Deal-buying do’s and don’ts
So you’ve picked up a sales flier, clicked on an online ad or seen a post about deals on a site you trust. How can you make sure you’re actually getting a bargain?
How to watch for deals
You’ll see a lot of online ads and get a lot of marketing emails, but the best deals usually don’t fall into your lap; you need to look for them by doing the following:
Laptop deals to watch for this year
If you see any of the following deals happen, jump on them right away: Dell XPS 13 with Core i7 / 8GB / 256GB for under $1,000: The latest version of our favorite consumer laptop, the Dell XPS 13 lasts over 16 hours on a charge, has a luxurious carbon-fibre chassis and a bright, colorful screen. The configuration with the 8th Gen Core i7-8550U CPU, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD normally goes for $1,299, but this holiday season, we’ve seen it to drop as low as $930 with a coupon. Getting it for under $1,000 is a steal. We’re tracking all of the XPS 13 deals and Dell laptop deals for you, because they are changing very rapidly. ThinkPad T470 with 1080p screen / Core i5/ 8GB / 256GB for under $1,000: Our favorite productivity laptop lasts over 17 hours on a charge (with 6-cell battery) and features the best laptop keyboard you can get. Though it starts at under $900, the ThinkPad T470 typically costs over $1,250 when configured with the minimum specs you’d want: a 1920 x 1080 display, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. If you can find it for under $1,000 with those components, pull the trigger. Any laptop with a full-HD screen and a 256GB SSD for under $550: To get a truly modern computing experience, you need two components: a full-HD (1920 x 1080) or higher-resolution display, and an SSD with at least 256GB of storage. With one or two notable exceptions (ex: the Acer E 15), most laptops that have these features cost well over $600. If you find one for under $550 or even under $500, that’s a fantastic deal. MacBook Air for $799, MacBook Pro for $1,299: Apple itself rarely offers substantial deals, but as of this past weekend, Best Buy was selling the entry-level MacBook Air for under $800. We’ve also seen some MacBook Pros for under $1,400. See our list of Apple deals for up-to-the-minute coverage. Any gaming laptop with Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics for under $1,000: If you want high-end performance in a VR-ready laptop, the minimum graphics chip you should get is the Nvidia GTX 1060. If you can find one on sale for under $1,000, you’ve found a fantastic deal. But at any price, don’t cut corners and buy a computer with a 1366 x 768 screen or a hard drive.
Monitor and SSD deals
1080p monitor for under $90, 2K monitor for under $150, 4K monitor for under $250: If you need an external monitor, you have a lot of affordable choices, even when there’s no sale. So don’t be thrilled by a 1080p (aka full-HD) screen going for $99 unless it has some other features, because that’s a typical price for a basic display. However, these would be good deals: 1080p for under $90: If it’s less than $90, that’s quite a bit less than usual. 2K (2560 x 1440) for under $150: You normally have to pay closer to $200 to get this resolution. 4K (3840 x 2160) for under $250: The least expensive 4K monitors top out at $299 and are not from top brands such as Samsung, Dell, LG, Asus or Acer. If you can get a decent 4K screen for less than $250, jump on it. Image Credit: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock
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