Anyone on the hunt for a new rig this season knows that Black Friday gaming laptop deals can offer up some stunning prices. However, if you're wondering whether to buy a gaming laptop before the big day, there's plenty of data and context you need to know about before you dive into the early sales. From the configuration you're looking for, to the brand and price point, there are plenty of factors that go into your decision to buy before November 29 rolls around. We're helping you navigate these early sales to make sure you're getting the best value for money no matter when you get your wallet out.
Those looking to get ahead of the crowds may be onto something. Adobe noted in its most recent Holiday Shopping Report that computers generally took the biggest dive in price during the actual Black Friday event last year. The start of November offered an average of 5% off in this category, while the main holiday sale days reached peaks of 23%.
To help you navigate these early sales, and know when to wait for the main event, we're showing you what factors need to go into your decision to buy a gaming laptop before Black Friday. If you're really playing it risky, we're also getting you prepped for this year's Cyber Monday gaming laptop deals as well.
Should you buy a gaming laptop before Black Friday?
In most cases, you should wait for Black Friday before buying a gaming laptop because we tend to see some of the most valuable discounts of the year on everything from budget gaming laptops to more high-end offerings on the day. While it's true that some gaming laptops appear to be perennially discounted from certain retailers beforehand, the best offers are typically reserved for Black Friday itself as the deals present last year have shown us.
If you're after an RTX 4050 machine, make sure you're spending no more than $800 on a baseline spec, and no more than $650 on a particularly entry-level rig. That means an i5 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Meanwhile, those on the hunt for an RTX 4060 laptop should hold off until they spot an i7 / 16GB RAM / 1TB SSD configuration at around $800 or $900. This is the sweet spot for buying a gaming laptop before Black Friday - there's some excellent value on the shelves right now.
RTX 4070 rigs could crash in price this year. Black Friday gave us some of the best prices of the year on these top-end rigs last time around and this year's roster of releases don't stray too far from the level of power we saw last year. Since last Black Friday we've seen prices bottoming out at between $1,000 and $1,500 and we've seen even lower prices on machines from MSI and Asus, so we'd recommend aiming for $1,500 - $1,700 if you're after a top shelf machine. Any deals that offer solid components for this price before Black Friday should be seriously considered.
While there have been exceptions, the most that you can expect to be discounted on lower-end gaming laptops is anywhere between $50 - $100 which is a far cry from deeper discounts that we've seen on some of the more powerful machines. Plus, these cheaper machines tend to sell out a lot quicker during the holiday sales, which means you'll need to be right in the centre of the mix to make it out with the more competitive offers. If you don't want to be watching for flash sales all weekend for the sake of an extra $50, we'd recommend checking out the latest cheap gaming laptop deals.
Today's best gaming laptop deals
Our price comparison technology does the legwork to bring you the best deals across the internet on some of our favorite gaming laptop models this side of Black Friday.
Gaming laptops are great on the go, but you can maximize their power potential on the big screen for less with Black Friday gaming monitor deals. Or, if you're after something more permanent, check out the Black Friday gaming PC deals we're expecting to see in November. Of course, we're also rounding up all your everyday Black Friday laptop deals as well.
