Today’s best laptop deals: Save big on work, school, home use, and gaming
If you’re looking to score a fast laptop at a killer price, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re on the hunt for a blazing fast gaming rig, an affordable laptop under $500, or an everyday Chromebook, we’ve assembled a list of the best laptop deals available right now, using our finely honed editorial judgement (and thousands of hours of testing experience) to only recommend truly compelling deals on worthwhile notebooks.
We’ve separated the recommendations below by best laptop deals under $500, best home use laptop deals, best gaming laptop deals, and best premium laptop deals, to make it easier to find a notebook that fits your budget and needs. For more options, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.
Best laptop deals (at a glance)
Acer Aspire 3, $279.99 ($42 off at Amazon)
Lenovo Ideapad 1, $319.99 ($260 off at Best Buy)
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook, $328.99 ($150.01 off at Best Buy)
Samsung Galaxy Book4, $549.99 ($350 off at Best Buy)
Asus Vivobook 16X, $574.99 ($150 off at Adorama)
HP Dragonfly Pro One, $669 ($730 off at Adorama)
Gigabyte Aorus 15, $949 ($150 off at Amazon)
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro, $1,302.08 ($147.91 off at Amazon)
MSI Katana 17, $1,258.02 ($140.98 off at Amazon)
MSI Stealth A16 AI+, $1,699.99 ($300 off at Best Buy)
Best laptop deals under $500
Acer
Acer Aspire 3: $279.99 ($42 off at Amazon)
The Acer Aspire 3 is a great laptop for everyday tasks, office work, and Zoom calls. You’re getting an AMD Ryzen 3 7320U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The 1920×1080 display also measures 15.6 inches, which is pretty spacious. The thin, light design makes it super travel-friendly as well.
Lenovo
Lenovo Ideapad 1: $319.99 ($260 off at Best Buy)
The Lenovo Ideapad 1 offers a 1080p touch-enabled display plus a zippy Ryzen 5 7520U processor. That’s a pretty good combination for the price. Again, as with the other picks in this section, the Lenovo Ideapad 1 is designed with day-to-day tasks in mind, so it should have no problem with surfing the web and watching YouTube. This machine also comes with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and AMD Radeon graphics.
Lenovo
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook: $328.99 ($150.01 off at Best Buy)
Sometimes all you need is an affordable laptop for browsing social media and composing e-mail exchanges. If you’re in the market for such a laptop, the Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook is definitely worth considering. It’s powered by a Pentium Silver N6000 processor, which is suitable for web browsing and streaming Disney+, but not much else. It’s not the fastest processor we’ve ever seen here at PCWorld, but you’ve also got to temper your expectations, as this laptop is specifically designed with basic tasks in mind. However, according to Best Buy reviews, the 1080p touchscreen display is pretty darn crisp, making this machine an excellent value.
That said, because it’s a Chromebook, you’re stuck using Google’s ecosystem (aka ChromeOS). If you’re looking for a Windows alternative, check out the laptop below.
Best for home use
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy Book4: $549.99 ($350 off at Best Buy)
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 is a speedy machine with plenty of RAM and storage, making it a great choice for office or school work. Inside you’ll find an Intel Core 7 Series 1 150U processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage–that’s more than enough power for doom scrolling as well as spreadsheet work. The 1080p display measures a roomy 15.6 inches with a refresh rate of 60Hz. That’s a good size for streaming your favorite show. The laptop itself also weighs just 3.42 pounds, which is fairly lightweight.
Asus
Asus Vivobook 16X: $574.99 ($150 off at Adorama)
The Asus Vivobook 16X is a nice laptop for day-to-day use, office work, school work, and so on. It comes with an Intel Core 5 processor 120U, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage–so it shouldn’t have any problem with everyday activities like browsing your social media feed, chatting with friends on Discord, and whatnot. The 16-inch 1920×1200 display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is taller than your typical 16:9 fare. This makes scrolling through documents and web pages much easier. This laptop also includes a backlit chiclet keyboard, a 720p webcam, and a 42 watt-hour battery.
HP
HP Dragonfly Pro One: $669 ($730 off at Adorama)
The HP Dragonfly Pro One is a good laptop if you’re a serial multitasker. This baby is packing an AMD Ryzen 7 7736U CPU as well as 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage, so it should be capable of handling a bunch of open tabs and more demanding applications. The 14-inch touch display has a resolution of 1920×1200 and a maximum brightness of 400 nits, which means the picture should be sharp and vibrant. The Ceramic White colorway is also just plain gorgeous and a welcome departure from the grey rectangles we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.
