Best laptop deals: Top picks from budget to extreme

Whether you’re buying a new laptop for school or trying to find a high-end gaming laptop, it’s possible to find good laptop deals no matter the season. We’re scouring the web daily to find the laptop deals you don’t want to miss.

Mind you, not all advertised laptop deals are actually deals, so we’ve only included the ones we consider actual bargains—and we’ve explained why. We’ll add new laptop deals as we see them daily and remove any expired sales. Right now, we’re seeing strong discounts on gaming laptops, Microsoft Surface devices, and more. If you’re looking for Chromebooks we’ve got those deals in here too!

We’ve provided a handy list of laptop-specific shopping tips at the end of this post, and immediately below are the deals themselves.

The best laptop deals in 2022

From: Dell.com

Was: $654.98

Now: $399.99 ($254.99)

The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 is an excellent everyday PC and when it hits this price it’s well worth looking at. This laptop has a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of NVMe onboard storage. The processor is an Intel “Ice Lake” Core  i5-1035G1 with four cores, eight threads and a boost to 3.6GHz. Ports include one USB 2.0, 1 HDMI 1.4, and two USB 3.2. If you need something for work or school, this is an excellent choice.

See the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 at Dell.com

From: Best Buy

Was: $819.99

Now: $669.99 ($150 off)

This convertible laptop features a 15.6-inch 1080p touchscreen, a Ryzen 5 5500U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It’s also packing Windows 11 Home, a backlit keyboard, and Amazon Alexa is available onboard. In other words, you’re getting a lot for your money. But what really makes this a really good deal is the touchscreen and the convertible form factor for when you need to use it in tablet mode.

See the HP Envy 2-in-1 at Best Buy

From: Walmart

Was: $1,099

Now: $899 ($200 off)

This 1080p laptop has a nice set of specs. The 17.3-inch 1080p display has a 144Hz refresh rate. The fast refresh rate means smoother gameplay. The CPU is an Intel Core i5-11260H. That’s six cores, 12 threads, and a boost to 4.4GHz. The GPU is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, which is a solid choice for 1080p gaming. As for RAM and onboard storage, it has 8GB of memory and a 512GB NVMe SSD.

See the 17.3-inch Asus TUF laptop at Walmart

From: Walmart

Was: $1,799.99

Now: $1,349.00 ($450 off)

If you want something with a little more oomph than the Asus TUF above, this Acer gaming laptop has an RTX 3060 GPU inside of it. We really like Acer’s Nitro 5 lineup generally and this version has some solid specs. It features a 17.3-inch 1080p display with a refresh rate of 144Hz, a Ryzen 7 5800H processor, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB NVMe SSD, and Wi-Fi 6. When we reviewed the RTX 3060 back in early 2021, we found it was a good no compromises 1080p gaming GPU.

See the Acer Nitro 5 at Walmart

From: Best Buy

Was: $499

Now: $449 ($50 off)

It’s hard to beat a Chromebook for simplicity and solid security. The downside for Chromebook laptops, however, is that playing mobile games can sometimes suck when a touchpad stands in for a touchscreen. The IdeaPad Duet 5, however, is a Chromebook tablet with a portable keyboard cover, so you can swipe away to your heart’s content. This version features a 13.3-inch 1080p touch display, 8GB of RAM, a whopping 128GB of storage, and it’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon SC7180. It’s supposed to be able to run Linux, but we wouldn’t recommend that; opt for an Intel chip instead if you want Linux desktop programs on your Chromebook. Instead, turn to the Play Store for filling in the gaps where web apps fall short with the Duet 5.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 at Best Buy

From: Walmart

Was: $999.99

Now: $599 ($400.99 off)

If you’re looking for a well designed Windows tablet, there’s no beating Microsoft’s Surface line and this Walmart’s sale offers an excellent bargain. This version of the Surface Pro 7+ comes with a Core i3 processor, 128GB of onboard storage, 8GB of RAM, and a black Type Cover. We reviewed the Surface Pro 7+ nearly a year ago, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars and an Editors’ Choice Award. We called it “the most potent upgrade Microsoft’s Surface Pro line has offered in years.”

See the Surface Pro 7+ at Walmart

From: Walmart

Was: $679

Now: $499.00 ($180 off)

This HP laptop has a lot going for it. The CPU is an Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i5-1135G7 with four cores, eight threads and a boost to 4.2GHz. The processor is packing Iris Xe graphics, which will provide surprising performance for an integrated GPU. It also has 8GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD, and a 1080p display. If need a new laptop to kick off 2022, then this is a nice choice.

