Gaming laptops are almost always pricier than their standard counterparts due to the extra performance and cooling hardware inside, and that's why I always recommend waiting for a sale to buy. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming our way next week, the time is now to start shopping for the perfect gaming laptop.
Many retailers, in the lead-up to Black Friday, offer deep discounts that don't actually get any better on the actual event dates. To capitalize, you can often find the ideal gaming laptop for the right price without bothering with the holiday shopping rush.
I'm keeping this list updated as we head into Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so check back if you don't find the sale that's right for you right now.
Recent updates
November 20, 2024: I added fresh deals on HP, ASUS, and Acer gaming laptops. You can still save up to $950 ahead of Black Friday. — Cale Hunt
🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃
- 🎮ASUS ROG Ally (Ryzen Z1) | $349.99 at Best Buy (Save $150!)
- 💽Seagate Xbox Series X|S Card (2TB) | $199.99 at Best Buy (Save $160!)
- 📱iPad 9th Generation (64GB) | $199.99 at Best Buy (Save $130!)
- 🎮Xbox Series X (1TB) | $449.99 at Best Buy (Save $50!)
- 🖥️ABS Cyclone Desktop (RTX 4060) | $1,099.99 at Newegg (Save $400!)
- 📺HP Curved Ultrawide (34-inches) | $349.99 at Best Buy (Save $130!)
- 💽WD_Black Xbox Series X|S Card (1TB) | $99.99 at Best Buy (Save $50!)
- ⌨️Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Wireless | $101.99 at Best Buy (Save $98!)
- 🖱️Razer Basilisk V3 Wired | $39.99 at Best Buy (Save $30!)
- 💽WD_BLACK Handheld SSD (2TB) | $179.99 at Best Buy (Save $60!)
- 🎧Astro A50 Wireless (Xbox & PC) | $149.99 at Best Buy (Save $100!)
Black Friday 2024: The best early gaming laptop deals
I've been covering Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for nine years, giving me plenty of experience when it comes to sniffing out the best prices. I've also reviewed countless gaming laptops for Windows Central, so I know what's worth your time. The deals I've sourced here should cover most budgets, allowing you to shop comfortably.
More great Black Friday 2024 deals
- Best Buy: Big savings on video games, accessories, and more
- Walmart: Early savings on practically everything
- Target: Live deals on a huge range of products
- Dell: Top deals on laptops, gaming PCs, accessories, and more
- HP: Save big on laptops, desktops, accessories, and more
- Lenovo: Doorbuster deals on all Lenovo PCs, monitors, accessories, and more
- Newegg: Save on PC gaming accessories, components, and more
- Razer: Take advantage of free shipping for a limited time
- Samsung: Holiday deals on laptops, TVs, phones, and more are live
- Amazon: Constantly rotating sales on everything you can imagine
When is Black Friday 2024?
Officially, Black Friday happens on November 29, 2024. Black Friday consistently falls on the last weekend of November when many Americans are enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday, offering some exciting shopping opportunities between meals and visits with family and friends.
However, it's clear that retailers aren't waiting to apply some significant discounts to a wide selection of great gaming laptops. The deals seem to start showing up earlier than ever each year, and that's no different for 2024.
Although some storefronts label their deals with tags like 'early Black Friday,' it's not guaranteed that the price won't drop again. Unfortunately, it's impossible to say whether a hot item will drop further in price when we actually arrive at Black Friday proper. Still, some third-party stores like Newegg offer a price drop guarantee that will reimburse you if you purchase within this window.
We'll check every deal to see if it's a historically low price, but other savings will still be listed if they're a genuinely great deal.
When does Cyber Monday 2024 start?
Cyber Monday follows after the Black Friday weekend, landing on December 2, 2024. It focuses on digital storefronts rather than physical stores, with discounts usually expiring as the Monday ends.
Many products retain their Black Friday discount throughout Cyber Monday, though some will enjoy a further reduction or even a unique deal. We'll also share the best Cyber Monday deals with you as soon as retailers switch and publish their listings.
Choosing the best gaming laptop for you
Black Friday 2024 is heading our way quickly, and I've noticed many companies announcing wave after wave of excellent deals and discounts right now. As expected, PC gamers are benefiting more than most. I always recommend waiting for a big discount to buy a gaming laptop, and Black Friday is typically the last time of the year to take advantage.
A wide variety of gaming laptops from the major players are already discounted in the lead-up to Black Friday, and I've been careful to include only major price cuts from a range of different hardware and features.
Don't look at the price alone
It's often tempting to grab the cheapest laptop available, especially when so many are reduced during sales events like Black Friday. However, not every attractive price tag means a reduction on capable components; some will be older models that might struggle to keep up with your favorite games. I recommend sticking with hardware that's been released in the last couple of years lest you find yourself buying an already outdated model.
The most up-to-date hardware often eludes major discounts, but that's OK for most gamers. Landing NVIDIA's 30- and 40-series laptop graphics cards, Intel's 12th Gen or newer CPUs, and AMD's Ryzen 7000 or newer CPUs can be considered a win if the price is right.
Even an entry-level RTX 4050 laptop GPU from NVIDIA's latest range is worth considering, as it delivers sophisticated DLSS 3.5 upscaling technology to improve performance. Intel and AMD both make capable mobile CPUs, so you can't go wrong with the latest and greatest from either company.
How big of a laptop do you need?
When making your decision, consider the physical size first. If you plan to travel with a gaming laptop frequently, anything over 16 inches might become a little cumbersome unless you have a convenient way to transport it. However, these larger models often double up as complete desktop PC replacements thanks to improvements to thermal cooling solutions in the expanded chassis.
Nowadays, you can find compact gaming laptops as small as 14-inches if you need ultimate portability, but you may be sacrificing power. Check out our best gaming laptops guide for an idea of what scores highest for us.
What display resolution is best?
Most laptop brands try to balance performance hardware and display, but that doesn't mean you won't sometimes come across skewed specs.
When it comes to display resolution in your laptop, you should consider the size of the screen. A larger screen, say between 16 and 18 inches, might not be crisp enough for your liking if it has a 1080p resolution. On the other hand, you might find that 1440p is overkill for a 14-inch gaming laptop. Finding a happy medium is crucial.
Then there's performance to consider. The higher the display resolution, the more your PC will have to work. If you're buying a more affordable laptop with, say, an RTX 4050 Laptop GPU, it should be paired with a 1080p display. Even a mobile-class RTX 4060 can struggle with 1440p in demanding games.
If you plan on playing competitive titles, try to focus on a higher refresh rate for smoother action. And if you're only interested in lightweight indie games, you can always get a higher resolution without really worrying about performance issues.
How much RAM and storage should I buy?
The minimum amount of RAM that I recommend for gaming is 16GB. If you're buying a high-performance system with demanding AAA titles on your radar, a bump up to 32GB won't hurt at all. On the other hand, if you're only interested in less demanding indie titles, 8GB should get you by.
The nice thing about most gaming laptops — at least those using DDR instead of soldered LPDDR RAM — is that memory can be upgraded after purchase. If you find a good deal on a gaming laptop but it only has, say, 8GB of DDR4/5 RAM, you should be able to buy more RAM later and upgrade yourself.
As for storage, more is always better. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 512GB in a gaming laptop, especially if you enjoy AAA games. Like memory, most gaming laptops still feature upgradeable storage, giving you options in the future if you find that your PC doesn't have enough room.
