There's only a little time left to secure one of the best laptop deals from the fine end-of-year sales events. Even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, I've still uncovered some impressive offers available right now – including some super-cheap Chromebooks and big savings on devices from Dell and Apple.
You can check out all of my top picks below after my search through all the major retailers and manufacturers to bring you the very best laptop deals available right now. There are cheap Chromebooks for schoolwork, the best value budget devices for everyday use and the biggest discounts on premium performance powerhouses.
I've considered price, quality and value for money for this hand-picked selection, which also features many laptops fully recommended by TechRadar's expert reviewers who assemble and regularly update our best laptops guide.
Have confidence that, however much you spend, you're getting a quality device that has likely been fully tried and tested by us. And, where it hasn't, we've looked at the performance of previous models, user reviews, the manufacturer's history and other factors to determine whether it's worth buying.
Today's best laptop deals - quick links
- HP Chromebook 15: was
$399now $179 at Best Buy - Dell Inspiron 15: was
$329.99now $249.99 at Dell - Acer Chromebook Plus 515: was
$399now $299 at Best Buy - HP 15 Laptop: was
$799.99now $509.99 at Best Buy - Dell Inspiron 15: was
$629.99now $529.99 at Dell - Apple MacBook Air M1: was
$699now $649 at Walmart - Microsoft Surface Pro 11: was
$1,199now $899.99 at Best Buy
The best laptop deals in December 2024
Where to buy the best laptop deals
Laptop deals: our buying advice
It can be overwhelming looking for laptop deals if you're not sure where to start. You may have an idea of how much you want to spend, what you need the device for or what key features you want included, but how do convert that information into the right laptop and ensure you pay the right price?
Well, that's what we're here for. We hunt down the best laptop deals each week and share them with your right here so you can bag exactly what you're after at a good price.
Here are a few words of advice from us based on our experience hunting down the best laptop deals and a little explainer on the process we go through to ensure we surface only the best offers on this page.
How much should I spend on a laptop?
The answer to this ultimately comes down to what you need the laptop to do. Below, we've looked at several different price brackets and what you can expect from a laptop in each range. Use that to give you an idea of how far your budget will go or what you need to spend to get the right laptop deal for you.
When to spend under $200 on a laptop
👍 You just need a basic laptop: Laptops under $200 are not very powerful and are usually slightly older, but are fine for basic everyday tasks such as web browsing, sending emails, video calls and watching videos.
🔋 Battery life and portability are key: In this price range, a lot of laptops are either 11 inches or 14 inches - that's great for on-the-go use. Plus, with less demanding components, these devices can last up to 20 hours.
🌐 You use a lot of web applications: Storage space on these laptops is limited, but that's less of an issue if you use Google Docs or Microsoft 365 as productivity apps and rely more on cloud storage for files and photos.
When to spend $200 - $400 on a laptop
⚡ Extra power to cover the basics: Laptops in this price range are still relatively basic, but some upgrades give you extra power to boost performance.
💻 You prefer a large display: More laptops are available with a 15-inch or 17-inch display once you cross over $200, so consider these options if you'd like a bigger screen.
🧘♀️ You'd like a flexible 2-in-1 device: 2-in-1 devices offer the functionality of a laptop with the versatility of a tablet and you can get some good value options in this price bracket.
When to spend $400 - $600 on a laptop
⚙ You need all-around performance: As we hit the mid-range for a laptop, these devices generally offer solid all-around performance for your work and leisure needs with powerful components, up-to-date features and lots of storage.
🛠 Multitasking: If you always end up with dozens of tabs or programs open at once, you'll want to consider a laptop in this price range so you avoid slowdown.
😲 More options: Traditional laptops, 2-in-1 machines, Surface devices and premium Chromebooks are all well-represented in this price range so you have lots of choices depending on your needs and preferences.
When to spend $600 - $800 on a laptop
📈 You want a powerful device: Laptops in this price range are packed with powerful high-end components, so this is how to spend your money if you need a serious workhorse machine.
🤖 More advanced tech: Laptops in this price bracket often come with premium upgrades included as standard, such as high-resolution 4K displays, a touchscreen, impressive battery life, backlit keyboards, improved speakers and more.
🎮 Light gaming: You won't be running modern games in the highest quality, but if you like to play indie games, undemanding current releases or classic favorites in your downtime, then some of these devices are powerful enough to do so.
When to spend over $800 on a laptop
🤑 Get the best money can buy: When you spend over $800 you get some of the best laptops money can buy that are filled with the latest technology. These are premium options are built with high performance, advanced workloads and longevity in mind.
⏳ A long-term investment: Buy a cheap laptop and you may have to replace it in a couple of years. Buy one of these and you've got a modern device that will last five years or more with ease.
🎨 Creative powerhouses: Into creative tasks such as photo and video editing or music creation? Many laptops in this price range – especially MacBooks – are designed with those tasks in mind so will excel in those areas.
How we choose the best laptop deals
It all comes down to what's included in the price. We've been tracking all the best laptop deals for a number of years now, so we have a solid idea of what level of performance and components you can get for your money. Using that as a baseline, we can pick out the treasures from the trash.
We also take into consideration what you might need a laptop for based on the money you have to spend. So, if it's just a basic device for some light work, general browsing and media streaming, there's no point recommending a $1,000 laptop as it would be completely unnecessary. Instead, we look at devices between $100 - $300 that could handle those tasks and recommend some laptop deals accordingly.
However, if there's a particularly good reason to spend a little extra money (maybe for some extra performance-boosting RAM or a healthy storage upgrade) then we'll mention that too for your consideration. Sometimes it's worth that investment to better future-proof yourself and end up with a noticeably better device.
Our search takes us across all the major and specialist retailers, so you can be sure we've taken a comprehensive look across the web to pick out the best laptop deals. All the laptops you see here are hand-picked and judged by a real human, too, so each one is given a proper and detailed assessment before it gets added.
Want more laptop deals?
If you want to continue your research into the best laptop deals any further, you can check out all the latest Chromebook deals for even cheaper devices running the efficient Chrome OS.
We've also got an eye on all the best MacBook deals available right now - and there are some terrific savings on Apple devices. Our roundup of the latest Apple promo codes or our Apple student discount guide could help you there, too.
And for the gamers, you'd be better suited over on our guide to this week's cheap gaming laptop deals as the models on this page are built with browsing, work and general use in mind - not gaming.
