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Forbes
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Lifestyle
Jon Martindale, Contributor

The 23 Best Labor Day Sales On Laptops For School, Work And Play

If you want a brand new laptop, but don’t want to spend top-dollar, these deals for Labor Day weekend will definitely be appealing! Traditionally, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all those other sale holidays are a great time to buy, but this year in particular, Labor Day sales give those other holiday deals a run for their money.

It's Labor Day and kids are headed back to school. Now is the perfect chance to scoop a new laptop on the cheap. getty

Whether you're in the market for a high-powered Windows gaming laptop, an affordable machine for the kids' schoolwork, or were just biding your time for when Apple's new M1 MacBooks went on sale, you're in for a treat.

With the current microchip shortage happening worldwide, if you order a custom configured laptop, you may have to wait upwards of three months for it to arrive—and you’ll often pay full price. However, here are some of the best Labor Day sales for in-stock laptops you can buy right now (and typically have shipped right to your door within a week).

Gigabyte Aero 4K Creator Laptop

Best Buy

GIGABYTE Aero 15.6" 4K OLED Creator Laptop

This is a borderline illegal discount on such a powerful laptop. The Gigabyte 4K OLED Creator laptop is stupendously powerful, combining an Intel 11th-generation Core i7-11800H with an Nvidia RTX 3060, 16GB of high-speed memory and a terabyte of NVMe SSD storage. It has a beautiful 4K OLED display, and a comfortable, responsive backlit keyboard.

Although targeted at creatives for video editing and 3D design work, it's an amazing gaming machine too, though you may need to tweak the settings on some games to play at native resolution. The battery life isn't stellar either, but that's to be expected from such a powerful machine. Keep a charger handy, and this is one of the best laptops out there today. And now it's almost a third-off this Labor Day sale.

Lenovo Legion Slim 7 15-inch

Best Buy

Lenovo - Legion Slim 7 15" Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 5800H

The key to this laptop is in the name: it's incredibly thin. At less than three quarters of an inch thick, this is one of the thinnest 15-inch laptops ever made, let alone one of the slimmest gaming laptops. Despite its trim physique, the Lenovo Legion Slim 7 packs an AMD Ryzen 5800H—an eight-core CPU—alongside an Nvidia RTX 3060 for fantastic gaming performance. That’s more than enough power to play any game you want at 1080p and high settings.

Battery life is relatively decent at between five and seven hours, depending on what you're doing or playing, and the keyboard is impressive considering how low profile the whole system is.


Lenovo 15.6” Legion 7i Gaming Laptop

B&H

Lenovo 15.6" Legion 7i Gaming Laptop

B&H Photo Video is offering a whopping $721 off the Lenovo 15.6” Legion 7i, which the company describes as an “extreme gaming laptop” with its 2.4 GHz Intel Core i9-10980HK eight-core processor, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD drive and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q graphics card. It comes with Windows 10 Home installed, along with a one year subscription to the Bitdefender Total Security antivirus and security software (an $89.99 value).


Apple MacBook Air M1

BestBuy

MacBook Air 13.3" Laptop - Apple M1 chip - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Space Gray

Apple's M1 MacBooks have been some of the most impressive hardware Apple has made in years, so it's no surprise that it's just the beginning of its hot new trend of in-house, ARM-powered hardware. It's also no surprise that the M1 MacBook Air is one of the hottest laptop deals this Labor Day, with 5% slashed from its usual MSRP.

Already arguably the best bang-for-buck MacBook out there, the M1 Air is now even better value, offering great performance, battery life, and the classically trim build that make it super light and portable.

This MacBook Air currently runs MacOS Big Sur, but is ready for the MacOS Monterey operating system update, which will be free, once Apple releases it later this month.


Apple MacBook Pro 13.3-inch M1

BestBuy

MacBook Pro 13.3" Laptop - Apple M1 chip - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD (Latest Model) - Silver

Want a handy touchbar with your MacBook? Need a little extra performance from your M1 processor? Fancy a brighter display? The 13.3” MacBook Pro M1 is the better MacBook, even if it is a little more expensive.

It comes fitted with Apple's new Magic keyboard for an excellent and reliable typing experience, a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports for high-speed accessory connectivity, and that classic Apple build quality that makes this slim and lightweight MacBook Pro a joy to use. Like the Air, the MacBook Pro is also in line to receive MacOS Monterey.


