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• Firefox 85 now available with a major new privacy feature

  The release of Firefox 85 is significant in light of Google’s recent API restrictions.

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• Best cheap laptop deals and sales for October 2021

  It's a great week for cheap laptop deals if you're looking to spend under £300 this week. Offers from HP and Asus lead the way, so you've got a number of good options for an everyday browsing machine. That said, laptops with the specs to take on more demanding programs are up fo grabs too. Just scroll down to find big savings on premium ultrabooks and some excellent budget laptops at all-new low prices.

  Cheaper Chromebooks are offering some excellent extra features that we don't tend to see in the more affordable price ranges in this week's laptop deals. You'll also find spacious SSDs, speedy 11th generation Intel processors and Apple MacBooks all discounted as well.

  All the best cheap laptop deals available this week can be found just below. We're rounding them up here so you can save some serious cash on everything from budget laptops to powerful machines sporting the latest specs. We'll be keeping an eye out for especially good offers as this year's early Black Friday laptop deals should start appearing over the next few weeks.

  Cheap laptop deals by budget

  

  1. Cheap laptop deal of the week
  2. Under £200
  3. £200 - £300
  4. £300 - £400
  5. £400 - £600
  6. Over £600
  7. The best cheap laptops

  If you're shopping for cheap laptops, it can be difficult to know whether you're actually getting a good deal or just paying a low price for underperforming tech. It can be the difference between buying an excellent machine and saving some cash in the process and wasting money on an old computer that can barely run its own operating system. We've weeded out all the offers that won't be worth your time, so you can be sure you're picking up the best laptop deals out there this week.

  All your favourite retailers have been brought together for the very best cheap laptop deals available right now. We've broken down each machine by price so you can be sure to find the right laptop for your budget. Do keep checking in, too, as we’ll update this guide whenever a great laptop reaches our desk. 

  For you Apple fans, you might be interested in our MacBook prices and deals page too, or if you're just looking for the cheapest web surfer you can find, check out the best cheap Chromebook deals going right now.

  Cheap laptop deal of the week

  

  Asus C523NA laptop: £299.99 £229.99 at Amazon
  Save £70 – For those who want a larger screen then we'd definitely recommend this 15-inch laptop from Asus. With an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB and 64GB storage, this machine will be more than suitable for light work and basic office tasks. With a massive £70 discount right now as well you're getting a bargain.
  

  Cheap laptop deals under £200

  

  HP 11a Chromebook: £199 £149 at Currys
  Save £50 – The cheapest laptop deal we've found this week is over at Currys where you can get an HP 11a Chromebook for only £149. It features a near-identical spec to the Asus laptop below – with 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage – but you'll save yourself an extra £10. Well worth it if you're after the least expensive option for very basic work or school tasks.
  

  

  Asus Chromebook C223NA 11.6-inch Chromebook: £229.99 £159 at Amazon
  Save £70 - This entry-level Asus Chromebook has just dropped below £160 at Amazon, which means you can pick up a super cheap laptop for just £159 right now. With 4GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage you're not picking up a powerful machine here, but that Intel Celeron N3350 processor and the Chrome operating system will still offer a streamlined everyday experience on a low budget.
  

  

  Acer 514 14-inch Chromebook: £229 £199 at Currys
  Save £30 – It's not always easy to find a laptop with a 14-inch display for under £200, but this Acer 514 Chromebook just fits under the threshold. You get a decent Intel Celeron processor and 4GB RAM which is fine for basic browsing and simple tasks. The 32GB hard drive is a little limited but if you rely more on cloud storage you won't notice an issue.
  

  Cheap laptop deals from £200 to £300

  

  Asus C523NA laptop: £299.99 £229.99 at Amazon
  Save £70 – For those who want a larger screen then we'd definitely recommend this 15-inch laptop from Asus. With an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB and 64GB storage, this machine will be more than suitable for light work and basic office tasks. With a massive £70 discount right now as well you're getting a bargain.
  

