Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Best Dell laptop deals: Cheap laptops starting at $270

Dell is easily one of the best laptop brands on the market. A big part of that is the absolutely massive variety of laptops available, so you’re almost certainly going to find something that specifically fits your needs. In fact, even if you want to grab yourself an Alienware, then you’ll be happy to know that its owned by Dell, so whether you’re looking for a great gaming laptop or budget laptop, then Dell likely has something for you. Dell also has the XPS lineup, which is not only one of the best laptops on the market but competes with the likes of the MacBook Air in terms of size, price, and specs.

Having so many options can be a bit overwhelming for somebody unfamiliar with Dell or the laptop market, so we scoured the Dell website and other retailers for our favorite picks and listed them below. This list has a lot of crossover with the best Dell XPS deals, student laptop deals and gaming laptop deals, so make sure to check out some of those other great laptop deals as well.

Dell Inspiron 15 — $300 $450 33% off

Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Laptop on a white background displaying a colourful scene.
Dell

If you just need a basic laptop for simple tasks like browsing the internet and watching streaming shows, the affordable Dell Inspiron 15 will be enough with its AMD Ryzen 5 7520U and 8GB of RAM. Images and videos will be bright and colorful on the laptop’s 15.6-inch screen with Full HD resolution, and you’ll have plenty of space to save your files on its 512GB SSD, which comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed.

Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 — $950 $1,350 29% off

The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 laptop in tent mode.
Dell

The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 155H processor and 16GB of RAM. This will give you good day-to-day performance, but the reason that you’d want to buy the device is because it’s a 2-in-1 laptop under the convertible category, according to our laptop buying guide. You can quickly switch between laptop mode and tablet mode with the help of the 360-degree hinges that are attached to its 16-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution touchscreen. The Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 ships with Windows 11 Home pre-loaded in its 1TB  SSD.

Dell XPS 14 — $1,260 $1,560 19% off

Dell XPS 15 9530 front angled view showing display and keyboard deck.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Dell XPS 14 is Dell’s answer to the MacBook Air, and while it may not have the same level of performance in some configurations, it does come pretty close. This version comes with an upper-range Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor that will handle most tasks you throw at it. You also actually get an excellent 16GB of RAM, more than you can get on some MacBook Airs, which is great if you do a lot of programming or CAD work. This version also comes with an Intel Arc graphics card under the hood, so you can get some light gaming done.

Alienware m18 R2 — $3,200 $3,800 16% off

The Alienware m18 R2 gaming laptop with Baldur's Gate 3 on the screen.
Dell

It’s not every day that you run into a massive 18-inch laptop, and if you’re the type of person who loves a bigger screen, the Alienware m18 R2 is one of the very few options you’ll find on the market. Under the hood, it runs a powerful RTX 4090, which should easily handle the 2K screen resolution, although it may struggle to hit a solid 165Hz refresh rate, at least without some graphical compromises. Besides that, the Intel Core i9 14900HX is one of the most powerful processors on the market, while the whopping 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage should be more than enough for pretty much anybody.

Alienware x16 R2 — $2,800 $3,300 15% off

Screen on the Alienware x16.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends / Digital Trends

If you need a lot of power under the hood of your gaming laptop, then you may want to consider the Dell Alienware x16, especially since it runs a mobile version of the RTX 4080, which is roughly at the same performance level as a desktop RTX 4070. That means that it’s an excellent FHD+ laptop, even when aiming for 100+ framerate, which is great since it has a 16-inch monitor that runs a whopping 480Hz refresh rate. While the GPU may not be able to hit both the max resolution and refresh rate with the highest graphical settings, it will get pretty close.

Dell G15 Gaming — $850 $1,000 15% off

Dell 15 Gaming Laptop front view showing display and keyboard deck.
Dell

If you’re looking for a good, budget-friendly gaming laptop, you’ll be happy to know that Dell has a great option for that, too, in the form of the Dell G15. It comes with an RTX 4050, a solid entry-level GPU that should let you play indie and casual games relatively easily, as well as some of the free-to-play games. As for the CPU, you get yourself an Intel Core i5-13450HX, which is a higher-end CPU that should easily handle most games you throw at it, including simulation and strategy games. On the other hand, it only comes with a 1TB SSD for storage, which is low for gaming, so you may want to supplement it with one of these external hard drive deals.

Alienware m16 R2 — $2,095 $2,395 13% off

The Alienware m16 R2 on a white desk.
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends

You need a gaming laptop if you want a device that’s designed to play the best PC games, and you can’t go wrong with the Alienware m16 R2. It’s powered by the 13th-generation Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM, and you’ll be able to enjoy its capabilities on the gaming laptop’s 16-inch display with QHD+ resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. You’ll be able to install multiple titles in the Alienware m16 R2’s 1TB SSD, and you can start doing so right after booting up because Windows 11 Pro is pre-loaded.

