TL;DR: Timing beats the big holiday sales every time. Watch the hardware refresh cycles, not just the calendar dates. Just catching up on this thread. Re: August is a decent option for laptops due...

• I honestly think that is only half the battle. In my experience, the biggest drops happen right after a new GPU or CPU architecture is officially announced. I spent way too much time chasing Prime Day deals in the past, only to realize I was just buying mid-tier stock that retailers were desperate to dump. A few years back, I was looking for a rig around that same $1,100 mark. I almost pulled the trigger in July, but I waited until the new Nvidia announcements started circulating. Within two weeks, the older models with the previous gen cards plummeted. I ended up getting an Asus TUF with a much better screen for $950 because the store needed room for the new inventory. If you are looking now, definitely keep an eye on the RTX 4060 laptops. As soon as the 50-series rumors heat up, these 40-series machines will tank hard. I also swear by checking open-box Excellent condition items at big box stores. You can often shave another $150 off the sale price. To keep from getting burned like you did with that monitor, I usually plug the URL into PriceDropCatch to see if the current price is actually a low or just a fake discount. It saves so much stress.

@Reply #2 - good point! Prime Day is unfortunately not as good as expected lately, basically total garbage. What specs are you looking for? Check open-box instead. been using Price Drop Catch for a few months, its free and doesnt need an account which is the main reason I stuck with it

August is a decent option for laptops due to back-to-school clearing of older inventory. I usually track the release cycle data for CPUs and GPUs since last gen chips drop fast once new ones are announced. Honestly, checking price history is the only way to be sure you are getting a fair deal. Price Drop Catch covers Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Best Buy, Newegg, Etsy and Wayfair which is pretty much everywhere I shop.

This thread is gold. Bookmarking for future reference 🔖