Black Friday is coming up fast and we’re already spotting some early Black Friday deals emerge. This includes some fantastic laptop deals with big savings to be enjoyed when you buy early and beat the rush. Whether you’re looking for a super cheap Chromebook or a gaming rig, there’s something here for you. Let’s take a look at what’s out there right now.
Contents
- HP Stream 14 — $199, was $229
- HP Chromebook X360 — $199, was $329
- HP Laptop 17z — $290, was $500
- Dell XPS 13 — $599, was $799
- HP Envy x360 — $850, was $1,200
- Dell G16 — $800 was $1,250
- MacBook Air — $899, was $1,099
- Victus by HP Gaming Laptop — $900, was $1,300
- ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 — $1,160, was $2,319
- Alienware x14 R2 — $1,700, was $2,000
- Razer Blade 17 — $2,000, was $3,2000
HP Stream 14 — $199, was $229
The HP stream tells you exactly what it does in the name, which is to give you a budget-friendly device that you can use to stream content or use cloud apps. That means that the specs aren’t that powerful, with a budget Intel Celeron N4020 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Luckily, you do get a great 14-inch touchscreen monitor for easier navigation, and the overall build is pretty good for a budget device. As for battery life, expect around six hours or so, depending on your usage, so it will be good for a good chunk of the day before recharging.
HP Chromebook X360 — $199, was $329
Within the same price range as the HP Stream is the Chromebook X360, and while it has the same specs, the fact that it runs on ChromeOS means they’re used more efficiently. That’s not to say that Windows isn’t powerful, but it is quite resource-hungry, and with 4GB of RAM, you’d be running on S mode, while the Intel Celeron N4020 would also struggle a little. On the other hand, ChromeOS is more lightweight, so while the X360 is still a streaming laptop, you can get some work and productivity done on it without issue. Not to mention that it’s also a great budget 2-in-1 laptop, with a good overall build and specs.
HP Laptop 17z — $290, was $500
It’s not often we see a good budget 17-inch laptops, so it’s nice to see not only HP’s 17-inch offering but also the great discount it has going for it. Under the hood, you’ll find an entry-level AMD Athlon Gold 7220U processor, which is powerful enough to get most basic productivity work done. That said, it might be worth the upgrade to the AMD Ryzen 3 7320U for $80, which will give you a slightly better quality of life and allow you a bit more versatility. Either way, you get 8GB of RAM, which is great, as well as 128GB, which should be enough for most cases, although you can upgrade storage too. As for the screen, the base spec comes with a 17-inch panel that runs a 1600 x 900 resolution, although for this size of the screen, we’d probably recommend going for the 1920 x 1080 resolution upgrade, at least if you plan to watch films or shows on this.
Dell XPS 13 — $599, was $799
The XPS 13 is Dell’s answer to the Macbook Air, a thin and light laptop with some great specs under the hood. It comes with a great mid-range 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1230U processor that’s more than enough to handle most productivity tasks and even potentially a bit of indie and casual gaming. You also get 8GB of DDR5 RAM, which is pretty fast, and 256GB of storage, which should be more than enough, especially if you don’t store a lot of things locally. As for the screen, it’s a 13.4-inch panel that runs a 1920×1200, and while it isn’t touch-enabled, it can hit a peak of 500 nits of brightness, so you can use it anywhere that doesn’t have direct sunlight.
HP Envy x360 — $850, was $1,200
If you want something powerful out of the gate without any customization, the HP Envy x360 is a great choice. For starters, it comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, which is an efficient and mid-to-high-end processor that will allow you a lot more than just productivity work, such as some editing. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM also means you can open more apps and tabs before hitting the limit while also just having a smoother overall experience on the day-to-day. As for the screen, you get a 15.6-inch OLED panel running a 1920 x 1080 resolution, and it even supports HDR500 and 500 nits of peak brightness, which are impressive, although don’t expect the HDR to be similar to what you’d find on a TV.
Dell G16 — $800 was $1,250
The first gaming laptop on the list is the Dell G16, a great upgrade on its predecessor, the G15, which is an entry-level gaming laptop that was often recommended. It runs an entry-level RTX 3050Ti, slightly more powerful than other entry-level GPUs on gaming laptops, and it should be able to handle most free-to-play games just fine. It also comes with a more powerful 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700H, which won’t bottleneck the GPU, and will let you do both productivity and editing work if you’d like. You also get 16 GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD, which isn’t too bad, but with how big games have been getting, you might want to grab one of these external hard drive deals to help.
MacBook Air — $899, was $1,099
If you like the XPS 13 but would still like to get a MacBook Air, then we’re happy to say that there’s a great deal on this one. It runs one of Apple’s most powerful chips, the M2, making it one of the most versatile and powerful thin and light laptops out there. That said, it does only come with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is on the lower side for this price range. Even so, it more than makes up for it with its 17 hours or so of battery life and is probably one of the best laptops if you want to be able to use it the whole day without a charge.
Victus by HP Gaming Laptop — $900, was $1,300
With an RTX 4050 under the hood, the HP Victus will manage to do a lot of basic gaming without an issue. The Intel Core i5-13500HX is a great mid-range processor without enough power to not bottleneck the RTX 4050, while the 16GB of DDR5 RAM will give you a lot of headroom and better quality of life. The hard drive is the same size here as with the G16 at 512GB, so again, you might consider grabbing an external hard drive to help supplement the internal storage.
ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 — $1,160, was $2,319
The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 excels as a business laptop with the mid-range Intel Core i5-1335U that’s more than powerful enough to handle any productivity tasks you throw about it. We’re also impressed to see 16 GB of DDR5 RAM, which adds a lot of extra versatility to the laptop and gives you more headroom to get things done. It also comes with an all-important fingerprint reader so you can maintain security standards, while the 1080P FHD camera gives you great meeting quality.
Alienware x14 R2 — $1,700, was $2,000
If you want a little bit more power in your gaming laptop, then this Alienware x14 R2 configuration comes with an RTX 4060, which, while not that powerful, will let you run things at higher resolutions and refresh rates. That’s good because the 14-inch screen runs a great 2560 x 1600 resolution and an impressive 165Hz refresh rate. The RTX 4060 won’t be able to handle both, but it gives you a bit of leeway to pick which you prefer. Besides that you get a powerful Intel Core i7-13620H processor and a whopping 32GB of DDR5 RAM, which you can use for things like programming, video editing, and CAD, making this a very versatile laptop.
Razer Blade 17 — $2,000, was $3,2000
Razer is the Apple equivalent of gaming gear, and you can tell by the quality of their hardware and the associated cost, such as with this Razer Blade 17. While it is pricey, it runs a powerful RTX 3070 Ti graphics card, which is where you start getting into the mid-to-high range of GPU power. You’ll be much more likely to hit the QHD resolution with a whopping 240Hz refresh rate, especially with a few graphical compromises here and there. It also runs a powerful Intel Core i7-12800H processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage, all of which will give you an excellent quality of life.
Editors’ Recommendations
