Black Friday laptop deals: What to expect and early sales

Black Friday is a fantastic time to shop for discounted laptops, but you don’t have to wait until the main event to take advantage of those deals. If you’re looking to get a jump start on your holiday shopping, you’re in luck — the early deals are already here. Whether you’re in the market for a blazing-fast gaming machine or an everyday Chromebook with great battery life, we’ve got it all here. But who’s vetting these deals, you ask? Good question!

Not only do I oversee the laptop section here at PCWorld, taking every review through to publication, but I also update the laptop deals roundup on a daily basis. As far as laptop trends go, I’m locked in, as the young’uns would say. Below you’ll find the best laptop deals from all over the web. I found many of these deals by using Camel Camel Camel, which is a free price tracker from Amazon. I’ve also included deals from laptop manufacturers like Dell and Lenovo, as well as sales from online retailers like Best Buy and Adorama.

After you’ve perused the list of deals, head on down to the bottom of the article to learn more about what to expect this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Early Black Friday budget laptop deals

Sometimes all you need is a respectable, baseline-level machine. Personally, I use a low-powered laptop for writing, watching Netflix, checking email, and so on. I dig the simplicity. So, if you’re not a gamer and have no intention of muscling through processor-intensive programs, check out the list below.

Acer Aspire 3, AMD Ryzen 3 7320U/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, $279.99 ($42 off at Amazon)
Asus Vivobook 14, Intel Core i3-1215U processor/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, $219.99 ($210 off at Best Buy)
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook, Pentium Silver N600/8GB RAM/64GB eMMC, 328.99 ($150.01 off at Best Buy)
Dell Inspiron 15, Intel Core i5-1235U processor/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $399.99 ($150 off at Dell)

My top pick: The Acer Aspire 3 is a great laptop for everyday tasks, office work, and Zoom calls. It has an AMD Ryzen 3 7320U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The 1920×1080 display measures 15.6 inches, which is pretty spacious. The thin, light design also makes it super travel-friendly.

Early Black Friday gaming laptop deals

Calling all gamers! There’s no better time to scoop up a blisteringly fast gaming machine. The laptops below are both powerful and reasonably priced, and should be able to blitz through most games.

HP Victus, RTX 2050 graphics/8GB RAM/512GB SSD, $579.99 ($120 off at Amazon)
Acer Nitro V, RTX 4050 graphics/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $799.99 ($50 off at Amazon)
Gigabyte Aorus 15, RTX 4050 graphics/8GB RAM/512GB SSD, $899 ($200 off at Amazon)
Acer Predator Helios Neo 16, RTX 4060 graphics/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, 1,049.99 ($450 off at Best Buy)
MSI Katana 17,RTX 4060 graphics/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,229 ($170 off at Amazon)
Asus ROG Strix G16, RTX 4060 graphics/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,283.26 ($116.73 off at Amazon)

My top pick: 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.

Early Black Friday premium laptop deals

If you’re looking for more premium features like an OLED display or a 2-in-1 form factor, you’ve come to the right spot. Below you’ll find ultra-lightweight machines as well as laptops with high-resolution displays.

Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro, 14-inch AMOLED 2880×1800 display/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $1,262.99 ($187 off at Amazon)
Acer Swift Go 14, Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor/8GB RAM/512GB SSD, $649.99 ($150 off at B&H)
Dell Inspiron 16, Intel Core 7 150U processor/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $679.99 ($320 off at Dell)
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge, 16-inch AMOLED 2880×1800 display/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $899.99 ($550 off at Best Buy)
LG Gram 17, RTX 3050 graphics/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $999.99 ($550 off at Adorama)

My top pick: 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.

FAQ

When is Black Friday?

Black Friday 2024 is on Friday, November 29. But make no mistake: The laptop deals have already begun, and the sales event that used to be just a single day might as well be called “Black Week” in 2024.

When is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday 2024 is on Monday, December 2. To take advantage of the best deals, we suggest logging on at midnight. This gives you the best chance to snag a deal on something you want before stock runs out.

Which retailers have the best Black Friday laptop deals?

You should definitely scope out Lenovo, HP, Dell, and other laptop manufacturers’ websites. Online retailers like Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy will also have solid deals, no doubt, but probably not as wide a variety as you’ll find from the manufacturers themselves.

Hey, the site is called PCWorld, so we test and review an insane number of laptops. To see our top picks, you can check out our master list of the best laptops of 2024. We also have more granular selections for the best laptops under $500, and the best laptops for students. Come Black Friday, there’s a good chance that many of our picks will be discounted, so if you’re looking for something that’s been tested and approved, check out these articles.