Best laptop deals: Top picks from budget to extreme
The holidays may be over over, but that doesn’t mark the end of awesome laptop sales. Whether you’re on the hunt for a lightning fast gaming machine or a lightweight 2-in-1, the team at PCWorld carefully curated a list of the best laptop discounts available right now. To help you make more informed decisions, we’ve even included a shopping advice section at the end of the article. For more laptop options, check out our roundup of the best laptops.
The best laptop deals in 2023
Asus VivoBook S 14X OLED
From: Newegg
Was: $1,099.99
Now: $699.99 ($400 off)
Asus
If you’re looking for a laptop with a fantastic OLED screen, the Asus VivoBook S 14X is a good option. It comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, Intel Iris Xe grpahics, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. This laptop should whiz right through most day-to-day tasks. The 14.5-inch OLED display has a resolution of 2880×1800, an aspect ratio of 16:10, and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The picture should be clear and vivid. The taller 16:10 is nice as well, especially for productivity work. $699 is a phenomenal price for a laptop with an OLED display, so don’t miss out.
Acer Aspire Vero
From: Amazon
Was: $699.99
Now: $560 ($139.99 off)
Acer
The Acer Aspire Vero is a fantastic option for eco-conscious buyers, as it’s made of recycled materials. It’s no slouch in the performance department either given the specs. This laptop has an Intel Core i7-1195G7 CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage—a killer package for under $500. It’s zippy enough for everyday tasks like watching Hulu, writing papers, browsing social media, and so on. The 15.6-inch display should provide clean visuals thanks to the 1920×1080 resolution. This is an awesome deal for an everyday laptop.
HP 15 ef2723od
From: Office Depot
Was: $509.99
Now: $409.99 ($100 off)
HP
The HP 15 is a solid laptop for day-to-day tasks or basic productivity. It has an AMD Ryzen 3 5300U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. That’s fast enough for web browsing, word processing, and so on. The roomy 15.6-inch display is has 1920×1080 resolution—a welcome find in a laptop this cheap. According to HP, this machine can last over eight hours on a single charge. Depending on brightness level and how you’re using the laptop, you may be able to squeeze another hour or two out of it. This is a fabulous deal, especially if you need a simple everyday laptop. Don’t miss out.
Samsung Chromebook Plus
From: Amazon
Was: $499
Now: $293.99 ($205.01 off)
Samsung
The Samsung Chromebook Plus is a good option for someone who needs a lightweight convertible. It has an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of memory, and 32GB of eMMC storage. It’s a little light on storage and memory, but this shouldn’t be a problem if you store most of your stuff in the cloud. The 11-inch touchscreen display has a resolution of 1900×1200, and the Chromebook has two USB-C ports. It’s powerful enough for everyday browser tasks like checking e-mail, writing papers, listening to music, and so on. The 2-in-1 also weighs a little under three pounds, making it a capable travel companion. Plus, it comes with a stylus for doodling or note taking.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15
From: Newegg
Was: $2,199.99
Now: $2,057.99 ($173 off)
Asus
The Asus ROG Strix Scar gaming laptop is an absolute powerhouse. It comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. This laptop will chew through most games on max settings. The 15.6-inch display has resolution of 1920×1080, a blistering 300Hz refresh rate, and a 3ms response time, so competitive gamers will find a lot to like here. Regarding connectivity options, you’re getting one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one HDMI, and one 3.5mm combo audio jack. The keyboard is also an optical mech keyboard, which uses infrared light to detect key presses.
MSI Summit E13
From: Newegg
Was: $1,499
Now: $1,208.99 ($290.01 off)
MSI
The MSI Summit E13 is a luxurious convertible laptop with touchscreen functionality. It has an Intel Core i5-1155G7 CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. In other words, this laptop should zip right through day-to-day tasks. The 13.4-inch touchscreen has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, which is perfect binging your favorite Netflix show or scrolling through work documents. The laptop itself also weighs just under three pounds, making it a capable travel companion.
