This is the official thread for Black Friday related discussion of desktops, regardless of if the items are actually in ads or not.

This post will be updated with information about desktops that appear in Black Friday ads as they are released.

As this thread will likely get very long, if you are responding to a specific question or comment, please quote that post to keep the thread easy to follow.

If you are looking for a deal before Black Friday on a specific desktop, post in our Deal Finder Service board and others can help you out.

Threads posted about desktops in the Black Friday Discussion forum will likely be merged into this forum, so to help out the admins and mods, please keep all discussion in this thread.

COMPARISON CHART: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=90413

yeah, so i'm hoping the desktop from BB this year will have a 17" or a 19" monitor included. It's not a far stretch thinking that they did have a 15" w/ a printer in the package last year. that would be REAL nice!

yeah, so i'm hoping the desktop from BB this year will have a 17" or a 19" monitor included. It's not a far stretch thinking that they did have a 15" w/ a printer in the package last year. that would be REAL nice!

Yup, even their cheap one for under $200 had a 15-incher. I think their doorbuster deal this year would have at least a 17" LCD monitor. There'll be plenty of computer/monitor/printer deals, and maybe even a cheaper deal for just the computer by itself. Keep the fingers crossed! :D

yeah, so i'm hoping the desktop from BB this year will have a 17" or a 19" monitor included. It's not a far stretch thinking that they did have a 15" w/ a printer in the package last year. that would be REAL nice!

If you want to get a desktop from BB you need to be in line around 6am on Thursday. The first 20 people in line at my BB last year were inline for a desktop and laptop. The first person got in line was Wednesday at 1130pm.

Yup, even their cheap one for under $200 had a 15-incher. I think their doorbuster deal this year would have at least a 17" LCD monitor. There'll be plenty of computer/monitor/printer deals, and maybe even a cheaper deal for just the computer by itself. Keep the fingers crossed! :D

Yeah, FYI: that's basically EXACTLY what I just said. But thanks for reiterating the fact... haha.

If you want to get a desktop from BB you need to be in line around 6am on Thursday. The first 20 people in line at my BB last year were inline for a desktop and laptop. The first person got in line was Wednesday at 1130pm.

Thanks for the advice, but it's not exactly accurate for the two Best Buys that I scoped out last year. The first person in line at the one nearest to me was there at around 1pm on Thursday and there weren't 20 people there until around 3-3:30pm. And the other Best buy had people there even later than that. I know they'll probably be a bit earlier this year, but if I get there around 2pm, I'm sure I'll be early enough, just like in years past. Every best buy is just a little bit different from the others. Thanks for the info though anyway!

Keep in mind that BF lines all depend on your location and popularity. Some lines start thanksgiving morning, others don't really get goin' until a few hours before opening.

Yeah, I just said that in my post right before yours. :)

Yeah, I just said that in my post right before yours. :)

But I said it with 1/3 less effort! :razz: Just re-stating the main point.

Children, children....that's better, play nice now. I am counting on BF to get a nice little quad core AMD this year I hope. I know it will be expensive, but if I can currently get an HP m8100n for $699 (OD every other week), imagine what might be on sale on BF!

But I said it with 1/3 less effort! :razz: Just re-stating the main point.

haha, gotcha gotcha.

I am currently debating if I want to buy a new desktop or keep my old one, which I've had for 3.5 yrs. It all boils down to if I want to camp out or not.

I am currently debating if I want to buy a new desktop or keep my old one, which I've had for 3.5 yrs. It all boils down to if I want to camp out or not.

and what they are offering I would assume. How well is your old one taking care of you, and can you upgrade it for a reasonable price, or is it just cheaper to replace?

I am currently debating if I want to buy a new desktop or keep my old one, which I've had for 3.5 yrs. It all boils down to if I want to camp out or not.

If you want the doorbuster camp out, but I have seen new complete pc's starting around $350-379 and Im sure they will be on sale aswell.

I am getting a new desktop this year. I don't care if it is doorbuster or not, it will still be cheap. Im looking for a 22-24" moniter to go with it also.

