TL;DR: CamelCamelCamel is fantastic! It's an amazing tool for methodical price tracking. Set an alert to snag your laptop at its absolute lowest price!

To add to the point above: unfortunately, CamelCamelCamel has been kinda disappointing for me lately. I've had issues with their email alerts arriving way too late, which is a total dealbreaker when you're trying to grab a laptop before school starts. It's not as good as expected when prices are moving every hour... you basically miss the window. You might wanna look into Keepa instead. It's way more technical and the charts are updated constantly. I usually use a free price tracker that offers a browser extension because it puts the graph right on the Amazon page. Much better than switching tabs constantly. Just be careful with the filters because it can get messy with third-party sellers vs shipped from Amazon. Let me know if you need help setting it up tho, I've spent way too much time staring at these charts.

Same here!

Just caught this thread. Regarding what #3 said about Keepa, it's definitely the gold standard for data nerds, but it might be a bit of a learning curve if you're in a rush. Quick question tho... which laptop model are you actually eyeing? If it's something like a MacBook, the prices are pretty predictable, but Windows machines like Dell or HP can swing wildly every few hours. I've been doing this for years and honestly, I don't just stick to one site anymore. I usually use Price Drop Catch since it tracks Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy all in one place. Laptops are one of those things where Best Buy will often undercut Amazon just to clear out inventory, so if you only watch one store, you're gonna miss the best deals. Also, check if there's an 'Open Box' option. I've grabbed 'Excellent' condition units for way less than the 'on sale' new price and they're basically untouched. Just make sure the warranty is still solid before you pull the trigger.

@Reply #2 - good point! Honestly, you gotta use Keepa. Its way better for technical data and the data sets are just amazing! It gives you way more granularity than any other tool out there. I love it because it updates so fast, which is crucial when you need a laptop like... yesterday. Just go with ASUS, you seriously cant go wrong with them for school stuff. Or grab any Lenovo if you want something really reliable. Both brands are fantastic for students on a budget. Keepa tracks the lightning deals too which is basically essential if you wanna catch those massive drops before they vanish. Definitely the pro choice for tracking specs and pricing trends!!

i love looking at the raw price data for this stuff! definitely check out browser extensions that put the graph right on the amazon page... it's amazing for seeing the real value over time without clicking away.

• not 100% sure, but i think there are some specific discord servers or telegram bots that scrape these prices in real-time. i heard they're way faster than standard apps when prices are jumping every hour!
• iirc some of these tools let you track the specific warehouse deal prices too, which is fantastic if you want a reliable pro-tier laptop for a student budget.
• check if whatever tool you pick has a price floor history... i think that's the best way to know if the current drop is actually the bottom or if it's gonna dip more. honestly it makes life so much easier when you're hunting for specific hardware specs.

Wait really?? Thats actually super helpful. I always thought it was the other way around.