Best Buy Refurbished Gaming Laptops
Buying a refurbished laptop can save you several hundred dollars depending on the make and model and where you shop. However, you're unlikely to find the latest-generation laptops available as refurbs, unless the model in question has been on the market for six months or more.
best buy refurbished gaming laptops
Perhaps, because it doesn't refresh its laptops that often, Apple sells refurbished units of its MacBooks. For example, a new 12-inch MacBook 1.1GHz Dual-core Intel Core m3 (from April 2016) costs $1,299 new. A refurbished model sells for $1,099 on Apple's website, covered by a one-year limited warranty. At Amazon, the same unit sells for $899.99 with a 90-day warranty.
"The big OEMs are quite good in this area. Since Apple, Dell and HP put their names behind their refurbished equipment, they generally make sure that the IT Asset Management companies that do the refurbishment and reconditioning do good work," he said. Thus, either the laptop manufacturer or authorized refurbishers are the best sources for obtaining your purchase.
Some refurbished laptop warranties may be shorter than for new products and typically do not cover battery life, but each vendor is different, so read the fine print before adding the item to your shopping cart. You should get 30 days at least, and Microsoft requires a minimum 90-day warranty. Apple and refurbishers such as PCRR warranty their laptops for a year.
Nonetheless, cosmetic standards vary. The case could have some dings and imperfections that do not affect the unit's computing power, and buyers of refurbished laptops should be prepared for a product that does not look factory-fresh. Nonetheless, buyers should be sure to check for telltale signs that the new unit may not be up to standard: details like dead pixels on the screen, noisy hard drives, loose or squeaky hinges, or obvious signs of wear.
Amazon's Certified Refurbished (opens in new tab) laptops are tested by qualified manufacturers or third-party refurbishers like PCRR so they look and work like new. They come with a minimum 90-day limited warranty. On the Amazon site, you can search via a large number of criteria from the number of cores to hard-drive size, RAM and more to get the best model for your needs.
Amazon also sells refurbished, used and open-box laptops from its Amazon Warehouse Deals site. Though the company tests the functional and physical condition of products sold there, and grades them before putting them out for sale, there are no warranties for such used items, except for optional extended warranties you can purchase.
If you're shopping for an Apple notebook, be sure to visit Apple's refurbishing site (opens in new tab). All of Apple's refurbished laptops come with a year's warranty, free shipping and free returns. Refurb Tracker offers email alerts and RSS feeds to keep you updated on new refurbished products from Apple Store websites.
The recommendations below are based on our reviews and testing. Our aim is to help you get your ideal gaming experience on a cheap laptop. And if you want to improve your gaming and work-from-home experience, you may want to look into some inexpensive gaming gear to help you do it. We'll update this list of the best cheap gaming laptop options as we review new products. Also, if you need help deciphering what specs to look for on a good, cheap gaming laptop, we've got some advice below.
Dell streamlined its G-series gaming laptops, going from three models down to just one -- and it's all for the best. Instead of having to decode the various feature and quality differences between them, there's just one chassis available with a variety of configurations with an 11th-gen Intel processor or AMD Ryzen 5000 H-series processor, though those models start at over $1,000. All of the processors can be paired with up to a 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 8GB DDR4 RAM or 16GB DDR4 RAM and 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD. They're basically a more budget-friendly version of those from its Alienware division, but still capable of playing the latest AAA titles. Prices have been up and down lately due to supply issues, so if you're a gamer on a budget you may have to wait to get the best deal. This gaming laptop has eight USB Ports and the laptop is available in two colors.
The Acer Nitro 5 is the best affordable gaming laptop that comes in both 17.3- and 15.6-inch sizes. A 17-inch cheap gaming laptop is a rarity with entry-level gaming laptops; most sub-$1,000 gaming laptops have 15.6-inch displays, and the Acer's larger screen lets the gamer sink in and get lost in the chosen gaming world. Unfortunately, the larger screens are currently just above $1,000 at the moment. This cheap gaming laptop comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core processor with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD.