Well, the one I have is running kind of slow but I have a lot of stuff on it, like all of my cds (over 100). I really dont want to camp out for an Emachine or another low class computer. Hopefully Walmart will have a dell :yup: on blitz. :D

Well, the one I have is running kind of slow but I have a lot of stuff on it, like all of my cds (over 100). I really dont want to camp out for an Emachine or another low class computer. Hopefully Walmart will have a dell :yup: on blitz. :D

I am not sure this post makes sense...maybe it is just me. You state that you dont want to camp out for a low class machine such as an E-machines, but then you state you would be willing to pick up a walmart dell that would be on blitz. I cant see how this would not fall into that some low class machine:confused:

Almost assuredly the dell that walmart (and sadly way to many dells at walmart and others for that matter, but not all) would qualify as a low class machine if they were to offer it on blitz.

Odds are this BF will be the year they try unload the single-core processor systems. So, we could see some decent Core Solo, Athlon 64, etc. machines.

I'd kill to see someone jump in with a dual-core at a fair price. If that happens, you will know this BF is a full blown war. Considering how vicious BB and Wally get about the electronics fight, I wouldn't rule it out.

Seeing the deals currently going on with dual core systems (m8200n at compusa for $669 for example), I think you will see very happy prices on any single core computers (I am thinking about $250), but also some nice deals on the dual cores. They are prepping the market for the quad cores you know.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071015/ap_on_hi_te/holiday_electronics_forecast;_ylt=AgPKWIAtzVDDOiQ5NGPdk1wjtBAF

Computers top holiday wish lists

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Move over, peace and happiness. Computers are what Americans really want nowadays.

The machines that feed us infinite and instant information, store our digital memories, give us hours of fun with games, videos or music — and help us do our taxes — outrank peace, happiness and clothes this year as the most wished-for gifts, according to an annual U.S. survey by the consumer electronics industry's largest trade organization.

Last year, the most popular answer to the survey's open-ended query about respondents' holiday wishes was clothing, followed by peace and happiness, money and then computers.

This year, after computers, peace and happiness came in second, followed by a big-screen TV, clothes and then money.

Such enthusiasm for computers, TVs, as well as other electronics will help drive electronics sales up 7 percent to $48.1 billion in the fourth quarter from $44.8 billion the year-ago period, according to a forecast by the Consumer Electronics Association.

By comparison, the overall retail industry is expected to see holiday sales grow 4 percent, according to the National Retail Federation.

"We're looking at a very solid season for consumer electronics, and it's certainly a bright spot for the economy," said Joe Bates, CEA's director of research.

For all of 2007, electronics sales are expected to reach $160 billion, up 8 percent from $148 billion last year, according to the CEA forecast.

The organization's annual consumer survey separately evaluated shopping intentions for the holidays. The random telephone survey of 1,003 U.S. adults was conducted in late September and had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

"The fact that they want computers over clothing and peace and happiness is amazing," said Shawn DuBravac, the CEA's economist. "It's a testament to what the tech industry has done to empower the consumer."

People are doing more with their computers, such as posting videos or writing blogs, Bates said. The demand for laptops is particularly strong, "and you can buy a more powerful one and at a lower price than what you paid for four years ago," he said.

The survey also indicated consumers plan to spend bit more on gadget gifts this year: $358 per household versus $337 in 2006.

Gifts will account for about 46 percent of electronics sales in the fourth quarter, while the rest will come from purchases people make for themselves — a typical shopping pattern during the holiday period, Bates said.

As for specific gizmos people wanted to receive as gifts this holiday season, portable music players topped the list for the third year in a row. Laptops rose to second place from third and video game systems displaced digital cameras to come in third.

Gaming will be hotter this year, Bates said, since all the next-generation consoles have been out for at least a year and have a larger library of games.

A video game system was also the most popular item people planned to give as an electronics gift this year, according to the survey.

apparently it is laptops, not desktops however if you follow the post and read count of this thread vs the laptop one for this year so far.

