HP Spectre X360 15 with Intel's latest quad-core 8th generation processor.
Credit: Hewlett-PackardHigh-end laptops are great Black Friday deals because they come with the best build-quality, performance, and specs.
HP Spectre X360 15t: $270 off new model. On sale for $1,129 (PDF) directly from HP, discounted from the regular price of $1399.99. The Spectre X360 -- carved out of a single block of aluminum -- is at the top of HP's consumer laptop line. It comes equipped with a steel-encased 360 degree hinge for conversion to tent, tablet, or stand modes. Other high-end perks are a 15.6-inch 4K display (8 million pixels), a 256GB solid state drive, and Intel's 8th Generation quad-core processor. It also packs an Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics processor.
HP is also offering a deal on its premium HP Spectre x360 13t (13-inch), reduced to $899.99 (or thereabouts) from $1149.99 (PDF), a savings of $250. The 0.53-inch-thick Spectre X360 13t sports an 8th Gen Intel Core i5 chip and an FHD 1,920-by-1,080 display. There is an option for a 4K touch screen (3,840-by-2,160) for an extra $150 but HP rarely, if ever, sells 13-inch 4K Spectre X360s at stores like Best Buy and it's almost always a special-order item.
HP OMEN gaming laptop 17t: $250 off, bringing it down to $849.99 (PDF) from $1099.99. The 17t boasts an Intel Core i7-7700HQ (2.8 GHz, up to 3.8 GHz, 6 MB cache, 4 cores) and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB GDDR5 dedicated).
Dell XPS 13: $300 off new model. Like the HP Spectre above, this is Dell's latest and greatest model. And like the HP Spectre, it comes with the new 8th Generation quad-core Intel chip -- the first Intel quad-core processor usable in ultra-thin laptops like the XPS 13 (in this model, it's the Core i7-8550U, 15-watt processor). It also has a 256GB solid-state drive. The display isn't the super-high-resolution 4K display found on higher-priced Dell XPS 13 configurations but Dell figures that a 13.3-inch FHD (1,920-by-1,080) is good enough for most consumers.
Dell XPS 15: $150 off. To$1,999.99 from $2,149.99. This is a fully loaded XPS 15 with a 7th Generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ Quad Core Processor (6M cache, up to 3.8 GHz), 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory (up to 32GB), a 512GB PCIe Solid State Drive, and a 15.6-inch 4K Ultra HD (3,840-by-2,160) touch display. It also comes with the larger 97WHr battery. The video card is an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5. This model is slightly dated because it's based on the previous-generation "Kaby Lake" Intel chip but I can vouch for its performance, build quality, and amazing display (since I used one for almost a year).
MacBook Pro 15.4-inch with Touch Bar (mid-2017) reduced to $2,699 from $2,999 at MacMall: this is a good deal on the latest and greatest 15-inch Apple high-end lappy with a 512GB SSD. This also has a 7th Generation "Kaby Lake" 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz) processor and an AMD Radeon Pro 560 with 4GB.
MacBook Pro 15.4-inch with Touch Bar (late 2016): $1,799 from B&H Photo. A "savings" of $600 from the original MSRP of $2,399. Take the $600 savings with a grain of salt because you can also get the newer 15-inch mid-2017 MacBook Pro (256GB) for $2,399. In other words, B&H Photo is discounting an older (MLH32LL/A) MBP with the Intel 6th Generation "Skylake" processor (2.6 GHz with Turbo Boost to 3.5 GHz) -- compared to the 7th Generation Kaby Lake found in the most recent MacBook Pro. Will you notice the difference in performance? No (in most cases). I have owned both and am hard-pressed to see a performance delta in everyday tasks. It also comes with the AMD Radeon Pro 450 GPU (2GB GDDR5).
Best Buy: Best Buy chimed in on Friday with deals on the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The latest mid-2017 version with an Intel Core i5 (7th Gen Kaby Lake), 8 GB Memory, and 256GB flash drive is now $1,299.99 down from $1,499.99.
And the 128GB model is now $1,149.99, reduced from $1,299.99.
Updated: originally published on: Nov 23, 2017 @ 15:26