HP Chromebook 14b

Amazon

HP Chromebook 14b

Chromebooks are a fantastically affordable option for budget laptop buyers, and that's doubly true during this Labor Day sale. The HP Chromebook 14b is a great example of a now-even-more-affordable laptop, with its near 25% price cut. It's lightweight, has fantastic battery life and dons a surprisingly sturdy chassis considering the cost.

It's also a 2-in-1, so can flip into tablet mode when required, and though performance isn't stellar, it's more than enough for the kinds of typical computing tasks that are best suited to a Chromebook.


HP Chromebook x360 14a

Amazon

HP Chromebook x360 14a 2-in-1 Laptop

Amazon is also offering $70 off the HP Chromebook x360 14a (with a 14” screen), bringing the price of this model down to just $289.99. This Chromebook boasts a battery life of more than 15 hours, 4GB RAM, and runs using an Intel Pentium Silver N5000 processor.


Lenovo Chromewbook 3

Best Buy

Lenovo - Chromebook 3 11" Chromebook - AMD A6 - 4GB Memory - 32GB eMMC Flash Memory

For someone on an extremely tight budget looking for a great deal on a Chromebook, check out the no-frills Lenovo Chromebook 3, which is on sale for $90 off from Best Buy, bringing the price of this laptop down to a mere $129.00. For basic computing tasks, like web surfing, streaming content from the Internet, or managing email, this laptop will meet your needs.

This hardware configuration includes 4GB RAM, an 11.6” screen (1366 x 768 HD resolution), 32GB of storage, and it runs on an AMD A6-9220C processor. It’s not the beefiest machine, but on the plus side (aside from its $130 entry price today), the laptop weighs just 2.42 pounds and is just 0.71 inches thick when shut. A three month subscription to the Trend Micro Internet Security software is included (a $14.99 value).


Asus ROG Strix Scar 15

Amazon

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 Gaming Laptop

You’ll save $482 on this powerful ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 gaming laptop, which includes full downloads of Humankind and Crysis Remastered Trilogy (Crysis 1, 2 and 3) and one free month of Xbox Game Pass with your purchase. A 15.6” screen (with 240 Hz refresh rate) and the computing power of a 10th generation Intel Core i7-10875H processor (combined with powerful graphics) and a ton of other features make this an awesome gaming laptop.


MSI GF65 15.6-inch

Best Buy

MSI - GF65 15.6" 144hz Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i5 - NVIDIA GeForce RTX3060 - 512GB SSD - 8GB Memory

The MSI GF65 is an awesomely capable gaming laptop that’s even more affordable than it already was. Combining an Intel Core i5-10500H six core CPU with an Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics chip, it has all the performance you need to play any game at 1080p at high settings. With half a terabyte of fast SSD storage, you can load up a wide array of games from your library at lightning speed too.

The keyboard is backlit for late night gaming sessions, and the display can hit 144Hz, so is excellent for competitive play and making sure any action is buttery smooth.


Alienware m15 R3

Best Buy

Alienware - m15 R3 - 15.6" Gaming Laptop

From one of the pioneer manufacturers of top gaming laptops comes this Alienware m15 R3. It might not be sporting the most cutting edge of hardware configuration, but it's still stupendously powerful, and benefits from the same high build quality it did last year. Better yet, at over 20% off, it's surprisingly more affordable now than it was then, and with the higher prices in general of gaming laptops and PCs in 2021, it's all the more competitive.

Its RTX 2070 Super helps power the blazing-fast 300Hz display, so it's absolutely stellar for competitive play where every frame and millisecond advantage count.


Microsoft Surface Go 2

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Go 2

The Microsoft Surface Go 2 is one of the best convertible tablets out there, able to transition seamlessly between tablet and laptop with the use of the handy Microsoft type cover (sold separately). This model comes with additional memory and storage than the base version, but isn't much more expensive with the Labor Day sale price, and it offers the same excellent portability and battery life of all other models.

The 10.5-inch display looks fantastic at 1080p resolution, and it comes with a USB-C port for connecting a wide range of external accessories.


