The 5 best places to buy a laptop – get it right this sales season

With seasonal sales approaching, you might be wondering where the best places are to buy a laptop online. This is where we can help. At Creative Bloq, we've been bringing you the best offers from retailers for years, whether that's during Black Friday events, Amazon Prime days or on just a normal Tuesday. This means we know a thing or two about the best places to shop for your next creative laptop. Whether it's one of the best laptops for graphic design that you seek, or even one of the best AI laptops, we've got you covered.

Below you'll find a list of some of the top retailers we recommend in the US, and the benefits of shopping with them for creative tech. For example, sometimes you can get a better warranty or extended customer support by purchasing a laptop directly from its manufacturer, however, when it comes to seasonal sales – retailers like Best Buy and Amazon are usually the ones with the biggest savings to clear unwanted stock (and who doesn't love next day delivery?).

For students, things can be a little trickier. If you're in the market for one of the best student laptops then there are plenty of ways to save money with Apple student discounts, as well as the Samsung Education store discount incentives. But it's worth price-checking at other retailers first before diving into enticing student offers, as we've found that during seasonal sales especially, laptop prices can often be better at Amazon than when using a 30% off student code. To ensure that you're ready for Prime Day in October, and Apple Black Friday deals, stick with us as our price comparison widgets do the hard work for you.

Amazon

If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber, we're anticipating some huge laptop deals to crop up next month, especially with the flurry of new AI laptops dominating the market. This is great news if you're looking for a more basic laptop for everyday work (as these models tend to come down in price as next-gen devices take the spotlight) but that doesn't mean we won't see any deals on some of the most powerful laptops either.

Amazon tends to have the most regular laptop discounts, but this doesn't always guarantee the best price. That's why it's important to look at the price history of a product on Amazon (we do this by using a browser extension called CamelCamelCamel) and compare prices across your local retailers where possible to bag the best deal. Black Friday is notoriously more difficult to price compare with so many retailers looking to undercut the competition, but stick with us and we can help you with these using our deals widgets.

There are plenty of Prime Day deals on Amazon that are open to everyone, not just Prime members. So don't worry if you aren't signed up to Prime. However if you do want access to the best deals, we would recommend that you sign up for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime (just remember to cancel it afterwards if you don't want to be charged).

Best Buy

We've found that Best Buy will nearly always match Amazon's prices to compete during seasonal sales, so deciding to shop with this retailer over Amazon all boils down to personal convenience. Do you have a Best Buy that's local to you? This could be a much quicker way to order a laptop and collect in-store than having to wait for Amazon delivery.

Are you a My Best Buy member? Depending on the level of membership you have: free, plus, or total, you can benefit from free shipping with no minimum spend, exclusive prices and additional support from Geek Squad and AppleCare+ protection.

This isn't an ad for Best Buy, but it's worth thinking about which retailer you shop with and how it can offer you the best perks if the price of the laptop is the same elsewhere.

B&H Photo Video

We're already seeing some impressive early MacBook Black Friday deals (yes we know it's only September) and a lot of these deals are coming from B&H. Primarily a retailer for creatives into photography and videography, B&H is undoubtedly one of the best places to shop if you need a reliable laptop for photo editing.

The benefits of buying a laptop from B&H include free virtual video chats with an expert trained in creative fields, live video demonstrations of products and the option to virtually pick the brains of B&H staff based at the NYC SuperStore and ask any technical questions without the need to have your camera on. Sure, you can use this feature whether or not you end up buying the laptop from B&H, but the customer service you'll receive throughout the buying process will really outshine talking to an Amazon chatbot for help.

B&H also has EDU memberships offering discounts to students and those working in education, so if the price of your next laptop is the same at B&H and Best Buy (and you're not a Best Buy rewards member) then you could save by shopping with B&H overall.

Walmart

Just like Best Buy, Walmart is another household name and chances are that you probably have a store local to you to collect a laptop from. If you've already decided on what laptop model you're looking to buy, then the benefit of shopping with Walmart is its competitive prices (it tends to price match with Best Buy and Amazon, but not always).

There's also the option to subscribe to Walmart+ for free delivery, and extra incentives such as savings on gas, a free Paramount+ subscription for watching movies, early access to deals with first dibs, and 25% off Burger King meals too.

Target

If you're looking to buy a new laptop but aren't sure which one, then the benefit of stores like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy is that you have the option to comfortably shop online or head into your local store to see the products first hand (assuming they're in stock).

Just like other retailers, Target has membership benefits with Target Circle including early access to upcoming deals, instant 5% discounts, rewards and bonuses to help you save with each purchase, and exclusive partner perks to redeem free trials.