Black Friday is right around the corner, and if you’re hoping to buy a discounted laptop during the sale but need some advice then you’re in the right place.
We’ve created this guide to let you know where’s best to find a laptop deal in the Black Friday sale, and what to look out for in terms of specs. So without further ado, here’s everything you need to know.
General laptop buying tips
Firstly, here’s some advice on how to recognise a good laptop deal. For starters, if you see a laptop that’s available for under £200 in a sale, it’s probably too good to be true.
Such laptops often have painfully slow processors (like the Intel Celeron range) or feature screens that can’t even hit a Full HD resolution. Chromebooks are the best option if you want a really cheap laptop. Otherwise, you’ll likely have to spend over £500/$500 on a quality Windows portable.
In terms of processors, I suggest looking out for anything later than an Intel Core 9th Gen chip or an AMD Ryzen 3000 CPU. Anything older will likely be noticeably slower.
Checking out reviews is always going to be the best way to find out the quality of a laptop, so be sure to read through our Best Laptop, Best Chromebook, Best Student Laptop and Best Budget Laptop lists to find our top recommendations.
Which laptop should I go for this Black Friday?
It’s difficult to know for sure which laptops will be discounted during Black Friday, but we can make some educated guesses by looking back at previous years.
Acer, Asus and Dell often join in on the Black Friday fun, so it’s worth keeping an eye on their excellent Swift, ZenBook and XPS ranges respectively.
Microsoft could also reduce the price of its older Surface devices. The Surface Pro 7, Surface Book 3 and Surface Laptop 3 could all see major discounts, although you’ll likely have to pay full price if you want Microsoft’s latest laptops.
I highly doubt that Apple will give its latest MacBook laptops a significant price reduction during Black Friday, which will be a shame for those impressed with the new M1 chips.
Third-party retailers will likely offer discounts for Apple’s older Intel-powered MacBooks, but I’m hesitant to recommend them since Apple switched over to Apple Silicon. With that said, Apple has confirmed Intel-powered MacBooks will still get support in the foreseeable future, so I certainly wouldn’t rule out a purchase completely.
Which retailers offer Black Friday laptop deals?
It’s all very good knowing which laptop you want to buy, but where are you going to find these deals?
In our experience, the obvious candidates such as Amazon and Currys are dependable for laptop bargains, but it’s also worth checking out the likes of Laptops Direct, Box, Scan and even Overclockers if you fancy a gaming laptop.
Certain manufacturers will also host some Black Friday deals on their own website. Dell does this often, and it’s possible that the likes of Asus, Acer, Lenovo and Microsoft could also put some tasty deals live.
Unfortunately, Apple is unlikely to put any Black Friday deals up on its own website, so you’ll have to go looking on third-party retailers if you’re really craving a MacBook deal.
Make sure to keep an eye on Trusted Reviews during the Black Friday weekend, as we’ll be highlighting all of the best value deals on offer.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
