Best Black Friday laptop deals 2021: Where to find the best sales

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

Acer Aspire 5

Acer

From: Walmart

Was: $499

Now: $429 ($70 off)

This discount isn’t huge, but it’s still a good price for an everyday laptop. The Acer Aspire 5 features an Intel “Tiger Lake” quad-core, eight-thread Core i5-1135G7 with a boost to 4.2GHz. It has 8GB of RAM, but only 256GB of onboard storage. The display is 14-inches with 1080p resolution.

Overall, this is a nice laptop. It lacks a significant amount of storage, but as a laptop that’s just for travel or working outside of the home office, it’s a nice choice. It’d also be good for students who keep a lot of their work in the cloud or those who don’t require a lot of storage. This laptop also has Wi-Fi 6 and it’s loaded with Windows 11 Home.

See the Acer Aspire 5 at Walmart

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5

Lenovo

From: Walmart

Was: $490.50

Now: $349 ($141.50)

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 may be slightly underpowered, but at this price you can forgive some of the flaws. First, this is a convertible laptop with a 14-inch 1080p touchscreen. It has a quad-core, eight thread Ryzen 3 5300U with a boost to 3.8GHz. The RAM is a little low for a touchscreen laptop at 4GB and storage is pretty light at 128GB. It comes loaded with Windows 10 in S mode, meaning you can only use apps from the Windows Store. That said, this laptop should perform pretty well given its four-core CPU. It’s also Windows 11 ready if you don’t want to stick with Windows 10.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 at Walmart

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro

Lenovo

From: Microsoft via eBay

Was: $909.99

Now: $557.99 ($352 off)

This IdeaPad Pro features a 16-inch display with 1440p resolution and a max brightness of 350 nits. The processor is a Zen 3 Ryzen 5 5600H, which has six cores, twelve threads, and a maximum boost to 4.2GHz. It features 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It’s also rocking Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

The port selection is a little odd. You’re getting one Type-C USB 2.0 port and two standard USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports. The laptop is also pretty light at 4.4 pounds.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro at eBay

HP 15-ef2126wm

HP

From: Walmart

Was: $549

Now: $399 ($150 off)

This is an excellent price for a 15.6-inch Ryzen-based laptop. It features a Ryzen 5 5500U, which has six cores, twelve threads, and a maximum boost to 4GHz. It also has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. This laptop is already rocking Windows 11 Home, so you don’t have to update. Overall, it’s an excellent choice as a day-to-day laptop, especially at this price.

See the HP-ef2126wm at Walmart

Gigabyte Aorus 15P

Gigabyte

From: Newegg

Was: $2,399

Now: $1,999 ($400 off after $200 MIR)

Right now the best deals in gaming are usually found in laptops, especially where we’re still dealing with desktop graphics card madness. This model is rocking an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, an eight core, sixteen thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i7-11800H, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. It’s a solid set of specs and you get to view all of this on a 15.6-inch display with 1080p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 300Hz. The rebate offer ends on January 31st, but it’s not clear how long the initial sale price of $1,999 will last.

See the Gigabyte Aorus 15P at Newegg

MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo

MSI

From: Newegg

Was: $1,599

Now: $999 ($600 off after the $100 rebate)

Looking for a portable 2-in-1 laptop for work? Well, you’re in luck. Newegg is offering a great deal on the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo. This laptop comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor, Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 512GB of NVMe SSD. In other words, you should expect fairly zippy performance. The port selection is pretty diverse, too. You’re getting one USB 3.2 Type-C, one USB 4.0 Type-C (DP/Thunderbolt 4), one USB 3.2 Type-A, a micro SD card reader, a webcam lock switch, and audio combo jack.

The convertible aspect of this laptop is a major selling point, especially if you travel a lot. You can prop the laptop up like a tent or swing the 1080p touchscreen display around and use it like a tablet. This deal also includes a protective sleeve for the laptop and an MSI pen. The pen is a nice bonus, as this type of accessory is normally an additional cost. The minimalist aesthetic is perfect for a professional environment, too. The swanky bronze trim is the cherry on top, really.

See the MSI Summit E13 Flip Evo at Newegg

17.3-inch Asus TUF Gaming laptop

Asus

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

Microsoft Surface Pro 7+

Mark Hachman/IDG

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

HP 17-by4061nr

HP

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

Asus L510

Asus

From: Walmart

Was: $279

Now: $249 ($30 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

HP Spectre x360 14

HP

From: HP

Was: $1,399.99

Now: $1,049.99 ($350 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

Lenovo IdeaPad 3i

Lenovo

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

Acer Chromebook 315

Acer

From: Walmart

Was: $289

Now: $216.94 ($72.06 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

Gigabyte G5 MD

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

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go (Platinum)

Microsoft

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

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet

Lenovo

From: Walmart.com

Was: $249.00

Now: $207 ($42 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 27 with additional deals, and to remove expired deals.