The annual American retail holiday of shoving, saving and shopping is once again upon us, with retailers real and digital all pitching to go bigger and better this Black Friday than they did the last.
Thanksgiving has almost become a mere commercial break between the buildup to Black Friday and the climax: the in-store stampede.
As in years past, transient savings on technology will be the big-ticket draw for most savvy shoppers. Tablets, TVs, Smartphones and, despite their low prices, Chromebooks.
Black Friday Chromebook Deals
In years past you’d only know what discounts to expect on the day, once you’d elbow-wrestled your way through the doors of Best Buy or Walmart. Now everything is leaked online ahead of time to build demand, reach a wider audience, and otherwise lure you into a false sense of bargainhood.
Below are some of the best Chromebook offers you’ll find this Black Friday. They’re not the only ones, so add any ones you find to the comments and I’ll update accordingly.
Chromebooks ($100 – $200)
The latest Intel-based Acer Chromebook 2 is rocking up in the deals list of several retailers this Black Friday.
Best Buy knocks $50 off the $199 price tag of the 11.6-inch version, kitted out with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage.
- Where: Best Buy, in-store and online
- When: November 27-29
Meijer offers the 11.6-inch Octa Chromebook 2 from Samsung for $199.
- Where: MEIJER, in-store
- When: November 27 only
If you fancy something a little bigger, the first-gen 13.3-inch Toshiba Chromebook is being discounted to $199.99 at Office Depot.
- Where: Office Depot, in-store and online
- When: November 27-29
Chromebooks ($200 – $300)
If you don’t fancy braving the hordes of deal-hungry shoppiers, Samsung is hawking two of its Chromebooks on its website with marginal discounts applied.
At a deal price of $349.99, the 13.3-inch Samsung Chromebook 2 (1080p resolution and an Exynos Octa processor) sees a decent drop of $50 of its regular price tag.
The newer but smaller sibling, the 11.6-inch Samsung Chromebook 2 (Intel Celeron), has a more modest deal price of $229, a $20 saving.
- Where: Samsung online (link)
- When: November 27 – December 1, but available to pre-order
Outside of Samsung, Office Depot is selling the HP Chromebook 14 G3 available for $30 off, down from $299.99 to $269.99. This gets you an Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage — not the best specs, but not a bad price, either.
- Where: Office Depot, in-store and online
- When: November 23 – 29
Accessories
Keep an eye out for discounts on things like Bluetooth speakers (work just dandy with Chrome OS), USB add-ons like external storage and USB keys, laptop sleeves, cases and bags (general rule of thumb: if it fits the 11-inch or 13-inch Macbook Air, it’ll fit a Chromebook).
Chromecast
The Google Chromecast is already dirt cheap, but that doesn’t stop stores from dropping the price even lower.
Best Buy is offering the HDMI streaming stick for a cent less than $24 — $11 off the RRP and it comes with 2 months of free Hulu Plus. It’s a crazy low entry fee to a world of total awesomeness.
- Where: Best Buy, in-store and online
- When: November 27-29