Dell Latitude 5550 — $1,739 $1,849 6% off

Overhead view of the Dell Latitude 5540 laptop against a white background.
Dell

The Dell Latitude 5540 is one of the best laptops made for business-related work, mostly due to the fact that it comes not only with a card reader but also a fingerprint reader, making it perfect for any sensitive work that requires tough security. Otherwise, the Lattitude 5540 is relatively normal, with a mid-range Intel Core Ultra 7 165U processor and a very reasonable 32GB of RAM, both of which should provide for smooth day-to-day usage. On the other hand, storage is a bit low at just 512GB, so you may want to supplement that with one of these external hard drive deals.

How we chose the best Dell deals

These deals made the list because they constitute some of the best and steepest discounts that we could find using our tracking tools and experience in historical pricing. It can be hard to pick a specific deal to put on the list, given how expansive Dell’s catalog of laptops is. Still, we do our best to be fully aware of all the various configurations and lineups that are generally available and how much they cost. On top of that, we compare the value of any individual deal against similar laptops from other brands with a similar configuration so we aren’t just adding deals to the list in a vacuum.

Altogether, that means that whenever you see a deal on this list, we’re picking something that will give you the best bang for your buck so that you can be sure anything you buy is of high quality at a reasonable price. We’re committed to leveraging our decades of expertise in both commerce and product reviews to help you decide what the best product deal for you is.

Albert Bassili
Former Deals Writer
Albert’s been a tech and gaming writer for over a decade, writing for websites such as CNET, PopSci, and How-To-Geek, and…
The Apple iPad Pro M4 is $200 off at Best Buy, and it’s incredible
Apple Pencil Pro and M4 iPad Pro.

We often see iPad deals on cheaper models, but the biggest and best? Not so much. That’s changed today, with $200 off the Apple iPad Pro 13-inch M4 at Best Buy. A true laptop replacement and a powerhouse of a tablet, it’s ideal for anyone with ambitions and high-end needs. We’re here to tell you all about it before you commit to the buy button.

Why you should buy the Apple iPad Pro 13-inch M4
Our iPad Pro review called it "the best tablet I’ve ever used." It offers a "lovely design and build" with a "sublime OLED screen," "top-notch speakers," and "surprisingly good battery life." Its "blistering performance is a huge highlight." with its M4 chip seen in the best MacBooks, so you know you're getting speed and quality.

Read more
The perfect gamer gift: The Alienware m16 gaming laptop is $445 off
An Alienware m16 gaming laptop in use on a desk, playing Baldur's Gate III.

For one of the best gaming laptop deals around, check out what Dell has to offer. Whether you’re looking for a gift for someone else or you want to treat yourself, you’ll love being able to buy the Alienware m16 R2 gaming laptop for $1,950 right now. It normally costs $2,395, so you’re saving $445 off the regular price, which is a pretty sweet deal. We’re here with all the insight into what this laptop has to offer, but bear in mind that the deal is likely to end soon.

Why you should buy the Alienware m16 R2 gaming laptop
One of the best gaming laptop brands around, Alienware knows what gamers love. Its M series is powerful if bulky, so this range is best for those looking for a desktop replacement and not too fussed about portability. This particular model has an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU teamed up with a huge 64GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage. It has a graphics card that’s slightly less powerful than the top-of-the-line: an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060. There’s a good amount of future proofing here, particularly with the large storage, given game installs are getting pretty hefty these days.

Read more
Today only: 55% off the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 5 opened up on a table.

Today is the last day of Lenovo's 4-Day Sale, which means there are plenty of great laptop deals happening, but you have to act fast. We’ve picked out one of our very favorites: the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 is down to $1,080. According to Lenovo, that’s reduced from $2,399, but as experienced folk know, Lenovo tends to be a little optimistic with its estimated value system. What we do know though is that $1,080 is a great price for the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4. Here’s a deeper look at what it has to offer, but remember: the sale ends today so you only have hours to snag this offer.

Why you should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4
Lenovo is one of the best laptop brands, particularly for business laptops, so the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 4 is built to last. With this particular model, you get a 13th-generation Intel Core i5-1335U CPU along with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. That trio forms essentially the core things you need from a business laptop. There’s also a great looking 14-inch WUXGA screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution, 45% NTSC, 300 nits of brightness, and anti-glare properties. It’s a little smaller than some other laptops, but that means it’s very portable and you can easily take it with you on your travels.

Read more