Cyber Monday laptop deals: Discounts on HP Pavilion, Microsoft Surface, Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and more

HP

This 15.6-inch Pavilion model sold direct from HP eases our RAM and SSD concerns. It provides 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD along with a 10th-gen Core i7 CPU. And it’s customizable, so you can spend a reasonable $30 more to upgrade the display to a full HD panel. There’s also a free upgrade to a 512GB SSD with 32GB of speedy Optane memory.

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HP’s premium thin-and-light, two-in-one convertible laptop is heavy on style and light on weight. It boasts an all-metal design and razor-thin bezels for a compact chassis that weighs less than 3 pounds. You can save $250 on this model, which features an 11th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The 13.3-inch touch display features 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution and can rotate 360 degrees into tablet mode.

Walmart

If you’re of a certain age, then you may recall the Gateway name and its computers that shipped in black-and-white cow-print boxes. Gateway has returned as a line of low-cost laptops and tablets at Walmart. But you won’t find any of the models on store shelves in their iconic cow packaging; the new Gateway laptops are available online only. This 14-inch Gateway laptop features a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU and 16GB of RAM. You get a 256GB solid-state drive for storage. The storage capacity is average for the price, but the amount of memory is double what is usually on offer. And you get a full HD (1,920×1,080-pixel) display, which is better than the 1,366×768-pixel panels found on other budget laptops. There’s also a fingerprint reader for easy, secure logins. As of right now, all four color options are in stock and on sale — black, blue, green and rose gold.

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You can save a bundle on the best overall Windows two-in-one tablet. This Surface Pro 7 model is $430 off and features a 10th-gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The 12.3-inch touch display has a crisp 2,736×1,824-pixel resolution.

Read our Microsoft Surface Pro 7 review.

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Microsoft’s MacBook clone is thin and light with a fantastic touchpad-and-keyboard combo and offers a notable power boost over 2018’s Surface Laptop 2. At 2,496×1,664 pixels, the 13.5-inch touchscreen gives you a resolution above the usual Full HD. This Surface Laptop 3 model features a 10th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, Intel Iris Plus graphics and a 256GB SSD. The biggest downside CNET found was relatively short battery life, but that’s less of an issue when you aren’t taking it out of your home.

Read our Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 review.

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The Dell G5 15 earned our Editors’ Choice Award for budget gaming laptops at the end of last year. It offers outstanding performance for the money, and its battery life isn’t terrible like most gaming laptops. Discounted by $150, this model features a 10th-gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics. The 15.6-inch display has full HD (1,920×1,080-pixel) resolution and a speedy 120Hz refresh rate but is rated for only 250 nits of brightness.

Read our Dell G5 15 review.

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Important to note: This is not a sale on the new M1 MacBook Air, which showed impressive results in our first round of tests. This is the Intel-based Air that was introduced back in March. That means it won’t be as fast and the battery won’t last as long. But it will ably run the last Big Sur operating system and it can be yours for $80 less than the newest model. 

Best Buy

Yes, the relatively light specs of 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM give us pause here. But you’re still getting a capable 15-inch Asus laptop powered by a GTX 1650 Ti graphics card — not too shabby for $600.

HP

This is a high-powered configuration by Chromebook standards: You’ll find neither a budget CPU nor a meager allotment of RAM here. This HP Chromebook has a Core i3 processor and 8GB of memory. And the 14-inch display, which can rotate all the way around into tablet mode, features a full HD (1,920×1,080-pixel) resolution where most Chromebooks supply only a 768p panel.

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Last year’s XPS 13 model is still a powerhouse. You miss out on the slightly larger 13.4-inch display and 11th-gen Intel processors of the latest version of this long-time favorite but can save $400 on this 2019 model that features a 13.3-inch 4K touch display powered by a 10th-gen Core i7 CPU and 16GB of RAM.

Read our Dell XPS 13 review.

Best Buy

This isn’t a gaming PC, but the specs are more appropriate for everyday needs. And it’s still got a capable Intel Core i5 and a flip-around 360 touchscreen, too.

Best Buy

Here we have the same concerns as above, in terms of tight RAM and SSD specs. But this one is $50 less than a PS5 or Xbox Series X, both of which you’ll be unlikely to find this season. This deal is no longer available online but can be found in stores.

Lenovo

A Windows laptop at a Chromebook price. This 15.6-inch laptop runs Windows 10 and features a Core i5 CPU, 12GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. At this price, we’d expect a Core i3 chip at best along with 4GB of RAM, so this budget model is definitely punching above its weight. The display, sadly, has only a 1,366×768-pixel resolution.

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This Spectre x360 is $500 off at Best Buy and features a 15.6-inch, 4K touch display powered by a 10th-gen Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and GeForce MX330 graphics. It would make for a versatile work-from-home laptop with its roomy, high-res display that you could also use as a tablet in the evening to play games and stream movies and shows.