Gamers are surprisingly patient when it comes to hardware, mainly because Black Friday helps combat the outrageously high prices of brand-new gaming laptops and everything else that comes with them. However, retailers aren’t showing the same restraint as many reduced models already popped up online touted as early deals.
We’ll take it; a deal is a deal. Windows Central is scouring digital and physical storefronts for handpicked discounts during Black Friday, and we’ll be rounding up the standout winners among gaming laptops right here.
If it’s your first portable pick, check out our tips on choosing a model that best suits you, and keep this page bookmarked to see the hottest deals as we find them.
The best early deals for Black Friday: Quick links
Best early gaming laptop deals for Black Friday
When does Black Friday 2023 start?
The Black Friday sales event is set to begin on November 24, 2023, and will run through the weekend to Cyber Monday. It consistently falls on the last weekend of November, immediately following Thanksgiving.
While numerous Black Friday deals are already available, even more are expected in the coming days and weeks. It’s important to note that the best deals will likely surface during the Black Friday weekend itself.
Nonetheless, it’s advisable not to hesitate to seize exceptional deals you come across early, especially since some items currently available may not be part of the official event’s offerings.
How to choose a gaming laptop
It’s tempting to grab the cheapest laptop available, significantly when so many are reduced during sales events like Black Friday. However, not every attractive price tag means a reduction on capable components; some will be older models that might struggle to keep up with your favorite games. It’s not always bad; most gaming laptops loaded with Intel Core 12th Gen mobile CPUs and NVIDIA RTX 30-Series GPUs are still generally powerful.
The most up-to-date hardware often eludes major discounts, but even an entry-level RTX 4050 laptop GPU from NVIDIA’s latest range is worth considering. Sophisticated upscaling DLSS 3.5 technology means less raw performance work for the graphics card, which undoubtedly helps with portable gaming machines that suffer from reduced battery life when components are overworked and overheated.
Consider the physical size first, with 15.6-inch laptops as the most common form factor. If you plan to travel with a gaming laptop frequently, anything over 16 inches might become a little cumbersome unless you have a convenient way to transport it. However, these larger models often double up as complete desktop PC replacements thanks to improvements to thermal cooling solutions in the expanded chassis. Check out our best gaming laptop guide for an idea of what scores highest for us.
