The 6 Best Places To Buy a Laptop in 2023

Purchasing a laptop is a big investment, making the search for your ideal model essential. You can look at options from many retailers, each with its own benefits and features that can impact your shopping experience, as well as the support you get after purchasing a laptop. Some stores offer in-store models to test out, while others have longer return periods, tech support, discounts, and other benefits.

Whether you’re deciding between a 2-in-1 laptop and Chromebook or you don’t know where to start your laptop search, our guide to the Best Places To Buy a Laptop will help you determine which retailer is the best fit for your tech needs and shopping preferences.

The Best Places To Buy a Laptop

#1 Best Buy
#2 Walmart
#3 Newegg
#4 Amazon
#5 Target
#6 Staples

Compare the Best Places To Buy a Laptop in 2023

Best Places To Buy a Laptop in Detail

This tech retailer is our No. 1 Best Place To Buy a Laptop in 2023. It offers a wide laptop selection, which includes many of the models in our Best Laptops of 2023 rating. Best Buy has over 900 locations in the U.S. where you can test out laptops in person and talk to a specialist. Its online store allows you to shop online and pick up in-store or have your laptop shipped to you.

Best Buy sells protection plans through its Geek Squad service that cover your laptop beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. The retailer matches prices of local and major retailers, including Amazon, Crutchfield, HP, and Dell, as well as any price dips at Best Buy within the return and exchange period.

A downside of shopping at Best Buy is its 15-day return period, which is one of the shortest return periods of the stores on our list. The return period is extended to 60 days, though, with the Totaltech program, Best Buy’s paid membership with tech-focused benefits.

See our Best Buy coupons for savings opportunities.

This department store that sells just about everything has a laptop inventory that rivals tech-specific retailers. Walmart sells several laptops that make our Best Laptops of 2023 rating.

Shoppers can purchase laptops in store and online. Walmart offers free shipping 's shipping is free for items that cost over $35 and offers price-matching. With more than 4,700 stores in the U.S. alone, you're likely to have a Walmart somewhere relatively close to you.

Walmart's return window for laptops is 30 days and. You can return items they can be returned in-store, by mail, or via a scheduled pickup from your home. The store also offers protection plans through Allstate that can be added for an additional cost.

See our Walmart coupons for savings opportunities.

This online-only retailer that has a large selection of laptops that made our Best Laptops rating. The company also stocks an extensive variety of other consumer electronics, computer parts, tablets, software, and office supplies, along with more general merchandise like apparel, sports equipment, and toys.

Although there's no option to see or purchase items in a store, the company does offer an unusually large choice of payment methods, including Apple Pay, PayPal, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. Installment financing also is available.

Shipping cost depends on the item purchased, unlike other retailers in this list, with most offering free shipping with a minimum purchase requirement. Newegg offers a price-match guarantee on specified items, but only after you purchase the item. Additionally, the return window is up to 30 days.

See our Newegg coupons for savings opportunities.

Coming in at No. 4 in our rating, Amazon offers numerous models from our Best Laptops of 2023 rating, matching Walmart. The company is known for its free two-day Prime shipping for many items and even faster shipping in some cases. Becoming an Amazon Prime member has a long list of other perks as well, including Prime Video content, discounts, and online photo storage.

The e-commerce site also hosts Prime Day, a summer sitewide sale that discounts many items, including laptops. On the downside, you can't buy a laptop in person. The retailer also doesn’t offer price-matching.

You can return laptops and other merchandise within 30 days via shipping or drop-off locations at an Amazon Hub Locker, UPS, Kohl’s, and other partner retailers.

See our Amazon coupons for savings opportunities.

Target sells a lot of things, including a good variety of laptops from well-known brands like Dell, Asus, HP, and Lenovo, in addition to a selection of pre-owned laptops. However, Target stocks considerably fewer models from our Best Laptops rating than other retailers in this list.

