Tech Bargains - 2008 Holiday Season

[Snowman]

If you see any tech bargains this holiday season post them here!

[Snowman]

Here are some predictions of what we might seen on Black Friday this year from Electronic House:

Of course, we love predictions on the whole, though, so we keep ‘em coming on sports talk, politics talk, celebrity gossip talk ... and electronics talk. Dealnews is already gazing ahead at this holiday shopping season, specifically Black Friday. Hey, we’re listening. Especially when the website says we’ll see 42-inch 720p plasma TVs going for $499. I’ll take two, thanks. Other speculation includes: $149 Blu-ray player, $199 name-brand Blu-ray player bundled with some discs, $599 42-inch 720p LCD, $699 50-inch 720p plasma, 46- or 47-inch brand-name 1080p LCDs for $799, $99 HD camcorder, $25 7-inch digi photo frame, and a bunch of other nice-sounding deals. Company CEO Dan de Grandpre is pretty confident about the Blu-ray odds. “Major tech blogs have predicted you’ll see a $199 Blu-ray player on Black Friday. Balderdash, I say! It’ll be much lower: We already saw a $229 Blu-ray player in August, and last year, HD-DVD player prices fell 50% overnight during the march to Black Friday. So, we’re predicting that you’ll be able to get a Blu-ray player for an astonishing $149.”

[Snowman]

Black Friday Store Ads in Advance!

If you guys find any outstanding bargains, please post about them here!

Walmart has Blu-Ray disc players (set top) by Magnovox for $128 in the morning. AFFES has one by Sharp at a similar price.

[Darrah]

Big-screen TVs expected to sell well this holiday season

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Darrah Big-screen TVs expected to sell well this holiday season

Here's a snippet from that article. I have seen many good deals on big screen HD TVs in the Black Friday ads. The cheesy brand names (which are mostly generic Chinese models with a marketing name slapped on there such as "Polaroid") seem to start at about $400 now and the brand name sets are now in the $800 to $1000. I'm seeing a ton of Samsung offerings.

Bargain-basement prices on high-end electronics will be the norm during the holiday shopping season. Sale prices on consumer electronics gear should be 35 percent or more under 2007 levels, according to industry projections. Nowhere will those deals be more evident than in the big-screen TV aisles. Manufacturers last summer geared up for an expected major holiday season, an action that preceded much of the economic collapse. Now there are plenty of big screens in the pipeline, and potentially not enough buyers. “Most retailers and manufacturers have a strong sense of urgency to put the best deals out there,” said Paul Gagnon, director of North American TV research for market intelligence firm DisplaySearch. Already, 42-inch flat-screen TVs that sold for $1,500 a year ago are selling at or below $1,000. On Saturday, MicroCenter in Overland Park offered 32-inch high-definition sets for under $400. Big-box retailer Costco is offering 46-inch Sharp hi-def sets on a two-for-one deal.

[Darrah]

There will be lots of sales during the holiday. Especially starting this Friday which is one of the biggest shopping days after Thanksgiving. And because of the economy, they said many things will be lowered dramatically so they can get rid of the inventory before the end of the year.

[Darrah]

Yahoo deletes in days. So I'll post the whole thing.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/y...-black-friday/

10 Best Bets for Black Friday
By Nick Mokey, Digital Trends

It takes some pretty spectacular deals to pry Americans out of their recliners late every Turkey Day and send them out into blistering cold parking lots to camp for hours, but retailers have it figured it out with Black Friday. And if you're looking to score a big-screen TV for half of what it normally runs for, get a printer bundled with your camera for free, or pick up an MP3 player for the cost of a cup of coffee, you'll be out there too. With the economy forcing consumers to pinch their pennies even more this year, and retailers trying even harder to open those cautiously held wallets, the deals are ripe for the picking. Here are a few of our favorite picks for this year.

Tom Tom One Third Edition Nav System
$69.99 at Pep Boys

Just like last year, Pep Boys remains the place to go if you're looking for the absolute cheapest GPS system out there on Black Friday. Though the price drop from last year isn't earth-shattering, the good news is that you're actually ending up with a respectable name brand unit this year. TomTom's One v.3 may be a no-frills system, but it's compact, it's in color, and it works.