See the HP 17-by4061nr at Walmart

From: Walmart

Was: $279

Now: $219 ($60 off)

This deal puts us in an odd position. We’re not huge fans of laptops with just 128GB of onboard storage (especially this one’s onboard eMMC storage) and generally don’t recommend Windows PCs running Celeron processors. For a price around $200, however, we’re willing to overlook these shortcomings but with some big caveats.

First, you’ll get exactly what you pay for with this clamshell, but that just might be a good thing given the price. It’s running Windows 10 Home in S Mode and we would not recommend upgrading this laptop to regular Windows 10. Instead, use this laptop like a Chromebook, so focus on using it for web apps like Google Docs or Office Online. Then, if you absolutely need a desktop program download, run whatever you need from the selection in the Windows Store. We wouldn’t try editing a photo on this since it has just 4GB of RAM and deathly slow flash storage. Still, the Intel Celeron N4020 will get the job done for basic uses and a 15.6-inch 1080p display offers a bigger display than what you’d get from a Chromebook around the same price.

See the Asus L510 at Walmart

From: Walmart

Was: $849.99

Now: $749 ($100.99 off)

Lenovo probably isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to gaming machines, but they do make nice laptops, and this one has some very nice specs. The IdeaPad 3 Gaming has a 15.6-inch display with 1080p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. The CPU is a Zen 3-based AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, which has 6 cores and 12 threads, and a max boost clock to 4.2GHz. It also has 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, with graphics are handled by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050–a 1080p laptop GPU that brings DLSS and real-time ray tracing to laptops in an affordable package. This is a solid laptop, a great price for a 1080p gaming machine.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 Gaming at Walmart

From: Walmart

Was: $549

Now: $429 ($120 off)

This HP laptop is very capable given the specs (though we’d hesitate to call it a workhorse). The processor is a Zen 2 Ryzen 5 5500U with six cores, twelve threads and a boost to 4GHz. It has a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 8GB or RAM, and a 256GB SSD. HP says you can expect around 9.5 hours of battery life with mixed usage. This would be an excellent laptop for students, home use, or even for taking on the road for business trips.

See the HP laptop 15-ef2126wm at Walmart

From: Office Depot

Was: $749.99

Now: $519.99 ($230 off)

This VivoBook is rocking 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. That’s not a ton of storage, but if you have most of your files in the cloud it’s manageable. The display is 15.6 inches with 1080p resolution. For ports, it has three USB ports, one HDMI out, and Wi-Fi 6. Normally, we wouldn’t recommend this as an everyday laptop. However, as a travel laptop, it’s light and easy to carry while still offering good performance.

See the Asus VivoBook 15 F514 at Office Depot

From: HP

Was: $1,399.99

Now: $1099.99 ($300 off)

If you’re looking for the best thin and light laptop money can buy, you’ve come to the right place.

This 14-inch HP Spectre convertible strikes a great balance between performance (from Intel’s Tiger Lake CPUs) and design, even if it’s a little on the heavy side at 3 pounds. Its 1920×1280 IPS display is another highlight, whether you’re making use of the 360-degree hinge and touchscreen or not. The deal highlighted here is on the model we reviewed, but all configurations are currently discounted.

See the HP Spectre x360 14 at HP.com

From: Best Buy

Was: $1,499.99

Now: $1,249.99 ($250 off)

Asus ROG Flow X13 is a nice gaming laptop with good specs and it’s $100 cheaper right now than the price we saw during the holidays. It’s not a huge laptop, but it does have HDMI out if you want to game on a larger screen. The display, while on the smaller side, is pretty nice with a maximum 120Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1920-by-1200 with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, which will offer high to ultra graphics capabilities, and 16GB of RAM for snappy responsiveness. It also has 512GB of NVMe SSD onboard storage, Windows 11 Home, and Wi-Fi 6 for wireless capability.

See the Asus Rog Flow X13 at Best Buy

From: HP.com

Was: $999.99

Now: $799.99 ($200 off)

HP is offering a very nice gaming laptop at an excellent price.