Make sure you get at least 2 gigs or ram. And make sure your are getting a dual core procesor. Anything else would be a waste of money
jfire

What are the chances that Walmart or Staples will have Dells for a great price on BF????

Doesn't matter, with the types of mark up Dell has been having on their underpowered PC's, you will get much better mileage with some of the other manufacturers.
IMHO see HP m8200n at $659 from Compusa a week or 3 ago, and I dont see dell dropping any of their 531 series to anywhere near that price with anywhere near as much power as that. If you want underpowered and cheap, just get BB $199 pc.

Dell has had some Vostro 200 (E4500, 19"lcd, 1GB ram, 160gig hd, dvd-burner, ect) series desktops for in the $400-$500 range with decent configs for the average user.

We need a new desktop. Our desktop from dell just got fried. I have no idea how. Even the mouse call people were dumb founded as to why it happened. So all we have is a laptop and we are wanting a desktop so we can just play around on but also keep info on like my boyfriend's business stuff. I saw the $199 from BB. But I am taking that it is not a good one? I have seen emachines before but never had one and wasn't sure it was a good computer. We are looking for a decent one and a good deal on one. We really don't wanna spend too much. We already have a monitor so maybe we could get a better deal by buying just a computer without the monitor or what. I don't know too much about computers. So, what would be the best deal I should go for??

Emachines' are horrible. Don't waste 200 dollars, unless you want a temporary desktop that usually starts breaking down within 1-2 years of purchase.

Is is possible to get a deal on a desktop that doesnt have Vista on it? It seems they all have Vista instead of Windows XP.

I got 2 of the $139.00 emachines 2 yrs ago for my kids and one of the $189.00 last year for myself. The only thing I have done was add some cheap memory and wireless cards. They are still running strong! For the average user they are fine. We use them to surf,a few games and homework and we love them.They run great on XP. I don't how they handle Vista. I had a free upgrade but never used it.I have no problem buying another if I had too. The quaility improved when Gateway bought them. JMO

I have not noticed any desktop deals that are even comparable to last year's deals. After all the hype about this being the year for great deals, it seems nobody is really bothering. Unless there are some amazing deals yet to be announced... I guess we won't truly know until the week of Thanksgiving, which is going to make it harder for me to plan than I was hoping.

Joining up here. We are looking for a decent desktop for my 11yodd. She has outgrown the hand me down.

She is into movie making, wants photoshop, and a host of software that I do not have a clue about. It all deals in movies and graphics.

Yes my 11yo has passed me up.:cheesy:

Emachines' are horrible. Don't waste 200 dollars, unless you want a temporary desktop that usually starts breaking down within 1-2 years of purchase.

Wow, I bet you heard they suck. eMachines are not that bad. They get a bad name because who primarily buys eMachines? Your everyday average joe who has no idea how to work a computer so they blame the machine.

I personally own the doorbuster eMachines from the last two year's black friday sales at BB, and they run as well as they did when I bought them. I take care of my stuff.

We aren't hardcore computer users. We just surf the internet and listen to music or watch videos and stuff. My boyfriend wants to keep inventory of stuff for his business and be able to make and print off a bill for people and keep copies on the computer. He needs to keep track of everything. So this is basically all we would be using it for. If I bought the $200 computer would I need to add anything to it? Like a video card or anything you all would recommend adding to it?

We aren't hardcore computer users. We just surf the internet and listen to music or watch videos and stuff. My boyfriend wants to keep inventory of stuff for his business and be able to make and print off a bill for people and keep copies on the computer. He needs to keep track of everything. So this is basically all we would be using it for. If I bought the $200 computer would I need to add anything to it? Like a video card or anything you all would recommend adding to it?

For what your useing it for, the 200.00 BB comp will do you Great, You will probley want to get Diffrent programs for the inventory and such, but emachine useally has a 60 day trail to MS office, but no hardware you will need to add to it.. it will work great for you !

