How to find the best Black Friday laptop deals

If you’re hunting within this year’s Black Friday laptop deals or CyberMonday laptop deals for your next machine, it certainly pays to make sure you’re getting the best discount possible. With so many deals from so many different retailers up for grabs (not to mention the highly competitive flash sales that pop up throughout the day), it’s easy to get overwhelmed and jump on the first offer that you see. 

We’ve been tracking Black Friday laptop deals for years now, so we know a good deal when we spot one. That’s why we’re showing you how to get the best Black Friday laptop deals possible now that the heat is on.

Balancing value, cost, and additional perks, sorting the wheat from the chaff is a timely affair – and you might not get that time if you’re looking at a particularly limited offer. That’s why it’s important to not only go into this year’s discounts with an idea of the model you’d like to buy, but also the specs you’re looking for under the hood, the amount you’d like to spend, and how flexible you can be on all those counts. 

You’ll find some of our top picks from today’s sales just below, but to make sure you’re getting the best Black Friday laptop deal for you, check out our top tips.

The best early Black Friday laptop deals available now

How to find the best Black Friday laptop deals

Apple MacBook Air

(Image credit: Apple)

Our tips range from early research through to the decisions you’ll be making once you’ve got a few models in your cart. It’s best to prep as early as possible when deciding which brands and specs you’ll be on the hunt for this Black Friday, but we’ll also show you how flexible you need to be to get the best value as well.

1. Know what you want from Black Friday laptop deals

You should already have an idea of the laptop brands and models that you’re looking for. However, if you’re unsure of what you need, it’s worth really focusing on what you’ll be using your machine for. 

If you just need an everyday laptop for emails, streaming, and web browsing, then you’ll find some particularly low prices in the annual sales. It’s worth deciding whether you’re keen on a Chromebook or a Windows laptop. The former is generally cheaper and offers better performance from weaker (and therefore cheaper) specs. However, the latter will keep you open to a wider range of extra programs. Still, both options are designed to cater to this budget market and you’ll find Black Friday laptop deals settling at between $100-$400 (£100-£400). The minimum specs we’d recommend you chase for a Chromebook sit at 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage, and you’ll usually be paying a slight premium (though perhaps only $30-$40 / £30-£40) for a 14-inch display over an 11.6-inch model. 

If you’re working from home or need a machine capable of multi-tasking between heavier programs with plenty more storage under the hood, we’d recommend picking up at least 8GB RAM, an i3 or i5 / Ryzen 3 or Ryzen 5 processor, and 128GB-256GB of SSD storage space. This is where we see the biggest value in Black Friday laptop deals. 

Some of the most popular offers hit this sweet spot of power and affordability, dropping prices of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 or Acer Swift 1 down to around $399 / £399. 

Dell XPS 13 laptop

(Image credit: Dell)

For media editing, more demanding programs, or a more luxurious chassis, you’ll be looking at the upper-midrange. These laptops pack i5 or i7 / Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 processors and usually offer 512GB (or even 1TB if you catch a really good deal) of SSD storage for between $599 and $899 (£599-£899). The top end of this scale usually comes with more luxurious features that verge into the ultrabook territory – 4K displays, Intel’s Optane memory, and dedicated graphics cards so it’s worth shopping around to see if there are any additional extras available once you hit this price category.

Once you know the spec range that you’re after, it’s time to find the best price.

Entry level Mid-range Top-end Use caseEveryday browsing, streaming and lighter workMulti-tasking, more demanding softwareMedia editing, premium designBlack Friday prices$100-$400 / $100-£400$400-$600 / £400-£600$600-$1,000 / £600-£1,000SpecsIntel Celeron / AMD A-Series processor, 4GB RAM, 32-64GB storagei3 or i5 / Ryzen 3 or Ryzen 5i5, i7 or i7 / Ryzen 5, 7 or 9

2. Set your budget, but remain flexible

As mentioned above, there are generally clear price ranges for different levels of laptop. That makes it a little easier to work out how much you’ll likely be spending for the configuration and model of your choice. However, it’s worth checking in on retailers to gather an average price for the spec you have in mind. 

