Best laptop deals: Top picks from budget to extreme

Finding the right laptop can be an overwhelming process. Do you go with Intel or AMD? What about battery life and form factor? If you’re about to throw your hands up in frustration, hold it right there. The team at PCWorld did much of the heavy lifting for you. From ridiculously fast gaming machines to lightweight 2-in-1’s, we’ve got a number of options to chose from below. To help you make more informed decisions, we’ve also included a shopping advice section at the end of the article. For more laptop options, check out our roundup of the best laptops.

The best laptop deals in 2023

Samsung Chromebook 4

From: Amazon

Was: $229.99

Now: $129.98 ($100 off)

If you’re looking for a barebones machine, the Samsung Chromebook 4 is a good option. Inside, you’ll find an Intel Celeron N4020 CPU, Intel UHD Graphics 600, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. That’s not a ton of power, but it’s enough for everyday tasks like checking e-mail and browsing the web. The display is on the smaller side at 11.6-inches and has a resolution of 1366×768. It’s not the sharpest picture we’ve ever seen on a Chromebook, but it’s fine for scrolling through social media and such. For a little over $100, it’s a good deal.

See the Samsung Chromebook 4 at Amazon

Acer Aspire Vero

From: Amazon

Was: $699.99

Now: $574 ($125.99 off)

The Acer Aspire Vero is a fantastic option for eco-conscious buyers, as it’s made of recycled materials. It’s no slouch in the performance department either given the specs. This laptop has an Intel Core i7-1195G7 CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage—a killer package for under $500. It’s zippy enough for everyday tasks like watching Hulu, writing papers, browsing social media, and so on. The 15.6-inch display should provide clean visuals thanks to the 1920×1080 resolution. This is an awesome deal for an everyday laptop.

See the Acer Aspire Vero at Amazon

Samsung Chromebook Plus

From: Amazon

Was: $499

Now: $279.99 ($220 off)

The Samsung Chromebook Plus is a good option for someone who needs a lightweight convertible. It has an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of memory, and 32GB of eMMC storage. It’s a little light on storage and memory, but this shouldn’t be a problem if you store most of your stuff in the cloud. The 11-inch touchscreen display has a resolution of 1900×1200, and the Chromebook has two USB-C ports. It’s powerful enough for everyday browser tasks like checking e-mail, writing papers, listening to music, and so on. The 2-in-1 also weighs a little under three pounds, making it a capable travel companion. Plus, it comes with a stylus for doodling or note taking.

See the Samsung Chromebook Plus at Amazon

Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

From: Best Buy

Was: $1,199.99

Now: $949.99 ($250 off)

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is a nice laptop for productivity or everyday use. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. The 15-inch display has a resolution of 2496×1664 and is touch-enabled. According to Microsoft, this machine can last up to 17 hours on a single charge. That’s positively bananas. However, with the brightness turned up, that number might be different in real world use. This is a great deal and a good pick for a student or young professional. Happy shopping.

See the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 at Best Buy

Asus ZenBook Pro 15 OLED

From: Newegg

Was: $1,399.99

Now: $999.99 ($400 off)

The Asus ZenBook Pro 15 OLED is sleek, zippy, and $400 off. It’s a fantastic deal, especially for a laptop with an OLED display. This machine is rocking an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. This laptop is designed for creative folks, so it’s not that unusual to see one with a discrete graphics card to go along with the other potent internals. Still, it’s a welcome boost of power. he 15.6-inch OLED display is rather roomy with a resolution of 1920×1080. Asus even claims the display has a maximum brightness level of 400 nits, which is nothing to sneeze at. This is a fabulous deal and a solid pick for students or young creative professionals.

See the Asus ZenBook Pro 15 OLED at Newegg

HP Envy x360

From: Best Buy

Was: $1,099.99

Now: $849.99 ($250 off)

The HP Envy x360 is a fantastic convertible laptop for work or personal use. It has an Intel Core i7 CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. That’s enough oomph for tasks like checking e-mail, spreadsheet work, watching Netflix, and so on. The display is rather spacious at 15.6-inches with a resolution of 1920×1080. For ports, it has one HDMI, two USB Type-A, and two Thunderbolt 4. That’s not a bad selection right there. You probably won’t ever need an adapter. Overall, this is a solid deal. We don’t expect it to last long, so act fast.

See the HP Envy x360 at Best Buy

LG Gram (2022)

From: Amazon

Was: $1,499.99

Now: $1,149.90 ($350.09 off)

The LG Gram (2022) is the perfect laptop for frequent travelers, as it weighs just 2.54 lbs. Don’t let the lightweight form factor fool you, though. It’s packing a good amount of power in its thin frame. Under the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. This laptop should be capable of whizzing through most tasks like checking e-mail, streaming video, spreadsheet work, and so on. The 15-inch display features super narrow bezels and a resolution of 1920×1080. Overall, this laptop is a steal, especially at $500 off. Get it now.

See the LG Gram (2022) at Amazon

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

From: Lenovo

Was: $2,399

Now: $1,199.50 ($1,199.50 off)

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 is the perfect laptop for productivity. It’s packing an Intel Core i5-1240P CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD storage. That means it’s capable of handling tasks like spreadsheet work, Word processing, videoconferencing, and so on. The 14-inch 1200p display has narrow bezels and, according to Lenovo, a maximum brightness level of 400 nits. The display’s taller 16:10 aspect ratio makes scrolling through documents a heck of a lot easier, too. There’s also a backlit keyboard and a fingerprint reader.

If you’re looking for a proper business laptop, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is well worth considering.

See the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon at Lenovo

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15

From: Newegg

Was: $2,199.99

Now: $2,057.99 ($173 off)

The Asus ROG Strix Scar gaming laptop is an absolute powerhouse. It comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. This laptop will chew through most games on max settings. The 15.6-inch display has resolution of 1920×1080, a blistering 300Hz refresh rate, and a 3ms response time, so competitive gamers will find a lot to like here. Regarding connectivity options, you’re getting one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one HDMI, and one 3.5mm combo audio jack. The keyboard is also an optical mech keyboard, which uses infrared light to detect key presses.

See the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 at Newegg

MSI Summit E13

From: Newegg

Was: $1,499

Now: $599 ($900 off)

The MSI Summit E13 is a luxurious convertible laptop with touchscreen functionality. It has an Intel Core i5-1155G7 CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. In other words, this laptop should zip right through day-to-day tasks. The 13.4-inch touchscreen has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, which is perfect binging your favorite Netflix show or scrolling through work documents. The laptop itself also weighs just under three pounds, making it a capable travel companion.

See the MSI Summit E13 at Newegg

Acer Aspire 5 A515

From: Amazon

Was: $399.99

Now: $353.92 ($46.07 off)

If you’re looking for a solid everyday laptop, you’ve come to the right place. The Acer Aspire 5 has a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of onboard SSD storage. The processor is a Ryzen 3 3350U, which has four cores, four threads, and a maximum boost to 3.5GHz. It’s packed with modern features like Wi-Fi 6, a backlit keyboard, and a fingerprint reader for biometric logins. Acer starts this laptop off with Windows 11 in S mode, but there’s no reason not to do a one-way upgrade to full Windows 11. This is being sold by a third-party retailer, but Amazon is handling shipping, which means it falls under the company’s return policy.

See the Acer Aspire 5 A515 at Amazon

Acer Nitro 5

From: Amazon

Was: $929.99

Now: $797.99 ($132 off)

The Acer Nitro 5 is a fantastic budget gaming laptop. It features an Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. This laptop is powerful enough to run most games on medium to high graphics settings depending