Laptops for blackfriday 2019

[joseserrano]

This one will be $349 on BF.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-i...lid-state-drive-black/6373812.p?skuId=6373812
This one will be $399 on BF.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-...-black-maglia-pattern/6356671.p?skuId=6356671
This one will be $499 on BF.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pav...arm-and-luminous-gold/6364560.p?skuId=6364560

Oh wow. Thank you so much

 

[SCK1027]

The deals mentioned above are good, particularly the first one, as I consider screen resolution very important, so look for resolutions of 1920x1080 (Full HD) or above if you want crisp and clear pictures. It's like standard glass vs low-iron glass tanks. If you are not in a hurry, you can wait until Black Friday / Cyber Monday, but if you are in a hurry and want to buy now, the ones that caught my eyes were the following:

Base your future purchase on these and compare the specifications and price.

	Asus VivoBook 14	Lenovo Ideapad 330s	Microsoft Surface Go	Lenovo IdeaPad S340
Price	$250	$329	$399	$460
Size	15.6	14	10	15.6
CPU	Ryzen 3 3200U	Ryzen 5 2500U	Intel Pentium 4415Y	Intel i5 8265U
Storage	128GB SSD	256GB SSD	128GB	256GB
RAM	4GB	8GB	8GB	8GB
Screen Resolution	1920x1080 (FullHD)	1920x1080 (FullHD)	1800x1200 (FullHD)	1920x1080 (FullHD)
Weight	3.1	4	1.15	3.96
Touch	No	No	Yes	No

Similar laptops are available in other stores, and they price match other stores most of the time, so if you prefer a specific store, just ask for a price match and they'll probably do it for you. Of course, some deals could be better at Black Friday, while sometimes the sales before could be better.

Additional things to consider:
-Battery Life
-Back-lit keyboard
-Ports (USB-C, HDMI, ethernet, etc)
-Intel vs AMD (Ryzen)
-Screen ( IPS (glossy) vs TN (matte) )
-Webcam

People like the Surface because it's light and small, but the additional cost that comes if you buy the keyboard and pen add up quickly. So look for bundle deals if you plan on buying that. I've seen the bundle of Surface, keyboard, and pen come down to the $500 range few times.

 

[Humblefish]

Be careful buying "Black Friday Laptops" without first playing around with them. I bought a Dell online last year, but discovered the touchpad is buggy - nothing like any Dell laptop I've ever owned in the past.

So, we went with Macbook Pros this year from Best Buy. They were $300 off last weekend, and the salesman said they would be running that special again.

 

[JoshH]

Also take a look on Bhphotovideo.com, sign up for there newsletter, they always have great deals on laptops going on and I'm willing to bet black friday deals will be no exception.

 

[joseserrano]

So much good info. Thanks guys

 

[JoshH]

@joseserrano this just popped into my email if you're still looking....
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1505802-REG/msi_gf63_thin_9sc_803_gf63_i7_9750_8gb_256gb.html

 

[JoshH]

Here's another if you have a bit of a bigger budget now

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._q2laa_002_predator_triton_700_i7_7700hq.html

 

[joseserrano]

I found a nice Asus, 15.6, full hd, 8gb ram, i5 processor,... for 350

 

[Meldrath]

There's actually 3 types of storage technically, there's two types of 'ssd' there's the old 2.5 inch SSD's that run on SATA and then the newer NVME's which are SSD's that have a higher bandwidth via the PCIE 3.0/4.0. If you get most newer midrange or better laptops they will be of the NVME type which is lighter and smaller (about the size of a stick of bubblegum) vs the older 2.5 inch SSD's.

Edit: there's technically a fourth: hybrids (mini SSD's for buffering on a HD)

Your choice of laptop is going to come down to a few things - what you are using it for, price, and storage.

My word of advice is, if this is your main home computer get a minimum of 16GB ram, 4 core with 8 threads, and an SSD. Further, if you game at all, look at an ultrabook as they are quite light and extremely powerful. I can't make any specific recommendations for black friday but if you need technical advice I'd be more than happy to help via PM.

