TazErase

I'm hearing BB is going to have an HP desktop for $199. Just a rumor at this time and they don't usually have it in their original printed add, only posted on their website the day before to keep people like us from announcing it too soon As far as CC they love rebates on most of the best deals are rebate items. As for recommendations get there early. Not as early as BB but you will need to be there ealy enough if you want to get the best deals.

Yeah, same here. I have 2 gb of ram. I also have external hard drives to compensate for the low hard drive space. Bought it all last year on Black Friday at Best Buy also at lower prices than normal prices. Hoping to pick up another laptop this year and a 2 TB external HD.

Best Buy usually has Toshiba for $229 but I've been hearing rumors of a laptop for $150 this year. Hopefully it is a Toshiba and not a Compaq. Personally I prefer Toshiba and almost anyone involved in the computer technician industry will probably say the same thing. I'd rather a Toshiba for $229 than a Compaq for $150 with the same technical specs.

Best Buy usually has a Toshiba Satellite for $229 with a printer, rumor is it will be $149 thisyear, not sure if there will be a printer or not. Personally, given the choice of a Toshiba or a Compaq, I'd prefer the Toshiba. Walmsrt has a Compaq on sale Saturday for $298. Also another laptop that Best Buy usually has BF is the Sony Vaio for $399, this year rumored to be $299. If you play games on the computer the Sony has much better graphics than the Toshiba but other than that the Toshiba is a great machine. In fact that's what I am using right now :)

Most stores have a minimum number of each of the BF items. I believe the $229 laptops last year had a 15 per store minimum. I was a little late (not my fault, the line started 3 hours earlier than the year before). I was #24 and got the 19th of the 20 laptops they had at the location I was at. In most cases you have to assume almost everyone there early is getting a laptop, since most of them are. A few didn't want the $229 laptop and chose the get the Sony Vaio instead or I would not have gotten the Toshiba. Also in most cases they don't let kids get tickets and some people are just there to be with their friend who is waiting for a laptop. This year I plan to be 3 hrs ealier than it started last year. I have a few friends that want laptops that have never done the BF sales and need me to make sure I can get them their early enough to get them. I plan to get the Sony this year only because the Toshiba doesn't have the graphics to be able to play the newer computer games.

Depending on the location you might have to get there the night before (Wednesday night) or try finding a less popular location. Last year I got on line at 3:30pm and I got what I wanted (barely) but the year before the line was empty at that time. You look like you're in Nashville Tn which is a larger city, maybe try another location a little further from the city if you want to have better luck. Last year I was hearing about the Best Buy 25 minutes away that had a line much larger than where I was because it was a bigger city. Actually there was another Best Buy about 40 minutes away that there were news reports of a 5 miles line of traffic trying to get to that location. It's all about location, it could be worthwhile to drive 30 minutes out of the city for shorter lines (BY NO MEANS WOULD I SAY SHORT LINES since a short line, the short line where I was last year had about 5000 people and stretched for almost 1/4 mile byt the time they let people in)

For that price you should be able to get a decent Sony Vaio brand new on Black Firday. I wait all year for these sales because of the great discounts. Never buy a computer or other electronics after early August, you're better off waiting for the BF sales. I save up for a few months before and always buy new tvs, laptops, and desktops every year. Even if you are buying it to hang onto as a spare it's a lot cheaper than paying for repairs of an oler computer in most cases.

Not available in my area, I guess I'll be standing on line all day and night as usual, lol. Besides the 4 DB limit sucks and I usually go with a group of friends and family. What would I do any way? Sleep? Eat turkey? lol. Besides the Best Buy is only about 5 minutes away.

Sounds great. I also heard the better laptops such as the Vaio is going to be $299 rather than $399 (last years price).

I bought the Emachine that was on sale last year for $199 and it still runs great. In order to get one I would say you have to be somewhere in the first 60 - 70 people at most. The first thing to go are the $229 laptops, then the $199 desktops and the $399 laptops. Even within the first 60 - 70 is risky but further than that and you're chances are about as good as hitting the lottery. As far as the Compaq you bought in 2006 (I got one of those too), what went wrong? Maybe I can give you a much cheaper solution so you don't have to get a new one at all. Helps to know how to repair computers when you give each child their own computer especially when my son was 2 at the time. Never too soon to start teaching them how to use it. As far as what time to arrive it varies based on where you are located. Some lines start forming Wednesday evening, others start Thursday evening. No matter where you are by 6pm Thursday if you are not on line and near the front go home and get some sleep or go to a different retailer. Best Buy is notorious for one of the longest lines, and longest checkout (that's the worst part, 2 hours in line to pay for the item you stayed on line for 24 hrs to get in the first place). As bad as it sounds staying on line all day and night for the item it will become addictive, lol. I go earlier each year and actually meet the same people every year that like me enjoy the rush of staying on line all night, lol.

