Best laptop deals: Top picks from budget to extreme

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 Chromebook 317

From: Best Buy

Was: $499

Now: $379 ($120 off)

The Acer 317 is an unusually large Chromebook at 17.3 inches. The display has a resolution of 1080p and it’s a touchscreen, but it’s not a convertible, meaning you can’t prop it up like a tent or use it like a tablet. The processor is an Intel Pentium Silver N6000 with four cores and threads and a boost to 3.17GHz. It has 8GB of RAM (more than usual for a Chromebook) and 64GB of storage. It’s also packing Wi-Fi 6, and there are four ports including two standard USB and two Type-C. In addition to Chrome OS, it’ll run Android and Linux desktop apps.

See the Acer Chromebook 317 at Best Buy

Asus VivoBook 14

From: Micro Center

Was: $599.99

Now: $399.99 ($200 off)

The VivoBook 14 features an Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i5-1135G7 with four cores, eight threads, and a boost to 4.2Ghz. It’s packing 4GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. It also has a 14-inch display with 1080p resolution. It’s a solid laptop that will perform well, but the only drawback is the limited amount of storage. That said, this laptop will best serve a student who lives in Google Docs or anyone else who keeps most of their data in the cloud.

See the Asus VivoBook 14 at Micro Center

Gigabyte G5 MD

From: Amazon

Was: $999

Now: $699 ($300 off)

If you want to get your game on with some respectable 1080p action, the Gigabyte G5 MD is a good option. This laptop features a 15.6-inch 1080p display with a refresh rate of 144Hz. It’s also rocking an Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i5-11400H with six cores, twelve threads, and a max boost to 4.5Ghz. For RAM, you get 16GB, which makes things run noticeably smoother. It’s also packing a 512GB SSD and it’s running Windows 11 Home.

You can expect to play many newer games with high graphics settings. Ultra would require something more like the 3050 Ti or 3060, but there will be times when you need to compromise by going down to medium or reducing the resolution.

See the Gigabyte G5 MD for $699 at Amazon

Asus VivoBook 15 OLED

From: Microsoft

Was: $999.99

Now: $699.99 ($300 off)

The Asus VivoBook 15 is a great option for creators, as it features a 15.6-inch 1080p OLED display for stunning images. It also has a quad-core, eight-thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i7-1165G7 with a max boost to 4.7GHz. It’s even packing a whopping 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It doesn’t have a discrete graphics card. It has the Iris Xe on the CPU instead. You won’t get much gaming out of this, but it’s nice for photo and video editing as well as a little mid- to low-graphics gaming on the side.

This laptop has one Type-C USB port with USB 3.2 Gen 1 and another standard USB port using the same generation. There’s also two USB 2.0 ports and one HDMI 1.4.

See the Asus VivoBook OLED at Microsoft

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i

From: Office Depot

Was: $849.99

Now: $489.99 ($360 off)

The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i has a Tiger Lake Core i5-1135G7 with four cores, eight threads and a maximum boost to 4.2GHz. The display is 14-inches with 1080p resolution and you’re getting 16GB of RAM plus 256GB of storage. This laptop can some solid work, but it can’t keep a lot of files. It’s a nice choice if you keep a lot of things in the cloud.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad 5i at Office Depot

MSI GF65

From: Best Buy

Was: $1,099.99

Now: $799.99 ($300 off)

If you’re looking for an affordable gaming machine, we’ve got the deal for you. The MSI GF65 features an Intel “Comet Lake” Core i5-10500H with six cores, twelve threads, and a maximum boost to 4.5GHz. The display is 1080p at 15.6 inches with a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. The GPU is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, which should have no issue pushing out 60 frames or more on Ultra for most AAA games.

This laptop is also packing 512GB of onboard storage, but the RAM taps out at 8GB. It’s more ideal for a gaming laptop to have 16GB, but an $800 laptop with a solid graphics processor is hard to pass up.

See the MSI GF65 at Best Buy

Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming

From: Micro Center

Was: $999.99

Now: $749.99 ($250 off)

Micro Center is famous for its awesome deals that are pick-up only, but this particular laptop is actually shipping. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming laptop has a Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, which is a Zen 3 processor with eight cores, sixteen threads, and a maximum boost to 4.4GHz. It has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of onboard storage. The GPU is an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, which is a dependable enough 1080p card. You should be able to play most games on high graphics, perhaps dipping down to medium on particularly demanding games. The display is 15.6 inches with 1080p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. It also has Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming at Micro Center

HP 17-cn0273st 

From: Staples

Was: $599.99

Now: $429.99 ($170 off)

Getting a solid workhorse computer with a good amount of storage for under $500 isn’t easy these days, but the HP 17 laptop is one of those rare finds. It includes a quad-core, eight-thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i3-1125G4 CPU with a maximum boost to 3.7GHz. It’s also packing 8GB of RAM, which is a good amount for productivity tasks.

As for storage, this HP has 512GB, which is rare for a sub-$500 computer. It’s also rocking a 17.3-inch display at 1080p. The laptop is running Windows 11 Home, so you don’t have to worry about upgrading this one.

