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barc

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Posts posted by barc

  1. 4K's are already coming down in price.  However, without the content to watch on them, they're just an expensive, really good 1080 for now.  Studios are just catching up to 4K with their cameras and graphical computers.  It'll be a couple of years before there's alot of native 4K content.  Most will be "enhanced" HD that the studios will be trying to sell to the masses.  I recommend taking advantage of the uninformed and buy top-of-the-line 1080p LED's from Sony or LG that should be coming way down in price as the 4K market is ramping up.  You'll get 4 or 5 years out of a good 1080p and then get a 4K when the content is more available.

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  2. Mid Atlantic it's cold as heck today, in the upper 20's to around 30.  Chance of parcipitation Tues and Wednesday (90% on Wed).  They don't know if it will be rain of snow as the models haven't converged on that yet.  Thursday (probably a cold rain).  Thanksgiving day supposed to be partly sunny but highs in the low 30's.  I pity the campers at BB.  I'll be at Walmart around noon - a 24 hour store where we line up indoors. 

  3. I don't camp, so I'm just curious about the protocol here.  He said he's a part of a group that will rotate and at least 1 person has to be there at all times. Does that mean when it's time to open, the whole group will go in?  How does that sit with other people in line?

     

    Again I say, the list is a must for these situations.  In the past, I've been in line, standing/sitting out there for 18 hours and about 4 hours before the opening, I went from number 8 in line to 20 as "friends" and "relatives" that were "just going to freshen up" etc starting joining their fellow line sitters.  Needless to say, they all took the tickets for the best stuff (to later sell to folks who show up late) so many of the good items were gone by the first 10 or 12 people.

     

    When you arrive, if a list isn't already being kept, make one.  If the people in front of you say someone else is coming, leave a space for them and agree that they have a certain time (8 hours before opening for example) to show up or that line gets crossed out.  I've lined up at BB using a list about 5 times and the store always respects the list (as best they can anyway).

     

    Also, make friends with the people around you.  That way, they'll look out for you and you can look out for them.  If someone has to take a bathroom break or go get something to eat and needs to leave the line for 30 mintues or so, the people around you will cover.

  4. The year I waited for hours outside BB the people in front of me started a list of people so we wouldn't get jumpers and management accepted it.

     

     

    ^^^^^This!

     

    If you are camping out on Wednesday, you'll almost certainly be greeted by store management.  Tell them that you are going to start a list and only people physically there will be allowed to put their name on it.  If you don't arrange with management in advance, then create the list and tell the store employees that you have a list when they show up on Thursday evening.  Almost always, the store managers will respect the list and let everyone know that tickets are being given only to those on the list if there are more names than tickets for an item.

     

    Police yourselves.  The cops are there to maintain order and safety, not figure out who gets BF items.  Once they have to get involved, they may pull you out of line with the jumpers you are arguing with to restore order.

     

    I'll get around to my avatar eventually :gdsorry: 

  5. FYI, Costco had their BF prices on the Galaxy Tab2 both online and in the stores. Got a 10.1" for $279 (after $100 off). The 7" was somewhere in the $177 range I think. Just checked their online and it appears to have vanished. Be careful as the online prices were $20 more for some reason.

    '":

  6. . Our unit I think he said will be 17,000 watts the biggest they have and is about $4,000 for it It will run our entire house automatically as if we did not lose power we wont even notice the transfer. DH will be doing the installation in house and he will only have to contact the propane company to come and connect to our tank.

    Very good info racerfan. Just one correction: Generac offers whole house units in 5 or 10Kw increments starting at around 10Kw and going up to 20Kw, 25Kw and all the way to 60Kw. If you have large power needs such as two zone air conditioning in a hot climate, unusually large house, and/or multiple fridges and/or freezers, you can get a 20 - 25 Kw and power the whole house. You should be able to get a smaller unit (10Kw) for about $3500 installed and a substaintale mid-range unit (20 - 25Kw) for about $7500 depending on where you live. If you have a spouse who can install them (electic and the fuel supply like tying into the natural gas line main or the propane tank) you'll save a few hundred to maybe even $1000. A 60Kw unit will power a multi-unit dwelling.

  7. len_mullen is right on the money. Transfer switch and separate panel for switched circuits is the way to go if you lose power more than a few hours once or twice a year. A whole house generator is usually headache free. They run for about 10 minutes once a week and run self diagnostics to insure they'll work when needed. With a whole house, almost all will sense a power loss and kick on automatically. Most efficient are propane, then natural gas and then you get into petro products like gasoline, deisel or even biodegradable oils. Portable generators can be almost as heavy as whole house units but are often on wheels and can be carted around. They have the duel use of also being able to use them away from the house when power is needed such as camping, working on the back 40, etc. I recommend that you stay away from Champion generators (or any of their engine products). They are mass produced in China with minimal quality controls and dumped in the US market. Stay with Generac or Honda. You'll pay a little more, but you'll be much happier when you need it to work.
  8. Laptops can be found in the $150 - $ 170 range on BF. They aren't great laptops (entry level eMachines and Gateways) but they do the job for most folks. You'll be able to get a pretty good laptop for $300 on BF so it that's the range your looking to spend, wait till BF and buy up a couple of levels from what you can get now. Of course, if you buy now you don't have to stand in line for 24 hours and miss your Thanksgiving dinner.
  9. That's a great question. Market conditions say no, but my eyes tell me something else.