HP Pavilion G50-112NR Notebook
$349.99 at Office Depot

Though some people will be disappointed that the price on budget notebooks hasn't seemed to budge much further south this year, the hardware you get for the price has taken a huge leap forward. For the first time ever, $350 will buy you a notebook that not only has a dual-core Intel processor, but 3GB of RAM as well, which should be more than adequate for most peoples' needs. And though it's an obscure sale model, it carries the HP name as well.

Panasonic 42-inch 1080p VIERA Plasma HDTV
$899.99 at Circuit City

Skip all the ultra-budgets sets with names you've never heard of, and bag this model (which is bound to be a lot less disappointing in two months) instead. At $400 off MSRP, you're still getting a huge discount, but with a much better quality TV. Panasonic's plasma TVs are renowned for their black levels, and this particular set has received great reviews.

Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-Ray Player
$128 at Wal-Mart

Nearly a year after HD-DVD bit the bullet, Blu-Ray players are finally falling out of the hands of the home theater elite and into commodity territory. For $128, pretty much anyone with the change for a 1080p television should be able to pick one of these up. It might not be quite as sleek or feature-laden as players twice and three times as expensive, but unless you bust out test patterns and start pulling side-by-side characteristics, most users will never be able to tell the difference.

Nikon Coolpix P60 + Epson Workforce 30 Inkjet Printer
$119.99 at OfficeMax

A respectable camera and respectable printer for less than what one alone should cost? Sold. If you know someone who loves taking photos but hasn't gone digital yet because they want them all printed out, this is your chance to give them the whole package on the cheap.

Mio Moov 500 GPS
$149.99 at RadioShack

For those who would like more features than the rock-bottom TomTom GPS offered at Pep Boys, this Mio offers a significant step up. It has a much larger 4.7-inch screen, text-to-speech capability for spoken street names, and 3.5 million points of interest. Mio systems consistently offer a great blend of function and affordability — and even more so when you can snag one for $100 off retail price.

Guitar Hero World Tour Guitar Bundle for Wii
$69.99 at Target

Hot game, hot price. You won't see the same game any cheaper this holiday season, or likely for a long time to come. If you've been holding out on the whole Guitar Hero phenomenon, here's your chance to get in for far less than everybody else paid.

Acer 22-inch LCD Monitor
$129.99 at Office Depot [AL2216Wbd]

Whether you're still clinging to that old CRT and waiting for LCDs to come down in price, or just need to upgrade from the 17-incher that came with your PC, the price is right for 22 inches of glorious desktop space. This one has solid stats, including 1680 x 1050 resolution and 5ms response times, and has received generally positive reviews, too. Already own a huge monitor? How about dual display? Triple? C'mon...

Aiptek A-HD 8-Megapixel Camcorder
$79.99 at Walgreens

You're not going to shoot the next Star Wars on here, but for what it is, it's hard to argue with such an inexpensive and compact camcorder. Just pop in an SD card (if you don't have one, they can be had for practically nothing in other Black Friday sales and elsewhere) and you're good to shoot 720p high-def video at 30 frames per second, and 8-megapixel stills. At this price, you can get one for the kids, one to shoot those slightly precarious extreme sports videos that end up on YouTube, and one to duct tape to the dog.

HP AMD Phenom X4 Quad-Core System
$599.96 at Best Buy

Notebook computers seem to sop up the majority of attention on Black Friday, but this happens to be one powerful and well-accessorized desktop for the money. Under the hood, you'll find a AMD Phenom X4 Quad-Core processor clocked at 2.2GHz, 6GB of DDR2 memory, and a 640GB hard drive. Add to that a 21.6-inch display and Canon inkjet printer, and you have $1089.96 worth of PC for almost half the price.

[Snowman]

Here's a good deal!

Samsung 10.1 MP Digital Camera - $69 at Walmart -- Has 3x optical zoom, face detection and uses AA batteries. You can get an optional case and 1 GB memory card for $10 more.

[Darrah]

$300 laptops at Walmart.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/y...iday-bargains/


Sneak Peek: Black Friday Bargains
By Lauren Sherman, Forbes.com

Beginning Friday, retailers across virtually all categories will mark down prices, sometimes 50 percent, 60 percent, even 70 percent. These post-Thanksgiving sales allow you to give without going broke.


Home Depot
Friday-until supplies last
For those looking to buy big appliances this holiday season, Home Depot has a bevy of affordable options, from a $300 Amana "Tall-Tub" dishwasher to a $50 Magic Chef stainless steel, 900-watt microwave.
For more information, visit homedepot.com.