 

[JoshH]

Further, if you game at all, look at an ultrabook as they are quite light and extremely powerful. I can't make any specific recommendations for black friday but if you need technical advice I'd be more than happy to help via PM.

While the OP has already got his laptop needs covered I'm curious about your recommendation of an Ultrabook for gaming purposes? Most Ultrabooks fall short in the graphics department for the vast majority of games out there. Care to elaborate?

 

[Meldrath]

While the OP has already got his laptop needs covered I'm curious about your recommendation of an Ultrabook for gaming purposes? Most Ultrabooks fall short in the graphics department for the vast majority of games out there. Care to elaborate?

Certainly, look at the Max Q based laptops from the likes of Asus, MSI, Acer or Razer with a 20 series. I recommend a 2070 unless you absolutely need to go higher as they start to get very pricey and dollar/performance isn't there.

There is another option as well that most people don't consider and really wasn't a viable option until Thunderbolt 3 due to bandwidth which is an external graphics card. Something like the link below. There is a performance penalty though as it's about 20% less effective than the native card in a tower.

https://www.aorus.com/GV-N208TIXEB-11GC
Either way true gaming shouldn't be done on a laptop unless you absolutely need the mobility. You will always be sacrificing performance due to thermals and lower wattage chips.

 

[joseserrano]

I was advised to not go with my what I thought was a good deal due to the unit using older parts. Here are a few new options. Tell me what you guys think? Any direction is appreciated. Having a hard time with these guys only having minor differences


Amazon product ASIN B07WMVTLCV
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pav...arm-and-luminous-gold/6364560.p?skuId=6364560

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo...d-drive-platinum-gray/6350523.p?skuId=6350523
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-...me-green-paint-finish/6364574.p?skuId=6364574

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...GB-Storage-Platinum-Grey-81FB00HKUS/273186587

Amazon product ASIN B07QKWTZ4BAmazon product ASIN B07X5DQRHP

 

[joseserrano]

Amazon product ASIN B07WMVTLCV
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pav...arm-and-luminous-gold/6364560.p?skuId=6364560

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo...d-drive-platinum-gray/6350523.p?skuId=6350523
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-...me-green-paint-finish/6364574.p?skuId=6364574

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...GB-Storage-Platinum-Grey-81FB00HKUS/273186587

Amazon product ASIN B07QKWTZ4BAmazon product ASIN B07X5DQRHP

 

[Meldrath]

Those Ryzen Lenovo's don't look bad at all.

I'd recommend most of these just depends on cost and any extra features like touch screen etc.

I have one of the first gen x360's from HP and the thing is a freaking tank. Don't know how many times I've dropped it myself and it has nothing more to show for it but a small dent in the frame and no issues with the monitor itself.

 

[joseserrano]

One has a gen 8 Ruben, and the other I believe has a 2. Is that a big difference?

 

[Meldrath]

One has a gen 8 Ruben, and the other I believe has a 2. Is that a big difference?

Sorry not sure what you mean here. Mind linking the two you want compared?

 

[joseserrano]

This looks like a gen 2 right?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...GB-Storage-Platinum-Grey-81FB00HKUS/273186587

 

[joseserrano]

This is a gen 3? Does that make a big difference. I’m referring to the Ryzen professor.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-...me-green-paint-finish/6364574.p?skuId=6364574

 

[Meldrath]

This looks like a gen 2 right?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lenovo-I...GB-Storage-Platinum-Grey-81FB00HKUS/273186587

This is first gen (When they went to APU's from CPUs they moved from the 1xxx to the 25xx naming scheme) I had to go look it up myself. Looks like a solid notebook for the price.

 

[Meldrath]

This is a gen 3? Does that make a big difference. I’m referring to the Ryzen professor.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-...me-green-paint-finish/6364574.p?skuId=6364574

This is a 2nd gen ryzen (third gen isn't available in notebooks yet). It's also a 6 core/12 thread processor and a dedicated graphics card. So it has a few leg ups compared to the 1st gen (lower TDP, more cores, and faster base and boost clock speed). Having a dedicated graphics card means you could play games at a higher setting than the other one and get more reasonable FPS.