Best Laptop Deals in the UK: Don’t pay too much for your new laptop. Grab one of these deals.
Fuelled by the prophetic desire to browse the internet from coffee shops and stream Netflix in bed, mankind invented the Grid Compass 1101 in 1982. Thus was the modern laptop born.
Ever since that fateful day, a dizzying number of manufacturers have released their own take on this portable computer format. While the base premise has remained the same – a keyboard attached to a display by a hinge – the technology has improved exponentially.
Advances in processor, memory, material and display technology have greatly bolstered the capabilities and potential of the laptop. These days you can buy a laptop for any computational task, from humble word processors and web browsers to fully fledged video editing hubs and gaming rigs.
Related: Best Laptops
Of course, you’ll have to adjust your budget depending on which of these you’re after. From a £200 Chromebook to a £2,000 gaming laptop, there’s a heck of a lot of variation out there.
Indeed, shopping for a new laptop can be a confusing experience. What should you be aiming for? How much do you need to spend?
We’ll help you decide on these things a little later. First, let’s get to the meat of the matter: the deals.
We’ve assembled the best deals from across the UK-based internet, striving all the time to include a variety of laptop types. Regardless of budget, you should find a way to get excellent value for money by following our advice.
Currys PC World | Amazon | Argos | John Lewis | Very | eBay
All prices were correct at the time of publication, but do tend to change quickly. Act fast if you want to snap up a bargain.
Best Laptop Deals – Currys PC World
Run by Dixons Retail, Currys PC World melds together three of the UK’s most well know high street retailers: Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse. Thanks to the Currys and PC World parts, laptops form a major part of the outlet’s output. If you need to go hands-on with your prospective laptop purchase, there’s no better outlet. But even if you’re going online, Currys PC World is a sound choice, thanks to a vast choice and frequent deals.
Best Laptop Deals – Amazon
Did you really think that Amazon wouldn’t be part of this conversation? One look at the online giant’s laptop offering should set you straight. Amazon offers lots and lots of laptops, and often at the best prices on the internet. Everyone else is left playing catch-up.
Best Laptop Deals – Argos
Argos might not be known for its computing sales, but we’ve seen this retailer offering the best price on great laptops countless times in the past. Here are our picks of the moment.
Best Laptop Deals – John Lewis
You don’t go to John Lewis for its extensive laptop range. The likes of Amazon and Currys PC World offer much more variety. You go to John Lewis for its peerless customer service and extended warranties. John Lewis also offers a number of unique, often high-end model variants that you don’t always get elsewhere.
Best Laptop Deals – Very
Very frequently has great deals on budget laptops under £200, so if you only have basic needs, it’s worth having a look. These are our top picks right now.
Best Laptop Deals – eBay
We’ve all no doubt had our fair share of dodgy eBay experiences, but that shouldn’t put you off checking it out when buying a new laptop. The online shopping giant also provides a shop front for reputable retailers to offer discounted stock.
Choosing a laptop deal
There’s more to choosing a laptop deal than simply finding one that precisely fits your budget. It’s important that you ask yourself a few questions concerning what it is you actually want from a new laptop.
How much power do you need?
The first thing to consider is how powerful or capable you need your laptop to be. Answering this one question will eliminate a vast swathe of laptops from your considerations, and hone in on a particular segment of the market.
Perhaps an easier (but very much related) question to answer is: what do you intend to do with your laptop?
If it’s a case of web browsing, word processing, or spreadsheet management, then you’re not going to need to spend very much money at all. Pretty much any cheap and cheerful model on the market will be able to handle such light tasks with ease.
If you are going to use your laptop for more demanding tasks like video or photo editing, or as a creative tool in general, then you’ll need something with more power and RAM. That’s going to cost you more money.
Perhaps the biggest spenders will be those who intend to game on their laptop. Modern games require advanced discrete graphics cards allied to fast processors and a generous allotment of RAM. Those things combined won’t come cheap.
But how much power is enough power for your particular use case? Now might be a good time to check out our Intel processor and AMD processor guides. These will run through the current CPU scene, and provide some recommendations depending on what you want your laptop to be able to achieve.
Which form factor do you want?
Another thing that’s important to establish is what kind of form factor (essentially size and weight) you want from your laptop.
Presumably you’re after a degree of portability – you’re buying a laptop rather than a desktop, after all – but how big a factor is that?
For some people, a laptop is largely a static thing to be used from an office. It might rarely leave your desk at home. A large, sharp screen might be more important than the ability to work on a cramped train table. In this case, a larger 15-inch, 16-inch or 17-inch laptop might be preferable.
Conversely, portability might be a leading factor. Perhaps you do much of your work in coffee shops, on trains, or indeed on your lap. In that case, you might want to consider an 11-inch or 13-inch ultraportable laptop, or even a 2-in-1 laptop/tablet hybrid.
Battery life
The next big deciding factor is also battery life. If you’re looking for a desktop replacement and plan to have your laptop plugged into the mains all the time, this isn’t such an issue. If you’re constantly going to be away from power, you’ll want something with strong battery life, so have a look at our reviews before making a decision.
Of course, if you’re favouring battery life over all other features then you might want to consider buying a high-end tablet. While not as fully featured as laptops, tablets can be used nowadays as devices for most day-to-day work without requiring a charge for several hours. Plus, their portability will allow you to carry the device and its charging cable without much hassle. If buying a new tablet is starting to sound like a more appealing endeavour then head on over to our collection of the best tablet deals available right now.
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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.
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.
