Black Friday Laptop Guide: 2012

Black Friday 2012: What are the best laptop deals this week?

When looking to purchase a new laptop, the number of options can be almost as overwhelming as the prices. Usually, the hardware that is the fastest with the latest features is the farthest from your ideal price. Do you want a regular laptop, or are you willing to pay more for a feather-light low profile ultra book? No two laptops are the same, just like no two buyers have the exact same needs -so how do you know what's a good deal and what's just cheap?

First, a laptop shopper has to consider what sort of performance they need out of a machine. If you're a "regular" user and you plan to shop online (for the next gadget on your list), post your social statuses and watch Netflix videos -you don't really need the best specs available. Gamers who run MMORPG's or first person shooters with high definition graphics are probably going to want some more specific video capabilities. Designers who need to run photo or video editing software are probably going to be looking toward the lightning-fast solid state drives and higher amounts of RAM.

If you're shopping for a laptop and you want to find a great deal on something that will do what you need it to, and still make you feel like the best bargain hunter in town -you've come to the right place.

The short-lived crown jewel on this year's Black Friday laptop market is this MacBook Air 11.6 with a 1.7 Ghz intel core i5 processor. It's got the basic 4GB of RAM, which is plenty if you're just a regular person looking to surf the web and run everyday programs for school or work. It's thin and light like an ultrabook -weighing just 2.38 lbs, has a built in 720p webcam (for face-timing with your cousins at the family Christmas party) and it's $799 through Wednesday, November 21st!

The Lenovo Z580 Notebook PC on our hot deals forum is a value trailblazer at a total price (after coupon with free shipping) of $519 at Tiger Direct. Again, it's got the basic 4GB RAM, an impressive 500GB HDD with a DVDRW and a larger 15.6" display. It's got Windows 8 -64 bit, and at a discount like this it isn't likely to last long.

Some tech junkies need a little something extra in the performance department, and this year's Black Friday deals won't dissapoint -Sam's Club has this HP Pavillion 14" Notebook with 6GB of RAM, for the in-store only prices of $399! This sweet deal also comes with 2 USB 3.0 hubs, a USB 2, an HD webcam and HDMI outs for when you want to watch media on a big screen instead of the modest 14" LED screen.

6GB is nice, and this next special has that going for it as well -but it's also got a bigger screen, 500GB HDD and a Core i5 processor. The HP Envy 15.6" laptop is priced at $599 at Office Max -that's only a hundred dollars more than the Pavillion above, and $200 less than the regular $699 price.

For those who need a machine that can handle gaming and entertainment, this HP Pavillion 15.6" at Sam's Club is buff enough to stand out from the deals we've listed so far. The "Entertainment Notebook" as they call it in the ad description, is a bit faster with a respectable 8GB RAM, a bigger 15.6" screen, a SuperMulti DVD burner, Beats audio, HDMI out and CoolSense technology to keep the machine from heating up like a Turkey in the oven on Thursday morning. The price is equally respectable at $599, in store only.

Finally, if you really want to brag about finding the best deal on a laptop this season, check out this Toshiba Satellite S855-S5377 Laptop at Office Max. For ten bucks less than the HP Entertainment package above, you get 8GB of RAM, a whopping 750GB HDD space and a 15.6" Widescreen TruBrite TFT HD Display. At $589 this might just be the best Black Friday laptop deal you'll find -aren't you glad you read this far!?