stationchief

I can tell ya that any hot items like doorbusters will NOT have the same SKU. Places like Walmart and Best Buy use items with unique model numbers exclusive to their store and that particular sale as to prevent price matchin' of any kind. Ya might be able to price match other items at places like Walmart, but as ya said, it's iffy at best and it all depends on their specific rules they'll release in their ads.

Brad should be expectin' a few of those in the mail pretty soon. But I think they'll jsut recycle the same photo copied form letter they've been usin' for the last several years. Same deal. Same threats. Yada yada.

Sure could! Almost forgot about those. They seem to be a good hot BF item as well.

No prob! Ya could always use the charts to compare prices and show the kiddies their available choices.

Actually, I was goin' for a touch of sarcasm with just a hint of irony.

Ya know, if you're havin' problems with your printer just post the issue in the Technology forum. That's what it's there for.

Now that the new sixth-generation iPods have been announced and are commin' out next week, it's entirely possible the older versions will make some good doorbusters. At leas that's what I'm hopin' for as well.

To a programmer that's a huge compliment. You're welcome!

A drop-down list instead of the pointy arrows is possible, and probably more user friendly. See, I don't realize these things ahead of time. Gotta learn to think more like a non-tekkie. Well, I'm only doin' the computers (desktops/laptops/netbooks). That's why I'll require some assistance entering in the info for everythin' else, somethin' like one person per one chart. What other charts do y'all wanna see? HDTVs? Cameras/camcorders? DVD/blu-ray players? Think of anythin' else?

These are gonna be BF 2010 deals and possibly concurrent deals, like Cyber Monday. Unfortunately I don't have the time to put in all deals on GD all the time. But it could be used as such, as we can put in availability dates and so forth. Maybe be able to have it sort for deals between certain dates. Might be a neat idea if we can expand this thing further someday, and if one of Brad's info gurus can assis with enterin' all that info.

Thanx, tinkrbel. And there is that same sorting functuality for all the columns in every chart. Just click on any column title to sort it by either ascending or descending. Ya can even click on a row to sort it to the top, in case ya wanna see that one up front. I tried to make it as easy as I could to figure out. Mayb I should post a brief instruction manual? Far as the overall asthetic design, I'm afraid I often fall flat as well. Which side of the brain deals with logic/numbers and which deals with imagination/creativity? My brain is welded into the logic and number crunchin' side. Otherwise, what did ya think of the charts? Any ideas come to mind?

Sweet! Now, if ya could only fix my job so it starts sooner. Don't suppose ya got a button to push for that? Thanx, Brad!

Well, it's that time of year, folks! First off, for those who missed me during BF 2009 (and the comparison charts), thanx for all the kind words. Thanx go out to 'Swim100flyy' and those who helped coverin' the BF 2009 charts for me while I was away. And my apologies for vanishin' on y'all for over a year. It's a long story tha goes into my unemployment, my divorce, and just a bunch of personal woes that got the better of me last year. I'm doin' 10 times better nowdays. Maybe I'll blog a few pages about it someday. Or write a book. These last few years would make a great novel. Anyhoo, I'm back for BF 2010, and that means so are the ... ::INSERT THEME MUSIC HERE:: ... Black Friday 2010 Product Comparison Charts! For those who don't know, I've been responsible for puttin' up comparison charts for the BF desktops and laptops for the past several years. Since 2005 if memory serves correctly. Has it been that long? In 2007 I strayed away from the MS Excel page-type look of the charts and coded a frontend and a database that allowed folks to select what they wanna see and how they wanna see it. Been plannin on updatin' this for some time but, as I said before, things in my life got a lil' outta hand these last few years. Well, now I've got some new ideas and great stuff planned for this year. First thing I'd like everyone to do is go to my new website and check out the comparison chart from last year. Thanx to 'inogenius' for providing the space and bandwidth as well as helpin' me get the site up, and thanx again to 'Swim100flyy' and co. for the laptop/netbook info. Last year's charts are at the same place where the 2010 charts are going to be: http://blackfriday.thestationchief.com. It's the same setup as 2008, just with the added 2009 info. Go check it out and tell me what'cha think about the chart setup. There's lots of features. What do ya like? What don'tcha like? Easy enough to use? Any improvements you'd like to see this year? Don't be afraid if it sounds too far fetched. That's my job to worry about that. One thing I've got planned is to not only include the desktops and laptops this year, but ALL the major electronics. To pul this off I might need some help with researchin' the specific details of the different products (size, make, model, screen type, resolution, etc) so I'll be askin' for volunteers to help with that. You'll be using my web based admin pages to enter all that info, so no coding experience necessary. More on that later. Current TO-DO list planned so far. I'll update as I go along: Changing the overall look and colors a lil' bit to match the 'pleasing' visual appearance appropriate of the GD web site. This is the part I have the most problem with. I'm a coder geek, not a multimedia guru. (DONE)Adding a feature to allow ya to select what details to view. All that tekkie mumbo-jumbo is good for some but intimidating to others. Let's say ya just wanna copmpare the different HDTV screen sizes or just the laptops' memory and hard drive capacities. (ABILITY TO FILTER BY STORES DONE)A printable view. Just a lil' feature to put all the info up (with what features you've selected to compare) in another window and in a more printer-friendly format. More charts to select from other than just desktops/laptops/netbooks. Wanna get just about all the major electronics, either BF sales or doorbusters, in this. (DONE)Currently on the list of charts to be made for 2010 (UPDATED 11-12-10): DesktopsLaptopsNetbooksDigital Cameras, PAS/SLI/KiddiesDigital CamcordersVideo Game SystemsVideo GamesGPS Navigation SystemsHDTVsBlu-ray playersTablets/iPadseReadersMP3 playersiPodsDVD Players/SystemsPortable DVD Players... and more!(what have I gotten myself into?! )If anyone can think of anythin' else, speak up please! Once again, thanx go out to 'inogenius' for helping set up the web site. And thanx to 'Swim100flyy' and those responsible for makin' last year's laptop/netbook chart in my absebce. And let's not forget to thank the team of GD members that helped out with filling out the chars this year. Couldn't have done all this without such an awesome group of crazy peeps! Lemme know what y'all think! http://blackfriday.thestationchief.com UPDATE: The 2010 charts are up and running! Go check 'em out!

