I’ve covered every Prime Day laptop deal since the very beginning – and these hand-picked offers are the ones I recommend

For gaming laptops, there are a lot of things to look for in terms of specs that will have a huge impact on the kind of gaming performance you can expect to experience on modern titles.

The first thing to lock down is the GPU, as it’s the most important component for gaming. If you want to play AAA games at high settings with ray tracing and high frame rates, look for laptops with at least an Nvidia RTX 4070, RTX 4080, RTX 5070, or better.

For esports titles or less demanding games, a system with an RTX 4060 or even 4050 will often do just fine at 1080p or 1440p resolution. RTX 5060 GPUs are also good for mainstream gaming at 1080p or 1440p with graphics settings at more modest levels.

Next, pay attention to the CPU. Intel’s Core Ultra series (formerly i9, i7, etc.) and AMD’s Ryzen 8000-series processors are both great for gaming.

Make sure you select a model with at least 16GB RAM, though 32GB is better for modern titles and multitasking, especially if you stream or mod games.

The display is another major decision point. A good gaming laptop in 2025 should have a display with a 144 Hz refresh rate, at least, ideally with G-SYNC or FreeSync support to eliminate screen tearing.

A QHD (2560×1440) or similar resolution is the sweet spot for many gamers, offering better visuals than 1080p without the heavy load of 4K. If you’re into competitive gaming, a 240 Hz or even 360 Hz display can give you an edge in reaction time, though this only matters if your hardware can consistently drive those frame rates.

Unfortunately, MacBooks still have a ways to go before they will be competitive on the PC gaming front, so I'd also definitely suggest sticking with a Windows laptop if gaming is your primary concern.

While not the most powerful laptop around, the Dell Inspiron 14 5440 is still a very capable device, especially for less than $370 at Walmart right now.

The Inspiron 14 5440 is a 14-inch FHD+ laptop with an Intel Core i5-1334U processor, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD, making it better suited for school work and productivity than gaming, but for the price, it's a very solid work or school laptop.

Dell Inspiron 14 5440: was $549.99 now $369 at Walmart

In keeping with the aforementioned advice, this Apple MacBook Air 13-inch comes with an Apple M1 chip, 8GB memory, and 256GB storage, making it a fantastic laptop for students who need a bit more power than a Chromebook, but don't need the latest and greatest laptop out there.

Right now, it's available at Walmart for one of the lowest prices I've ever seen for this device, making it one you definitely want to add to your back-to-school shortlist.

Apple MacBook Air 13" (M1, 8GB, 256GB): just $649 at Walmart

Before we get into more deals, I wanted to share some other pieces of buying advice when searching for a new laptop.

With the Amazon Prime Day sales event shaping up to be bigger than ever this year, there are going to be a lot of people selling dirt cheap laptops—but not all of them are going to be worth even those sales prices.

If you're buying a cheap Chromebook, you can get by with 4GB memory and a 64GB SSD (though I wouldn't pay very much for such a device), but for Windows and Apple laptops, you really need an absolute bare minimum of 8GB and 128GB SSD storage. Anything less and your performance is going to be atrocious.

Better still, be on the lookout for laptops with more than 8GB of memory (preferably 16GB or greater), and at least 256GB SSD storage.

Also, don't overlook the refresh rates of the displays, usually given in Hz. Higher numbers mean more screen refreshes every second, and this helps make things look more fluid and smoothes out onscreen motion.

If you're looking for something with a bit more oomph for playing the latest PC games, there's a great deal at Best Buy right now on the HP Victus 15.6-inch with a 144Hz display, AMD Ryzen 7 7445HS processor, Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, 16GB memory, and a 512GB SSD, all for $250 off.

HP Victus 15.6-inch: was $899.99 now $649.99 at Best Buy

Over in the Chromebook department, there are some super-cheap ChromeOS laptops available right now.

First up is this HP Chromebook 15, which is cheaper than half-price at Best Buy right now thanks to a hefty $220 reduction - an excellent deal for a laptop that was already pretty good value for money.

