Diamonds in the rough
You can snag great deals on PCs, PC components, and PC accessories during Black Friday—if you know where to look. Not all cheap laptops are the same, for example. One retailer might offer a newer processor, more storage, or more RAM in a system for the same price as its competition.
As for components, this year is all but raining mega-discounts on CPUs. GPU prices have also temporarily dropped back down to reasonable levels. If you’ve been waiting to upgrade your system or build a new one, your time has come.
Tip: For free shipping at Amazon and Newegg during the holiday season, you can sign up for an Amazon Prime or Shoprunner trial.
BEST BUY: Lenovo Yoga 710 2-in-1 15.6” laptop for $600
Image by Best Buy
Sale starts Thursday, November 23
The Yoga line is what kicked off the trend of convertible laptops, and for $600, this mid-tier version of the Yoga is a nice blend of value and solid hardware. The 7th-generation Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD should feel snappy for a while, and the large IPS screen should work well for a variety of situations, be it editing spreadsheets or watching video.
DELL: Dropbox Plus 1TB 1-year subscription for $60
Image by Dropbox
Sale is available at this writing
Dropbox is one of the better-known names in cloud storage, and as a result, it’s rare to see a discount on its service. This Dell deal slashes the normal price of a one-year subscription by 40%. On top of that, you also get a $25 Dell eGift Card (essentially, store credit that lasts 90 days).
NEWEGG: Asus 23-inch IPS 1920×1080 monitor for $80
Image by Asus
Sale is available at this writing
This year is ripe with monitor deals, be it for standard-use or gaming displays. Among the standard monitors, two deals are particularly noteworthy.
The first is the Asus VC239H, which features an IPS display, a slim bezel, and built-in speakers. Normally $140, it’s $80 after applying coupon code BF17FLYER37 at checkout and filing a $10 mail-in rebate. The going rate for IPS displays of this size has been hovering around the $100 mark.
The upgrade option is a 24-inch Dell Ultrasharp IPS monitor for $170. (Deal starts Thursday, 11/23.) This 1920×1200 model is the older U2412M, but compared to the Asus VC239H, it’s still an improvement. Its stand allows adjustment of angle, height, and orientation, and the panel is larger with a wider color gamut: 82% vs 72%.
Other excellent options include the Dell S2418NX (a 24-inch 1920×1200 IPS monitor) for $170, and the Dell U2518D (a 25-inch 2550×1440 IPS monitor) for $250. Note that the HDR support in the S2418NX is not the same as you’ll find in a HDR TV.
AMAZON: Acer Aspire E 15 15.6″ 1080p laptop for $315
Image by Amazon
We like this laptop quite a bit at its normal price of $350, so at $315, it’s an even better option as a budget laptop.
Acer’s Aspire E15 laptop provides a lot of value: You get a 15.6-inch 1080p screen, 7th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. Most laptops in this range offer 1366×768 resolution screens or slower processors. If all you need to do is web browsing and light office work, this notebook will serve you well. And as an added perk, upgrades to the hard drive and RAM are very easy.
AMAZON: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X for $320
Image by Gordon Mah Ung
Sale is available at this writing
If you want to go even lower than Amazon’s price, you can actually get this deal at Newegg for $295, if you have a qualifying MasterCard credit card. (Use coupon code MPBF17 and then checkout via Masterpass.)
Regardless of where you buy, now’s the time to purchase a CPU. The $500 1800X isn’t the only processor that’s dropped dramatically in price. Pretty much every Ryzen or Ryzen Threadripper CPU is on sale right now. If you live near a Micro Center, the deals get even sweeter, if you can believe it. (Like the 8-core Ryzen 7 1700X for $230.) Micro Center’s also offering an additional $30 off if you buy a compatible motherboard.
Intel 7th-generation processors are discounted, too. One particularly sweet deal is the Core i7-7700K for $250 at Micro Center.
BEST BUY: HP Spectre x360 13.3″ laptop for $1,000
Image by Best Buy
Sale starts Thursday, November 23
Best Buy is offering fairly hefty discounts on the loaded versions of HP’s premium convertible. The retailer’s taken $400 the list price of the 13.3-inch model with Intel’s brand-new 8th-generation Kaby Lake Refresh processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and 1080p screen.
The 15.6-inch 4K model is also discounted by $400. For $1,200, you get a Core i7-8550U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, a 4K screen, and Nvidia MX150 discrete graphics. Like the smaller model, that’s the price you’d normally pay for the base configuration.
The Spectre x360 has been our favorite convertible for a while now, and with these new CPUs you get an even nicer boost to performance than before.
NEWEGG: G.Skill Ripjaws KM780R Mechanical Keyboard for $65
Image by Newegg
Sale is available at this writing
Typically, mechanical keyboards with Cherry MX keys at this price lack a ten-key pad. But this G.Skill model has a full set of keys with Cherry MX Brown switches for $65. You can also pay $5 more and get either Cherry MX Blue or Cherry MX Red switches instead. All versions come with red LED backlighting.
If RGB backlighting’s more your thing, that version of the KM780R is also on sale for $90, down from $160. Both Amazon and Newegg have it for that price, but it’s unclear for how long.
AMAZON: Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mini for $130
Image by Zotac
Sale is available at this writing
Graphics card prices have been inflated since spring—so inflated that Black Friday prices on GPUs hover near the MSRP. At this time last year, we didn’t expect to be satisfied with a $130 price tag on this Zotac GeForce GTX 1050 Ti card. Yet here we are.
This particular version of the GTX 1050 Ti is particularly nice for smaller builds, and it also doesn’t require an additional power connector. If you prefer spending less on a graphics card, you can go even lower with an $80 RX 560. But if you don’t need FreeSync compatibility, we’d recommend sticking with a 1050 Ti for its performance.
BEST BUY: Dell Inspiron 15.6” GTX 1050 Ti gaming laptop for $700
Image by Best Buy
Sale starts Thursday, November 23
We really liked this budget gaming laptop’s performance when we first reviewed it—and since then, Dell’s upgraded the display.
For $700, you get a high-performance quad-core CPU, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, GTX 1050 Ti, and a 15.6-inch IPS screen. Games should run in 1080p on High or Ultra in the 40 to 50 fps range, which was already damn good for $950. At $700, it’s a steal.
STAPLES: Dell 27” 75Hz IPS 1920×1080 FreeSync Monitor for $100
Image by Dell
Sale starts Thursday, November 23
You’re in luck if you’ve been waiting for gaming monitor deals. One that stands out in particular is the Dell SE2717HR at Staples: It’s an 75Hz IPS panel that also supports FreeSync. Normally $250, this display is a great option for budget gamers using a FreeSync-compatible AMD graphics card.
Nvidia fans aren’t left in the cold, however. Here are the other top gaming monitor deals:
- $190 – Acer 27” GN276HL (1080p, 144Hz, TN) (Use promo code BF17FLYER38 during checkout)
- $275 – LG 27″ 27UD60-B (4K, 60Hz, IPS, FreeSync) (Note: FreeSync only works over DisplayPort.)
- $350 – Dell 27” S2716DGR (1440p, 144Hz, TN, G-Sync)
- $1,000 – Alienware 34” AW3418DW (WQHD, 120Hz, IPS, G-Sync)