For that list, you will be okay, but might want to THINK about adding to the memory to get it up to 2gb that Vista Home Premium "wants". it is really cheap to do that right now if you find it on a deal. you will only need to add 1 gb, but to give you an idea, right now there is a posting on online deals for this http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4308301&CMP=BAC-160x65 which is $30 for 2gb after shipping. Of course you will likely need programs for the different tasks you want to do.

Wow, I bet you heard they suck. eMachines are not that bad. They get a bad name because who primarily buys eMachines? Your everyday average joe who has no idea how to work a computer so they blame the machine.

I personally own the doorbuster eMachines from the last two year's black friday sales at BB, and they run as well as they did when I bought them. I take care of my stuff.

I am typing on a crappy e-machine....still works. You do have to watch what you "eat"...
My dh has had to reconfig my computer once, forgot why.

I have never been to BB on BF. And from what I reading on here, I might just pass it up. I am not lining up on Wednesday!!! Which I know all depends on location and all that. But I don't plan on getting up til about 3 am on BF. BB and Target and Old Navy and a bunch of stores are all in the same shopping center. I was planning on going to Target and possibly Old Navy, I might see how the line is at BB and then decide. This is a new shopping center they just built in West Nashville. I don't think there is another BB close!! Maybe walmart will have a desktop for a good deal??

Is the Staples one for 89 any good?

Are there any other deals out there?

(no room for a 22 inch monitor, alas)

The Envision 19" for $99 at BB is a pretty sweet monitor. I'm not sure if I wanny get that or the 22" for $149 though. I wish it was an acer. Bought one of the 22" lcd's that OD had a couple months ago for $179. I figured they'd be $129 for BF...:(

acer at CC, 22" for 170.

Do you guys think the BB 199 deal will be 199 flat or after a rebate. I really hate rebates. BB is bad about posting prices after rebate.

I thought BB was the one who did away with rebates??? CC is the one who has all the rebates:rolleyes: I hate that too. But I do believe it says in the BF ad that there are no rebates on the $199 desktop. That's the price you pay that day.

I'd like to know why e-machines get such a bad rap. We have 3, the 1 I'm on right now is 4 years old and running great, but will be relegated to the basement office when I get the $197 package from BB this year. Are they basic especially at this price? absolutely, but I'd rather choose my upgrades than have them put into a computer by someone who thinks they know what I want or has an overstock on some components.......but that's just me I guess. Oh, and the $27 1gb memory deal they have in the BF ad is a smokin good price as an instant upgrade.

I work on a lot of PCs and eMachines were much better in most respects before Gateway got to them. The older eMachines used standard, off-the-shelf style motherboards. True they were low-end ECS and PCChips, but they were standard models that I could replace off the net cheaply if something happened. The boards also usually had much more in the way of expansion slots than now. I upgraded more than one older eMachine into mid-range to high-end gaming machines with minimal difficulty. That is much more than I can say for most of the Dell, Gateway, et al machines I attempted the same feat on.

eMachines got a very bad reputation years ago when it was revealed that they were taking back returned computers and either refurb'ing them or taking the good parts out of them (like the video card, memory, hd, etc.), putting them into new computers, and calling the whole PC brand new when the machine was actually either refurb'd or built with some used parts.

Their reliability actually went UP after Gateway bought them. The original owner and founder of eMachines (the company was originally Korean-based) was just putting together computers to be treated as throw-away commodity items and couldn't care less about reliability. Gateway did and does.

I have never been to BB on BF. And from what I reading on here, I might just pass it up. I am not lining up on Wednesday!!! Which I know all depends on location and all that. But I don't plan on getting up til about 3 am on BF. BB and Target and Old Navy and a bunch of stores are all in the same shopping center. I was planning on going to Target and possibly Old Navy, I might see how the line is at BB and then decide. This is a new shopping center they just built in West Nashville. I don't think there is another BB close!! Maybe walmart will have a desktop for a good deal??

