kubla77

I went to the BB in Ann Arbor last year. I got there around 4:00 a.m. and I was about half-way down on the side wall (I asked the people in the front what time they got in line, and most of them were there by noon of Thanksgiving Day). For a "smaller" town, Ann Arbor has pretty huge lines. I have to say that they really know what they are doing at that store tho. They had two HUGE guys at the door at opening to prevent line-jumping/rushing the door and the line was very clear at checkout (there was even an employee who walked aorund with a bunch of balloons to mark the end of the line). Their line goes faster than any other I've seen on a BF, and they were ridiculously well-staffed, lots of sale reps walking around.

Oh yeah, and like mystic said, BE SURE to say "price adjustment" (NOT pricematch). Price adjustment = Target giving you the lower price of their OWN sale, Price match = Target giving you the same price of another store's lower price. Target does NOT pricematch.

One thing that should be considered, I think the items need to be bought either within ONE WEEK or the same week that the SALE price goes into effect. I think that people who had problems may have had them because they got over-zealous and bought their items too early. It might be confusing, but I BELIEVE (not 100% sure) that the policy is that the price has to change within a week of when you bought it. (So buy your item on the Sunday or Monday before Black Friday) But you have TWO WEEKS to get the actual adjustment. SO BE CAREFUL: Do NOT buy the item more than a week ahead of time, and to be safe, buy it the same week. (By the way, I bought the 37" Olevia HDTV using the price adjustment tips I learned on this website and had ZERO problems.)

I agree with everyone that it would be extremely sad to see CC go, just because less competition is bad for the consumer. I do think they have a lot to learn about how to run a BF tho. I have hated Best Buy for the longest time because of their immature customer service and their ungodly lines, but lately, they've really shaped up and they REALLY know what they're doing on BF. The whole Reward Zone thing is a huge plus too for BB. Black Friday at CC was the most painful experience I've ever had in shopping (No organization/direction, waiting in understaffed lines that didn't move, only to find that you're not REALLY in the right line.).

Yeah, I know what you mean... Good luck to you, but if there are no free shipping codes, you still got the two cables fro $7.50 a piece, which is much better than the $50-$130 you will spend at a retailer.

Hmm... how much is the shipping? The shipping was like $3 on firefold. I paid like $6.99 for the hdmi cable (6').

For future, remember to always say PRICE ADJUST not PRICE MATCH. I'm not saying this was your problem, but most guest relations people are trained to say, "We do not price MATCH any BF items" which means they will not match ANOTHER store's BF deal (which IS true... this is their corporate policy, there are NO price matches, but there ARE price adjustments). Price ADJUST means they adjust their own price as long as it was bought less than a week before the sale. And you have two weeks after the sale price to get your adjustment.

If your TV is HD ready (720 p or higher) than I would definitely say to get it on XBOX 360. It is more expensive (Xbox 360 games are usually $10 more than Wii) but it will look a LOT better. Playing Wii games (and PS2 for that matter) on my HDTV after playing Xbox 360 is almost painful to me now, it's so blurry in comparison. As for the actual gameplay, I can't help you there since I haven't played either game on either system. But assuming all things are equal in games that appear on multiple game systems (assuming that they are the exact same game... which is likely since companies usually just "port" these titles, meaning they change almost nothing from system to system), always get the Xbox 360 version IMO. HOWEVER, if blurry graphics don't bother you or the person playing and you would rather save $10, then go with the Wii version.

I agree with mysschevous, try the Wii sprts games out first. Wii sports is a great pack of games that are easy to "pick up" and play with friends. Unfortunately, they aren't that great (for lasting value) when playing by yourself, because there really is no "single player game" besides just repeatedly playing the same thing (altho doing wii fitness age is kinda fun, but that gets old after a couple days too). It depends on what you are looking for. I haven't heard the greatest things about the other bowling game or boxing game that are out right now. Wii game developers in general are taking time to "master" the unique control scheme of the system, so there aren't a lot of top flight games right now. The best probably being Super Mario Galaxy and Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess from what I hear. These are my feelings of the two games you mentioned on Wii sports: Bowling: Very fun and intuitive. Might take a second reading over the directions to understand all the controls. Not as responsive to spin as some would like, but still it's very good. Just make sure you release when the ball is in front of you, it takes some people a few tries to get the hang of it. But overall, it's solid, and I can't imagine other bowling games being much better to warrant shelling out extra money. Boxing: This one takes some time to master. The controls don't respond if you swing wildly and too quickly. Some people get really frustrated by the game because it seems a little arbitrary when a punch lands or doesn't. It is fun, tho the graphics aren't the greatest, but that applies to all the wii sports games. Graphics in bowling don't matter as much because you are mainly looking at a ball and pins, but in boxing all you have are the cartoony Mii's (player made characters) that have no feet and floating hands. It is kinda cool that you can fight with your Mii's which you can make to look like yourself or people you know. Overall, boxing is more of an acquired taste than the other Wii sports games, but from what I read, the boxing game that's out right now (victorious boxers: revolution) is not any better.

the royal riviera pears from harry and david are fantastic if he likes fruit. they take a little time to ripen, but they are worth waiting for. hmm... single guy... does he like video/computer games?

I agree, when the one here went out of business, their stuff went from outrageously overpriced to just about the same price as other places.

