Towers, towers everywhere…
If you’re in the market for a simple desktop PC, Black Friday’s a great time to go on the hunt.
In most cases, you won’t be able to configure your specs, and niche needs will be tough to fulfill, but you will find lots of cheap towers with decent specs that are perfect for setting up in a home office or using as a home theater PC.
Here are 10 of the best desktop PC deals we could find for Black Friday 2012
Best Buy: HP P2-1394 Core i3 desktop, $350 (reg. $450)
Specs: An Intel Core i3-2120T processor (second-generation), Intel HD graphics, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, DVD, keyboard and mouse included
Description: This is the cheapest second-generation Core desktop on the list and, according to BFads, you can throw in a 20-inch monitor for an extra $70. You may want to call your local store to confirm.
Buy: Dell Inspiron Core i5 desktop and 20-inch monitor for $500 (reg. $760)
Specs: Intel Core i5-3330s processor (third-generation), Intel HD graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, DVD, keyboard and mouse included, a 20-inch monitor with 1600-by-900-pixel resolution
Description: Considering that a monitor is thrown in, this is a pretty good price on a desktop rig with a powerful processor, plenty of RAM and a nicely-sized hard drive.
Newegg: iBuyPower Gamer Extreme desktop for $599 (reg. $799)
Specs: Intel Core i5-3350P processor (third-generation), Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, USB mouse and keyboard included.
Description: For $600, this rig can handle 1080p and DirectX 11 gaming, and it comes in a spiffy Azza Solaris tower. It’s a good deal if you want to dabble on PC gaming but would rather not splurge on high-end specs. This online deal is live right now, so no need to wait until Friday.
Newegg: Acer Aspire X3 mini-desktop for $300 (reg. $430)
Specs: Intel Core i3-540 processor (first-generation), 2GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, DVD, USB mouse and keyboard included.
Description: Though it’s not a particularly powerful machine, the Aspire X3’s low price and small footprint could make for a nice little home theater PC. This deal is available right now through Newegg’s Website.
Best Buy: Lenovo IdeaCentre 23-inch touchscreen All-in-One for $600 (reg. $800)
Specs: a 23-inch touchscreen with 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution , an Intel Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, DVD drive, USB mouse and keyboard included.
Description: The specs aren’t too special—especially the Pentium processor instead of more powerful Core chips—but the high-resolution touchscreen makes for a nice tabletop Windows 8 machine.
Office Max: HP P2-1322 desktop for $250 (reg. $400)
Specs: AMD E1-1200 processor, Radeon 7310 graphics, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage, a DVD drive, keyboard and mouse included.
Description: Office Max wins the prize for cheapest Black Friday desktop. Don’t expect blazing speeds from this dual-core rig, but for $250, you could do a lot worse.
Costco.com: Dell XPS 8500 Core i7 desktop and 23-inch monitor for $1000
Specs: Intel Core i7 processor (3rd-generation), 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620 graphics, 16GB of RAM, a 2TB hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, a 23-inch monitor
Description: Here’s your chance to get a powerful processor, heaps of RAM and storage, and even a decent graphics card at a huge discount. It’s an online-only offer, so be at Costco’s website at 9 a.m. on Friday to pull the trigger.
If you can’t wait, Dell is selling a configurable XPS 8500 starting at $700—a $150 discount—right now.
Staples: HP Pavilion P6-2376 desktop for $280 (reg. $450)
Specs: AMD A4-3420 processor, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a DVD drive
Description: The dual-core processor, combined with a nicely-sized hard drive, make this one of the best low-end desktop deals on Black Friday. Just keep in mind the tower doesn’t have an HDMI output, only VGA and DVI.
Office Depot: Lenovo H430 Core i3 desktop for $370 (reg. $500)
Specs: Intel Core i3-2130 processor (second-generation), Intel HD graphics, 6GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a DVD drive, USB keyboard and USB optical mouse included.
Description: With an i3 processor, this simple black box should be good enough for basic computing, and the hard drive is fairly spacious for the money.
Staples: Lenovo H430 Core i5 desktop for $450 (reg. $600)
Specs: Intel Core i5-3330 processor (third-generation), Intel HD graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 1GB hard drive, a DVD drive, USB keyboard and USB optical mouse included.
Description: Although this deal at Staples bears the same model number as the H430 over at Office Depot, it has a third-generation Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM for just $80 more. That’s worth the extra dough if you want to future-proof your rig.