The Best Laptop Deals Right Now—and Which Is Right for You
Whether you’re looking for an all-rounder, a gaming powerhouse, or a wallet-friendly device, we’ve got top discounts from trusted retailers….
Here at WIRED, we’re pretty big into our laptops, but, moreover, we like to see them at reasonable prices—which isn’t always the case, with some ballooning into the thousands of dollars. As such, we’ve picked out the best deals now available across the top laptops, gaming laptops, and value-for-money cheap options. Along with checking out these discounts, it’s worth taking a peek at our guides to the Best Laptops, Gaming Laptops, and Cheap Laptops to see our favored recommendations across the mobile computing world.
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Best Laptop Deals
You may have come here looking for an outright bargain, and we’ll get to budget laptops shortly, but there’s often decent deals on some top-of-the-range machines. We’ve got picks from big brands like LG, HP, and Samsung.
Ever since its inception as a tremendous light ultrabook range, the Gram series from LG has been worth keeping an eye on. Unfortunately, a high price and strong competition have often held it back. This LG Gram 16 solves the issue by offering nearly $600 off. Just enter MARCH22 at checkout to get the sub-$700 price. This 16-inch laptop weighs just 2.62 pounds and comes with a great set of specs for students or as a WFH productivity laptop.
The HP Spectre x360 is one of our favorites (9/10, WIRED Recommends), and it has gone from strength to strength in recent years with the addition of 14- and 16-inch models. This one comes with a 1080p IPS panel, 8 GB of RAM, an 11th-gen Intel chip, and a luxurious, sturdy design.
While it should be kept in mind that the new Galaxy Book2 range has just landed, the previous iterations are well worth considering—especially with newly discounted prices. The regular Pro model offers up an AMOLED display, Intel Core i5 chip, and 8 GB of RAM in a well-built, stylish design. If 2-in-1 laptops are your thing, the Pro 360 ($1,010) is reduced too, with $190 off.
Best Cheap Laptop Deals
Cheap laptops come in many forms, from super-cheap Chromebook and kid-friendly first laptop options to surprisingly well-priced offerings that leave you pondering why you’d want to spend anything more than $700 on a productivity machine. Usefully, a few of these are discounted right now.
Dell’s XPS range (rightly) gets a lot of praise and focus for the brand, but with AMD Ryzen chips at the helm its Inspiron laptops are beginning to make a value-for-money splash. For $700, you’re getting a whole lot of power under the hood here—from 16GB of RAM and an AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor to a good 512-GB chunk of SSD storage.
Another device featuring the ever-impressive and value-exuding AMD Ryzen 5 chip is this IdeaPad 3. It’s already reduced but you can get an extra $29 off with code EXTRA5. Your cash will get you 8 GB of RAM, a 256-GB SSD, and a whopping 1-TB HDD—making this a great device if you’re a file hoarder. It’s not flashy, but it’s slim and a sensible size for getting productivity work done.
Chromebooks are often thought of as light and compact devices, but Acer went for something different for the 317—appealing to the potentially niche audience of big-screen ChromeOS users. Nevertheless, this laptop offers strong specs that accommodate exactly what you’d expect from it. The big touchscreen is powered by 8 GB of RAM, 64 GB of eMMC storage, and an Intel Pentium Silver N6000 processor. With $120 off, it’s a more pleasing price for this large-screen Chromebook.
Best Gaming Laptop Deals
Gaming laptops often don’t come cheap so it’s always nice to see them with lower prices than normal. The selection below includes two powerhouse picks as well as a great choice for value gaming.
This Strix G15 is a reasonably priced mid-ranger. It is an all-AMD model, sporting a powerhouse Ryzen 9 5980HX processor and RX6800M graphics card. These are impressive specs at this price, with the hardware under the hood backed up by a QHD 165-Hz display. Asus’ ROG Zephyrus range gets plenty of plaudits, but the even more gaming-focused (and often lower -priced) Strix models are well worth a look.
If your gaming needs aren’t about getting the best-of-the-best graphics, there are more options than ever—with reasonably priced devices sporting lower-end graphics cards. This model from Gigabyte offers the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, Intel Core i5-11400H and 16-GB RAM. It’s a simple design with no frills in the form of huge flashing lights. Budget gaming, with a pleasing $450 off.
If you’re after the most entry-level of the entry-level gaming laptops then a machine with an RTX 3050 is what you’re looking for. For under $700, you still get a 144-Hz panel, Intel i5 chip, 8 GB of RAM and 256-GB SSD. It’s a combo to facilitate basic gaming needs but it’s a typically trustworthy brand and it’ll get the job done.
How to Buy a Refurbished Laptop
Buying refurbished is a relatively straightforward endeavor, with retailers and manufacturers offering restored devices at a cut price. Retailers like Amazon, BestBuy, Newegg, and Walmart sell these laptops. Brands like Apple, Dell, and Lenovo all feature a refurbished aspect to their online stores.
The key thing to navigate is what “refurbished” means on each of these websites so you know exactly what you’re getting. First, buying refurbished can often mean you get a device that’s been tested to still be in good working order and restored if it isn’t up to standard alongside a new warranty. For example, here’s an excerpt from BestBuy’s refurbished laptop policy:
“A refurbished item has been inspected, repaired, and restored to like-new, clean, working condition and includes all parts and accessories. These are generally electronics that have been returned for some reason … Because they’ve been through a careful inspection process to ensure they’re working as good as new, the best refurbished laptop is actually less likely to have defects or issues than one that comes from the factory … Most refurbished items are covered by the Best Buy Return & Exchange Promise and come with a minimum 90-day warranty.”
These policies typically differ between retailers, so it is always worth checking whether there is a thorough testing process and that they are refurbished to a “good as new” standard as well as coming with a new warranty should you encounter any early issues. It’s also worth checking the refund and return policies in your state or country to see what recourse you may have should you run into any issues outside of warranty.
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