gbeenie

This is true; however, they will have some in-store surprises. When I went to a Best Buy store last BF to get a Harmony remote for the in-laws, they had Haywire (which was a pretty recent release at the time) on Blu-Ray for $7.99. All the rest of my BB Black Friday Blu-Ray purchases were made online (at some pretty substantial discounts).

That Call of Duty deal is the same one that several B&M stores are gonna have. Getting it without leaving my house = SCORE.

Heads up. Newegg is offering the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1" for the same $299 ($10 off with a promo code) everyone is doing for BF. Except they're doing it right now: http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Nov-0-2013/BF-Preview-25/index-landing.html?name=Black-Friday-Preview

Good deal.

Got my shirt. w00ticles!

First off, that is more a laptop than a tablet, hence the price. Also, the reviews on Amazon aren't exactly stellar. If you don't wanna mess with BF, I'd suggest http://tech.woot.com/offers/asus-10-1-32gb-tablet-with-keyboard-10 If your recipients are hung up on not getting a refurbished item, then go for one of the half-dozen+ BF deals on the Samsung Galaxy 3 for $299.

Staples, Office Max AND Office Depot.

Heads up, gang. woot!'s got you covered like a jimmy hat: http://tech.woot.com/plus/tableta-rasa

Ugh. There's always one. Your "concerns" are MEANINGLESS PIFFLE.

Word of warning on the Goodfellas Blu-Ray. The movie disc is the exact same master as the 2006 Blu-Ray; it's decent enough, but for a premium-priced two disc set, they really should have done a re-master (most of the other WB 2-disc book sets have had them). In other words, I'd put my max price at about $9 for that set.

If that Call of Duty deal includes the PC version, I'm ON it.

Please don't mistake the points I brought up as criticism. I LOVE Amazon (and if I hadn't inadvertently purchased an extra Android tablet, I'd be getting the in-laws a Kindle this year). I was simply answering the poster's question regarding the Kindle's proprietary book format. And as wonderful as Amazon is, even a good company can make dick moves. Example? Until extremely recently, you couldn't stream content on the iOS Amazon Instant Video app to your AppleTV via Airplay; that restriction was courtesy of Amazon (of course, the fact that there's no Amazon Instant Video app on AppleTV in the first place is on Apple). Of course, they eventually did the right thing, so good on them; now they can get to work re-engineering the AIV Android app to account for the lack of Flash support in all versions of Android above 4.0 (imagine my disappointment when my tablets arrived, and they couldn't run Amazon Instant Video; sadface). In all honesty, the only thing that prevented me from getting a Kindle was the screen size. Hell, my niece, who has MS, works for Amazon, and they've been uniformly great about her medical issues. So, nothing but love for Amazon from me. And who knows? Once the Nook has been put out of its misery (in all likelihood, this holiday season is gonna be the killing stroke), Amazon MIGHT loosen up a little on the format issue.

Andrea, does the tablet have Bluetooth? If so, you can easily add a keyboard. If it has a full-size USB jack, you should be able to add one as well.

Sorry. Amazon (courtesy of the Kindle) has the e-book market by the balls, and they have shown no compunction about giving 'em a little squeeze every now and then. However, you CAN get Kindle apps for lots of other devices, which means consumers can very easily choose devices that will enable them to buy Kindle books AND still read books in other formats (so it's not really like Apple). Also, the Kindle Fire models are Android tablets, with the limitation that you don't get access to the Google Play store, and have to buy your apps through the Amazon Appstore. On the other hand, there's something to be said for having immediate access to Amazon customer service if you have even the slightest hiccup with your tablet.

I don't know if I'd even regard the Galaxy 3 as a "tweener"; near as I can tell, it's pretty much boxing in the same weight class as an iPad. As for the Flash issue, that appears to be the way of all flesh; it was only after I got my ASUS Transformer pad, which runs Android 4.1, that I made the unpleasant discovery that Google has discontinued support for Flash in all versions of Android above 4.0 (which means no Amazon Instant Video for the time being).

The lack of TV Blu-Rays in the ads this year is killing me dead.

There's Evolution Home Theater in Duluth. Personally, I'd feel bad doing demos there, because there's no way I can afford virtually anything they sell. But MAN is the place nice.

I strongly suggest you try to get one with multiple HDMI inputs. The flexibility can come in handy down the road.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (here are the reviews on Amazon) is gonna be $299 at SEVERAL places, increasing the likelihood of you successfully getting your hands on one. Also, I would be super-surprised if there weren't multiple online matches of that price. You aren't necessarily tied down to a Windows tablet. My ASUS Transformer TF700T comes pre-installed with Polaris Office, a suite that handles, among other things, MS Office file types.

Just a MINOR note: The Jurassic Park listed at Walmart for $6.96 is, I'm pretty sure, just the first one (which is fine by me, as that's the only one worth watching). And I was SURE that deal on The Wolverine at WM was a mistake; but, I re-checked the ad scan, and, sure, enough, there it is. However, it looks like the cover is of the DVD edition (even though it's clearly in a section marked "Blu-Ray"); I would not be surprised if this was a misprint, that Walmart will retract before BF. p.s. Thank you for the work you've put into this.

Then maybe it's time to trade up. (KIDDING!) Seriously, what is his deal? You're killing me now. That LG Len posted is an EXPONENTIALLY better deal.

Dude, will that price leave you without enough money to buy curtains?

If you don't mind my asking: Is there a particular reason you're focused so narrowly on Sony?

Do you just need surround speakers for an existing system? Or are you starting from scratch?

Westinghouse sets are infamous for TERRIBLE longevity.