The Legion 5 is an updated version of the Y540, which was one of our favorite gaming laptops for its design and best gaming laptop value. There are a few changes to this gaming machine's design, but mostly it's what's inside that's changed, including a choice between AMD (Legion 5) and Intel (Legion 5i) processors. Prices still start at just under $1,000 for the AMD models but if you can spend closer to $1,300, you'll get more for your money. If you are a gamer who needs to keep costs down, the company's budget gaming IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop starts down around $750.
You can find a good cheap gaming laptop, but they certainly have performance limitations compared to more expensive laptops. The components necessary for an enjoyable PC gaming experience are expensive, which means even entry-level gaming laptops are still typically between $700 to $1,000. Also, because these models use lower-end components, the gaming performance they'll have on today's demanding AAA games might not hold up for future titles.
Cheap gaming laptops are worth considering if you typically play older games or games that aren't graphically demanding or you're OK playing at reduced graphics quality to maintain fast frame rates. They're also a suitable option if you're looking for a laptop for work or school, but with enough graphics power for casual gaming during your downtime.
For the best gaming experience with a budget gaming laptop, you want to make sure you get the most graphics power affordable from the start since this can't be upgraded later, unlike memory or storage.
Also, gaming laptops, especially cheaper ones, let you easily expand or upgrade your memory and storage. If you're going to skimp, this is the best place to do it with the expectation you'll upgrade eventually and put your cash into the GPU and CPU instead.
Most of your money is going toward components, so the other parts -- the display, keyboard and trackpad and build quality -- are going to be OK, but not fantastic. This is why I lean toward models like the Dell G15, which has its power input and other ports on the rear for a cleaner setup when connected to external peripherals. It also has a decent battery life, which is something that typically falls by the wayside on cheap gaming laptops.
That said, display quality has improved on entry-level gaming laptops in the past couple of years, particularly when it comes to refresh rates. It's now common to find 120Hz or 144Hz displays offered, which will make fast movement in your games look smoother and give you a more responsive experience. It's not worth paying extra for, though, unless the GPU is capable of faster frame rates for your games, too.
Every gaming laptop here is one that we have personally tested. That means writing on them, browsing on them, watching video, and most importantly gaming on them. That experiential take on how good a machine is to actually use is vital when it comes to making recommendations on the best gaming laptop.
For our money it's a toss-up between the Razer and Asus machines for top gaming laptop honors. The Blade series from Razer are clean-cut, stylish notebooks that have a matte black gaming MacBook aesthetic that we really dig. And Asus is a brand that knows how to do all the important hardware stuff; can deliver on style and technological substance, but can also offer better value than the more premium-focused Razer laptops.
Nah. 4K gaming laptops are overkill; they're fine for video editing if you're dealing with 4K content, but it's not the optimal choice for games. The standard 1080p resolution means that the generally slower mobile GPUs are all but guaranteed high frame rates, while companies are slowly drip-feeding 1440p panels into their laptop ranges.
The best gaming laptop is a thing of beauty. A piece of PC gaming hardware that's as sleek and portable as it is powerful. We're at a point in PC tech where you can genuinely have desktop gaming performance in a notebook less than an inch thick and small enough to pack in a backpack.
You've decided to buy a gaming laptop at the right time. The next generation of mobile GPU and CPU is only just hitting the shelves, offering the best Nvidia, AMD, and Intel has to offer. I've already tested the alternatives, and the best gaming laptop is the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (opens in new tab). It makes the best RTX 4090 gaming laptops , including the Razer Blade 16 (opens in new tab) and Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, and even the frankly ridiculous MSI Titan GT77 HX (opens in new tab), look like overkill with similar gaming performance and a far lower sticker price for its RTX 4080 power.
The latest spin of the Razer Blade 15 once again improves on one of the best gaming laptops ever made. It has the same gorgeous CNC-milled aluminum chassis as its predecessor, only this time it can house one of Nvidia's latest RTX 40-series GPUs and an Intel 13th Gen Core i9 CPU.
The Blade 15 isn't the lightest gaming laptop you can buy, but five pounds is still way better than plenty of traditional gaming laptops, while also offering similar performance and specs. That heft helps make it feel solid too. It also means the Blade 15 travels well in your backpack. An excellent choice for the gamer on the go... or if you don't have the real estate for a full-blown gaming desktop and monitor. 041b061a72