ObiRich

Thanks! Kept me from going out today and buying a different laptop.

It will be interesting to see when people start showing up based on this ad.

I'm not too impressed, but then again i'm not really out for much this year. DW needs a new laptop so that's my primary focus. Haven't checked the BB ad yet, but there's two that I'm considering. I too am disappointed that TRU broke ranks and is opening before midnight. I feel that other retailers will feel the need to follow suit and that's just wrong. I'd rather see it become "Black Wednesday" and leave Thanksgiving alone. So far, the only stops I have planned are AAFES, Radio Shack (backup for the laptop), Kohls and maybe Penney's. Will have to wait for the WM ad to see if they fit into the mix. Hope Sam's club still has breakfast...that could be the highlight!

But would there be Celery growing in the garden? And would there be 2 Great Big rows of it?

Ok...two laptops so far that are in the performance range and at a decent price. Radio shack has an HP G62-347NR, and AAFES has a G62-348NR. The only difference I see is the 348 has an INTEL Pentium P6100 dual core, and the 347 has an Athlon II dual core. Which one is the better one?

I'm looking at that HP laptop for $349. Looks to be a decent mid level one (even has 64 bit Windows7). Can't find out any exact specs on it tho, but found out it does have HDMI and a webcam. SWMBO needs a new one for Christmas. Will have to see what Staples, OM, OD come up with.

No doubt that several places (BB, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot) will have mid tier laptops. Most likely they won't be doorbusters, and not the big discounts like on the low end doorbusters. Personally, I've been looking at some that currently go on sale for $499 (I'm partial to HP laptops) and hoping they are around $450 or so on BF. Looking for dual core, 4GB, 320 (min) HD, HDMI, webcam and n wireless.

Don't do BB myself on BF, but here people started lining up on Tuesday night last year.

See above...

Thanks! So much for the email!

I personally think that the "traditional" idea of Black Friday shopping has been under attack for awhile on several different fronts: 1. Agree with Brad...the pre- and post- BF sales can be just as good as the BF deals. 2. The stores themselves...KM and Shopko both being open on Thanksgiving, Outlet malls opening at midnight, and it seems that every year store's opening times are creeping earlier and earlier. Not to mention 24 hour stores that will let you "shop" but just don't open up the registers until "the time." 3. No offense intended...but the whole "camper" thing. I know some people make it a family event, but there's no way I would spend 2+ days at BB. But with all those that will, it just means that BB isn't on my list at all that morning, as I wouldn't stand a chance. I'm sorry, but my time is more valuable than that. 4. Online ordering. I've had a lot more success buying online, even during doorbuster hours, than in the stores. It's great living in the mountain time zone, the doorbusters start early enough that I can snag them and then still make it to a store early to try and snag the ones I couldn't get online. Overall, I think this has affected the "quality" of the deals that we've seen over the past couple of years in addition to the sour economy.

There are lots of companies that run different prices on their websites verses their B&M stores. When Circuit City had B&M they made a big deal towards the end that store and web prices were the same. If you go to the WM site and check on their price match/adjustment policy, you'd see that they don't PM the web site or Sam's Club. Here's a sort of rhetorical question...if you hate WM so much, why did you give them your money at all and not just buy it at anyplace else just to spite them?

Only place I heard doing that was Sports Authority.

Contrary to what I've read elsewhere, I got the overall best deals at Tanger Outlets, which opened at midnight. I second the motion about having 1 person in line with the cart and then keep shopping. If I hadn't done that @ Wally World, it would have taken me an hour or more to get out of the store. Online shopping was better this year, expecially since most of the stuff was available starting Thursday. There were only two things I didn't get online (sold out), and did get the TV from Walmart online.

Well, not a bad BF, although I really didn't need any electronics or big ticket items. But still landed some good scores... Started off at the outlet mall in Park City Utah @ midnight. Got there about 11:45, and the line to get into the parking lot was about 6 blocks long, and parking lot was filling fast. Made an immediate left in the parking lot, and found a spot. Headed out, as stores were already open. I hit Van Huesan, Bass, and Izod. DW hit Sketchers, Kitchen Connection, and Harry and David's. At VH, got 2 khakis, 1 dress pants, and 2 long sleeve polos for less than 100 bucks. Izod 2 polos for under $16.00. Back home by 3:00 AM and check online stuff... Lo and behold, Walmart.com still had the TV online that DD wanted for her BF, so snagged that for her. Hard to believe... After that back out to Sears. Got in line @ 3:50, and snagged the one thing I needed there and was back out by 4:05. Off to Wally World... Store was packed, but orderly. Got the chair, rubbermaid, and towels. Missed out on the hard drive. Even tho I was in the express line (and only about 3 back), took 15 minutes to check out as the two women in front of me couldn't count - had way over 20 items each. Off to Target... Got there, and it was a madhouse! Checkout lines the lenght of the store. Only wanted a couple items, so turned around and walked out. Sam's Club is right across the street - breakfast time! Got there about 5:50, and NO SAUSAGE BISCUITS!!! The lady working the breaskfast said that they only allocated her 120, and there were all gone. Also had to resist an impulse buy...they had an all in one blue ray home theater for $398. Almost got it, but talked some sense back into myself and walked away. Decided I needed some real breakfast, so stopped at McD's on the way to Ace. Sat down inside and took my time. Got to Ace about 6:50, got in line (probably #40 in line). Door opened, grabbed the wireless thermometer, adn was #3 out the door. Finally, it was home and bedtime. Had been up for 27 hours...been a long time since I'd pulled an all nighter!

They will probably be gone by noon THURSDAY.

Looks like not for me either this year. DW and DD informed me last night we're ALL going to the outlet malls at midnight. Since it's a little over an hour there and back, and I want to be back for the other stores by around 4:00 AM (plus I'll be driving), looks like no sleep for me.

Nope. It's in the bolded part of the original post.

I'd posted this prediction a couple months ago. Although Wally World and Target will compete with them in the low end (TVs, computers, laptops), they really have no nationwide B&M competitor in the mid-high end items. I noticed there's almost a complete lack of computer upgrades (RAM, Video cards, etc) in any of the ads this year.

Office Max went "rebate free" about the same time as Best Buy...

You can, but you take a risk. Two years ago, I went online and got all the way through to order accepted and got a confirmation email on the Navigon GPS they had for $99. About 10:00 that morning, I got another email notifying me that they were cancelling my order as it was out of stock. I was on at 5:00 on the dot, which was when the "online doorbusters" were supposed to start. If I'd gone and gotten in line at the store instead of trying for it online, I would have gotten one, but I missed out.

#1 (reminencent of Jaws) "I think you're going to need a bigger turck." #2 "What happened to that @#$! bottle of scotch???!!!" #3 "Just checking out these chair before I buy them!"

Three years ago, Circuit City had a great deal on an all in one. Wasn't a doorbuster, but still less than 1/2 price. However, there were higher priority stores to get to first, so didn't get there until about 7:45. Found where they had been, and all gone. Wen't hunting to see if I could find one, and nope. Another guy came up and was looking for the same one. I tracked down a employee, and asked if he would go check in the back. Both me and the other guy were waiting by the door to the backroom when he comes out with ONE and said it was the last one. I figured, oh boy, I'm going to have to fight for it, and the other guy says "No problem. You were the one who asked him for it" and walked away. Kind of blew me away...

Ok. I'll try it a few times through IE and see if I have the same problem. It's just strange though that if I hit the back button, then click on the title of the thread, I don't have the same problem.

Yes, I use AOL, but just piggyback it on my Comcast cable. The IP address on my cable modem is 24.10.221.250. As far as I know, that's not changed since it was set up several years ago.