Acer Aspire 5 A515
From: Amazon
Was: $399.99
Now: $359.99 ($40 off)
Acer
If you’re looking for a solid everyday laptop, you’ve come to the right place. The Acer Aspire 5 has a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of onboard SSD storage. The processor is a Ryzen 3 3350U, which has four cores, four threads, and a maximum boost to 3.5GHz. It’s packed with modern features like Wi-Fi 6, a backlit keyboard, and a fingerprint reader for biometric logins. Acer starts this laptop off with Windows 11 in S mode, but there’s no reason not to do a one-way upgrade to full Windows 11. This is being sold by a third-party retailer, but Amazon is handling shipping, which means it falls under the company’s return policy.
Acer Swift X
From: Amazon
Was: $1,069.99
Now: $802.97 ($267.02 off)
Acer
The Acer Swift X is a fantastic laptop for content creation. It’s rocking a Ryzen 7 5800U CPU. an Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. That’s more than enough power for streaming, editing, lightweight gaming, and so on. The 14-inch display has a 1920×1080 resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. It’s also pretty light and portable for a laptop with a dedicated graphics card. The Swift X tips the scales at just a little over three pounds. All in all, this is a phenomenal value laptop. You best nab it now before it’s gone forever.
Gigabyte
Acer Nitro 5
From: Amazon
Was: $929.99
Now: $769.99 ($160 off)
Acer
The Acer Nitro 5 is a fantastic budget gaming laptop. It features an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. This laptop is powerful enough to run most games on medium to high graphics settings depending on the game but will struggle if you try to play with strenuous ray tracing effects turned on. The 15.6-inch display has a resolution of 1920×1080, an aspect ratio of 16:9, and a refresh rate of 144Hz. That’s perfect for 1080p gaming. If you’re looking to save some serious cash, then the Acer Nitro 5 is definitely worth considering.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro
From: eBay
Was: $1,969.99
Now: $1,399 ($570 off)
Lenovo
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is a blisteringly fast gaming laptop. It has a AMD Ryzen 7 6800H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. That means you should be able to run most competitive games on high or ultra graphics. The 2560×1600 display measures 16-inches and has a refresh rate of 165Hz. In other words, you can expect a sharp and vibrant picture. For connectivity options, it has one HDMI, three USB 3.2 Gen 1, three USB 3.2 Gen 2, and a headphone/microphone combo. This is a super hot deal and it’s selling out fast (20 sold in the last 24 hours as of this writing), so you better grab it now before it’s too late.
Asus ROG Flow X13 2-in-1
From: Amazon
Was: $1,359.99
Now: $999.50 ($360.49 off)
Asus
Rarely do we see 2-in-1 gaming machines, but that’s exactly what the Asus ROG Flow X13 is. This unique machine has a 360-degree hinge, which means you can rotate the screen all the way around. The device weighs a little under three pounds, which makes it a capable traveling companion. Despite the smaller size, it still manages to pack a punch. It has an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. That’s plenty peppy for playing most games on low to medium graphics, but Asus also sells an external RTX 3080 GPU that can connect to the laptop if you need even more firepower when your stationary. The display measures 13.4-inches and has a resolution of 1920×1080. It’s not the biggest or most vibrant screen, but it’s perfectly fine for most games. This is a fantastic deal, especially if you’re looking for a gaming laptop you can travel with.
Lenovo Legion 5i Gaming
From: B&H
Was: $2,029
Now: $1,499 ($530 off)
Lenovo
If you’re on the prowl for serious graphics power, the Lenovo Legion 5i Gaming is definitely worth considering. It has an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of NVMe PCIe SSD storage. That’s powerful enough to run most games on high or ultra graphics. The 15.6-inch display is roomy and has a resolution of 1920×1080 as well as a refresh rate of 165Hz. It’s also G-Sync compatible, which helps with any screen tearing or stuttering issues. This is an awesome deal. Availability is limited, though, so you’ll need to act fast.
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 3 with new pricing and to remove expired deals.