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Best laptop deals today: Save big on work, school, home use and gaming | PCWorld

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If you’re looking to score a fast laptop at a killer price, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re on the hunt for a blazing fast gaming rig, an affordable laptop under $500, or an everyday Chromebook, we’ve assembled a list of the best laptop deals available right now, using our finely honed editorial judgement (and thousands of hours of testing experience) to only recommend truly compelling deals on worthwhile notebooks. Industrial Grade Touch Control All-In-One Machine

Best laptop deals today: Save big on work, school, home use and gaming | PCWorld

We’ve separated the recommendations below by best laptop deals under $500, best home use laptop deals, best gaming laptop deals, and best premium laptop deals, to make it easier to find a notebook that fits your budget and needs. For more options, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.

Lenovo Flex 3: $349 ($130 off at Best Buy)

Sometimes all you need is an affordable laptop for web browsing and composing e-mail exchanges. If you’re in the market for such a laptop, the Lenovo Flex 3 is definitely worth considering. It’s powered by a Pentium Silver N6000 processor, which is suitable for general browsing and streaming Netflix, but not much else. It’s not the fastest processor we’ve ever seen here at PCWorld, but you’ve also got to temper your expectations, as this laptop is specifically designed with basic tasks in mind. However, according to Best Buy reviews, the 1080p touchscreen display is pretty darn crisp, making this machine an excellent value.

Dell Inspiron 15: $399.99 ($150 off at Dell)

The Dell Inspiron 15 is a nice day-to-day laptop with a good amount of memory (16GB) and storage space (512GB SSD) as well as a 1080p touch display. It has an Intel Core i5-1235U CPU, so everyday tasks like surfing the web and responding to e-mail should feel zippy. The 1080p display also measures a spacious 15.6-inches and has a fast refresh rate of 120Hz–that means visuals should appear smooth. Additional features include a 720p webcam, a 65 watt-hour battery, and an understated design.

HP Touch Screen Laptop: $599.99 ($200 off at Best Buy)

The HP Touch Screen Laptop is a good laptop for productivity because of the fast Intel Core i7 processor. It’s a few generations behind (1255U) at this point, but it’s still a good processor, especially for office work and day-to-day activities. It also has a 15.6-inch 1080p touch display, which is a nice touch, especially if you’re the kind of person that likes taking notes. As for the port selection, you’re getting one HDMI 1.4, one USB-C 3.0, and two USB-A 3.0. The connectivity options are pretty good, so you probably won’t need an adapter.

XPS Xenia 15G: $999 ($700.99 off at Walmart)

If you’re looking for a powerful gaming laptop, the XPG Xenia will certainly fit the bill. You don’t see many gaming laptops with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU go on sale for under $1,000 often, so this is a true deal. Between the Intel Core i7-13700H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, you should be able to play triple-A titles on the High or Ultra graphics detail. This machine even comes with 1TB of SSD storage, which is good news if you’ve got a massive backlog of games. The 15.6-inch 1080p display should also provide fluid gameplay thanks to the 144Hz refresh rate. If you can afford it, this would be a better long-term gaming option than the $800 models listed above thanks to the RTX 4060’s much faster performance.

Asus TUF Gaming A16: $1,449.99 ($350 off at Amazon)

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 is a good option for more serious gamers. It comes loaded with an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. That means it should have no problem blazing through most modern titles with the graphics cranked all the way up. The 1600p display is bigger than the XPS Xenia 15G’s (featured above), measuring a massive 16 inches, which is perfect if you’re the kind of person that likes to see every single detail. According to the Amazon reviews, the display is beautiful and the laptop runs very fast. What more can you ask of a proper gaming machine?

HP Envy x360: $569.99 ($379.01 off at Adorama)

The HP Envy x360 is powerful, lightweight, and versatile. The 2-in-1 form factor means you can fold the screen back and use the laptop like a tablet, and it comes equipped with a good amount of RAM (16GB) and storage (512GB SSD). The 1080p display is quite large at 15.6-inches and it’s a touchscreen, which is perfect for habitual notetakers and doodlers. The keyboard is also full-sized and has backlighting. This is great for when you’re using the laptop in low light environments.

Lenovo Flex 7: $1,039.99 ($220 off at Adorama)

The Lenovo Flex 7 is a great laptop for those who want an affordable 2-in-1. You’re getting a lightweight design as well as a decent amount of power for just over $1,000. It has an Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. Zipping through spreadsheet work, everyday tasks, and so on should be no problem for this machine. In addition to the 2-in-1 form factor, in which the screen swings back 360 degrees, it also weighs just 3.53 pounds. That means you can easily slip it in a backpack or messenger back and take it with you anywhere.

Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1: $1,199.99 ($450 off at Best Buy)

The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is a powerful, versatile machine with a stunning 4K display. What more could you ask for? Underneath the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage–so it should have no issues zipping through everyday tasks, spreadsheet work, and so on. The 14-inch touch display, which has a resolution of 3840×2400 (4K!), is a real stunner, too. This is the kind of display that’s meant for watching movies, graphically-intensive work, and so on. It also comes with a stylus, which is great because you don’t have to pay extra for a standalone accessory.

You’ll want at least 8GB, though 16GB is preferable, especially if you play games. Don’t buy laptops with under 4GB of RAM or 128GB of SSD storage—though on a Chromebook or a budget Windows machine, this configuration is acceptable. Check out our article on how much RAM does a laptop need for more in-depth info.

The one big difference between a Chromebook and a Windows laptop is the operating system. Chromebooks run ChromeOS and Windows run, well, Microsoft Windows. Chromebooks make good everyday machines because they’re designed for browsing the web, checking e-mail, and so on. They use less resources and are generally more affordable than the Windows variety. They also don’t need antivirus protection. A Windows laptop is a lot more versatile in what it can do, and not just in terms of running local programs. You can really pump a Windows laptop up with a ton of RAM, storage, and so on.

You’ll likely find the best laptop deals during Prime Day (mid-July), Black Friday (November 29th), and back-to-school season (June-August). Sure, you’ll find good laptop deals throughout the year, but if you really want to save big, we’d recommend scoping out your favorite online retailers during those times.

You can find all kinds of deals across a wide range of online retailers such as Newegg, Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, and so on. However, we’d recommend checking out deals from laptop manufacturers like Lenovo, HP, and Dell. You’ll usually find many different configurations on sale and the discounts can be pretty darn steep.

For more options, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available right now.

Best laptop deals today: Save big on work, school, home use and gaming | PCWorld

Industrial Control Systems Ashley Biancuzzo manages all laptop and Chromebook coverage for PCWorld. She's been covering consumer tech since 2016, and her work has appeared on USA Today, Reviewed, Polygon, Kotaku, StarWars.com, and Nerdist. In her spare time, she enjoys playing video games, reading science fiction, and hanging out with her rescue greyhound.