  

  Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3i: £299 £239 at Currys
  Save £60 – We're big fans of the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet here at TechRadar so we absolutely want to shout about this £50 saving available at Currys. It's an excellent netbook that combines the best of a Chromebook and a tablet into one at an affordable price. It's small but for those who prioritise portability, you can't get much better.
  

  

  Asus M415DA laptop: £349.97 £249.97 at Box
  Save £100 – Electronics retailer Box has an excellent offer on a 14-inch Asus laptop this week with £100 off the regular price. The highlight is the 128GB SSD that's rarely found in laptops at this price point. You'd usually need to pay at least £50 more to get this super-fast storage. An AMD processor and 4GB round out a solid spec for everyday tasks.
  

  Cheap laptop deals from £300 to £400

  

  HP 14-inch laptop: £349 £319 at Currys
  Save £30 – A modest saving is available on this cheap HP laptop at Currys this week. We'd usually be more enthusiastic about it but the Dell laptop at the upper end of the previous price bracket is currently better value for money for a similar spec. Still, this is still a solid choice for an everyday laptop on a budget thanks to the speedy 128GB SSD storage.
  

  

  HP 15.6-inch laptop: £349 £329 at Currys
  Save £20 - There's a £20 saving on this cheap HP laptop at Currys right now, which is particularly impressive considering there's a massive 1TB hard drive packed in. While 4GB RAM and an AMD Athlon Silver processor won't be taking you too far into the world of demanding software, that's perfect for everyday browsing and light work.
  

  

  HP 14a Chromebook: £429 £349 at Currys
  Save £80 – If you're looking for a cheap laptop in this price bracket and your budget can stretch to £350 then we'd definitely recommend this 14-inch Chromebook from HP. The benefit of splashing the extra cash is the jump to 8GB RAM, which will be a terrific performance boost over our other picks – especially if you expect to do a lot of multitasking.
  

  Cheap laptop deals between £400 and £600

  

  Acer Swift 1: £429 at Very
  The HP laptops above dull just how good this cheap laptop deal from Acer is this week. Just comparing specs, you see this Acer Swift 1 only really offers a small upgrade with an Intel Pentium processor, 4GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. That's still an ideal set of components for a competent mid-range laptop. We include it here just in case the slightly cheaper options above sell out.
  

  

  Acer Spin 1: £499 £479 at Currys
  Save £20 – 2-in-1 laptops often cost a lot more than their standard counterparts for similar specs, but this Acer Spin 1 is priced extremely well at £479. You get an Intel Pentium processor and a solid 8GB of RAM to ensure strong general performance. The 256GB storage is healthy, too, but you can always make use of the cloud for even more room for your files.
  

  

  Dell Inspiron 15 3000 laptop: £599 £539 at Dell
  Save £35 – Here's a great offer on this Dell Inspiron laptop, which boasts a large and speedy 512GB SSD hard drive as well as a 15.6-inch display. Those are two great features at this price point. 8GB RAM and an AMD Ryzen 5 processor ensure this is a solid performer for your everyday needs.
  

  

  Asus VivoBook 15: £699.97 £599.97 at Box
  Save £100 – Box finds its way into our selection of this week's best cheap laptop deals for a second time with this £100 discount on the Asus VivoBook 15. This is a top-of-the-line spec for the price, including the latest generation Intel i5 processor, a whopping 16GB RAM and a healthy 512GB SSD. This will be able to handle just about everything you need - outside of gaming.
  

  Best laptop deals over £600

  

  Asus Vivobook S15: £699.99 £649.99 at Amazon
  Save £50 – This Asus Vivobook S15 is another great all-around performer. Key components include the Intel i5 processor and 512GB SSD, while the bump up to 16GB RAM is much appreciated to better support any multitasking you might need to do. One nice final touch is the backlit keyboard to help with typing.
  

  

  Apple MacBook Air (M1): £999 £899 at Amazon
  Save £100 - You're saving a healthy £100 on the latest MacBook Air here – and one with the powerful M1 chip at the helm no less. That's an excellent price - even if we have seen it around £20 cheaper in the past in a particularly speedy flash sale. This configuration offers 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.
  

