price for a 15-inch laptop with a 10th-gen Ice Lake chip inside, with 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD.
Beginning November 28, Microsoft will offer the 10th-gen Core i3 HP 15-dy1731msRemove non-product link for $299 (down from its $490 price, a nearly 40 percent discount). The 10th-gen Core i5-powered model of the same machine, the HP 15-dy1751msRemove non-product link, is also on sale for $399, a 34 percent discount from its $600 price. A Core i7 version will be $599.
Target is also offering this Black Friday doorbuster on the HP 11.6-inch ChromebookRemove non-product link for $99, 50 percent off its retail price of $199.99.
Black Friday deals on Microsoft laptops
Microsoft’s shaving 22 percent off the price of the Core i5/8GB/256GB version of the Surface Pro 7. Bundled with the Type Cover (which normally ships separately), the Surface Pro 7 will cost $999, $330 off the regular price. The Core i5/8GB/128GB option with Type Cover will be $799, or $230 off. This deal is live.
Microsoft is also promising up to $300 off of the Surface Laptop 3 . Microsoft’s fun, portable, though underpowered Surface Go will also start at $299, or $150 off. These deals are live, too. Best Buy‘s $600 Surface Pro 7 with a Core i3 processor and a Type cover isn’t bad, though it’s a Core i3 with 4GB of memory. It’s notable for its price alone. Want something better? This Surface Pro 7Remove non-product link with a Core i5/8GB/256GB model is $999, down $330 (or 25 percent) from the normal price.
On November 28, Microsoft will offer $500 off the aging Surface Book 2.
Black Friday deals on Samsung laptops
Beginning on Thanksgiving and extending though Black Friday, Walmart is offering this Samsung 11.6-inch Chromebook 3Remove non-product link for $99, which is normally $159. That’s 38 percent off for a 4GB RAM/16GB Chromebook, which isn’t great but should work just fine for a young student.
Black Friday deals on Lenovo laptops
B&H currently has what looks to be a great deal on this 14-inch IdeaPad Flex ProRemove non-product link for $549 $579. While we doubt it’s ever been sold for the retail price of $1,169, this 2-in-1 boasts a Core i5-8250U CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, plus Thunderbolt ports and a 1080p display. It’s also substantially less than the $949 we found it for on Amazon.
Walmart is offering this Lenovo IdeaPad for $379Remove non-product link, about $110 less than on Amazon. It ships with a 15.6-inch screen, Core i5-8265U/8GB RAM/128GB SSD configuration. It uses a 1366×768 screen, though, which is lower-res than the 1080p panels we usually prefer. There’s a more modern Ideapad S340-15IILRemove non-product link for $499.99 ($180 off or 26 percent off) that can be shipped from Micro Center, which includes an up-to-date Core i5-1035G1 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage, plus a 1080p screen.
Walmart’s also selling this Legion By Lenovo Y540 15.6 Gaming LaptopRemove non-product link for $849, which my colleague Brad Chacos ranks as a good deal for its combination of an Intel Core i5-9300H plus Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660Ti 6GB GPU. It also includes both a 256GB SSD as well as a 1TB hard drive for data backup.
Black Friday deals on Acer laptops
Acer’s inexpensive Acer Aspire 5 laptops consistently dominate the list of Amazon’s best sellers, and for Black Friday Amazon’s running a nice deal on a modern Aspire 5. The Aspire 5 (A515-54-51DJ)Remove non-product link is now just $399.99, or about $110 (22 percent) off what Amazon usually sells it for, or $510. This 15.6-inch, 1080p notebook contains a modern 8th-gen “Whiskey Lake” Intel Core processor, 8 GB of memory, and 256GB of storage. We prefer 512GB of storage, but you can make do.
There’s also the older Aspire 3 (A315-41-R8UU)Remove non-product link for $329.99, or 40 percent off, which includes a Ryzen 5, 8GB of memory, and a terabyte spinning hard drive. Performance won’t be great, but the price is pretty solid.
A more interesting deal is the Acer Swift 3, a decent midrange, everyday notebook which earned 3.5 stars in our review. Acer’s lowering the price of the Acer Swift 3 (SF314-55G-50PM)Remove non-product link to $669.99, down 25 percent from the $899 review price. It’s an 8GB RAM/512GB SSD machine. That makes this deal seem even sweeter: the 8GB/256GB version costs $977.43 on Amazon. That’s a 31 percent savings! Acer seems to have killed the earlier deal, but replaced it with a Swift 3 (SF313-51-57EQ)Remove non-product link for $449.99, down 40 percent ($300 off) It’s an Core i5/8250U/8GB/256GB version, a little skimpy on the storage but not bad. The real-world discount is more like $120 or $150, though.
Amazon is selling the Acer Predator Helios 300Remove non-product link for $928.99, $271 or 23 percent off its traditional selling price. It’s a 15-inch Core i9 machine with a good high-end GPU, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti inside.
Microsoft’s also selling the Acer Predator Triton 500 PT515-51-75BHRemove non-product link for $1,399, about 18 percent off the selling price of $1,699. (Amazon’s still selling at full MSRP.) With a 9th-gen Core i7, GeForce RTX 2060 (and a 144Hz monitor), plus 16GB RAM/512GB SSD, this isn’t an outstanding deal, but it’s not bad.
Black Friday deals on MSI laptops
Newegg is promoting the MSI GL65 9SDK-034Remove non-product link for $799, $250, or 22 percent, off. It’s another good GeForce GTZ 1660 Ti (6GB) deal, with a 9th-gen Core i7 backing it up, as well as 8GB of memory and a 512GB SSD. (Note that the sale price is $899, but a mail-in rebate will knock another $100 off that price.) Sold out!
Black Friday deals on Asus laptops
Newegg has one of those whopping $1,000 discounts on a gaming laptop in store for Black Friday: the ROG G703GXRemove non-product link is $2,389, $1,110, or 32 percent, off. (The deal’s already live, though.) This is for gamers who want to jump feet-first into Nvidia’s RTX technology, with a Core i9-8950HK under the hood, an RTX 2080 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 17-inch IPS 144Hz display. Sold out!