T.J. Maxx/Marshalls
Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
On top of the 20-60 percent off brand-name merchandise that T.J.Maxx and Marshalls already offers, both stores — owned by the TJX Companies — will be open early, but not too early, for Black Friday. Both retailers are encouraging shoppers to avoid the 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. crowds by stopping by sometime in between.
For more information, visit tjmaxx.com.

Wal-Mart
Friday-until supplies last
There will be discounts storewide at the world's biggest retailer, whose can't-be-beat prices have proven very attractive during the downturn. One of the biggest deals is the store's selection of laptops in the $300 range.
For more information, visit walmart.com.

Lord & Taylor
Friday-Sunday
The mid-level department store will offer an extra 15 percent off all merchandise — with coupon — Friday and through Sunday. On Friday only, there will be special — yet to be specified — discounts on select items, including cashmere crewnecks, gloves and ladies down jackets.
For more information, visit lordandtaylor.com.

Sears
Friday-until supplies last
Along with discounts on Panasonic televisions, Nintendo Wii and Sharp Blu-Ray disc players, Sears will offer Black Friday specials that won't be advertised. Customers will have to visit the stores on November 28 find out the details on specific markdowns.
For more information, visit sears.com.

Lowe's
Friday-until supplies last
At this building supplies store, Shop-Vac's 14-gallon wet-dry vacuum will be marked down from $89.97 to $29, while Black and Decker's SmartDriver cordless drill will drop from $39.97 to $19.97.
For more information, visit lowes.com.

Bloomingdale's
Friday-Nov.30, 8 a.m.-close
Along with the Big Brown Bag sale — which offers 50-70% off items storewide — shoppers will receive a Bloomingdale's gift card worth $15 every time they spend $100 during the weekend. Save on items such as a Polo Ralph Lauren men's cashmere fair isle vest, down to $170 from $425, and 40 percent on Calvin Klein "Graphic Circles" dinnerware.
For more information, visit bloomingdales.com.

Best Buy
Friday, 5 a.m.-until supplies last
Electronics emporium Best Buy will offer customers several "door busters," from a $380 Toshiba laptop to a $60 Insignia digital camera. However, door busters come in limited quantities, which means the crowds will be out early to scoop up these sales.
For more information, visit bestbuy.com.

Chelsea Premium Outlets
Friday-Nov. 30
At Friday midnight, Black Friday shoppers storm the outlet shops, searching for scores at retailers including Juicy Couture, Cole Haan, Kate Spade and BCBG Max Azria. You can expect 20-30 percent off the already-reduced prices on everything from shoes to shoppers.
There are locations nationwide, so go to premiumoutlets.com for an outlet center near you.

FAO Schwartz
Friday
All FAO-branded items, including the plush rocking duck ($155) and the 55-piece sustainable wood train ($179), will be discounted by 25 percent on Friday. The toy store will also heavily promote its "$25 and under" toy line, which includes Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar plush toy and a classic tin drum by FAO's private label.
For more information, visit fao.com.

[Snowman]

In the market for a high quality digital SLR at a great price?

Amazon has an awesome Black Friday weekend deal on the Pentax K20d. The price was recently reduced to $742.00 for body and $819 for the camera and an excellent 18-55mm kit lens. The K20d features a newly developed 14.6 MP sensor, shake reduction built into the camera body (so it works with all lens), live view, expanded dynamic range and it's dust proof and weather resistant! Plus it works with every 35mm Pentax lens ever made!

OK, but it gets better! If you purchase this through December 1st, Amazon will send you a free Pentax Optio A40 point and shoot camera. This is a high quality little guy you can slip into your pocket when you don't want to carry around the SLR. It features 12 MP sensor, 3x optical zoom and optical shake reduction! It also shoots DivX video at 30 fps. This camera usually sells for about $200 at most places.

But wait, there's more! Amazon will also toss in a free digital SLR crossover bag from Pentax ($39 value) and free UV protection filter from Tiffen if you opt for the camera kit with lens ($7 value).

Free super saver shipping is available and special financing options if you use the Amazon store card or VISA.

And last but not least, Pentax is bumping up the warranty on the K20D body to three years if you buy it before 12.31.08 at an authorized dealer! Amazon is listed as an authorized dealer.

This special is NOT advertised if you go directly to the cameras. You must use the special link below!

Awesome Black Friday Pentax K20D Bundle Deal!

I bought one a few minutes ago to replace my aging Konica-Minolta 7D, which I was never really very happy with.