Microsoft’s Surface series has become something of the standard-bearer for Windows laptops…and boy, don’t they know it. While the hardware is generally well-received, its pricing is not, running a few hundred bucks above even the best of the competition. But today you can get a refurbished Surface Laptop 4 (with some reassuring warranties) for just $499.99.
While this is the last-gen Surface Laptop design in its 13.5-inch frame, the machine is no slouch. Along with an 11th-gen Core i5 processor, it’s packing 16GB of RAM, which I would consider the minimum for smoothly running the latest Windows 11 builds, and a generous 512GB of storage. The storage, but not the memory, is user-replaceable with an M.2 2230 solid-state drive.
Like all Surface devices it features a touchscreen, though the fabric-covered Alcantara palmrest might not be to everyone’s liking. (There’s a black all-metal option available for $10 more.) PCWorld’s Mark Hachman gave the AMD version of this laptop high praise back in 2021, though its proprietary Surface charger/connector felt a bit dated even then. (You can charge up with USB-C, and it has a USB-A port for older gadgets.)
This sale takes care of the price issue, as it’s less than half of the original and $700 cheaper than an equivalent Surface Laptop 5, which has only a small 12th-gen CPU upgrade to recommend it. If you’re wary of buying a refurbished unit, both the models on offer are “certified to look and work like new” (very probably laptops that were bought at retail and returned). As an “eBay Refurbished” listing, the sale includes both the original Microsoft one-year warranty and an extra two-year warranty from Allstate. Not bad.
If you’d like to pick one up, you might want to get an order in quickly. Surface devices tend to go fast when they’re discounted this heavily.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.