Unlike the online-only retailers we’ve listed here, Target has display laptops that you can test out in-store. You can shop in-store or online and receive free shipping on orders over $35 as well as free in-store pickup. Target accepts a variety of payment options, including PayPal and Apple Pay on the Target app, and installment financing is available. The company offers protection plans for laptops through Allstate along with tech service and support. Plus, it has a RedCard rewards program that offers 5% discounts on every purchase, among other benefits.

Target’s return policy allows most unopened items in new condition to be returned within 90 days; however, you’ll need to return laptops and other electronics within 30 days.

See our Target coupons for savings opportunities.

This office supply and electronics retailer has a decent selection of laptops, but like Target it sells only a few of the models in our Best Laptops of 2023 ratinglist. The company has a lot of other things going for it, though. You’ll find a wide choice of computer peripherals here along with just about everything else you need to fully stock your home office.

Like most of its competitors, Staples offers a loyalty program and in-store pickups and returns for items purchased online. There's no two-day shipping option, but shipping is free for orders of at least $25. The company offers two- and four-year electronics protection plans through Asurion. All plans include accident protection and technical support.

Technology purchases must be returned within 14 days. If you no longer have a receipt, you can get a refund to the credit card used to make the purchase. Otherwise, you’ll only be eligible for store credit.

See our Staples coupons for savings opportunities.

What Should I Look for in a Laptop Retailer?

Price

A lot of things go into a laptop's price, particularly processor speed, screen size, resolution, and memory. Where you make the purchase can also affect the price of a given machine. That said, because the market for laptops is so competitive, many retailers offer to match a competitor's lower price for the same make and model. Some of the retailers in our Best Places To Buy a Laptop list also offer installment financing, which can make an expensive purchase like this easier to swallow.

You may also want to check out coupons for these and other retailers on our Deals page.

Selection

Selection is important when buying a laptop for two reasons. First, if you know the make and model you want, you're more likely to find it at a retailer that sells lots of models. Second, if you're not sure what sort of laptop is best for you or you’re still deciding between an HP and Lenovo, visiting a retailer with a large selection lets you compare models and features so you can see what’s available.

Electronics stores like Best Buy sometimes have a better choice of laptops than more general-purpose retailers like Target, although this isn't always true. In addition, a company's online offerings are frequently more extensive than the selection in its brick-and-mortar locations (if it has any). Among the laptop retailers in our rating, Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon have a better selection of our Best Laptops of 2023.

In-person Viewing

Although you may find a wider selection at an online-only retailer like Amazon, there are distinct advantages to purchasing a laptop from a physical store where you can examine it first. Whether you’re just starting your laptop search or you’re torn between an HP and Dell laptop, trying models in person can guide you in the right direction.

Is the keyboard comfortable to type on? Is the screen bright and easy to read? Does the laptop weigh too much to cart around regularly? These and other questions are sometimes best answered after seeing the model you're considering in person.

In-Store Pickups and Returns

Even if you purchase a laptop online, it can be more convenient to pick it up in a store. Returns are often easier in person as well.

How To Buy a Laptop

To buy a laptop, follow these steps:

Decide how you’ll use it

Determine if you’ll use it just for basic computing tasks, like email and web browsing, or if you need it for more demanding jobs, like photo and video editing or gaming. While a midrange or budget laptop will suffice for surfing the web and using productivity apps, you’ll need a faster processor and more memory for gaming and photo or video editing.

Because most people keep their computers for at least several years, think about both your current and future needs when making your purchase decision.

Pick an operating system

Apple’s macOS, Microsoft’s Windows, and Google’s Chrome-OS are the three primary choices when it comes to operating systems. While all of them can handle basic computing tasks, if you need a computer for work, more companies use Windows than macOS machines. Macs are particularly good for photo and video editing, while gamers will appreciate laptops that run Windows and have dedicated graphics processors.

Students shopping for a new laptop should check to see which operating system their school prefers, and take advantage of back-to-school sales.

Finally, your choice of phone or tablet may also be a factor, since Apple computers like the MacBook Pro can sync easily with iPhones and iPads and even transfer files between them wirelessly.

Choose a screen size and resolution

The display is one of the most important parts of a laptop, as you will sometimes be staring at it for hours on end. Most laptop displays are 13 to 15 inches measured diagonally in a 16:9 or 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio (the ratio of width to height). That said, you can get screens that measure up to 17 inches.

