I love Chromebooks of all sizes, shapes, and spec-levels, but there is one kind of Chromebook I loathe with every fiber of my being: overpriced Chromebooks. 2020 has been a bad year for them, too, because the Chromebook shortage that put so many new models on backorder left a hole in the market that older models have decided to fill at their original MSRP instead of doing the reasonable thing and discounting according to how far into their support life they are. After all, why would you pay $550 for a two-year-old Chromebook that's only getting Chrome OS for another four years when there are $400 Chromebooks that will be getting Chrome OS updates until June 2028?
That's why you should skip this Cyber Monday lightning deal on the Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 and buy one of the following three Chromebooks instead!
The best value around don't need no stinkin' sale!
This Chromebook holds the crown in our Best Chromebooks roundup because it gives you a phenomenal value at a great starting price at $410: a 13.3-inch 1080p touchscreen, a backlit keyboard, front-facing speakers, and an Intel Core i3 processor.
The Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook is what I've used during this marathon of a shopping week, as the screen is big enough to comfortably split-screen my writing and research windows. The battery lasts an average of 10 hours between charges, and it's powerful enough to juggle 10-20 tabs at a time. This Chromebook may not have a built-in stylus like the Plus V2, but it has USI support, so you can buy a pen that'll work great and is easier to hold for long periods! And again, this puppy will get Chrome OS updates until June 2028, meaning that if your kid treats her right, your Flex 5 will last you pre-teen clear through middle school and high school!
Want something that's on sale and a little smaller? Here are two compact Chromebook deals that are better than the Plus V2:
The Lenovo Flex 3 has hit $179 three times before, and each time it does, it sells out. This touchscreen 2-in-1 will get Chrome OS updates until Just 2026, it has the same guts as my beloved Lenovo C330, but the Platinum Grey shell here will age more gracefully and hide scratches and dust more easily.
Despite coming out less than two months ago, the latest Acer 11-inch Chromebook is already discounted at Costco. I've worked full-time on this Chromebook for over a month, the 64GB gives you extra room for offline movies and games, and this bundle comes with a sleeve and a mouse, perfect for your kid's first Chromebook. This puppy's AUE date is June 2028.
The Lenovo Flex 3 is the spiritual successor of the Lenovo C330, a popular Chromebook that got the $179 Cyber Monday deal last year and is now selling for $300 on Amazon today because retailers have no shame and its successor the C340-11 has been hard to find for the last six months. Even the C330 at $300 is still a better deal than the Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 at $480 because the C330 has an Auto Expiration Date of June 2025, meaning you'll get an extra year of use out of it before it stops getting updates and needs to be relegated to non-essential tasks or flashed over to some Chromium-based Linux distribution.
Meanwhile, the newest Acer Chromebook Spin 311 is down to less than the year-old C330 and will get Chrome OS updates for the next 8.5 years, making it the best option in this entire spread if you want a lightweight laptop for your kid. Heck, even the regular $300 price at Walmart is still a dang good deal for a Chromebook that could last you for most of the next decade.
The same goes for the 128GB Lenovo Chromebook Duet that's $299 at Best Buy. The Duet was on sale for $229 a few days ago, but if you missed that, $299 for a Chrome OS tablet with a great screen and an included kickstand and keyboard is nothing to sneeze at!!