The HP Victus 16t-d000 features a 16.1-inch 1080p display with a boost to 144Hz and a maximum brightness of 250 nits. Driving that screen is a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, which will provide some nice graphics capabilities with high graphics settings, depending on the game. This RTX GPU also supports DLSS and real-time ray tracing. In addition, It has 8GB of RAM, a 256GB NVMe M.2 SSD, and a six-core, twelve thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i5-11400H CPU.

See the HP Victus 16t-d000 at HP.com

From: Walmart

Was: $699

New: $429 ($270 off)

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is a nice everyday use laptop. It has 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, which is more than enough for web browsing and whatnot. This laptop is running Windows 11 Home and the processor is a quad-core, eight thread Intel “Comet Lake” Core i5-10210U. That’s a generation behind, but it’s still a capable processor. The screen is also 14-inches with a 1080p resolution.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i at Walmart

From: Walmart

Was: $289

Now: $229 ($60 off)

If you’d like something a little beefier than the Lenovo Chromebook at Best Buy, take a look at this deal at Walmart. The Acer 315 is a 15.6-inch laptop with a 1080p touch display. Again, this is not a convertible laptop so no bending back the keyboard for a tablet-like experience. The processor is the Intel Celeron N4020, which is pretty standard for Chromebooks. It has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of onboard storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0.

See the Acer Chromebook 315 at Walmart

From: Newegg

Was: $1,199.00

Now: $899 ($300 off after $100 rebate)

Gaming laptops are tough to find at a discount right now, and this one 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 screen. The RTX 3050 Ti is usually considered to be a bum deal compared to the RTX 3060…if you can find one? And, whoa—there’s a $100 rebate card you need to fill out? If you’re willing to jump through these hoops, though, the price and savings aren’t bad at all. This offer ends just before midnight Pacific time on Tuesday, November 30.

See the Gigabyte G5 MD at Newegg

From: Microsoft Store

Was: $699.99

Now: $549.99 ($150 off)

We gave the 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. Dropping the price by $150 on its midrange version (Core i5/8GB RAM/128GB SSD) certainly helps! Just be aware that the Laptop Go’s display is sub-1080p quality—but, in our experience, it didn’t really matter.

See the Surface Laptop Go on Microsoft.com

From: Walmart.com

Was: $299.99

Now: $207.99 ($92 off)

If you like the concept of a Chrome OS tablet but think that the Chromebook Plus V2 price is too high, consider the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet, which we looked at last year. This tablet ships with 4GB of memory and 64GB of integrated storage.

Support runs through June 2029.

Buy the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook at Walmart

Laptop deal buying tips

If you’ve shopped online before for laptop deals you’re probably aware that there’s a vast range of laptop configurations available.

A good place to start is with the processor. Buy laptops with Intel 10-series Core chips or higher, such as the Core i5-10510U, or the Core i7-11800H (for even more details see our Intel 10th-gen mobile CPU buying guide); or go with an AMD Ryzen processor (but not an AMD Athlon or A-series chip). Avoid laptops with Pentium or Celeron processors unless it’s a Chromebook (running Chrome OS). You’re going to need to pay attention with gaming laptops, too, as some GPUs, like the RTX 3050 Ti, don’t offer much boost over their RTX 2xxx-series cousins, and Nvidia has dropped the Max-Q designation on certain low-power options. Our laptop CPU and GPU cheat sheet can help you shop smart.

Display resolution is a gotcha. If you see a laptop labeled as “HD” resolution that means 1366-by-768 and often isn’t worth your time for a laptop under 13 inches unless the deal is absolutely standout. What you want is “Full HD” or “FHD,” which means 1080p.

Don’t buy laptops with under 4GB of RAM or 128GB of SSD storage—though on a Chromebook, this configuration is acceptable. We have more explanation in our laptops versus Chromebooks buying guide, as well as in our primer on how to buy a budget laptop without getting screwed. Also watch out for eMMC storage, which is something we don’t recommend for a Windows laptop but works fine for a Chromebook.

Reviews can be helpful. Even if you can’t find a review of a specific configuration, try related models. They’ll often give you a good idea of the build quality and performance. Also buy from brands you trust. Amazon’s daily laptop deals 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 wary.

Most older laptops will run Windows 10, and that’s fine—there’s no rush to upgrade. Windows 10 in S Mode, though annoying, can be switched out of easily if you find it on a budget laptop. If you want to buy a Windows 10 PC with the intent of upgrading it to Windows 11, we recommend you start here with a list of older laptops that are Windows 11-eligible.

Updated on January 13 with additional deals, and to remove expired deals.