Thanks for the tips, but unfortunately, both Guitarcenter.com and redoctane.com are out of stock... the Red Octane website says they won't get them until January 2008 (tentatively)! I decided to go the B & M route and after unsuccessfully trying four stores, I tried Gamestop and they had JUST received a shipment (it wasn't even on the floor yet), so I finally got it! For anyone else who is trying to get it, every version of GH3 is pretty easy to find in stores, EXCEPT for the 360 version. It seems that the manufacturers "ran out" (though this does seem kinda fishy to me... ). If you were planning on getting this for someone for Christmas, I suggest you try to find it immediately! Now, I just have to figure out how to ship this thing.

I tried CC again and it WAS available, I was entering my info and my session timed out! I tried to purchase it again and OF COURSE it is sold out. So mad. Called CC customer service and of course they can't do squat.

I tried getting the circuit city one online, it says sold out. My brother is across the country, so I'd really rather get it online and ship it for a REASONABLE PRICE. The ps2, ps3, and wii versions are relatively easy to get, but NOT the 360 version. It seems to be almost universally sold out both online and in stores. I wonder why that is?

Oh, forgot to mention which platform: I'm looking for the xbox 360 version.

Hi folks, I'm trying to buy a guitar hero III bundle (comes with guitar) for my brother for Christmas. I can't find a website that sells them online and will ship them for a reasonable cost. (They are on "sale" at Amazon for some ridiculous prices) I am not really sure why this is. Does anyone know? And better yet: has anyone found a site that ships them? (free shipping would be AMAZING ) Thanks for your help!

If you ever want to find game reviews, I recommend metacritic.com. They compile reviews from a bunch of different publications and websites. And by the way, the AMF bowling game gets very low marks across the board... most reviewers say that the bowling game in wii sports that comes with it is much better as many peoiple have mentioned.

you're welcome! glad to help!

HDMI cables that are male to male (which is basically all of them) will be fine. The next (and only) consideration is how long. Get the shortest that YOU need... which is of course how far you need the cable to go. If your TV rests directly on top of an entertainment center and your HD-DVD player and/or HD-DVR are directly below, 6' willl probably be sufficient. And don't pay attention to the gold plating nonsense, all HDMI cables are basically the same.

This is for Brad and everyone else associated with GottaDeal, including all those that contribute on these forums, Thank you very much for all the information and tips which all ready has saved me hundreds of dollars on my christmas shopping, ESPECIALLY on BF and Cyber Monday. I just hope more retailers will read this and see how sites like yours actually help them in the end (because we buy from them). But seriously, I don't think you get enough credit for the work that you do that helps people like me who save so much time and money. Thanks again!

Yes, thanks Brad... this applies to almost all cables... including computer ones, like ethernet or printer cables. They know that people will pay the outrageously marked up price, because they want to use the item right away. It's kind of a "hidden" cost, most people weren't counting on having to pay for the cable that you would think would come with the item you were buying.

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to alert everyone of the huge price-gouging that goes on at big electronics retailers like BestBuy and CircuitCity. They make very little on electronics purchases like TVs... so where do they make their money? Cables... not cable TV, those dinky cables that you would think would come for free... well, they usually don't come for free, but CC or BB will gladly sell you one for an arm and a leg. I went to CC to buy a HDMI cable for my HD-DVR and after asking an employee where they were, he directed me to the Monster HDMI cables which go for $139.99!!! When I expressed outrage at this cost, he suggested I look at the "bargain bin" where I might find one for $69.99!!!! Of course, I walked out... After doing a little bit of research, just wanted to alert folks that HDMI cables are WAY over-priced. Not like by 10-20%, more like by a 1000%. This is no exaggeration. The mark-up from such retailers on these cables can be close to 3000%. Folks, do not buy your HDMI cable from them. You can go online and get a HDMI cable for less than $10. There are tons of sites that sell them. Personally, I bought mine from Firefold for 6.99 (with shipping, it was less than $10 TOTAL). I got my cable the other day (in four business days with standard USPS shipping) and it works just fine. [EDIT: As many posts have mentioned, monoprice.com is an excellent source of cheap cables. When i checked, you could geta 6' HDMI cable for less than $5.] Studies show that there is little to NO difference between "cheap cables" and the expensive gold ones. I know HDTVs are the hot item for the holidays, so just wanted to hopefully save someone out there some money. The employees at these retailers are instructed to try to sell you these cables and especially the Monster ones, telling you how great they are and how your picture will look better blah blah blah... Don't believe them! If you are buying a HDTV for someone for Christmas and they are using a HD-DVR (from a cable company) or a blu-ray, HD-DVD player or PS3, be sure to buy a hdmi cable online and not in a store!

You're welcome. We are here to help each other out! I'm becoming a gottadeal addict like a lot of others around here, so hope to see you around! I hope your BB experience is better. BB has its issues too, no store is perfect (I get really annoyed with BB on just about every other day but BF! ). They've learned from their mistakes, and tho every BB is different, it does seem that most BB's are extremely organized on BF. Maybe they have corporate policies on dealing with Black Friday. For instance, I've been to two different BB's on BF, and they both do the balloon thing to indicate the end of the line.

Keep checking back on gottadeal.com, especially the online deal section for good deals or check newegg.com regularly, they usually have really good deals. Walmart has a 47" LCD HDTV (1080p, but TERRIBLE contrast ratio) for $898 this Thursday (check the Gottadeal.com frontpage...) What is your budget? Do you mind getting an "off-brand" (NOT Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Samsung, etc.)?

From what I understand, Olevia's are made from parts of LG's, and that it is one of the better "off-brands". Still a little too new to get a lot of longterm feedback as is the case with most of the off brands.