The best laptop deals of April 2023

Whether you’re a hardcore gamer, a work-from-home parent, a student with too many classes or, you know, a sentient human living in the 21st century, everyone needs a laptop. Not to mention those people who have a laptop but need a new laptop. Or a second laptop. The point is: Laptops!

There are tons of great deals on ’em at any given moment, on every possible make and model. Let us point you toward some of this month’s best, like this popular Samsung Chromebook for $120 — at nearly 50{fa54600cdce496f94cc1399742656d2709d9747721dfc890536efdd06456dfb9} off, it’s less than the cost of a nice dinner — or a MacBook Air for only $896 (from $999). And how about 60{fa54600cdce496f94cc1399742656d2709d9747721dfc890536efdd06456dfb9} off a Lenovo IdeaPad 3? Let’s go!

The best Chromebook deals of April 2023

This Samsung Chromebook 4 is a couple of years old, but it’s still a great option (for a backup, a bedroom or a kitchen) if you don’t need something with a ton of power. Chromebooks are ideal for browsing the web, hanging out on social media and handling a light workload, especially if you use Google’s suite of tools (such as Sheets or Docs). We’re hard-pressed to find a higher compliment than this shopper‘s: “Best computer I ever used.”

The best laptop deals of April 2023

With 256GB of onboard storage, 8GB of RAM and Windows 11 pre-installed, this IdeaPad 3 is a true workhorse. It can handle major Excel spreadsheets and more work-intensive tasks than a Chromebook, which makes it perfect for a new home-office machine. And though hardcore gamers will want to look elsewhere (due to its lack of a dedicated GPU), you won’t find a more dreamy marriage of performance and budget-friendliness than this.

One five-star reviewer said, “I needed a laptop to take the bar exam because I couldn’t download the exam software on my work laptop. I’d purchased a Microsoft Surface laptop in the past, and while they’re super sleek, light and the screen quality is great, twice I’ve had the laptops break down and malfunction. And those are, like, $1,000. This laptop is a bit heavy and the screen resolution isn’t the best, but it appears to be a reliable machine — and for the money, a total steal. I actually love the feeling of the keyboard and track pad. Great laptop.”

The best Macbook deals of April 2023

The 2020 MacBook Air is an impressive machine. Powered by Apple’s M1 chip, it has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — plenty of space to keep your photos and videos. It’s got enough punch to edit videos on the go, plus an all-day battery that means you don’t have to worry about running out of juice. At $799, this is the lowest price this laptop has ever been.

One user said this machine trumps anything Windows: “This is the best laptop I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned about 20 or more. For most folks, this 2020 model will be more than enough: great battery life, excellent display, excellent Mac OS and UI, robust build quality, easy portability … and I love the aluminum case. I own four Windows 11 laptops too, which are great laptops as well, but this Mac tops them.”

The best gaming laptop deals of April 2023

Gaming laptops generally come in one of two camps: affordable but weak, or powerful and way over budget. This ROG Strix Scar 15 finds the sweet spot between the two. It packs a state-of-the-art RTX 3080 graphics card as well as 16GB of RAM and a 1TB solid-state drive to store your entire Steam library on — and it’s $500 off. We never have, and likely never will, see this laptop at such a steal of a price.

“This can run any game you throw at it. Now, I will mention that the cooling could probably be better; this thing does tend to run a little hot. But I built a laptop table with fans in it for this thing to sit on, and it drastically helps the overheating issue, if you even want to call it that. That’s me trying to find something to complain about, though,” one five-star reviewer said. “This machine was built to last, and the fact that it has empty slots to add more RAM and extra storage? Pffft, no-brainer. Best ~$1,500 purchase I’ve ever made.”

The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

Originally published April 18, 2023 at 2:22 PM