How to save money on a laptop: 6 expert tips to save you cash

We often take it for granted that buying a laptop is going to be an expensive process. After all, the amount of tech packed into even the best student laptops can be incredibly impressive, so it makes sense that you’d pay a premium price for an upgrade… right?

Well, no, in fact. With constant deals flashing about, you can usually always save money on a laptop, whether you need the best laptop for graphic design or something affordable to watch your favourite streaming shows. Saving money doesn’t just benefit your bottom line – it can help the environment too by cutting down on electrical waste. Here, we’ve put together our best advice on how you can save money on a laptop, from getting a refurbished device to scoring some discounts on the best MacBooks for students.

1. Know what you actually need

It’s very easy to get carried away when choosing a new laptop. That beefy graphics card can look mighty tempting, and who knows? You’ll probably fill up that 8TB SSD really quickly. Better go for the most expensive model available. Before you know it, you’re looking at laptops way outside your budget.

That’s not a good way to save money, but there’s a very simple thing you can do to avoid this happening: know what you actually need from a laptop. For example, if you’re after the best laptop for graphic design, you’ll probably need a fairly high-spec machine. But whether you should prioritise a CPU, a GPU, memory or storage will depend on the work you do – 3D rendering benefits from a strong GPU while CPUs excel at compiling code, for example. Make sure you understand what components your creative work demands before pulling the trigger.

At the same time, if you plan to just use your laptop for browsing the web and writing emails, you won’t get much benefit from buying the most high-end device you can find. And you could save even more money by offloading certain tasks – by using cloud storage instead of paying for a larger SSD, for instance, or by using a game streaming service in order to pay less for a GPU.

2. Buy second hand, or buy an older model

You might find that you don’t need to get the latest and greatest laptop to still end up with an excellent little machine. There are many places where you can buy a second-hand laptop and save yourself money, from eBay to Back Market – just be sure to check reviews of the seller before committing.

There are also places that offer refurbished laptops that have been cleaned, fixed up and made like-new before going on sale. Apple, for example, sells refurbished MacBooks that look and feel just like a new product, yet come with a much lower price tag.

Another option is to buy an older laptop (such as last year’s model), as their prices typically get slashed when a new version comes out. If you don’t need the absolute latest components, this is a good option.

3. Trade in or upgrade your current tech

Many places will accept your old laptop as a trade-in when you buy a new model, and this can knock a substantial chunk off the asking price. It kills two birds with one stone: not only do you save money, but you don’t have to worry about selling your old laptop separately, as the whole thing is done in one transaction.

And there’s another way to save even more money on a laptop: upgrade your current one instead. The feasibility of doing this will vary by laptop model, as many manufacturers make it difficult to open up their laptops and change out their components. But if it is doable with your laptop, you’ll find that a simple upgrade like adding extra memory could make a world of difference and extend your device’s lifespan, meaning you don’t need to spend big on a new laptop at all.

4. Shop the sales

If you can be patient and wait for sale events rather than buying a new laptop right away, you’ll often find yourself rewarded with some juicy deals that could cut hundreds off your purchase price.

For example, Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall in late November and are some of the biggest shopping events of the year, making them the perfect time to find Black Friday deals on laptops (and other tech, too). It’s also worth looking for savings in the holiday sales, which can offer similarly tempting money-off bargains.

Of course, this all depends on you being able to wait for these sales to roll around. But even if you can’t, you can use the other tips in this guide to find more ways to save money on a laptop.

5. Look out for discounts and vouchers

While sales events are usually constrained to certain times of the year, you should be able to find discount codes, coupons and vouchers at any time. In fact, we’d recommend looking for voucher codes whenever you’re about to make a big purchase, whether it’s for a laptop or anything else, as there’s often a good chance that you’ll find something you can use.

There are many websites that offer codes that can save you money, and they’re all worth checking. You can make things easier on yourself by installing a browser extension like Honey, which does the hard work of finding and applying discount codes for you.

If you’re after the best laptop for students, you’ll find that many outlets offer discount codes specifically for people in education, Apple, for example, offers an Apple student discount all year round. And regardless of whether you’re a student or not, take a moment to check cashback websites to see if you can earn back some money when you buy a laptop.

6. Compare prices

OK, so you’ve found a laptop that matches your needs and think you’ve scored an excellent deal. Ready to make the purchase? Before you do, there’s one more thing you should tick off your list: check price comparison websites. Because while that discount might look appetising on the retailer’s site, without shopping around, you could end up missing out on even greater savings.

You don’t need to compare prices manually, checking each website one by one for money off. Instead, there are plenty of resources to help, including websites like PriceSpy and PriceRunner that scour prices for you. You can also use extensions like Camel Camel Camel, which track prices on Amazon so you can tell whether you're getting a good price or not.

Many websites also publish round-ups of the best laptop deals they can find, and Creative Bloq is no different. We comb the net for all the cheapest laptop bargains so you don’t have to, so be sure to check out our findings to see if you can save even more money on a laptop.