See the HP 17-cn0273st at Staples

HP Victus 16

From: Walmart

Was: Unknown

Now: $679

The HP Victus 16 is a nice little AMD-based 1080p gaming machine. The CPU is a Ryzen 5 5600H. That’s a Zen 3 processor with six cores, twelve threads, and a maximum boost clock of 4.2GHz. The processor will do nicely for gaming and productivity. The laptop is also packing 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The 16.1-inch IPS display has a resolution of 1080p and a refresh rate of 60Hz. The graphics are handled by the AMD Radeon RX 5500M. It’s all about bringing AMD’s RDNA architecture to budget gaming in a capable package. You should expect good 1080p gaming, though you might not be able to run every game with the graphics maxed out. It’s not a high-end machine, but it’ll get the job done for under $700.

See the HP Victus 16 at Walmart

MSI Creator 15

From: Newegg

Was: $1,449.00

Now: $1,249.00 ($200 off after MIR)

If you’re willing to deal with a mail-in rebate, this is an excellent deal worth considering. The MSI Creator 15 features a 15.6-inch 4K OLED display. The CPU is an eight-core, sixteen-thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i7-11800H with a maximum boost to 4.6GHz. It also has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of onboard storage, and the GPU is a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060.

Now, let’s not get any wild ideas here. This isn’t meant to be a gaming PC where the display resolution matches the capabilities of the GPU. This machine is a pro-level creative laptop–hence the name “Creator”–with a solid GPU for video editing, graphic design, photography, and so on. Nevertheless, if you want to game on this thing, you can expect a no-compromises experience at 1080p and a decent 1440p experience if you’re willing to tweak the graphics on a per-game basis. Either way, be sure to dial down the resolution when gaming.

See the MSI Creator 15 at Newegg

Gateway 15.6-inch Ultra Slim

From: Walmart

Was: $449.99

Now: $249 ($200.99 off)

Bargain basement laptops are a beautiful thing, especially if you need a laptop that performs well while and can survive getting banged around a bit during your travels. This affordable Gateway at Walmart features a Ryzen 3 3250U processor, which has two cores, four threads and a max boost to 3.5GHz. It’s also rocking 128GB of onboard storage, 4GB of RAM, and a 15.6-inch 1080p display. This laptop ships with Windows 10 S, which can only run apps found in the digital Microsoft store, but you can go to full Windows 10 via a one-way free upgrade.

See the Gateway 15.6-inch Ultra Slim at Walmart

HP 11.6-inch Chromebook

From: Walmart

Was: $225.00

Now: $98 ($127 off)

Let’s just start off with the fact that if you pay $225 for this tiny Chromebook, you’re definitely getting ripped off. But $98? That’s just right. The HP 11.6-inch Chromebook isn’t fancy, but it’s cheap and it’ll work for anyone who needs a basic Chrome OS device. This laptop features an 11.6-inch display with 1366-by-768 resolution and a maximum brightness of 220 nits. It has a dual-core AMD A4-9120C APU, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of onboard storage. It also has two USB Type-C ports and two standard USB ports plus a media card reader.

It’s not an overpowered performer, but it doesn’t have to be. This is a usable laptop for a student or someone else who needs some pretty basic computing power that centers around web apps and sites.

See the HP 11.6-inch Chromebook at Walmart

MSI Modern

From: Best Buy

Was: $999.99

Now: $659.99 ($340 off)

The MSI Modern laptop delivers good performance at a reasonable price. The laptop has a 15.6-inch 1080p display and a “Tiger Lake” Core i7-1165G7 processor with four cores, eight threads, and a maximum boost of 4.7GHz. It has 16GB of RAM to speed things up and 512GB of onboard NVMe storage. It also has Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, Bluetooth 5.1, one Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one USB 3.2 Gen 1, and one HDMI out.

This processor does have Intel Xe graphics. If you’re interested in AAA gaming, you might be able to squeeze some medium graphics out of this rig.

See the MSI Modern at Best Buy

Lenovo IdeaPad 3i

From: Walmart.com

Was: $699

Now: $399 ($300 off)

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i is well priced. It features a 14-inch 1080p display and a quad-core, eight-thread Intel “Comet Lake” Core i5-10210U with a boost to 4.2GHz. It’s packing just 8GB of RAM and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. This laptop is also running Windows 11 Home, so there’s no need to worry about upgrades.

If you want a larger screen, Walmart has an alternative version of this model with a 15.6-inch 1080p display for $433.89. That said, you get only 4GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. The CPU is newer but has fewer cores with the dual-core, four-thread Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i3-1115G4 that boosts to 4.1Ghz.

See the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i at Walmart

Microsoft Surface Pro 7+

From: Walmart

Was: $929.99

Now: $699 ($230.99 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

From: Walmart

Was: $679

Now: $549 ($130 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

From: Walmart

Was: $279

Now: $219 ($60 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

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 April 6 with additional deals, and to remove expired deals.