Equipped with an Intel N200 CPU and 8GB of RAM, it's not going to run all the latest games and dazzle you with its graphical performance, but if you're looking for a straightforward workhorse laptop for everyday tasks like answering emails and browsing the web, this is a solid pick. Thanks to the low hardware requirements of ChromeOS, you should have a smooth experience.

HP Chromebook 15: was $399 now $179 at Best Buy

Dell's Black Friday in July sale runs during Prime Day week (surely a coincidence!), and it's already delivered some brilliant laptop deals.

If the Dell XPS 13 deal I mentioned earlier is still too pricey, I really recommend checking out the excellent Dell 15 laptop for $449 (was $649).

For under $500 you get a solid and dependable laptop that while not the most powerful notebook out there, is ideal for work and study, with excellent build quality and decent specs. Definitely worth considering if you're looking for a great laptop for students.

Dell 15 Laptop: was $649.99 now $449.99 at Dell

I've just spotted this great deal at Best Buy for the Samsung Galaxy Book4 360. A few years ago, Samsung laptops weren't anything to get too excited about, but the company has been putting out some fantastic devices recently, and at this new lower price ($550 off), you get an excellent 2-in-1 laptop:

Samsung Galaxy Book4 360: was $1,349.99 now $799.99

With an Intel Ultra 7, 16GB of RAM and a stunning OLED touchscreen, this is a brilliant performer, and a versatile laptop, as it can be used as a normal laptop, or with the keyboard folded back, it can be used like a tablet.

For this price, I think it's an excellent deal for students and people who want a laptop they can use from the couch, and the huge $550 price tag means you don't have to wait for Prime Day to officially start.

First of all, I've found this excellent deal on the Dell XPS 13. It's always been one of my favorite laptops, and this model, which has had a huge $400 price cut from Dell, comes with some pretty great hardware, including the powerful Snapdragon X Elite chip and 32GB of RAM.

Usually the price of this model puts it out of reach for a lot of people, but for Prime Day the price is closer to the MacBook Air - and it offers much better performance.

Dell XPS 13: was $1,499.99 now $1,099.99 at Dell

Next, there are Chromebooks. These are usually much cheaper than Windows 11 laptops, and also boast impressively long battery lives, making them ideal for students in particular.

Chromebooks run Chrome OS, rather than Windows 11, which is a lightweight operating system based on Google's Chrome browser. Chrome OS has evolved over the years, and there are lots of apps available for all kinds of tasks.

When I say Chrome OS is lightweight, what I mean by that is that it is designed for efficiency over power and features. This allows it to run on less powerful hardware than other operating systems which is why Chromebooks are often a lot cheaper than other laptops, and why their batteries last longer. The downside is that this does mean Chromebooks don't come with all the features you'd expect from traditional laptops, and many apps that you can use in Windows 11 or macOS don't work in Chrome OS - though there are usually alternatives.

Let's start with a bit of buying advice. Before buying a new laptop, have a clear idea of what your budget is and what you want to use the laptop for. There are a lot of different types of laptop out there, so knowing what kind will suit your needs will make things a lot easier.

You'll likely see laptops fall into three main categories: laptops, Chromebooks and MacBooks.

Laptops are usually Windows 11 devices, and these come in all shapes and sizes. There are plenty of budget laptops out there that are good picks for people who just need something to browse the web and write up documents. There are also powerful gaming laptops, premium thin and light laptops, 2-in-1 devices and more.

Our Prime Day laptop deals coverage starts now!

It's been 10 years since the first Amazon Prime Day and it's now bigger than ever... literally, as this year the deals event is officially running for four days (July 8 - 11). And, with rival retailers launching early deals as well, this entire week will likely see a steady stream of brilliant laptop offers.

So, for this week I'll be manning this live blog, bringing you the very best laptop deals as I find them. Throughout the Prime Day week I'll also be sharing my buying advice and tips to help you find the best laptop for your needs.

I won't just be keeping an eye on Amazon's laptop deals either, I'll also be checking out rivals such as Best Buy and Walmart, as well as laptop manufacturers' online stores, so you won't have to keep loads of tabs and browser windows open - this is the only page you'll need.