Whether you’re shopping for a Chromebook for college or as an costly system for the household to make use of, Black Friday could be a nice time to buy Chromebook offers. We’ll let you know what Chromebooks to purchase, the place to search out them, and, in fact, the very best Chromebook offers at the moment being provided by main retailers.
Yes, Black Friday Chromebook offers are already accessible now! If you’d like some recommendation on what Chromebook to purchase (do I really want an Intel chip, or can I purchase a Chromebook with an Arm chip as an alternative?), you’ll discover shopping for ideas and hyperlinks to in style retailers beneath our record of Chromebook gross sales. There are a ton of offers on proper now, however our purchasing information beneath factors out numerous the gotchas that you simply won’t pay attention to.
Chromebook offers might also seem on our best laptop deals for Black Friday web page, too.
Best Black Friday Chromebook offers
Samsung Chromebook 4 15.6-inch
From: Best Buy
Was: $299
Now: $199 ($100 off)
A considerable value reduce on what ought to be a reasonably comfy Chromebook to make use of. We just like the moderately huge 15.6-inch show, and Samsung’s shows are often excellent. This Chromebook gives 4GB of reminiscence and 64GB of storage—a bit greater than regular the place SSDs are involved. A pair of USB-C and USB-A ports spherical out the I/O capabilities. We’re rather less enthused concerning the N4000 Celeron, a chip made in 2017, which might be just a little laggy when you’re accustomed to having numerous tabs open directly. But the value is correct, and help ought to final by way of June 2026.
See the HP 14-inch Chromebook at Best Buy
Samsung Chromebook Plus V2
From: Amazon
Was: $499.99
Now: $277.37 ($222.62 off)
This Chromebook has some engaging options, together with a 12-megapixel rear (world-facing) digital camera that children may use to take pictures. With a 12.2-inch (1080p) show, although, it may be a bit small for some customers, and at three kilos it may be a bit heavy to lug round. It folds again to create a pill mode, nevertheless, which is nice for Android video games. And it features a stylus. This is an all-time low value, so when you can dwell with its mixture of execs and cons this deal is value wanting into. Support lasts by way of June 2024.
Buy the Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 at Amazon
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet
Lenovo
From: Walmart.com
Was: $299.99
Now: $229.99 ($70 off)
If you just like the idea of a Chrome OS pill however suppose that the Chromebook Plus V2 value is simply too excessive, take into account the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet, which we looked at last year. You should purchase the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet for $229.99 at Walmart.com, $70 off the $299.99 MSRP. This pill ships with 4GB of reminiscence and 64GB of built-in storage.
Support runs by way of June 2029, which might be the longest help lifespan of this vacation’s offers.
Buy the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook at Walmart
HP Chromebook x2 (11-da0013dx)
From: Best Buy
Was: $599
Now: $399.99 ($200 off)
It’s low cost season for Chrome OS tablets! If you’ve been on the lookout for a Arm-powered, Chrome OS model of the Microsoft Surface Pro lineup, the HP Chromebook X2 Chrome OS pill is on sale. It has a small (11-inch) however high-resolution (1440p) show, and ships with a removable keyboard and pen. While we haven’t personally examined this pill, we have now tried out the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c processor that powers it, and it met our expectations. It has 8GB of reminiscence and 64GB of SSD storage, Bang & Olufsen audio system, and an unusually strong 5Mpixel webcam. Support runs by way of June 2024, although.
Buy the HP Chromebook x2 at Best Buy
HP 11a-na0010nr Chromebook
From: Newegg
Was: $259.99
Now: $129.99 ($130 off)
We sometimes advise towards shopping for an 11-inch Chromebook with a 768p show. However, there are going to be these households who simply desire a strong deal. This is that deal.
Inside is a MediaTek MT8183 Arm processor, which is definitely a good 8-core chip, and made in 2019. Yes, it has 4GB of reminiscence and 32GB of eMMC onboard storage, placing it on the decrease finish of the specs. But it has each a USB-C and a USB-A port (no HDMI port!). The help lifespan, surprisingly, seems to be terrific: till June 2028. This is as about as primary because it will get, nevertheless it would possibly simply get the job achieved for these with out numerous additional money. HP itself appears to be selling the 11a-na0010nr for $149.99.
