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The best Presidents Day laptop deals, from Apple's latest MacBook Pro to the new HP OMEN Transcend

Save up to $1,400 on a new PC for work, school, or entertainment this holiday weekend.
By Haley Henschel  on 
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a top-down view of a man scrolling on the touchpad of an m3 pro apple macbook pro
The 14-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro is one of two Apple laptops we strongly recommend buying on sale right now. Credit: Apple

UPDATE: Feb. 16, 2024, 5:00 a.m. EST This story has been updated with new Presidents Day laptop deals, pricing, and availability.

The best Presidents Day laptop deals of the week at a glance:
Best laptop deal under $300
Dell Inspiron 15 3520
$279.99 at Dell (save $50)
the Dell Inspiron 15 3520
Best laptop deal under $600
HP Laptop 15t-fd000
$399.99 at HP.com (save $419)
the HP Laptop 15t-fd000
Best laptop deal under $900
Apple MacBook Air, 13.3-inch (M1)
$749.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (save $249.01)
the 13-inch m1 apple macbook air
Best laptop deal under $1,200
HP OMEN Transcend 14t-fb000
$1,199.99 at HP.com (save $300)
the HP OMEN Transcend 14t-fb000 displaying "sea of thieves" cover art
Best laptop deal over $1,200
Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (Apple M3 Pro)
$1,799 at Best Buy (save $200; extra $50 off with paid My Best Buy membership)
the 14-inch, m3 pro Apple MacBook Pro

A new laptop is almost always a splurge, but keeping your eyes peeled for deals can make it much easier to pull the plug on an upgrade. The good news is that you've got options at a variety of price points via Best Buy, Amazon, and beyond, whether you're looking for an everyday workhorse, a cheap Chromebook for homework, a 2-in-1 Windows PC for drawing, or a powerful premium gaming laptop. Read on for our running list of the best laptop deals as of Feb. 16 — including a bunch of Presidents Day doorbusters. (And if you don't see any models that check all the boxes on your spec wish list, come back soon: We add new picks every week.)

Best laptop deals under $300

the Dell Inspiron 15 3520
Credit: Dell
Our pick: Dell Inspiron 15 3520
$279.99 at Dell (save $50)

Why we like it

This Dell laptop features a 12th-generation (2022) Intel Core i3 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a 15.6-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It's nothing spectacular, but it's a spec sheet we rarely see at this price point: Most cheap, entry-level PCs under $300 have dinky discontinued Intel Pentium/Celeron CPUs, 4GB of RAM, pokier eMMC flash storage that maxes out at 128GB, and 60Hz refresh rates. (Hell, even some nicer laptops don't have 120Hz refresh rates — M2 MacBook Airs included!) It's marked down to $279.99 on Dell's website during its Presidents Day sale, which is the lowest price we've seen for this configuration.

More laptop deals under $300

Traditional laptops

2-in-1 laptops

Chromebooks

Best laptop deals under $600

the HP Laptop 15t-fd000
Credit: HP
Our pick: HP Laptop 15t-fd000
$399.99 at HP.com (save $419)

Why we like it

HP went a little wild during its own Presidents Day sale and slapped this 15-inch HP model with a whopping 51% discount — that's almost unheard of for a laptop with 13th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU. (It's also a $50 price drop since last week, FWIW.) It's a competent big-screener that comes with a 1080p webcam, 8GB of memory, 256GB of storage, and a backlit keyboard. Its display could be crisper — it's only HD, not Full HD — but it should be fine for work and light entertainment.

More laptop deals under $600

Traditional laptops

2-in-1 laptops

Best laptop deals under $900

the 13-inch m1 apple macbook air
Credit: Apple
Our pick: Apple MacBook Air, 13.3-inch (M1)
$749.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (save $249.01)

Why we like it

Read Mashable's review of the M1 Apple MacBook Air.

The 13-inch MacBook Air from late 2020 nabbed a Mashable Choice Award upon release for its zippy M1 chip, quiet fanless design, and 18-hour battery life. We're still recommending it years later as the best budget MacBook available, and its 256GB base model is currently on sale for just $749.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (a 25% savings). It's dipped lower once before, briefly hitting $729.99 last December, but it's still a bargain at $750 — and you won't find a cheaper MacBook anywhere right now unless you go the used or refurbished route.

More laptop deals under $900

Traditional laptops

2-in-1 laptops

Chromebooks

Gaming laptops

Laptop deals under $1,200

the HP OMEN Transcend 14t-fb000 displaying "sea of thieves" cover art
Credit: HP
Our pick: HP OMEN Transcend 14t-fb000
$1,199.99 at HP.com (save $300)

Why we like it

This is this first discount we've seen on the new HP OMEN Transcend, which made a splash at CES 2024 as the "world's lightest 14-inch gaming laptop" (weighing in at 3.6 pounds); you can snag the base model for just $1,199.99, or $300 off. It's powered by one of the all-new Intel Core Ultra 7 processors with 16GB of RAM and packs a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card. Peep the flashy OLED display and RGB keyboard, too.

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More laptop deals under $1,200

Traditional laptops

2-in-1 laptops

Gaming laptops

Laptop deals over $1,200

the 14-inch, m3 pro Apple MacBook Pro
Credit: Apple
Our pick: Apple MacBook Pro, 14-inch (Apple M3 Pro)
$1,799 at Best Buy (save $200); extra $50 off with paid My Best Buy membership

Why we like it

Apple dropped its current lineup of MacBooks Pros last fall, including this 14-inch model with an M3 Pro chip. It's a minimal upgrade from its predecessor, the M2 Pro-powered MacBook Pro from early 2023, but that faster next-gen processor has given it hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading capabilities for vastly improved graphics. (It also comes in an edgy new Space Black finish.) The base configuration with 18GB of memory and 512GB of storage is on sale for $1,799 at Best Buy, or $200 off its MSRP — and if you tack on an extra $50 discount for paid My Best Buy members, you'll lock it in at its lowest price yet.

More laptop deals over $1,200

Traditional laptops

2-in-1 laptops

Gaming laptops

Topics Apple Dell HP Lenovo Microsoft Samsung

Frequently Asked Questions

There are several times throughout the year when we see extra-low prices on laptops:

  • Around Amazon Prime Day and its fall counterpart (which typically happen in July and October, respectively)

  • During back-to-school sales in July and August (which come to a head over Labor Day weekend)

  • When retailers' Black Friday and holiday deals are in full swing from October to December

  • Whenever manufacturers unveil next-generation models

Best Buy tends to be the best major retailer for laptop deals, followed by Amazon and Walmart. That said, all three sell a lot of discontinued models and often inflate original list prices, making their deals look better than they actually are. (Amazon and Walmart are also rife with sketchy listings from third-party sellers outside of major shopping holidays like Black Friday.) As such, we always cross-check model numbers and prices with manufacturers' direct websites and look for deals there, too.

We're partial to Acer, Apple, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, MSI, Razer, and Samsung. They're reputable brands that typically tick most (or all) of the right boxes when it comes to innovative features, durable build quality, and overall value.

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Haley Henschel
Senior Shopping Reporter

Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons.

Haley received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and honed her sifting and winnowing skills at The Daily Cardinal. She previously covered politics for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, investigated exotic pet ownership for Wisconsin Watch, and blogged for some of your favorite reality stars.

In her free time, Haley enjoys playing video games, drawing, taking walks on Lake Michigan, and spending time with her parrot (Melon) and dog (Pierogi). She really, really wants to get back into horseback riding. You can follow her on X at @haleyhenschel or reach her via email at [email protected].

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