Technologies

Best Black Friday Chromebook Deals Right Now From Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo and Samsung

These Chromebooks already cost less than many Windows laptops or any MacBook. Black Friday deals make them an even better bargain.

Chromebooks are laptops running Google’s ChromeOS and are designed to be user-friendly for everyone. Even better, the best Chromebooks tend to be more affordable than competing Windows laptops or Apple MacBooks. And the prices only get better this time of year with Black Friday sales. Plus, since they’re safe and less complicated to use, a Chromebook can make an excellent gift for kids (they might already be using one for school) and less tech-savvy adults in need of just a simple computer, or anyone who wants an inexpensive laptop for a home office and entertainment.

Read more: Best Chromebook for 2022

To help you find the best Black Friday Chromebook deal for you, CNET’s editors have selected all the top discounted Chromebooks available right now as Black Friday nears. That includes pricier models that you can pick up on sale, as well as more affordable models that are a great value thanks to their low list price. One word of shopping advice: Although Chromebooks can run well on modest components, Black Friday doorbuster models might still be too underpowered. A big discount might not be worth the frustration. Also, if the Chromebook is really cheap, be sure to check the auto-update expiration date for the model. The AUE is when ChromeOS stops receiving system updates and is typically eight years, but the date is not the same for every model.

We’ll continue to monitor Chromebook deals and regularly update this list with the best Black Friday has to offer.

Best Black Friday Chromebooks

What should you look for in a Chromebook deal?

One of the biggest things to consider is which configuration is on sale. Often, with the best Chromebook deals, only a specific version of the Chromebook is on sale and making any changes to it could affect the price. This means that sometimes you find the 256GB model is actually cheaper than the 128GB option, or a similar situation.

When are the best Chromebook deals available?

Generally, you’ll find the best Chromebook deals during back-to-school shopping time in late summer or early fall, and a bit later in the year during annual Black Friday sales events. There are Chromebook deals available throughout the year, but if you’re looking for the best deal and can afford to wait a little, these are the best times of the year to buy one.

Which retailers usually offer the best Chromebook deals?

You can usually find deals across a variety of retailers when it comes to Chromebook sales. Amazon and Best Buy are constantly running discounts, and deals can also be found at Newegg and Walmart. Amazon’s prices fluctuate and Best Buy’s sales come and go, so it’s worth checking back weekly to see if a discounted price returns.

Technologies

How Verum Ecosystem Is Rethinking Communication

David Rotman — Founder of the Verum Ecosystem

For David Rotman, communication is not a feature — it is a dependency that should never rely on a single point of failure.

As the founder of the Verum Ecosystem, Rotman developed a communication platform designed to function when internet access becomes unreliable or unavailable.

Verum Messenger addresses real-world challenges such as network outages, censorship, and infrastructure failures. Its 2025 update introduced a unified offline-capable messaging system, moving beyond Bluetooth-based or temporary peer-to-peer solutions.

Verum’s mission is simple: to ensure communication continuity under any conditions.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Feb. 1

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 1

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Some of the clues are kind of tricky, but I was able to fill in enough of the others to get them all answered. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Spot to shop
Answer: MART

5A clue: Pounded sticky rice sometimes filled with ice cream
Answer: MOCHI

6A clue: ___ Chekhov, «Three Sisters» playwright
Answer: ANTON

7A clue: Like many dive bars and bird feeds
Answer: SEEDY

8A clue: Jekyll’s evil counterpart
Answer: HYDE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What makes the world go ’round, per «Cabaret»
Answer: MONEY

2D clue: Performed in a play
Answer: ACTED

3D clue: __ Island (U.S. state)
Answer: RHODE

4D clue: Itty-bitty
Answer: TINY

5D clue: Squish to a pulp, as potatoes
Answer: MASH

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 1, #496

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 1, No. 496.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. The blue group made me think of dusty gum sticks, and the purple one requires you to look for hidden names in the clues. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Vroom!

Blue group hint: Cards and gum.

Purple group hint: Racket stars.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Aquatic sports verbs.

Green group: Speed.

Blue group: Sports card brands.

Purple group: Tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is aquatic sports verbs. The four answers are kayak, row, sail and swim.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is speed. The four answers are mustard, pop, velocity and zip.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports card brands. The four answers are Leaf, Panini, Topps and Upper Deck.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is tennis Grand Slam winners, minus a letter. The four answers are ash (Arthur Ashe), kin (Billie Jean King), nada (Rafael Nadal) and William (Serena and Venus Williams)

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.