     

    Prices for spinning disks peaked after the floods in Malaysia and never really came down. BUT I got a 2t usb 3 seagate disk at staples a couple weeks ago for $63 -- which feels BFish to me. I am seeing solid state disks fall as well. Internal spinning disks are getting no bigger and no cheaper. Last ones I purchased were 2t@$60 ea.

     

    I think we are going to see a lot of deals on tablets. Looks like Amazon and Apple are fixing bayonets and Goodle has entered the fray. HP has a new tablet, the new windows tablets are out, and there are a lot of crazy cheap chinese tabs that aren't half bad.

     

    .....

    Windows 8 is out. I'm hoping for some really good deals on ivy bridge computers running win8. My kid wants a new desktop with a screaming video card. Come on Staples...

     

    Can't wait!

     

    You can get 3 TB spinners for $109 on sale. Prices will probably drop another $30+ for BF ($79.99 for door buster).

     

    With Samsung having to pull their Galaxys off the shelf, that will put upward pressure on BF tablet deals (especially higher end tabs) so I doubt we'll see great deals on top line tabs. I'd expect that entry level for <$150 and mid range can be found for less than $200 on BF. Low end laptops will be in the $150 range (per usual) for door busters. And why anyone would trust HP with a tablet after the TouchPad is beyond me.

     

    I wouldn't jump on Windows 8. Not only is MS notorious for bugs in early releases, but Windows 8 seems to go beyond the pale regarding tracking and reporting back to MS (and whoever else). Privacy is thrown out the window in Windows 8. And Windows 7 wasn't a bad OS, not as good as XP but head and shoulders above the fiasco that was Vista.

  10. Stay away from AVS (the free version anyway). Go with Avast! (you can use it free for a year). It finds stuff that AVS doesn't and isn't near the hog on resources. Haven't opened the Lenovo yet as it is a Christmas present for a family that we know that's going through some tough economic times but it's good to see the problem wasn't with the laptop.
  11. We had 36 total in our store. However, after standing first in line, the manager was changing rules every few seconds. First he refused to give more than 1 per family, then changed it to over 18, then over 16, then you had to show ID to get a ticket, etc. The ad says "1 per customer" no age limit, no "per family". My daughter's friend had let her daughter stay on line with me for 2 days in 40 degree weather and the intention was that her daughter would be able to get a TV for her. She was under 18 and didn't have ID so the manager refused to give her ticket for the TV. I am so upset with Best Buy that I am contacting Best Buy corporate, Best Buy customer relations, the attorney general's office and also consumer affairs. I haven't been able to get through yet, but I know others did get through and they said that others had made the same complaint and it was being investigated. I can understand not giving a ticket to a 3 year old, but this was a teenager that was there to get it for her mother. Not even in the same household as me, but was refused a television.

     

    Bummer Taz. This type of thing happened to me a few years ago and I have boycotted BB for 4 years on BF because of it. They lured me back this year with incredible deals. I complained only to the store manager on what a disorganized line he ran. He bought me off with a $50 GC, but I still didn't go back for years. Stick it to this guy. He sounds like he needs calibrating from corporate. This year I had two teenagers with me and they got tickets just like everyone else. We had to pay separately for each duplicate item, but that just meant that we stood in line together at the register and I swipped by credit card three times instead of once.

  12. It regularly sells for $1000 and is on sale as a DB for $299. A good deal. The laptop is better than the Lenovo and I would say is was compatible with the Toshiba BB just had on sale last week for $279. It's got a good fast processor (2.3 GHtz) and good graphics. Not a lot of memory, but not bad at 4 Gig. HD is OK at 320 Gig. This is a good middle of the road laptop and a good price. Not great IMO, but good. The comparable Toshiba at a better price last week proves that good deals don't have to be done on BF. You can get those throughout the Christmas buying season. The Lenovo is a BF deal and you probably won't see prices that low on a laptop outside of BF.
  13. So I sent my 2 sons to camp out at local bb tonight(southern WI),son calls and says one other guy is there with 2 tents...that he plans to have like 7 more come after work wed.

    I'm like no effin way can he expect 7 people to cut ahead of you a day later .Son says nothing he can do about it because the guy said he already talked to best buy.I said no matter what the guy tells you,you two are 2 and 3! I would imagine by tomorrow afternoon more will line up and also complain should those later peeps try to cut in ..no?

    I'm all for a potty break save,but not outright this spot is taken.

    I agree with Andrea. Go into the store and talk to the store manager (not just the manager on duty). Start out nicely but let him know that you'll escalate this to corporate if it isn't resolved. The guy in the tent needs to move his "buddies" space back every time someone else comes. Saving one space for a reasonable amount of time is somewhat understandable. Saving 7 spaces for over 24 hours is not. Maybe this guy knows someone in the store and they're cutting him a break. But I doubt the actual store manager would agree to let him save 7 spaces. Fight the man!!!

  14. And every year I write the same response: they stood in line, they earned the ticket. What they do with it is up to them. Sucks to be the guy right behind the guy who gets the last ticket for something you wanted, but someone's got to be that guy. I don't do it, but I don't begrudge those who do (too much anyway).
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