Standard items usually on sale are compressors, and Mag Light Flashlights. I always stock up on the flashlights each year. Having 4 kids always taking them and hiding them doesn't help, lol.

I know CC is having troubles but I hope they can stick around. Fact is the less competition BB has the less the deals they have to put to get people in. Luckily I have Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Sears, KMart, Staples, KB, JC P, and others all in under 1/4 mile.

Most people will still go eat their turkey before being crazy enough to get on line on Thursday. Get their early and account for the long lines. I think personally the lines may be a little less this year because of the economy but I still plan to miss my turkey (I hate turkey so it's a good excuse to avoid it in any case) and get on line early Thursday. The true diehards that do this every year look forward to it every year and unless the deals really suck we are the ones that will still be among the first just like in years past.... 25 days till I get on line.... 389 days till I get on line for next years sales... looking forward to it already and I get a rush from it every year.

Yup getting earlier here every year too. Last year I got there at 3pm expecting to be the one of the first since the year before the line stated at about 3:30, last year it started at about 12 noon. I still got my items but this year I plan to arrive at 11am and no later than 12 noon to be one of the first. We actually start a list of the first 70 or so people on line so stop people from cutting in at the last minute like they always try.

You're not going to get a better deal on laptops than Best Buy but a few suggestions. 1 Don't bring the kids, the place gets so crowded that there is a good chance they could get trampled. 2 laptops (especially the $229 ones from last year are the first items gone, they only have about 15 so if you're more than 20 people back from the front you won't get it) are the most popular items, get there early, real early, like 24hrs early.....

Screw Walmart. After what they did to me last year I will never run for one of their special sales again. Last year they had a special deal on laptops a few weeks before Black Friday. The sale didn't start until the next day but since the Walmart is 24hrs I decided to go at about 5pm the night before to stand in line (I love standing hours in line to get good deals which is why I am always one of the first on line where I go on BF), any way there was no line, so I asked where to go to wait for the laptops to go on sale. I was told that they gave out tickets at noon and there were none left but I was welcome to return and see if anyone doesn't return to get theirs. I decided to stay around for 7 hours to wait to see what happens and out of the 40 they had available, 17 of them (that I know of) went to Walmart employees that took off their uniform vests as they were getting near where they were going to have them for sale. Well a few people didn't show and I overheard the assistant manager saying to "put this one in the back and mark Hold for Dave on it, when I asked the employee who Dave was, it was her son, she already got one for herself (coupon #1) but wanted another even though besides me there were about 15 others waiting to get the leftovers if someone didn't show. The point is, if you are going to have a sale set a time to give out the coupns for the items and let everyone get a fair chance at it. It is not right when the employees decide when to give out the tickets and at least 18 of the 40 items available go to the employees because they knew the tickets were going to be given out and got them before any customers had a chance to get them. I have not and will not race to Walmart for their big sale items again in the future, I'll be on their competitors lines long before they give out their tickets any way.

I have heard some rumors around my store that Staples is holding way back this black friday with a few great deals but over all a small simple ad so they can spread the deals out over the holiday season... Too bad for them. By the time they have the other sales I'll be done with my shopping. I get over 90% of it done on Black Friday and rarely pay much attention to the other ads that come out after.

Staples usually has some really good deals. Last year I didn't get there until about 10am but they still had plenty of the items I wanted still in stock. The deals were good but other retailers had better deals and even the employees at Staples were surprized at how slow it was for them last year. Part of the reason for it is that a lot of Staples items require you to use rebates on their items and some people just want the item without having to deal with rebates. Last year I spent a few hundred dollars but after the rebates I got about 70% back but it kept me from being able spend that money at other retailers so I limited my spending at Staples. Luckily where I live Staples, Best Buy, Sears, KMart, and Circuit City are all within 1/4 mile of eachother. The Walmart is about 6 miles away, and pretty much all the other retailers are somewhere in the middle, or still within the 1/4 mile of the others listed above. If you plan to go to more than one store I suggest you map it out and see what is near where you want to go and find a few of the locations close by. I've done that for years before I moved to where I am now and always had success finding the stores I was looking for within short distances of eachother.

