Black Friday sales in Australia: How to find a great laptop deal

There's a good chance that you will have at least heard of the Black Friday sales by now: every year, masses of gadgets and tech go on sale for the Friday (and often Saturday and Sunday) following the US's Thanksgiving holiday. This year, Black Friday will fall on Friday, 24 November in Australia. While the trend may originate in the US, it's recently become popular among Aussie retailers too — and the prices are usually pretty scrumptious. 

Laptop PCs are one of the more popular items to grab during these sales and, considering how expensive they usually are, this makes for a great opportunity to save big dollars.

Naturally, it won't just be the latest premium models that see a price drop. These bigger sales are often used to lure buyers into checking out the manufacturer's other products, and it's here that they may try and flog older models with dated hardware as a supposed bargain.

Black Friday is certainly a good time to shop for a notebook, and we'll be highlighting the best deals as they arrive, but it can also be a time to watch out for deals that aren't quite as good as they claim.

That's why we've put this guide together, to help you pick out the best laptop for your specific needs and to equip you with the knowledge you need to weed out the potential bargains and the pseudo sales.

We'll mostly be looking at Windows laptops in this guide but we will touch briefly on the alternatives.

The features to watch out for

Wondering what to keep an eye out for when purchasing a Windows laptop?

First up, the brand name is an important consideration and it rolls both ways. Something like Microsoft’s Surface Book is a very expensive item, and there are definitely much cheaper 2-in-1 laptops out there.

But on the other hand, diving into the unknown with an unheard-of brand that's apparently a 'bargain' could be a disaster. So while you may be saving a good amount on a budget laptop, we'd exercise a good degree of caution when mulling over purchasing a notebook called something like the ‘CubeMaestro FireSpark 5000GT’.

In the long run, from a quality (and tech support) point of view, it’s safest to buy from an established PC manufacturer. By that, we mean the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo or indeed Microsoft – in other words, the common names you’ve heard of.

Of course, our extensive library of laptop reviews is always handy for helping to suss out the best brands and models.

Sizing it all up

It may seem obvious, but you need to consider the overall size of the machine. This is typically dictated by the display size and will be found in common variations such as 13-inch, 14-inch, 15-inch or 17-inch. (There are also slightly smaller and larger laptops out there, but these are the most common sizes.)

Smaller notebooks are obviously more portable, and generally speaking can be cheaper. Larger models offer a bigger screen, as the size of the chassis dictates the size of the display, obviously enough. More space inside generally means more powerful components can potentially be fitted, and a bigger battery (and full-size keyboard) although this is not always the case, so keep one eye on the spec sheet.

If you intend to carry the machine around with you a lot, then a more svelte, compact notebook which is lighter (at least less than 2kg, ideally less than 1.5kg, and indeed the closer to 1kg, the better) is likely to be a good move in the long run.

Process this

Diving into the internals, the most important considerations are the elements that make up the core system of your laptop in terms of performance. These include the processor, system memory, storage, and to a lesser extent – depending on whether you’re looking for a gaming machine – the graphics subsystem. 

Starting with the processor, the majority of CPUs you’ll see will be made by Intel, and the Core i5 model is a decently beefy choice. Core i7 models are the top-end, but most folks won’t need that sort of power (unless you’re into serious gaming, video editing or other heavyweight tasks). Indeed, the entry-level Core i3 is a fine choice for a budget machine that won’t be used for anything particularly taxing.

To confuse matters a little more with Intel’s mobile processors designed for notebooks, these also carry a letter (or two) in the name to indicate the product range and target market. For solid performance in everyday use, look for a ‘U’ model, such as the Core i5-7200U (a very commonly-used mid-range processor).

Adding to the already-confusing nomenclature for processors, there are also ‘HQ’ or ‘HK’ processors (for example, Core i7-7820HQ), which are speedier models aimed at gamers and heavyweight usage. And there are also ‘Y’ models which can run without a fan to cool them, and thus fit into very slim laptops at the expense of processing power (and hence, performance). Note that the Y series chips feature ‘Core m’ models (m3/m5/m7), which you can simply think of as another way of labelling these as slower CPUs.

Further note that the first number in the processor-specific model code – ‘7Y30’ for example – refers to the generation of the CPU. An ‘8’ means the processor is part of Intel’s latest 8th-generation, and a ‘7’ (as present in our example) denotes 7th-gen Kaby Lake, with a ‘6’ referring to 6th-gen Skylake. Any CPU older than that points to a retailer flogging off a venerable old notebook, so steer clear.

At the very bottom of Intel’s processor pile, there are Atom, Pentium and Celeron CPUs. These offer the lowest levels of performance, although you can get by with a Pentium or Celeron in a budget machine. Intel Atom processors are generally found in the truly bargain basement portables, and really, they aren’t ideal for keeping things running smoothly as a result. You’ll manage okay for, say, basic web surfing, but overall this may be a compromise too far for many folks.

Intel isn't your only option however, there's also an AMD APU, an Accelerated Processing Unit which consists of a CPU combined with a GPU (graphics accelerator) on the same chip. These are a budget alternative used in some notebooks, but don’t expect any great shakes in the performance stakes. AMD’s soon-to-arrive Ryzen mobile CPUs may well change this picture considerably, though.