LG Gram 15Z90P

Amazon

LG Gram 15Z90P – 15.6" Full HD IPS Ultra-Lightweight Laptop

The LG Gram isn't the most exciting laptop to look at, but it's certainly clean; and that's the least of its impressive features. It enjoys fantastic performance, extensive battery life and a wide array of ports, including USB-A, Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI out—meaning you can connect just about anything to this laptop.

This particular model is powered by a cutting-edge Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor with Intel's impressive Xe graphics onboard. The 32GB of RAM makes this a fantastic workhorse machine, although it'll also function as an entry-level or Esports gaming laptop well enough. With its beefy price drop this Labor Day, it's a great buy.


Lenovo IdeaPad 5

B&H Photo

Lenovo 15.6" IdeaPad 5 Laptop

It's rare to find a decent Windows laptop at a low price, but that's exactly what the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 is. With its 11th-generation Intel i5 quad-core CPU (2.4 GHz), a 15.6” FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS display, and 16GB of RAM, it's surprisingly nippy—great for browsing the web, watching Netflix, or completing school work.

Despite its entry-level price point, it also packs HDMI, USB-A and USB-C ports, and supports both Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, making it the perfect affordable laptop for connecting an array of external drives. Battery life can last well in excess of 10-hours. It comes with Windows 10 Home and a one year subscription to the Bitdefender Total Security antivirus and security software ($89.99 value).


Lenovo IdeaPad 3

Best Buy

Lenovo Ideapad 3 14" Laptop - Intel Pentium Silver N5030 - 4GB Memory - 128GB SSD

A scaled-down, budget-friendly version of the Lenovo IdeaPad is currently on sale from Best Buy for $100 off. This hardware configuration for the IdeaPad 3 features a 14” screen (1366 x 768 HD resolution), Intel Pentium Silver N5030 processor, a 128GB SSD drive and 4GB RAM. In other words, this laptop is ideal for handling basic computing tasks, like web surfing, managing email or streaming content from the web. It runs Windows 10 Home and includes a three month subscription to the Webroot Internet Security and Antivirus software (a $14.99 value).


Microsoft Surface Pro 7 With Type Cover

Microsoft

Microsoft 12.3" Multi-Touch Surface Pro 7 Platinum Bundle with Platinum Pro Signature Type Cover

The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is one of the best 2-in-1 laptops out there, offering a lightweight and powerful tablet experience, and a capable laptop experience too. The only caveat is that you need the (usually) optional Type Cover accessory to give it that full functionality. In this Labor Day sale bundle, it comes included, and at a heavily discounted price too.

The standard 2736 x 1824 looks gorgeous in both modes, and it's powered by the Intel Core i5-1035G4 processor with Iris Plus graphics. It'll handle basic games easily enough, and there's computing power inside for work, web browsing and watching your favorite streaming services. It's a very versatile device at a now better price.


Acer Predator Triton 300 SE 14-inch

Best Buy

Acer Predator Triton 300 SE

Already one of the best bang-for-buck gaming laptops out there, the Acer Predator Triton 300 SE 14 is doubly so thanks to this Labor Day sale. It has a capable Intel 11th-gen processor, a great entry-level GPU in the RTX 3050 Ti (with Tensor cores to help boost performance in DLSS-supporting games), and a good-looking, high refresh rate display.

Unlike some of the other gaming laptops at this price point, the Predator Triton 300 SE doesn't drive performance over everything else. It's a truly portable gaming machine, offering an extensive 10-hour-plus battery life (even when gaming) - which easily outstrips most other laptops of its size and class. It's lightweight, looks good and, most importantly, performs well no matter what you're playing or using it for.


Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel

Amazon

Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel

Enjoy $151 off this Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel laptop with the computing power of a 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H 6-core processor (up to 5GHz) that’s running Windows 10 Home. It also features NVIDIA’s GeForce GXT 1650 graphics card with 4GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM and a 14” HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen LED backlit display (which is a touchscreen). The laptop boasts up to 14.5 hours of battery life, weighs 3.70 pounds, and features what Acer refers to as its “Ezel” design, which lets you put the screen front and center for drawing and productivity.


Alienware M15 R4 Gaming Laptop

Amazon

Alienware m15 R4 Gaming Laptop

Enjoy $200 savings on the latest model of the Alienware M15 R4 gaming laptop with a 15.6” Full HD screen, Intel Core i7-10870H processor (2.2GHz CPU speed), 16GB DDR4 RAM and a 512GB SSD hard drive.