Best gaming laptop deals
HP
HP Victus: $599 ($380 off at Walmart)
The HP Victus contains powerful hardware for the price. It’s outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 5 CPU, so it should have no problem running most modern games. The 15.6-inch 1080p display also has a 144Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync Premium technology built-in, so gameplay should be fluid. The 8GB of RAM is pretty light for a gaming laptop, but you can always upgrade later on if need be. If you’re looking for more details regarding this laptop, be sure to check out PCWorld’s comprehensive write-up.
Gigabyte
Gigabyte Aorus 15: $949 ($150 off at Amazon)
The Gigabyte Aorus 15 deserves a call-out because of its wickedly fast 360Hz refresh rate display. That’s an incredibly high number, so this display should churn out silky-smooth visuals, which is important during more intensive matches.
It also comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU and an Intel Core i5-12500H CPU, meaning it has enough juice to run most games on the Medium or High graphics settings, but you may want to dial those settings back on more modern titles. The display, measuring a roomy 15.6-inches, is pretty spacious with a resolution of 1920×1080. It’s not the highest resolution we’ve ever seen, but it’s perfectly fine for most games.
MSI
MSI Katana 17: $1,258.02 ($140.98 off at Amazon)
The MSI Katana 17 is a great option for those who like to game on a big screen. The 1080p display measures a massive 17.3 inches, which is absolutely humongous! It’s the kind of screen I’d love to play Sid Meier’s Civilization VI on because I like being able to see every miniscule detail.
You’re also getting an Intel Core i7 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. That’s a good amount of power right there! This machine should have no issues running graphically intensive games.
MSI
MSI Stealth A16 AI+: $1,699.99 ($300 off at Best Buy)
The MSI Stealth A16 AI+, according to PCWorld’s comprehensive review, offers a durable chassis as well as lengthy battery life. Not only is it a capable gaming machine thanks to the RTX 4070 graphics, but it’s also an effective productivity machine. It comes loaded with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, so performance should be speedy whether it’s everyday tasks or photo editing. The battery, which is a massive 99.9 watt-hours, lasted 10 hours on a single charge — not bad given the powerful internals. Other features include a 1080p webcam, Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, and a 16-inch 1600p display.
Best premium laptop deals
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro: $1,302.08 ($147.91 off at Amazon)
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro features a lightweight build, a stunning OLED display, and a good keyboard. In our review, we called it an “elegant all-rounder for business professionals” and awarded it 4.5 out of 5 stars and an Editors’ Choice badge.
Although we liked the laptop’s low weight and 1080p webcam, the 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED display is the real standout. It has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz as well as high contrast and amazing color reproduction. Not only is this display perfect for office work and day-to-day activities, but it’s also great for watching movies on.
FAQ
How much RAM will I need in my laptop?
You’ll want at least 8GB, though 16GB is preferable, especially if you play games. Don’t buy laptops with under 4GB of RAM or 128GB of SSD storage—though on a Chromebook or a budget Windows machine, this configuration is acceptable. Check out our article on how much RAM does a laptop need for more in-depth info.
What’s the difference between a Chromebook and a Windows laptop?
The one big difference between a Chromebook and a Windows laptop is the operating system. Chromebooks run ChromeOS and Windows run, well, Microsoft Windows. Chromebooks make good everyday machines because they’re designed for browsing the web, checking e-mail, and so on. They use less resources and are generally more affordable than the Windows variety. They also don’t need antivirus protection. A Windows laptop is a lot more versatile in what it can do, and not just in terms of running local programs. You can really pump a Windows laptop up with a ton of RAM, storage, and so on.
When should I look for a laptop deal?
You’ll likely find the best laptop deals during Prime Day (mid-July), Black Friday (November 29th), and back-to-school season (June-August). Sure, you’ll find good laptop deals throughout the year, but if you really want to save big, we’d recommend scoping out your favorite online retailers during those times.
Which retailers offer the best deals?
You can find all kinds of deals across a wide range of online retailers such as Newegg, Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, and so on. However, we’d recommend checking out deals from laptop manufacturers like Lenovo, HP, and Dell. You’ll usually find many different configurations on sale and the discounts can be pretty darn steep.
For more options, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.