  • Here's an extensive selection of cheap gaming laptop deals

  We'll continue adding the best cheap laptop deals in the latest sales as we find them. Up next, you'll find the latest prices on some of the most popular laptops around along with a list of retailers who often have a great selection of laptop sales if nothing else takes your fancy here.

  Which stores have decent cheap laptop sales?

  • Amazon: retail giant is often the cheapest in the UK.
  • John Lewis: models come with at least two-year guarantee.
  • Very: Often surprises with cheap prices on electronics.
  • Laptops Direct: specialist UK store has a huge selection of laptop deals.
  • ebuyer: the UK computing specialists have some great promotions.
  • Currys: the retailer that's seemingly always having a laptop sale.
  • AO: lots of cheap laptops at this growing electronics specialist.
  • Argos: home delivery or pick up a cheap laptop locally today.
  • Dell: get a great laptop deal direct from Dell.
  • Apple: MacBooks aren't exactly cheap, but they're excellent workstations

  The best cheap laptops

  The best cheap laptop deals are often to be found on lower priced machines that edge their way into the mid-range category with higher specs further up the scale. It's in this pocket of budget laptop shopping that you'll find some of the most compelling offers, bringing 8GB RAM / i5 processor / 256GB SSD configurations down to entry level prices during sales seasons. 

  

  1. Acer Chromebook 314

  A cheap and cheerful Chromebook regularly discounted

  CPU: Intel Celeron N4000 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 600 | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 14-inch LED (1366 x 768) high definition | Storage: 32GB eMMC

  Excellent value for money

  Strong performance

  Premium look and feel

  No touchscreen

  With a 12 hour battery life, bright 14-inch display and tactile keyboard, the Acer Chromebook 314 offers everything you could ask for in a cheap laptop. While this model doesn't quite stretch to 64GB, storage is easily expanded using a portable hard drive and there's a full array of ports to take advantage of as well (though limited display options). What's more, this is one of those rare cheap laptops that look and feel far more expensive than they actually are. Thin, light, and sturdy, this is an excellent machine to throw in a backpack and expect it to last all day.

  Read the full Acer Chromebook 314 review.

  

  2. HP Pavilion 15

  The de facto learning laptop lives on

  CPU: AMD dual-core A9 APU – Intel Core i7 | Graphics: AMD Radeon R5 – Nvidia GTX 1050 | RAM: 4GB – 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch HD (1,366 x 768) – FHD (1,920 x 1,080); touch optional | Storage: 128GB SSD – 1TB HDD

  Thinner and lighter

  Tons of options

  Regular discounts

  Shallow, squishy keyboard

  A sturdy choice for a study laptop for school/college/uni. The HP Pavilion 15 has plenty of power for the average student's needs while keeping the costs sensible. There are plenty of configurations available in this budget laptop as well. Some favour speedy SSDs, while others go for larger regular hard drives, so it all depends on what you're going to need more really. Faster loading or more space for storing media files and downloads.

  Check out the best HP laptops 

  

  3. Asus Vivobook 15

  Mid-range specs for entry level prices

  CPU: Up to Intel i7 | Graphics: Nvidia | RAM: Up to 16GB | Screen: FHD (1920x1080) | Storage: 128GB SSD – 1TB HDD

  Versatile and powerful

  Full HD screen

  Regularly discounted

  The Asus Vivobook 15 can usually be found from £399 upwards, offering baseline specs that vastly outperform many of the Chromebooks usually found at this price point and ranging all the way up to incredibly powerful configurations should you need them. With an expansive Nano-Edge display, you're even getting a full 15.6-inch sized laptop here, coming in at just 1.6kg, a fingerprint sensor and options for speedy Intel Optane memory as well. 

  Cheap laptops: what to look out for

  Cheap laptops can often lure shoppers in with a sub-£200 price tag, but unless you're picking up a Chromebook you're unlikely to get your money's worth with these particular models. Chromebooks largely run on Chrome OS, which means they rely less on more expensive components and more on cloud-based services provided by Google Chrome. That means you'll regularly find cheap laptops under £200 that are well worth your cash - provided they were built with this functioning in mind. 