Buy the HP 11a-na0010nr at Newegg
Black Friday Chromebook shopping for ideas
If you’re confused about whether or not or to not purchase a Chromebook or a laptop computer, we’d counsel beginning with our information to Chromebooks versus laptops, the place we clarify how every platform works, which is best for work and play, recommendation on which laptops and Chromebooks to purchase, and so forth. Simply put, purchase a Chromebook with an appropriately sized show, a sufficiently highly effective processor (a Celeron or above), and one which’s not too previous. That’s a gotcha: Chromebooks have a scheduled lifespan! After a sure time period, they received’t obtain patches and different updates, and lots of discounted Chromebooks is probably not supported for that lengthy.
How are you able to inform? You can examine this for your self at Google’s Auto Update Expiration (AUE) page to learn how lengthy particular Chromebooks will obtain updates. As a rule of thumb, add six years to the discharge date of the Chromebook. To be completely positive, nevertheless, examine the Chromebook’s Settings menu. And don’t belief the retailer! Best Buy marketed a Galaxy Chromebook 2 13.3-inch as a Black Friday deal. According to the AUE web page, help expired in 2019.
We advocate a 1080p show, at a dimension of (most likely 13 inches or above). Kids could also be simply high-quality with an 11-inch Chromebook, however we desire a 1080p show for adults’ and even youngsters’s eyes. Eye fatigue is actual!
There’s actually an enormous vary of Chromebook configurations, with every thing from no-name Arm processors to highly effective Chromebooks with the most recent Core chips. Chrome OS calls for far much less of the processor than Windows, primarily as a result of Chromebooks are nonetheless machines for net searching, firstly. A Chromebook with a Core i3, Pentium Gold, or perhaps a Celeron will most likely be simply high-quality for what you ask of it: net searching, web-based schoolwork, and streaming Netflix and YouTube. Be just a little cautious, although: Chromebook makers will attempt to slip five-year-old Celeron processors within them. That’s okay, although not best.
A Chromebook with an Arm chip within it should most likely be OK, too; although chips from distributors like Mediatek and different Arm distributors aren’t as well-known. If you’re involved, we advocate merely shopping for a Chromebook with the extra in style Celeron chips inside them, but additionally analysis the chip.
At press time, we discovered a Lenovo Chromebook Flex 3 11-inch on sale for $159.95 on Amazon, usually $319.99. That’s an ideal value, however the Mediatek MT8173C processor within it was launched in 2015. We’d solely purchase that Chromebook when you had been completely happy attempting it out after which returning it if it didn’t meet your expectations. (For extra, learn our particular article on what Chromebook processor we recommend.)
A fast phrase on streaming video: YouTube gives an fascinating function known as “Stats for nerds,” which is definitely a extremely easy approach of gauging how effectively your Chromebook runs when streaming video—which might be going to be some of the CPU-intensive duties you’ll ask your cheap Chromebook to do. Simply begin taking part in any video, right-click the video window, and choose the “Stats for nerds” possibility. Then discover the body counter. Choppy or stuttering video happens when your processor/GPU can’t sustain. Some stuttering is regular and undetectable, and dropping a couple of body per second (as this instance exhibits) received’t be noticeable. But when you suppose to your self, hmm, this appears dangerous—and wish some numbers to again it up with, this device might help.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Don’t fear an excessive amount of about reminiscence. You’ll discover Chromebooks with 4GB of reminiscence on common, and that’s going to be simply high-quality for a number of browser tabs.
Local storage is one other space the place Chromebook makers will reduce corners, and that is acceptable, too. Google, naturally, encourages you to retailer paperwork within the cloud. Photos could be saved within the cloud, domestically on the arduous drive/SSD, on an SD card slot (if one is included), or on an exterior arduous drive. Chromebooks with as little as 32GB of eMMC storage are widespread. Everything will likely be a bit poky because of this, however most likely not an excessive amount of.
Webcams have been an afterthought for a few years, and that is actually a matter of non-public preferences. Your youngster’s instructor might not care how effectively their college students look in the event that they’re being taught remotely, however Zoom and Google Meet conferences are nonetheless an vital a part of working life. Look for a minimum of a 720p webcam if this issues to you.
Where can you discover Black Friday Chromebook offers?
While Google itself maintains a well-organized Chromebook store, it doesn’t spotlight any offers or reductions. You’ll must dig by way of retailer websites for these. Many retailers combine Chromebook offers in with their laptop computer offers, as we’ve additionally do in our record of the best laptop deals for Black Friday. In the record beneath, we’ve linked on to Chromebook offers the place we may.
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft information and chip know-how, amongst different beats. He has previously written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.