Best Laptop Deals: Head Back to School With Big Savings on Apple, Dell, Acer and More [CNET]

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$550 at Hp

hp-pavillion-plus-14-inch
HP Pavilion Plus 14-inch laptop: $550

Save $300

Whether you’re looking to stock up for elementary school or college campuses, back-to-school season has begun. If you’re looking for a new computer for a student or you just need to upgrade your home office setup, you could be after a new laptop. That means it’s well worth to look for deals that will defray some of the cost. Even if you’re not going back to school, you may be in need of a new laptop for everyday use, gaming or work. So now is a great time to pick one up while taking advantage of back-to-school sales.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

When it comes to laptops, options abound, from Apple MacBooks to Dell gaming laptops to two-in-one laptop-tablet hybrids. Trying to make your selection can be difficult, and you don’t want to overspend. To help you out, we’ve made a list of the best laptop deals around in many categories. We’ve chosen models to meet a variety of needs, from high-end options to simpler devices that are great for students and budget-conscious buyers.

Best laptop deals and PC sales

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Apple/CNET

The 13-inch MacBook Air with the M3 chip, 8GB of memory and a 256 solid-state drive is currently listed on Amazon for $850, an impressive $249 discount. All four color variants are available at this price, but Amazon stock can be fleeting, so don’t delay. 

Apple M3 laptop

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Apple M3 laptop

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Apple M3 laptop

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Apple M3 laptop

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Apple/CNET

This 2023 Apple MacBook Pro features an M3 chip for speedy, reliable performance. It features a Liquid Retina XDR display, an HD camera you can use for work calls or FaceTime and a battery life of up to 18 hours. You also get an HDMI port, headphone jack, three Thunderbolt ports and an SDXC card slot. You can now score this state-of-the-art laptop for $300 off. 

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Apple/CNET

This larger screen version of the MacBook Air has the M2 chip and includes 8GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD, and it’s almost $300 off right now. Plus, you can save up to $825 in trade-in credit, depending on what you have to trade in. 

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HP/CNET

This already decently priced HP laptop, one of our favorite laptops for 2024, is a nice $300 off making it a great choice to kick off a college career or revive a home office setup. It’s got a nice OLED display and a 1440p webcam. 

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At the regular price this little budget laptop is a great choice, made even better by dipping down to just $300. Our CNET reviews team named this laptop the best entry-level laptop out there, citing decent performance for its price and a long battery life among its attributes. 

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HP/CNET

A midrange gaming laptop at a bargain price, you’ll save over $300 on this 15.6-inch 8GB laptop with excellent resolution and ideal for gaming or videos. You can also check out Best Buy’s trade-in program for saving even more. 

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Dell / CNET

Walmart’s price slashing brings you a great business or student laptop from Dell with a 15.6-inch FHD touchscreen with a 1,920×1,080 resolution, 16GB of RAM and more. 

Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 laptop

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Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 laptop

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Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 laptop

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Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 laptop

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Dell/CNET

Both a laptop and a tablet, this hybrid computer has touch screen, and icludes six ports including USB-A and an HDMI cable. 

What should you look for in a laptop deal?

One of the biggest things to consider is which laptop configuration is on sale. Often, with the best laptop deals, only a specific version of the laptop is on sale and making any changes could affect the price. This means that sometimes you’ll find the 512GB model cheaper than the 256GB option or a similar situation.

When are the best laptop deals available?

Generally, you’ll find the best laptop deals during back-to-school shopping time in late summer or early fall and a bit later in the year during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events. There are laptop deals throughout the year, but if you’re looking for the best deal and can afford to wait, these are typically the best times to buy one.

Which retailers usually offer the best laptop deals?

You can usually find deals across a variety of retailers when it comes to laptops. Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg and other retailers tend to offer sales on more specific models, while manufacturers including HP, Lenovo and Dell usually host larger sales that cover more models and configurations. If you’re looking for a specific model, you’ll want to keep checking back weekly for the latest set of deals.