I live in the area and have been to that BB many times already. My mom and db live about 5 minutes away. I have a suspicion that the shopping center is going to be extremely packed on BF. The other BB's are in Clarksville, Rivergate and Cool Springs, so therefore, everyone in the Nashville area will be at that new one. If you have things to get at Target, you might want to buy your items before BF and have them do a price adjustment, check out the Target thread for more details. I would go to the Old Navy at Bellevue Mall, it probably won't be as crowded (it is still there, isn't it?) :confused:

:mad: Maybe I am overlooking but has anyone seen any graphic cards for the computers at all in any of the black friday ads

there is a visiontek at best buy.

:mad: Maybe I am overlooking but has anyone seen any graphic cards for the computers at all in any of the black friday ads

Bestbuy's ad had two (well, one card really, but choice of AGP or PCI-e versions) graphics cards on sale (available Friday and Saturday). They were the AGP and PCI express versions of the Visiontek Radeon HD2600 Pro 512MB DX10 card. Minimum 5 of each per store. Priced at $99.99 after $100.00 instant savings.

Thanks I will ad them to my list at best buy. I must of overlooked them:cheesy:

I'm sure that Newegg won't let us down!

Not a BF deal, but Compusa has the 8800GT OC PCI-e on sale for about $250 this week.

I'm sure that Newegg won't let us down!


That's what my DH keeps saying too

I too have been looking for Graphics Cards this year, so I've made note of any appearance in the ads at any stores near me.

So far, list has only two entries.

Best Buy
Visiontek ATI Radeon HD2600 Pro 256MB 16x PCI e Graphics Card $100

And Circuit City
Visiontek ATI Radeon HD2400 Pro 256MB 16x PCI e Graphics Card $50

Kinda slim pickings thus far. Hopefully Newegg has something because neither of those two cards that I listed are much of a bargain.

If you can avoid buying a card (and want real midrange or high end), wait until the 8800 series (GT) or the 2900 series are cheaper.

the one at best by for 199.00 at checkout is an emachines......... can anyone who owns one give a review or discredit it as junk.............. thats such a great deal but if its junk i dont want it.

I have the $150 emachines from 2 years ago (BF '05). I had to leave the computer on from late Dec '05 all the way to early October '06 (don't ask me why, far too long of a story, let's just say it involves a MMORPG) all I did was reboot every 2 or 3 weeks and only because that was about the time it took it to start getting slow.

Anyway, the computer is still working flawlessly and, if it weren't for the fact that my hard drive is excessively saturated, I would be able to say that it runs as good as new. I have truly abused this computer and yet the only thing that shows any actual wear is the mouse, and only because the paint came off were the thumb and index finger are supposed to go, but seriously after 2 years, it is perfectly understandable.

So I don't know about everyone else, but I completely recommend them.

I live in the area and have been to that BB many times already. My mom and db live about 5 minutes away. I have a suspicion that the shopping center is going to be extremely packed on BF. The other BB's are in Clarksville, Rivergate and Cool Springs, so therefore, everyone in the Nashville area will be at that new one. If you have things to get at Target, you might want to buy your items before BF and have them do a price adjustment, check out the Target thread for more details. I would go to the Old Navy at Bellevue Mall, it probably won't be as crowded (it is still there, isn't it?) :confused:

The Old Navy in the Bellevue mall has been gone for like 2 years now. lol. I don't think i'll make a stop by there anyway. I figured this shopping center would be crowded! I do need to go to Target and get a couple things. They aren't doorbuster items but I was planning on being there when it opened. I hope they don't run out of anything I was wanting, it isn't any electronics or anything so I think I have a good shot. I will check out the line at BB, but if I had to wait in line I couldn't get there til after 9pm on Thanksgiving night and by then it might be too late. If so I will just go back home and get up and go to Target later. We really need a new desktop and this one is the only cheaper one I've seen. :(

I purchased 2 emachines from BB on previous BF. One my kids still use and it is fine for them to surf the net, go on Webkinz, play runescape etc. The other one I got for my DH Grandmother. IT was working fine until the other day she said it was down due to DSL being down and when it came back up there was a loud noise and now it does not start. I have to get her another PC BF so I will probably get the one at BB. I like the Emachines and will purchase again.

