Black Friday laptop ads: deals under $300; MacBook Air for $720

The Best Black Friday deals on laptops this year include reliable models for under $300, bargain bin machines for $140 and under, and MacBook Air for close to $700. 

A MacBook air, which Black Friday shoppers can get for about $729 on eBay.

BusinessWire/File

November 15, 2015

There was a time when we wouldn't have believed it if you told us we could get a laptop with 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive for less than $300. But that seems to be the norm this year. (Although it's worth noting that most of these sub-$300 sets have Celeron processors, which is a less powerful line than the Core line which includes recent Skylake and Broadwell chips.)

You can also score bargain bin machines for $140 and under, and a MacBook Air for close to $700. Read on to find out more.

Best Black Friday Laptop Deals

Apple MacBook Air 11.6" Laptop with 128GB SSD for $729 at eBay
For those looking for a 2015 MacBook, this 12" Air sports an alluring price, not to mention a solid state drive and 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor. It's a buck under our predicted $730 Black Friday price, $170 less than buying direct from Apple, and $71 below the current low.

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Dell Inspiron 15 3000 i3 15.6" Laptop for $229.99 at Dell Home
Coming in at $70 under our prediction for a 15" laptop with 4GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive, this deal is the strongest price we've seen for a Dell Celeron laptop. It's also $150 below the previous low.

Asus Celeron 15.6" Laptop for $139.99 at Best Buy
If you're not willing to shell out extra for the Dell name and added features, this machine has the same basic specs as the above (Intel Celeron N3050 processor, 4GB RAM, and 500GB hard drive). It's $9 below our predicted price for budget laptops, as well as $40 under the best price we previously saw.

Acer Celeron 11.6" Chromebook for $99 at Best Buy
In step with our Black Friday prediction for bargain bin laptops, this machine is a buck less than our previous lowest mention, which came with rebate hassles. Keep in mind, this machine is recommended only for very basic computing tasks.

Dell Inspiron I5558-2148BLK Core i3 15.6" Touch Laptop for $299.99 at Best Buy
No one else sells this Dell laptop, but it is right in line with our Black Friday forecast — except it boasts twice the RAM and double the hard drive space than our example. What's more, this doorbuster will be $30 under the best price we've seen for any 15.6" Haswell laptop with a 1TB hard drive.

Dell Inspiron Celeron 19.5" Touch Laptop for $329.99 at Best Buy
With a 19.5" screen (4" larger than our prediction standard of 15"), we can consider this deal inline with our Black Friday forecast. Plus, it's $170 under current lows.

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Dell Latitude 15 3000 Series 15.6" Laptop for $599 at Dell Small Business
Boasting Intel's new Core i5 processor, this machine is for those who need a little something more than the basic laptops detailed above. Plus, it's $371 off list price.

Dell Inspiron 15-3542 Core i3 15.6" Laptop for $279.99 at Staples
At $20 below our Black Friday benchmark, this laptop differentiates itself by featuring an Intel Core i3-4005u processor. It is also $100 below our previous lowest mention.

Excited for Black Friday deals? Consider subscribing to the DealNews Select Newsletter to get a daily recap of all our deals; you never know when a Black Friday price will be released! You can also download the DealNews apps, check out the latest Black Friday ads, or read more buying advice.

This article first appeared in DealNews.