Best Black Friday Laptop Deals
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With Black Friday only days away, we now have a pretty good idea of all the laptop sales you’ll encounter. You’ll find a few high-end models, including gaming laptops, on sale, but most of the deals are squarely in the middle of the market.
That’s good news for most consumers, because laptops in this price range offer more than enough power to accomplish just about any task, whether it’s browsing the web, creating documents in Microsoft Office and/or Google Docs, or streaming YouTube videos.
The following laptops, arranged from least to most expensive, caught our eye either because the prices are quite inexpensive or you can get a great deal on a high-end device that isn't usually discounted. And since not all deals start at the same time, we’ve noted exactly when you can get the deal in the text below.
11.6-Inch Samsung Chromebook 3
The deal: $100 at Walmart
CR’s test results: Samsung Chromebook 3
This deal begins online at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 27. The in-store offer kicks off at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28). The model usually goes for around $160. Like all Chromebooks, it uses Google’s Chrome OS (instead of Windows or macOS) and is primarily intended for light tasks like browsing the web, reading email, and editing text documents. The specs are modest—an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of memory, and 16GB of flash storage—so don't expect speedy performance. But beyond that, our testers had no big complaints.
Lenovo IdeaPad S340
The deal: $450 at Office Depot/OfficeMax
CR’s test results: Lenovo IdeaPad S340-15
This offer starts online at 12 a.m. on Thanksgiving and in-store at 8 a.m. local time on Black Friday (Nov. 29). This laptop usually goes for nearly $800, making this a terrific deal. Packed with power, the model features an Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of solid state storage. That means you can do just about anything with this laptop, with the exception of graphics-heavy gaming and hard-core video editing, because there’s no dedicated graphics card. We tested a similar model (with a slower Core i3 processor) and had no major complaints.
15.6-Inch HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop
The deal: $500 at Walmart
CR’s test results: HP Pavilion Gaming 15-CX0058WM
This deal begins online at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, and in-store at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. The gaming model—the most powerful laptop in this roundup—normally lists for around $750. What makes it a gaming model? The higher-end specs, for one: It has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of solid state storage. There’s also a dedicated Nvidia graphics card, which means you can play modern games (like “Fortnite”) at high settings and also edit high-res video. We tested this model and gave it mostly high marks, though—like many a gaming laptop—it's a little heavy at more than 5 pounds.
14-Inch Lenovo Flex 6
The deal: $580 at Lenovo.com
CR’s test results: Lenovo Flex 6-14IKB
This deal begins online at 4 p.m. on Nov. 29. The laptop is a 2-in-1 convertible (hence the name “Flex”) that usually goes for closer to $900. It’s a good midrange laptop, with an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of memory, and 256GB of solid-state storage. As long as you don't plan to routinely edit high-res video or play high-end video games, you should be okay with this laptop. Our testers had mostly nice things to say about it, giving it good marks on important metrics like battery life (12 hours) and display quality.
12.3-Inch Microsoft Surface Pro 7
The deal: $600 at Best Buy
CR’s test results: Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Core i3)
This deal begins online at 12 a.m. on Thanksgiving and in-store at 6 p.m. The 2-in-1 detachable is the newest laptop on this list—so new, in fact, that we only finished testing it last week. (Spoiler: It did well in our ratings.) This is a good deal because it includes a Microsoft keyboard, which doubles as a cover; it’s usually sold separately and brings the price up to nearly $1,000. This model has an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of memory, and 128GB of solid state storage; Best Buy also includes a higher-end model with an Intel i5 processor in the holiday sale for $800 (down from $1,050). The i3 model is good for most everyday tasks—like web browsing and editing text documents—and there’s something to be said about the versatility of being able to remove the keyboard to use it like a tablet.
15-Inch Dell G3 15
The deal: $600 at Dell.com
CR’s test results: Dell G3 15
This deal begins online at 11 a.m. on Black Friday. The model is a 15-inch laptop that usually goes for $800. It’s part of Dell’s “G” series, aimed at consumers who have an interest in playing games but don’t necessarily want to spend a lot of money to do so. (Gaming laptops and desktops usually have higher-end, expensive components that are necessary to run games at high settings.) To that end, there’s an Intel Core i5, 8GB of memory, a 1 terabyte hard drive, and a dedicated Nvidia graphics card. This will play today’s popular games like “Fortnite” and “Overwatch” but you (or your children) may have to dial down some of the graphics settings to have things move smoothly. Our testers were largely impressed with this laptop but did note that the battery life (at around 5 hours while doing demanding tasks like watching a 4K video) may require you to keep a power cord handy.
13-Inch LG Gram
The deal: $899 at Amazon
CR’s test results: LG Gram 13 8th Gen
This laptop, which typically goes for closer to $1,200, has hovered near the top of our ratings for much of the year; only the 13-inch MacBook Pro ranks higher at the moment. The LG Gram has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and a 256GB solid state drive, all of which makes it fully capable of getting “real” work done in common productivity apps like Microsoft Word and Excel. At 2.1 pounds, it’s also among the lightest laptops in our ratings. As for battery life, you're looking at more than 16 hours on a single charge.
13.3-Inch Apple MacBook Air
The deal: $900 at Best Buy
CR’s test results: Apple MacBook Air
The MacBook Air is Apple’s entry-level laptop for mainstream consumers, and it’s usually available for around $1,100. This model has an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 128GB of solid storage space—more than enough to get “real” work done in apps such as Microsoft Office, Google Docs, and Apple’s own iWork, but perhaps not enough to edit high-resolution video or play graphics-heavy games.
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