  These kinds of budget laptops are regularly found on sale, but every now and then we do spot savings that offer mid-range specs for entry level prices.

  • What are the best Chromebooks available now?

  It's worth looking out for cheap laptop deals that offer a Windows 10 operating system, but only 16 or 32GB of storage space. You'll likely speed through those gigabites faster than you'd think, and storing those hefty Windows 10 updates often presents a new challenge in its own right. That means the smallest we would recommend on this page is a 64GB hard drive if you're running a Windows 10 or 10s operating system. 

  Cheap laptops can also come with the caveat that they don't offer an operating system at all. These FreeDOS laptops can sometimes be appealing (and if you're up for installing your own copy of Windows or Linux, they often deserve to be), but it's important to check that spec and low price before you buy. We do feature the odd freeDOS budget laptop on this roundup, as they can prove cost effective, but we'll make sure you know when we do. 

  • Where to buy Windows 10 
  • Where to buy Microsoft Office
  • Best Laptop 2021: our pick of top 15 laptops on the planet

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• Slack will now let anyone send you a DM

  Users can now send direct messages outside of their organization using Slack Connect.

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• GPUs are back on the shelves – is the shortage finally over?

  Reddit users are starting to report that graphics card availability has increased over the last few weeks, posting images and videos taken from stores that are displaying plentiful stock of popular GPUs.
  
  It's a far cry from this time last year, when the best graphics cards were being snapped up online en mass by bots, and people had to queue around several blocks if they wanted to try and purchase a card from a brick and mortar store.

  we_are_emerging_from_dark_age from r/pcmasterrace

  Most of the images appear to be taken at various Micro Center stores across the US, so it's also worth noting that while this is good news for those who live in the States, it's not an accurate representation of the global market, with some users noting that other regions such as Eastern Europe are still facing shortages.

  micro_center_stock from r/pcmasterrace

  There is another positive to come from this though – while almost every GPU is still listed at a price over its MSRP, availability was one of the forces driving these price increases in the first place. 

  With stock now so readily available, it's not impossible that the current generation of cards from the AMD RDNA 2 and Nvidia Ampere family could be available at the price they were supposed to be selling for at launch... albeit by the time that the next GPU generation launches.

  i_forgot_to_record_the_shelf_with_the_3050_3060 from r/pcmasterrace

  We're already seeing prices start to plummet too, so while you might find cards like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 are still more expensive than they should be, they're becoming more affordable with each passing month. That said, there's no guarantee that we will see current GPUs completely drop to their MSRP given inflation and various other market conditions that have appeared over the last two years.

  Waiting a little while longer may still drop the prices though, so we're certainly in a much better place than we were last year. If you've been waiting for the GeForce RTX 3080 or Radeon RX 6800XT to fall to a reasonable price, now is your chance to snap one up.

  ---

  Analysis: Why is the GPU market improving?

  There's no singular reason that we're seeing these improvements, rather, a mix of various changes have collectively helped to boost availability, and reduce demand in areas outside of PC gaming and building enthusiasts.

  Mining Ethereum using commercial cards is no longer as viable as it was now that the cryptocurrency has moved to proof-of-stake, chip production has been steadily recovering to meet demands and we're about to see more competition hit the market with the Intel Arc Alchemist desktop graphics card, introducing team blue to the current duopoly of AMD and Nvidia.
  
  It's unlikely that Intel's offerings can go toe-to-toe with the heavy hitters such as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT or the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, but it could bring more affordable cards to consumers who don't need that much power. This makes for a great first GPU, especially if you're planning to run low-demand games and applications. 

  Many major manufacturers all predicted that the GPU market should see some huge improvement by at least 2023, and the current data we're seeing does appear to back this up. If you're waiting for prices to drop further than there's a good chance they will, but it's unlikely we will see any of the flagship cards fall under MSRP, and cheap GPUs may even be a thing of the past entirely. For now at least, there's hope for those who have been waiting for two years to upgrade their system or build their first PC.

  • If you're patient then waiting for the Nvidia Lovelace GPUs might be a better option

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