Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Dell Back-to-School Sale 2020: The 5 best deals

No one is 100% sure what school will look like this year, which is why back-to-school sales are more important than ever. The lack of certainty about school during the pandemics makes the reliability of our tech that much more important. Right on cue, Dell is here with their some amazing discounts on computing and peripherals, including some amazing laptop deals. Whatever your school situation this coming fall, the best, most efficient computing power will be at the top your list of needs — and Dell is here for it.

Dell Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

— $41, was $50

How to build a remote office with Dell

Wireless accouterments can make all the difference between a depressing dorm setup where you feel chained to your desk and a computer and entertainment system that you can’t wait to log on to. A wireless mouse and keyboard are key variables in this equation. The keyboard is sleek and compact and can be the ideal addition to your desktop or tablet — and with muted typing, it’s ideal for room share situations, or just to keep your focus on what you’re doing. The wireless mouse promises smooth, accurate scrolling, and lets you manage your apps — whether browsing or doing schoolwork — from anywhere nearby. Setup is a cinch, and both wireless devices provide up to 12 months of battery life, which is incomparable. Imagine a whole year, never mind a whole school year, without having to replace batteries (it arrives with batteries for both in the box).

24-inch Dell Monitor (Full HD)

— $150, was $230

Contemporary computers can only be as good as their screens, and Dell’s 24-inch LED-backlit monitor can match or augment anything your computer throws at it. This screen is a student’s dream; its 24-inch LED-backlit monitor has 1,920 x 1,080 resolution (Full HD); that’s a 16:9 aspect ratio for all your viewing pleasure. It doesn’t matter if you’re using standard office software — for presentations, crunching numbers, or writing papers — this screen will give you the clearest, brightest picture. It also has a 60hz refresh rate, which is superb for gaming, as well as fast action. The IPS screen has 178 degrees of viewing angles, which means that when it’s time to relax, or entertain, you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite content from anywhere in your dorm or common. In terms of connectivity, there are two HDMI ports and a VGA port, so that this monitor is going to be friendly with any laptop, console, or desktop, as well as any camera, if your work requires video or image editing. A great monitor can really help with both schoolwork and casual computing — changing a laptop into a home office or entertainment system.

Dell Inspiron Desktop PC

— $400, was $430

Dell Inspiron Desktop PC Tower

For everyday student needs — which, unless you’re studying to be an audio engineer or video editor, pretty much over everyone — you don’t need to break the bank on a PC. Dell’s classic Inspiron is a solid, versatile machine, especially for under $400. It’s plenty powerful, boasting an Intel Core i3-9100 CPU, which is back up by 4GB of RAM. Meanwhile, it doubles down on its dependency with a 1TB 7,200rpm HDD; this is a more than generous amount of storage space, that can move data at impressive speeds. If you’re the kind of student who likes to game, there’s an Intel UHD Graphics 630 with shared graphics memory, which is helpful in that department. This Inspiron comes with a wired mouse and keyboard; add to that some speedy wireless and Bluetooth, as well as a 12-month subscription McAfee LiveSafe, and you’re all set for school in September.

Dell G3 15 Gaming Laptop

— $666, was $780

fortnite dell g3

Now, if you’re less of the kind of student who “likes to game,” than an actual bonafide gamer, the new Dell G3 15 Gaming Laptop could be for you. It’s basically the inverse of the Inspiron (this gaming laptop is 70% gaming, 30% everyday computer). It has a more discreet GPU and larger display than many of the other gaming laptops out there.

It’s plenty fast, with a 10th-generation Intel Core i5-10300H CPU and they’ve spared no expense with the graphics, supporting them with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. All these impressive specs are backed up with 8GN or DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB SSD, which will take care of you and all the newest, fastest games with the richest graphics. We love the IPS display, the 15.6 inches of which are killer for gaming. But it’s also equipped for everyday uses: You can rely on it for making presentations, number-crunching, writing papers as well as all your Zoom and other communication. Gaming laptops of this quality are usually in the $800 range, this one is a steal for $666 when you save an extra 10% using the SAVE10 at checkout.

