Why You Can Trust CNET Get an HP Pavilion 17.3-inch laptop for $299.99
It's a refurb, but it comes with a full one-year warranty. That's an awfully big PC for an awfully low price.
When is a laptop not a laptop? When it's designed to spend most of its time in one place, like a desktop. In other words, when it's too big for travel, but great for when you want a spacious screen and keyboard.
Today only, and while supplies last, Best Buy has the refurbished HP Pavilion gcrf-17-e113dx 17.3-inch laptop for $299.99. Shipping is free, though you'll probably be on the hook for sales tax. (Pro tip: Offset that a bit by taking advantage of a cashback service. TopCashback, for example, is currently offering 2.5 percent back on Best Buy purchases.)
This particular Pavilion comes in anodized silver (pretty sharp, IMHO). It's stocked with an AMD quad-core processor, Radeon HD 7640G discrete-class graphics, 4GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB), and a 750GB hard drive.
You also get the usual DVD burner, webcam, SD card reader, and USB ports (two 3.0, one 2.0 -- though I don't understand why PC makers don't just go all-3.0).
The display resolution is 1,600 x 900, which some may find disappointing, but I think that's sufficient for a screen of this size.
And, let's be honest: you shouldn't be looking at this system if you plan to do high-end image editing, massive spreadsheets, or other tasks that would benefit from higher resolution. This is a fairly entry-level PC, one that happens to have an extra-large screen.
It also has a full one-year warranty, courtesy of Best Buy's Geek Squad Certification. That's a big plus, as most refurbished laptops are covered for just 90 days.
Consequently, I don't know how long these will last at this price. Here's hoping you're able to snag one before they're gone. (If not, I apologize -- very often deals like this vanish before the morning is out.)
Bonus deal: If you'd rather upgrade your old PC than buy a new one, Amazon has a deal on one of the best upgrade options ever: the Kingston Digital SSDNow 240GB solid-state drive for $99.99, shipped. This top-rated 2.5-inch SSD can seriously boost your PC's performance, at the same time making it quieter and lowering its power consumption. Kingston backs it with a three-year warranty.