The laptop market is looking at a significant upheaval as tariffs and regulations fall into place, but there is some good news.
Most of the stock already for sale at major retailers arrived before the tariffs were in place; even better, there are still plenty of tempting discounts available on those pre-tariff prices.
Dell's Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445), for example, is currently $300 off at Best Buy, dropping the total to just $429.99.
It's a versatile convertible laptop with a powerful AMD Ryzen CPU and some nice features, perfect for general workflows, streaming, and browsing.
Why do I recommend this discounted Dell Inspiron 2-in-1 laptop?
Dell's Inspiron laptop lineup has traditionally been a popular mid-range choice for countless buyers, coming in at a more affordable price than the high-end XPS series.
I won't pretend like this discounted Inspiron 14 2-in-1 can match something like the XPS 14's performance, futuristic design, and display quality.
Not everyone needs or wants the premium options, and for most users who tackle general productivity work, streaming, and web browsing, a laptop like this is more than enough.
The Inspiron's appeal lies in the price that's a fraction of XPS PCs, made even better with this $300 discount at Best Buy.
The Inspiron 14 2-in-1 (7445) I'm highlighting here is a versatile convertible PC that can be used as a tablet or notebook, with tent and stand modes falling in the middle.
It's built to a high standard with a durable aluminum chassis, it has a backlit keyboard, and there's a fingerprint reader for added security through Windows Hello.
The laptop is thin and light enough to be carried around daily, and its generous selection of ports means there's less likelihood you'll need a dongle or adapter.
It has dual USB-C 3.2 (Gen 2) with power and video support, dual USB-A 3.2 (Gen 1) for older accessories, an HDMI 1.4 port for video out, 3.5mm audio, and an SD card reader. Wireless is covered by Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth.
A 1080p webcam with privacy shutter is on board to handle video conferencing, and the laptop's dual 2W speakers have Dolby Atmos tuning to boost sound quality.
Turning to performance hardware, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 is loaded with AMD's Ryzen 5 8640HS CPU with 6 cores, 12 threads, and a boost clock up to 4.9GHz.
While this isn't considered a Copilot+ PC, it does check the box for an AI PC thanks to its Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with 16 TOPS of power for local AI tasks (like Windows Studio Effects).
The AMD CPU is joined by 8GB of DDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD. Altogether, this is more than enough power for homework, productivity tasks, streaming, web browsing, and even some light gaming.
This is no gaming PC, but the integrated AMD Radeon graphics will handle lightweight titles.
The display isn't particularly impressive, but again, at the $430 discounted price, it's hard to find fault. It's a 14-inch IPS touchscreen with a 1920x1200 (FHD+) resolution, 250 nits brightness, and 60Hz refresh rate.
Will tariffs affect the laptop market?
Tariffs are already shaking up the laptop market in a major (and negative) way.
With prices expected to rise sharply in the coming weeks and months, the time is now to buy a new laptop before new stock, subject to tariffs, arrives from overseas.
👉 Related: Why I recommend buying a new laptop before prices get out of hand
Several laptop makers, including Razer and Framework, have already halted US sales for some laptops, and it looks like Lenovo, HP, and Dell are also jumping on board.
Last month, Acer announced it was raising laptop prices by a flat 10% in response to tariffs, and I expect to see that go up again as new tariffs have been introduced.
While I expect sales to return soon (at a higher price), it's clear these companies are taking a step back to figure out a game plan now that such heavy tariffs — 125% on China — have been levied.
👉 Related: Trade wars: The latest on tariffs, PC, laptops, GPUs, and gaming
So ... if you're considering buying a new laptop, I suggest you find something very soon before prices skyrocket. And if it's a PC for general use, you can save a lot of money on the discounted Inspiron 14 2-in-1 at Best Buy.
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