HP Envy 2-in-1 13” Touchscreen Laptop

Best Buy

HP - ENVY 2-in-1 13" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Evo Platform Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD

If you’re looking or a powerful and compact laptop computer with a touchscreen and a rather impressive hardware configuration, the HP Envy 2-in-1 may be just what you need. While the 13” touchscreen is somewhat small for a laptop, it does boast an 11+ hour battery life, and is light weight (2.92 pounds).

Thanks to the 2-in-1 design, you can flip over the screen and use this laptop as a tablet. Alongside its 11th generation Intel Core i5 Evo processor, this laptop includes 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage, which makes it capable of multitasking, photo or video editing, or even entry-level gaming.


Dell Inspiron 15.6” FHD Touch Laptop

Best Buy

Dell - Inspiron 15.6" FHD Touch Laptop -Intel Core i5-1035G1 - 12GB RAM - 256 GB SSD

Save a quick $100 when you purchase this mid-powered Dell laptop. It uses an Intel 10th generation Code i5 processor, includes Windows 10 (with a free upgrade to Windows 11 when it becomes available), 12GB RA, and an Intel UHD graphics card. This laptop will likely handle all of your personal or business computing needs, plus it’s a good starter laptop for entry-level gamers. In addition to a three month subscription for security and antivirus software, more than a dozen money saving offers for accessories and other software from Microsoft and Adobe are included.


Dell Inspiron 7000 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop

Best Buy

Dell - Inspiron 7000 14.0" Touch-Screen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD

Here’s another 2-in-1 laptop with a 14” touchscreen that can serve as a full-featured computer or easy-to-carry tablet. It runs Windows 10 using an AMD Ryzen 5 500 series CPU and comes bundled with 8GB RAM, a 256GB SSD for storag, and an AMD Radeon graphics card. It weighs just 3.31 pounds and has a built-in fingerprint reader for security. The Inspiron is a really good mid-priced and mid-powered computer that conveniently doubles as a tablet.


Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 2

Best Buy

Samsung - Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha 13.3" QLED Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD

This particular Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 2 Alpha laptop offers an ideal configuration for students in particular, although it’ll handle most personal and business computing needs rather effortlessly. The base model comes with an Intel 11th generation Core i5 processor (which can be upgraded to an i7), 8GB RAM (upgradable to 16GB), and 256GB SSD storage (upgradable to 512GB or 1TB). The 13.3” QLED touchscreen (1920 x 1080 full HD resolution) allows this laptop screen to be flipped over and used as a tablet. It weighs just 2.62 pounds.

What to Look for When Shopping for a Laptop Computer

Shopping for a new laptop computer can be confusing, especially if you're not tech savvy. As you seek out the best deal you can find, there are a few things to consider. First, what will you be using the computer for? If you’re just an average user, you don’t need a cutting-edge processor, graphics card, and high capacity SDD drive. However, if you’ll be editing high resolution photos, editing video, or playing games, the technology built into your laptop is of much greater importance.

Once you know what you want to use the computer for, choose between an Apple Mac (preferable with a new M1 chip) or Windows PC. Ideally you want the PC to be certified ready to run Windows 11 once Microsoft releases this new operating system.

Next, focus on things like the computer’s speed, storage capacity, and screen size. If you’ll be carrying around the laptop, the screen size, battery life, and overall weight of the machine should also be a consideration.

As you focus on the deal being offered, make sure the computer you want is in-stock and ready to ship, and that you’re purchasing a brand new machine that’s the most current model available (unless you’re able to save a bundle by purchasing last year’s model, for example, and having the latest technology is not too important to you).

Finally, look for deals that include free shipping, and pay attention to the seller’s return policy. Once you open the laptop and begin using it, a hefty restocking fee may apply if you choose to return it. Also, keep in mind that some laptop sellers offer just a 7- or 14-day return policy, as opposed to a 30-day return policy, so read the fine print.

Purchasing the extended warrantee for your chosen laptop is also a good idea, especially if you’ll be using the computer on-the-go and run the risk of dropping it. These extended warrantees also typically include upgraded tech support which is particularly useful if you don’t consider yourself to be overly tech savvy.

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