When it comes to resolution, the main options are full high definition (FHD) at 1920 x 1080 pixels and ultra HD (UHD) at 3840 x 2160 pixels. At the screen size of a laptop, we don't recommend UHD because it costs more and you probably won't be able to see a difference.

Finally, consider whether you want a touch screen. If so, your choices will be limited to Windows and Chrome OS for now, as Mac laptops don't currently offer this feature as of this writing.

Choose a processor, storage, and memory

There's a trade-off between processor speed and battery life. Generally speaking, the faster the processor, the more battery power it uses. Midrange processors are fast enough for most people unless you're gaming or editing video. Even slower (and cheaper) processors are fast enough for basic tasks like emailing and web surfing.

When it comes to storage, many people make the mistake of not getting enough and eventually running out of room for their photos, videos, and other data. The 128-gigabyte (GB) drives that come on low-end machines are large enough for Chromebooks, but you’ll need at least 256 GB for macOS and Windows computers because those operating systems take up a lot more space, leaving you with less room for your files.

Finally, most Chromebook owners can get by with 4 GB of random access memory (RAM), which the computer uses for tasks like loading and running software. If you have a Windows or macOS laptop, get at least 8 GB of RAM – more if you play games or edit photos or videos on a regular basis.

For more information, see our guide on How To Buy a Laptop.

Find Laptop Coupons Online

Laptops can be expensive, but many manufacturers offer rewards and discounts. See the table below for details.

What's the Best Time of Year To Buy a Laptop?

The best times of year to buy a laptop are during the back-to-school and holiday seasons. Lots of parents buy laptops for their kids before school starts, and retailers often provide discounts during this time. Likewise, Black Friday and other holiday sales frequently offer deep discounts on a variety of electronics, including laptops.

You also can find deals on the previous year's model of a given laptop when a company releases a new model. This often happens in the spring, although Apple and Microsoft usually announces new products in the fall.

Learn More

For more information to help you purchase a new laptop, see our rating of the Best Laptops of 2023 and our profiles of specific models.

Reviewed Laptops

Other Ratings From 360 Reviews

Our 360 Methodology for Evaluating Best Places to Buy Laptops

The purpose of 360 Reviews by U.S. News & World Report is to evaluate products and services from multiple, diverse vantage points. We make recommendations based on an assessment of what matters to consumers, experts, and the community of professional reviewers. We convey what’s most important about a laptop retailer based on an unbiased evaluation of options commonly found in the consideration set. Our overarching goal is to empower consumers with the information and tools needed to make their own informed decisions.

The following describes our 360 approach to researching and analyzing the Best Places to Buy Laptops to provide guidance to potential customers looking for the right place to purchase a new laptop.

We researched the brands and products people care most about.

U.S. News analyzed and compared publicly available data to determine the retailers that consumers are most interested in and have had the best shopping experience with. Using a combination of professional and consumer reviews, we found 26 retailers that stood out in terms of volume of searches and consumer data. After this analysis, we narrowed the list down to the 7 best places to buy laptops of 2022. This allowed us to create a guide that provides a 360 overview of what consumers should consider when choosing where to purchase their laptop.

Calculating the Best Places to Buy Score

Our Best Places to Buy scoring methodology is based on a composite analysis of key characteristics of the retailers being evaluated, services available from each retailer, and the ratings and reviews published by credible third-party professional and consumer review sources. The ratings are not based on tests or experiences of U.S. News.

We generated a score for each of the 7 retailers for each of the following factors to combine with our 360 Overall Ratings based on analysis of third-party reviews and calculate the final 360 Best Places to Buy Score. The Best Places to Buy Score is used to determine the placement of each retailer on U.S. News 360 Reviews’ Best Places to Buy Laptops rankings guide. The Best Places to Buy Score comprises six elements described below:

We combined these scores and, using a weighted average formula based on the weight of each scoring element, calculated the consensus score for each retailer, which we call the 360 Best Places to Buy Score.