Whether you need a new computer for school or an inexpensive device for the family, a Chromebook is a great option for those who want to save money on a high-performance computer. Chromebooks are capable of handling most of the productivity tasks that a Windows or MacOS laptop can handle, but they are often more affordable and boast really long battery life.
For more information on Chromebooks, check out our list of the best Chromebooks to help you make the right decision, or our explanation of laptops and Chromebooks to help you understand the intricacies between machines. Also, if you’re thinking about a laptop, be sure to check out our best laptop deals, which are updated daily.
Note. Technical deals come and go quickly, so it’s possible that some of these PC discounts will expire before the next update of this article.
Best Budget Chromebook Deals
- Lenovo IdeaPad 3, MediaTek MT8183/4GB RAM/64GB SSD/14″ 768p Display, $99.00 (57% off Walmart)
- Asus 14″ Chromebook, Intel Core m3-8100Y/4GB RAM/64GB SSD/14″ 1080p display, $119.00 (64% off at Best Buy)
- Acer Chromebook 512, Celeron N4020 / 4GB RAM / 32GB SSD / 12″ 912p Display, $114.00 (43% off at Amazon)
Best mid-range Chromebook deals
- Asus Chromebook Flip C433, Intel Core m3-8100Y/8GB RAM/64GB SSD/14″ 1080p Display, $248.98 (39% off at Amazon)
- Lenovo Flex 5i, Core i3-1115G4/8GB RAM/128GB SSD/13.3″ 1080p display, $328.39 (24% off Amazon)
- Lenovo IdeaPad 3, Pentium Silver N6000/4GB RAM/128GB SSD/15.6″ 1080p Display, $229.99 (51% off at Target)
- HP Chromebook x2, Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c/8GB RAM/128GB SSD/11″ 1440p display, $479.99 (29% off at HP)
In the budget category, the $119 Asus 14-inch Chromebook is a great deal with a 1080p screen, 4GB of RAM, and a reasonably fast processor. Don’t worry too much about SSD storage space, as the Chromebook is so cloud-centric that it shouldn’t be a factor.
In the mid-range category, the Flex 5i offers more performance than the Flip C433, but it won’t be too much, and it’s hard to pass up $80 in your pocket. We generally consider the Core m3 to be more powerful than the Celeron N4020, which is more powerful than the MediaTek MT8183, although not by much. A laptop-class processor like a Core i3 or Ryzen 3 will easily top it all.
If you have a little more money to spend than the HP Chromebook x2 with its 1440p display, it comes with the best screen on offer right now, but it’s also the smallest, so you’ll need to decide what’s more important: quality or size.
Frequently asked Questions
What should I look for in a Chromebook?
For a respectable Chromebook, look for the following specs: an Intel Celeron N4000 chip or better, 8GB of RAM, and a 1080p screen. The Pentium Silver N6000 processor is a step forward. The Core m3-8100Y should be fine, although mid-range or premium Chromebooks include laptop-class chips like a Core i3 or AMD Ryzen processor.
More memory, such as 8 GB rather than 4 GB, will allow you to open more browser tabs and surf the web more smoothly. The 1080p screen will provide a more comfortable viewing experience. Hard drive storage doesn’t really matter much, though you should at least aim for 32GB to store apps, screenshots and the like.
If you’re familiar with our Laptops and Chromebooks explanation, you know that one of the potential pitfalls is buying a Chromebook whose support period is about to expire. We’re trying to factor that into our picks above so you don’t get stuck with a Chromebook that will lose support in the near future. But don’t forget to double check these things before you buy so you don’t run out of support if your Chromebook runs into problems.
Which retailers offer good deals on Chromebooks?
There are many retailers that offer discounts on Chromebooks and it will take you a long time to browse through all of them, so we do it for you here and highlight the best deals we find. However, to save time and avoid possible headaches, you need to have a good understanding of where you are looking at any time of the year.
Whether you’re looking for a new Chromebook during the holidays or during popular sales like Black Friday or Back to School, there are often great deals directly at retail stores from popular computer manufacturers like HP, Dell, Samsung, and Lenovo.
However, if you’re looking between sales, it might be a good idea to check out big third-party retailers like Amazon, Adorama, Walmart, BestBuy, and Target. Often, these websites offer limited-time “Deals of the Day” sales to get rid of excess stock. On the plus side, you can get still decent Chromebooks at a big discount this way.
What’s the difference between a regular laptop and a Chromebook?
When people talk about regular laptops, they usually mean PC or Mac. A Chromebook is still a laptop, but it differs from either of those two in that it uses a unique operating system called Chrome OS created by Google. Think of it this way: All Chromebooks are laptops, but not all laptops are Chromebooks.
Unlike other operating systems like Windows or macOS, Chrome OS is optimized to run Google apps like Google Drive, Google Docs, YouTube, and other Google services. Because most Google apps are online, Chromebooks typically require an internet connection to use most of their important features.
Finally, Chromebooks have historically been designed with portability, ease of use, and affordability in mind, not ultimate performance. They typically ditch the faster, high-end hardware that a PC or Mac can run in favor of a more minimalist, lightweight approach to computing.