Once you’ve found your budget, though, it’s worth adding a little flexibility in. There are no hard and fast rules for laptop prices on Black Friday, and there are so many points of difference between one model and another that each discount comes with a unique level of value. 

A premium ultrabook with an i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD, for example, may still offer good value even if it’s vastly more expensive than a cheaper model with the same specs. We may see several different configurations within a price bracket, though. 

For example, if you’re looking at spending $400 on a laptop with an i5 processor, 256GB SSD, and 8GB RAM, you’ll likely find one at that price. But it’s worth keeping a little padding in your budget should you spot a model with 512GB of SSD storage for $450. It’s well worth spending a little extra to double your storage in this instance, securing you the best Black Friday laptop deals possible. 

Asus Chromebook Flip

(Image credit: Asus)

3. Get there early

Retailers do release their Black Friday deals in waves, but it’s also important to get there early. Some of the best Black Friday laptop deals are snapped up in minutes, so you’ll need to have eyes across a range of retailers in the morning if you’re looking to get the absolute best price possible. If your first search doesn’t offer anything particularly exciting, stick around and keep checking back. 

Flash sales offer up some of the lowest prices of the whole event and often include the very best offers. However, these discounts move fast so we’d recommend keeping a close eye on the retailers that most often offer these kinds of sales (HP (opens in new tab) and Dell (opens in new tab) are well known to offer some stunning deals this way). 

4. Price-check any Black Friday laptop deals you find

We’re highlighting all the lowest prices on our own guide to this year’s sales, but if you’re going it alone it’s worth spending a little extra time price checking once you’ve found a deal. Generally, retailers will price match each other automatically during Black Friday. However, you could still find a lower price (or a better value configuration) at another store, so it’s well worth a hunt. 

If retailers are matching their prices, though, we’d still recommend taking a trip through the web. Stores like to gain a competitive edge by offering additional incentives during the holiday sales. That could be anything from free accessories to subscriptions, or simply just faster shipping. Make sure you’re checking the whole offer before committing. 

Our top five best Black Friday laptop deals

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1. XPS 13 laptop | $949 $649 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $300 – The XPS 13 laptop typically hovers at his $949 RRP, but with this Black Friday laptop deal you can get it for $300 off at Dell. It’s a great price for a solid little machine; it’s well worth checking out the specs for yourself, at least.

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2. HP 17.3-inch laptop | $679 $499 at Walmart (opens in new tab)
Save $180 – Not only are you getting a larger 17.3-inch display on this HP model, but there’s also a sizeable 512GB SSD under the hood as well as an 11th generation i5 processor. That means you’ve got plenty of screen and drive space for a range of heavier tasks.

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3. Dell Inspiron 15 3000 15.6-inch laptop | $388.99 $199.99 at Dell (opens in new tab)
Save $189 – If you’re after a super cheap Windows machine, it’s worth noting that this Dell Inspiron 15 3000 laptop rarely drops below $200. This 128GB / 4GB RAM configuration is certainly on the lighter side but those who just need a machine for everyday browsing will still find excellent value here.

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4. Asus 11.6-inch Chromebook | $219 $99 at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
Save $120 – You can pick up an entry-level Asus Chromebook with the standard 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage for under $100 right now. That’s a stunning price that we’ve seen rolling throughout this year’s Black Friday laptop deals.

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5. Lenovo Yoga 7i 15.6-inch 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop | $849.99 $649.99 at Best Buy (opens in new tab)
Save $200 – The Lenovo Yoga 7i is $200 off in today’s Black Friday laptop deals. That’s a stunning discount on a premium model, with a solid 8GB RAM / 256GB SSD configuration under the hood as well. That 2-in-1 design makes this a particularly flexible machine, and well worth a look for anyone after a new laptop and tablet.

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We’ve trawled through all of today’s best Black Friday laptop deals to bring you the biggest discounts and highest value offers. You’ll find our top five offers just below. 


We’ll be trawling through the onslaught of discounts ourselves, highlighting everything from Black Friday gaming laptop deals to Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals. However, if you’re after more productivity tools, we’d recommend keeping a close eye on Black Friday iPad deals as well. 

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