I got the Sony at BB last year and i was like the 250th person in line. I got the last flyer for one though and also got there at 11 pm to get in line. Dang you're lucky. If you are not one of the first 50 on the line your chances of getting the cheap laptop are slim to none. I think the $229 Toshiba was sold out by the 25th person last year. Even the others were sold out by the time it hit the first 100 people, or less since I was way in front it was hard to keep track but I saw some people there only a few hours after me that I know didn't get one.

Is it worth it? Hhhhhmmmmm a $199 Emachines desktop with printer (excellent, got one last year) a $229 Toshiba laptop with printer (excellent, got one of these too, but kinda weak graphics, can't play a lot of the newer games) or a $399 (rumor is it may be $299 this year) Sony Vaio laptop (excellent top quality laptop, good graphics, good memory, good storage space). Do you think I recommend it? HELL YES!!!! If the new locatioon was by me I'd probably recommend you not go only to reduce the competition, lol. The store I go to has been around for years, besides I get there so early only someone crazier that myself would be there earlier, and that's been very rare over the past few years I've been going.

Here's my thought when it comes to BF items: Many (if not all) of the really great deals are being sold at prices that either drastically reduce or completely eliminate the profit margin. The idea for these sales is to increase overall customer traffic, both on BF and throughout the X-mas shopping season. The more people that come through the doors...the better. From the retailer's point of view, it might make the most sense to limit the ticketed items to one per person. Granted, this would reduce the benefit for someone who really wanted two or more items. But, it would spread the wealth to more people and bring more people into the store. Ultimately, the register totals on those hot items would be the same, but the chances of greater overall sales would increase. Yup, and I'd go start a line at another storeand get my name in the paper for being the first at that store instead of being the first at Best Buy. Last year I was still lucky enough to get everything I wanted but was beaten out by 1 other person, I will not let that happen 2 yrs in a row so I'm going about 2 hrs before the first person arrived last year

A few comments on this thread.... Best Buy has loss prevention staged throughout the line, anyone caught selling a ticket will be arrested and lose their tickets. It is not recommended. In the past I wish someone would have sold me their ticket for the laptop, and where you are saying people sold their laptop ticket for $50, I would have jumped as high as $150 for that ticket. Next, as far as reselling them on Ebay or Craigslist I think there is nothing at all wrong with it. There was a person last year that bought a total of 12 computers (they bought 3 different ones with 4 different people). Although I think that's a bit greedy I can hardly blame them for it. I bought 2 extras last year and kept 2 for myself. The profit I made on the 2 I sold got me 2 free computers. Well worth the long wait in order to get the computers for free, although it took a few weeks to get the prices I wanted they both sold for cash. Next as far as people jumping in shortly before the doors open. There are 2 things we do at the Best Buy I go to. First, we start a list and the first 50 - 75 people put their name on the list. The management verified with the people in the front that the list was valid and actually had the customers go by that list upon entry to get the items they wanted. Second, the best way I found to stop the idiots that jump in the front just before opening is simple. First since I am still ahead of them there is no reason for me to personally get involved and get arrested, so I find some of the biggest guys on line behind where they cut in and inform them that although they were on line for the past 12 hours or so, those people over there (pointing out the cutters) got here 5 minutes ago and cut the line. Let them deal with it, and I have been pretty good at picking the ones to approach them and it has worked over 95% of the time that they will go further back, to the end, or just leave the line altogether. Since there is no place to go to the bathroom near the Best Buy we do allow people to return to their spots as long as they don't just leave and come back just before opening. They have to be there a reasonable ammount of time but sometimes it gets to be so cold that a lot of people go their cars to warm up. Some of us are crazy enough to just bring enough blankets, gloves, coffee, etc. and not leave except in a bathroom emergency and not within 3 hours of the doors opening. Anyone trying to get in the front at 3 or 4 am get yelled at from the rest of the line unless others in the front verify that they were there the whole time or when we put our chairs, etc back in the car. We unfortuneately are not allowed to have tents, generators, bbqs, or any of the other outragous stuff only us diehards are willing to do to make the night more fun

My favorite that I use every year... When the cutters try cutting in at 2am when the rest of us have been there since the day before.... just find the biggest guys and let them know that these people just cut in front of them. Not my problem since I am still one of the first 5 on line, but there are always a group of some very big guys somewhere on the line that will confront the cutters and escort them to the rear of the line.

Generator (location doesn't allow) Laptop with movies Chairs Table to put laptop and other items on Blankets Caution tape to form line Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Other drinks Coffee

I notice someone has "Mayor Of Best Buy Tent City" on their post, I'm the local mayor of the Best Buy where I live. I'll be there by 12 noon Thursday this year.