Emachines' are horrible. Don't waste 200 dollars, unless you want a temporary desktop that usually starts breaking down within 1-2 years of purchase.

Not true in my case. Two years ago I got three of the $150 emachine desktops (not all for me) from BB and they still work perfectly today. All I did was throw in some memory.

Anyone have an opinion on the two desktops being offered at Walmart? Are the Dell computers really worth the money? We are looking to buy a new one for internet, some online gaming, school work. Nothing really expensive but still fast.

Do you guys think the BB 199 deal will be 199 flat or after a rebate. I really hate rebates. BB is bad about posting prices after rebate.

I thought BB was the one who did away with rebates??? CC is the one who has all the rebates:rolleyes: I hate that too. But I do believe it says in the BF ad that there are no rebates on the $199 desktop. That's the price you pay that day.

Best Buy no longer has mail in rebates. Any rebate they would have is an Instant rebate taken at the register.

If you cant wait, go to BB today and get the BFG 8800 GT OC for $250!!!!

are there any other core 2 quad pc's on sale on bf besides the one in compusa?

none so far, intel does not want anyone cutting into their margins while the new AMD quad core phenoms are being launched this week.

does anyone has the spec. for circuit city's acer desktop?

Are the Dell computers really worth the money? Nothing really expensive but still fast.

For anything but their "teaser" cheap machines, my honest opinion after working on many, TRYING to upgrade some, helping customers build computers, and building custom rigs, the answer is NO in my opinion.

Just in case this hasn't been noticed yet, the HP Pavilion a6238x desktop from BB is $679.97, not $697.97 as stated in GD's BB computer sale items list.

Just FYI. ;)

The 2007 BF desktops chart is up and running, ladies and germs!

http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=90413

Looks decent, the m8226x desktop from CC for $7xx also has the 6150 SE as it's built in graphics card like many of the ones below it you you want to update it.

That chart is the BEST, helped me make my final choice. Now I hope CC offers it online since I will be working. The $398 computer will be offered online, thats what its says when you click on the computer on the web site. So at least I'll have a back up

is the $7xx HP at Circuit city worth it vs. the $500 version? I will buy buying an upgraded graphics card on my own (any reccomendations on where to get why cheap would be great ;)).

I was leaning toward the $500 model unless someone can sway me.

P.S. its not a door buster so can i sleep in after eating all that turkey and get it some time after 12 or online?

Thanks,

I was really hoping for another 150.00 one!!!! But this year I have not seen them that cheap.

is the $7xx HP at Circuit city worth it vs. the $500 version? I will buy buying an upgraded graphics card on my own (any reccomendations on where to get why cheap would be great ;)).

I was leaning toward the $500 model unless someone can sway me.

P.S. its not a door buster so can i sleep in after eating all that turkey and get it some time after 12 or online?

Thanks,

Really depends what you want it for. The $700 version comes w/ a wifi card(~$50), TV tuner card & remote(~$150), faster processor(~$60 more), more ram(~$30 more), bigger hard drive (~$40 more). But the vast majority of people will have no use for the tv tuner & remote, and most will not use the wifi, and wont fill the hard drive. That means that you will pay $250 or so more for $90 of benefit. If you plan on using the tuner card, then you will likely use most of the rest, so it is definitely worth it.

Wow, I really wanna get my hands on the eMachines T3638 Desktop for $200. Specs look better than the current PC i have so i will try and get it. couple questions:

1. Is there any additonal money added to it?(tax etc.?)
2. What time should i arrive at BB to guarantee me the PC? ( Rego Park, NY)

Anything else you guys can share.

Thanks in advance!

Wow, I really wanna get my hands on the eMachines T3638 Desktop for $200. Specs look better than the current PC i have so i will try and get it. couple questions:

1. Is there any additonal money added to it?(tax etc.?)
2. What time should i arrive at BB to guarantee me the PC? ( Rego Park, NY)

Anything else you guys can share.

Thanks in advance!


1. Of course there will be tax, there's always sales tax at BB.
2. You probably should already be in line if you want that deal.