[ATTACH]5484[/ATTACH] © 2010 Warner Bros, by the way ... Here's an example right here. One, all our images' names we uploaded prior to the last updae are all messed up. And two, we can't se 'em in our threads anymore. They only show up as a linkie. As I said in the previous thread about the last update, while that may be beneficial to folks with a bad case of arachnophobia viewin' the 'What kinda spider is this?' thread , I find it somewhat annoying that we can't show our picturess off. I wanna see those spiders!

A fellow BF buddy is always handy. Someone to keep ya company as well as to hold your spot in line while ya use the porta-potty. I'll be lookin' for one soon for myself.

87 days, 19 hours, and 36 minutes 'til the first store opens! (5am BF) Can I get a 'Woot woot'! :2woot:

Same here. I'll be keepin' all of 'em on hand (or on flash drive as the case may be ). Same rule applies if anyone needs one.

I think ya just did. Yes, it is. Links to Youtube vids used to work, I dunno exactly what it's doin' now. It becomes a Youtube link with a bunch of jibberish or somethin'. Ya could imbed the videos usin' 'INSERT VIDEO' button in the reply toolbar above but, IMHO, it takes away the option to choose to view it or not. Plus, folks viewin' the thread with older PCs or from their cellphone will have trouble. P .S.: It works when ya just copy/paste the link itself without the extra 'http://www.gottadeal.com/goto.php?' stuff. Gotta love a good RickRoll! 40 million and counting!

I might need a GD tote bag or backpack this year. Somethin' to go with a GD t-shirt around the campus.

Bigjim, what kind of generator do ya use? Do the stores ya camp out at allow ya to run an extension chord from their outlets to your tent or do ya have to come up with another means? And that port-a-potty seemed a lil' extreme, however now that I think about it it's more of a necessity. Ya don't think about these things until it's too late.

The typical XP netbook that runs about $250 has gone down in sale prices to $200, and even $150 so far this year at places like Target. With the popularity of such netbooks growing, I think it's definitey possible to see a good one somewhere in the $100-200 range for BF. I'm hopeful we'll see at least one as a doorbuster and drop to the $99 range, most likely with rebates attached to get it that low. And I seriously doubt netbooks will be goin' away anytime soon. There are some things they can still do that iPads and tablet PC can't. My prediction for BF: An Atom processor nnetbook with either Windows XP Home or Windows 7 Starter for $99 after -$50 mail-in rebae and -$50 gotta-send-it-in-a special-way rebate. That's what they usually gotta do to get it that low.

Some things I came up with: Tent - Kinda goes without saying. Just a small one.Sleeping bag - To catch some zzz's.Food/water - Plenty of non-cooking food and plenty of drinks. Ice chest - For the water, and as a makeshift refrigerator.TV or mini DVD player - Gotta entertain myself. PC - Another means of entertainment, and hopefully store might offer wifi.Dunno what some places will let me do as far as providing power to all these devices, like an extension chord. But, if need be, perhaps a mini power generator.

Well, this might be the year I finally do it. I've waited in lines for a few hours on BF years ago, but this year might be the time I finally go all crazy and camp out in front of a store. My new job that starts up next month is finally gonna allow me to save up enough cash in time for some major purchases on BF, and since it's a re-hire I've already got paid personal time off accurred for a day or two before/after thanksgiving. Dependin' on what happens in the upcommin' ads I'm still debatin' whether it'd be worth the whole line waitin'/campin' thing on BF, but I think I'm inching closer to actually doin' it. I've got some major needs this year which include, but not limited to, a new good spec laptop, an HDTV, possibly an iPod, and maybe some computer parts among other things. The problem is, as of right now, my supplies list total = 0. I'd have to buy the whole complete set (tent, mini generator, etc.). I might go ahead and do that, that way I'd have the campin' supplies for a real campin' trip to the mountains later. For those of y'all campin' out in line this BF, or have done so in the past, what's on your checklist of supplies? Any advice ya can give to a first timer? What to do's/don'ts?

Camp out at a few electronics stores anyways, tent and all. Tell 'em you're waitin' for black friday. Don't forget to record the responses ya get from passer bys and from store management.

Whazzup with this, Brad? Since those previous updates to the GD forums, not only are pics we try to attatch to our posts all messed up, but I've just noticed certain links don't work when ya click on 'em. Tried to post some YouTube vids but they seem to get messed up in the redirecting process. We can work around it and embed the vids into the posts, but I'm afraid not everyone will know how to do that. Plus I think it's better if we're given a choice to click or not. For the record, I'm not liking these new updates.