In conclusion, if you're after solid performance, you’re looking for a Core i5-xxxxU (where ‘xxxx’ is the specific model number of the processor), but if you want a super-slim notebook, it’ll likely have a Y model. If you’re looking at the budget end of the market, a Pentium or Celeron CPU is just fine, and indeed often par for the course – and an Atom can still do a serviceable job in a pinch, but we'd recommend against it.

Memory matters

System RAM is a processor's best friend and, as a result, factors into performance as well. Ideally you want 4GB, if not 8GB for future-proofing (and certainly that much for gaming). Although some budget laptops may still run with 2GB, we really don't recommend that for Windows 10 if you want a decently responsive experience. You may see the speed of the RAM quoted in MHz, but don’t worry too much about that; it’s the quantity which is the real defining factor in terms of performance.

Storage selection

Thankfully, most laptops these days will be using an SSD (solid-state drive) for storage, which means very responsive performance (apps will load extremely quickly). Some cheaper laptops will have eMMC drives which use flash memory just like an SSD, but they’re considerably slower. Bear that in mind if you want optimal performance.

Budget laptops often use eMMC because it's an effective way for laptop manufacturers to cut corners and costs. This is often a worthwhile compromise to save some dosh, as these drives are still faster than a traditional hard disk (if only slightly in some cases – but performance of any drive can vary quite widely depending on the exact model and manufacturer).

A traditional hard drive (often referred to as an HDD, or hard disk drive) is the slowest storage medium, but the strong suit here is that you can get far bigger capacity drives (like 1TB) even in budget machines. A speed in RPM may be quoted with a hard drive, and the faster ones run at 7200 RPM, with slower drives pitched at 5400 RPM. The latter may be rather sluggish, as a rule of thumb, but once again, bear in mind that as with SSDs, performance will vary across individual drives.

Reviews are your friend here, so don’t be afraid to Google a particular model and look for an evaluation or two (and again, you can check out TechRadar’s review section).

Graphics and display

Most laptops will have integrated graphics, meaning the GPU is built into the CPU, and as a result performance is always pretty limited. With integrated graphics – referred to as Intel HD Graphics, or Intel Iris, when it comes to Intel processors – you’ll be able to play casual games, but nothing more. And that’ll be fine for the majority of laptop users.

If you're keen on some more performance-hungry functions like video and photo editing, or if you're into gaming, then you'll need what’s known as a discrete GPU, which is just another way of saying a graphics solution that is separate from the processor. As an example, the GeForce MX150 is Nvidia’s current (Pascal-based) entry-level mobile GPU, but you may well need to fork out for something with more oomph than that (for example, a GeForce GTX 1060, although things quickly get expensive with the more powerful GPUs).

A quick word on the screen: many laptops will offer a Full HD display these days, which is a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. However, towards the budget end of the market, you’ll still find plenty of machines with a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels, and that’s still fine, particularly with a smaller screen (like a 13-inch model). Indeed, a lower resolution can be a benefit of sorts for a lesser-spec laptop, insomuch as there are fewer pixels for the CPU and graphics solution to shift, so things are more likely to run a bit more smoothly on low-end hardware.

This is something gamers should bear in mind, too. That 4K screen might look great, but it will take a serious toll on the notebook’s core components – you’ve got to wonder whether a smoother frame rate isn’t more important than the image quality here. Also remember a 4K display really drains the battery, too, which is a component that can already struggle in a gaming laptop.

Alternative platforms

Oranges aren’t the only fruit – there are apples out there, too. As well as Windows laptops, there are also MacBooks and Chromebooks which may well be heavily discounted come Black Friday.

If you can cope with their lightweight cloud-centric nature, many Chromebooks are already priced very keenly, so can present some truly tempting offers when their asking prices are knocked down further.

MacBooks also present a slick alternative to Windows notebooks, albeit at the other end of the price scale from Chromebooks. But still, there are definite bargains to be had on the Apple notebook front, and we’ll be covering those angles in a separate feature.

Our deal predictions

Microsoft’s pricey Surface Book is a great candidate for a big Black Friday reduction, due to a couple of factors. Firstly, the sequel to the hybrid is (hopefully) not far away, and secondly, following the release of the Performance Base, the entry-level model of the Surface Book has already been reduced to $1,837.

The same fate could well befall the Surface Pro 4, which has been more or less replaced with Microsoft's refresh of the line (simply called, Surface Pro). At present, the entry-level Surface Pro 4 is $899 on Microsoft's official store but we could see a big reduction in price on these so that the suppliers can move some serious stock. 

Naturally, along with all the expected savings in the Surface line, you can expect some reductions on the associated accessories, so keep an eye out if you're after a new Type Cover or Surface Pen.

As we already mentioned, there will probably be some extremely cheap Chromebooks on the go, so definitely keep your eye on them. Last year we saw quite a number of the $200-300 web-surfing laptops get discounted, so keep an eye out for the lower end savings.

Expect some similar super-wallet-friendly notebook deals, and bear in mind these will likely be older models running Intel’s Atom CPU (which we discussed above – but at this sort of price, it’s difficult to complain about the spec).

• Hopefully some of our best laptops of 2017 will get some beefy discounts
• Check out the discounts at any time of the year with our best laptop deals in Australia.

Contributer : Techradar - All the latest technology news http://ift.tt/2yNbzDB