Best Buys for back-to-school tech deals in August

Nina Pineda Image
Monday, August 3, 2015
Best back-to-school tech deals
Nina Pineda has 7 on your Side.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's just the beginning of August, but so many folks these days are already thinking about going back to school.



With that mind, before you pull out your credit card to buy your back-to-school supplies and equipment for your kids, we've got the latest on the back-to-school tech best buys for August.



Some back-to-school items are at their cheapest prices of the year, but others will drop to better discounts if you wait a month or two, so don't get scorched on some sales or you may regret it later.



So let's begin with what to buy.



"August is the month for summer, summer's on sale in August," said Dan de Grandpre, of Dealnews.com.



Dealnews.com is chock-full of summer steals, and this is the time to stock up on staples.



Swimsuits, flip flops, shorts and tanks will all be slashed, and be sure to look for promo codes to save even more, the same is true for summer decor.



"Patio furniture its one the best times and patio furniture is on sale, Pottery Barn, Sears, and Target are three stores that have the best deals," de Grandpre said.



Deals also abound on beds this month.



"August is the biggest month for mattresses," said Jin Kim, of Raymour and Flanigan.



Raymour and Flanigan's store manager says your favorite brands won't be this cheap any other time of the year.



"Heirloom 1,000 off, Stearns and Foster $250 off, and Sealy Posturpedic and Simmons starting at $699 and $799 on sale," Kim said.



Also seeing best of the year, rock bottom prices, are laptops.



"The fact is with back to school sales, August is the best time to buy a laptop outside of Black Friday," de Grandpre said.



"What should be parents looking for on laptops?" Eyewitness News asked.



"You should be looking for 15 inches, good processor, so they can do things fast," de Grandpre said. "I also suggest at least 4 gigs of Ram at least 5 gigabytes of hard drive space, it will be the laptop to carry them through several years of college, but this is the time to buy it."



What you don't need to buy according to de Grandpre: the latest version of Windows.



"It's brand new, it just came out, we suggest you wait. You are going to save hundreds of dollars if you buy a Windows 7 or 8 which are still out, you'll pay hundred less than a windows 10 laptop," de Grandpre said.



Another Dealnews don't buy yet, the newest Apple iPhones and iPads.



"You absolutely should not get it in August," de Grandpre said.



Traditionally, Apple unveils new products in September making October the big month for sales.



"That means the old ones go on sale. iPhone 6 $50, the iPad Air 2 $359 or less, that's a $500 iPad right now. Why wouldn't you wait to save 140 dollars?" de Grandpre said.



If you absolutely can't wait on Mac products, don't forget bring your student or educator ID to the Apple Store.



"The discount is a free pair of Beatz headphones worth about $200," de Grandpre said.



Beatz are fun, but Dealnews tracks even better discounts if you buy Apple at authorized resellers.



"When Best Buy and Walmart discount Apple Mac laptops they are so much better than Apples back to school discount," de Grandpre said.



So what else should you not buy this month? Stay away from TV's and fall clothing. They both drop in price in autumn especially TV's on Black Friday.



Also don't forget, Labor Day is September 6th, but Labor Day sales will creep in at the end of August, look for deep discounts on Back to School staples.

Copyright © 2025 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.