Dell XPS 13 Laptop

— $702, was $850

The most popular of Dell’s laptops for a reason. It’s the baby bear of their laptop offerings: Not too big, nice and powerful, sleek and portable — just right. There’s a good way to make sure a student has everything they need in a laptop — give them more than they need, and this laptop does just that. It has a 13.3-inch Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen, which is ultra responsive and boasts brilliant colors. The keyboard is sizeable and user-friendly (big keycaps). It has a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM, which is more than any student will ever need and will guarantee lightning-fast and uninterrupted performance. In terms of storage, it has a 256 GB PCIe SSD, making backups and other file transfers fast as can be. As for that other all-important element for students, battery life, with the XPS you can count on 12 hours.

Jacob Silver
An avid cook, boxer, reader, and binger of Netflix (and Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon and more) Jacob Silver writes deals posts about…
5 gaming PC deals worth buying in Dell’s Black Friday in July sale
The Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition Gaming Desktop, placed on a desk.

Dell has some of the best gaming PC deals available today thanks to its Black Friday in July sale cutting prices to a great level. If you've been waiting to upgrade your gaming desktop for a while, this is your chance to get more for your money. With so many discounts around, we've narrowed things down to our five favorite gaming PC deals available right now. Let's take a look.
Alienware Aurora R13 Gaming PC -- $1,100, was $1,550

The Alienware Aurora R13 gaming desktop is ideal for PC gamers who don't want to spend thousands. It has a 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, and 256GB of SSD storage. We'd prefer to see more storage but if you just play a few different games, it's perfectly suitable. More important is the graphics card -- the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT which should be fine for most games. You also get a great case that offers tool-less access for any time you want to upgrade something. A better cooling system is also included compared to previous generations.

Read more
My 5 favorite laptop deals in Dell’s Black Friday in July sale
Dell XPS 15 9530 front angled view showing display and keyboard deck.

Dell is always a great destination for the best laptop deals and right now, there are so many that we've picked out five of our favorite laptop deals so you know which ones to home in. We've considered different price ranges as well as different requirements so there are budget options as well as gaming laptops too. You'll want to get straight on with knowing what the deals are given they won't stick around forever, so let's take a look at the highlights.
Dell Inspiron 15 -- $330, was $430

Thanks to Dell being one of the best laptop brands, you can trust in its budget range such as the Dell Inspiron 15. This particular model offers an 11th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. That's a fairly simple spec but it works well with Windows 11 Home in S Mode. It also has a 15.6-inch full HJD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and 250 nits of brightness. Other useful features include roomy keycaps, a spacious touchpad, narrow borders, and tiny rubber feet and bumpers on the hinge to keep it from skidding.

Read more
This Dell desktop PC is $500 right now, but it’s selling fast
dell inspiron desktop deal april 2023 pc lifestyle

While we often see a lot of great deals on flashy gaming PCs, we don't often see great deals on pure work or school PCs, which is why we were happy to see this deal on the Dell Inspiron Small Desktop PC. It's also a great option if you have a smaller office or space at home that can't fit a full-sized tower, even if you're not aiming for a work or business laptop. Even better, while it usually goes for $650, Dell has discounted it to $500.

Why you should buy the Dell Inspiron Small Desktop PC
While budget-oriented desktops tend to have poor CPUs, we're happy to say that the Dell Inspiron Small Desktop PC comes with a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400, a mid-range CPU that's more than enough to handle most productivity you'll throw at it. While it might struggle a little with some editing tasks, such as graphics or music production, it should still be able to handle them with limits. Ironically, even though the i5-13400 is one of the best processors for gaming, the Small Desktop doesn't come with any. Still, if you're a bit tech-savvy, you can pick a great graphics card and install it yourself, assuming the motherboard version you get is compatible.

Read more