H_Hancock

While I do understand your sentiment, I disagree. Why should I be restricted from purchasing as many of the doorbusters as I am able to afford? I was willing to spend the time in line to assure I would have a crack at all of those I wanted and I got those I went to get......the HP laptop (will be my new "big" PDA and DVD player), the Toshiba laptop (a Christmas present for my wife's father), and the 32" West LCD TV, which is already set up and being used in the bedroom where it was intended to go. As far as ebaying items, well, such is the nature of some people, I suppose. But, from what we were able to assertain from talking to the others in line during the evening and night, the 10 HP laptops ended up in people's hands who had no intention of reselling them. The Toshiba lappies, while I cannot speak for all that were sold, ended up in hands of people who intended to either use them or give them as gifts. Some kids were spouting crap all night that they were going to take one of every ticket that came their way, but in the end only took what they really wanted. Some people took tickets for an item, like the Toshiba laptop, but when the staff member appeared in front of them asking if they wanted the HP laptop, actually turned the Toshiba ticket BACK to the staff member. We saw this happen more than a few times, as various staff members suddenly appeared at the front of the line with a ticket for an item that supposedly had already disappeared, offering it yet again to anyone who wanted it, starting at the front of the line and working back until someone took the proffered ticket. The reason given this happened over and over was that the person took the first ticket for an item that was close to what he or she wanted, just in case the actually wanted item ran out before it got back to them. When the item did make it back to him or her, that person took the more valued ticket, to him or her, and actually handed the "insurance" item's ticket back to the staff member to be given out to someone else in line. Don't know about anyone else's experience or lines, but while we could have taken one of everything that was being offered, and being first I did indeed have that opportunity (and I do ebay quite a bit, as a matter of fact), almost without exception people only took what items they wanted and could afford, no more. I only saw two people in line, other than my wife and I who had three tickets between the two of us, with more than 3 tickets for items.....most had two. Restricting people to only one doorbuster item in total sort of defeats the reason to stand in line. The ability of the ones who are willing to sacrifice Thanksgiving Day for standing in line towards the front are rewarded for thier sacrifice and tenacity by being able to select as many items as they can buy......but only one of each item of per household. That's probably the fairest way to accomplish a more even distribution.

Best was Best Buy.....great service, excellent crowd control, very helpful staff Worst, from what we heard, was Circuit City....computer crashes again with the Vonage signups, similar to last year's AOHell crud. Staff was not exactly helpful and the crowd became a tad unruly....had two arrests of people during the night just before the doors opened there.

I searched HP's site and while couldn't come up with the specific model, the dv6103nr, I found the dv6108nr.....which I think is VERY comparable to the BB BF HP laptop. The site gave DDR2 PC5300 (667MHz) as the speed for its RAM upgrades.....which is a bit odd as the bus speed of the computer is 533MHz. I would have thought that DDR2 PC4200 would have been the appropriate choice, but meh......

Odd...........while they have it online, its description says: Not available online Available only in stores The item is not available for shipping or in-store pickup. Please research it here, then visit your local store to buy it. Just wondered how you ordered it online?

If you're shopping where I am, I'll be more than happy to have you line up behind me. 2PM....LOL!!! Way late!

Ross, I'd honestly discount that previous post. I know you've been BF shopping for quite a while and we (my wife and I....me happily, she grumbling about me breaking yet another promise and letting her sleep on Thursday night/Friday morning....I cannot figure out her complaint! LOL!!! ) have been doing this for over 15 years and neither of us have ever seen a BB employee arrive before 2:30-3AM and this is usually the manager. The rest of the employees trickle in around 3-3:30AM. So, how would they be handing out tickets at MN when the employees don't arrive until 2-3AM? That previous post is just another bit of FUD being spread by a kid.........nothing more. On the other hand, there is always CUSA.............and by the bye........what's drawing you to CUSA for the 9PM opening? I saw you post in another thread on another forum that you were going there for the early opening.

Not to worry.....Best Buy corporate is emailing all managers at all stores to alert them of this policy. Then, of course, is the question of any BB's customer service counter being open during Friday morning.....most close them to use the counter for checking out laptops and desktops and trying to upsell memory, software, protection plans, etc. I sometimes think the ploy that some BB managers are using in saying they'll price match anything on BF is just that.....a ploy to get you to buy at a higher price. Then, when you go in, they hold up the ad and show the dreaded "Red Box" disclaimer, the corp. email, and say they just became aware of the change in policy on Wednesday.....too late to tell you on the phone. Then, the following sequence happens: Customer: "I want to return XXX item." Manager: "Sure, we'll take it back and refund your card/cash." Customer: "Now, I want to repurchase that unopened item you happen to have back there as it's the only one in the store right now." Manager: "Sorry, we have to check out all returns for missing parts, etc. It'll be restocked on Saturday night or on Sunday.....you can come back and buy it then. Thanks!" Farfetched? Ludicrous? Nope....I wouldn't put it past them to do just that......Best Buy isn't known as the most honorable of businesses. Just peruse last year's postings about the desktops and read how BB packed unwanted software/services on the doorbuster desktops and refused to remove any of it....and doing that essentially doubled the price of the desktop, making it anything of a buy. We got hit with that and it took a month of emails and phone calls to corp. in MN to get any satisfaction.....and it was very little to boot.

Ours does this, too. They also have the aisles marked as one way so you can only go from right to left round the store. Another nice thing that's done is they usually have carts along the different sections of the store with the "hot" non-doorbuster items, like hard drives, video cards, printers, etc., that an associate hands you the item from as you pass him/her, if you want it. Monitors, though, and you have to get into the computer section which is roped off and has only one entrance.

And on the front page in the red box is the overriding dislcaimer that they will NOT price match any Black Friday items or prices. This is the overriding policy that circumvents and replaces their standard policy you see on page 11.

Welcome to last week, and three days ago, and last night..........

Yes, everyone go for the Sony!!! But I still cannot figure out why anyone would really put the Sony over the HP, except for the name. Same processor, same amt. of memory, same HD size and speed, same screen size and both have their respective screen enhancement, both with modem, ethernet and wireless, same video accelerator and more than likely same motherboard/chipset, and almost identical in size and weight (the Sony appears to weigh 0.2# more than the HP), same warranty length. So, is the Sony name worth the extra $220?

How do I cover two stores at the same time? Tag team.........wife does one store, I do the other. If I do Fry's, she does BB. I know where the Fry's is off of Pleasant Hill Rd, but where is the other one? I live down near Savannah, about an hour or so SE of Augusta, GA. I come into Atlanta on I-75 out of Macon (I-16 to Macon and I-75 from there.)

Pssssst................YES, Tivo works with Dish Network. Please do some research before posting inaccurate and completely wrong information. http://www.tivo.com/1.3.2.asp Seems to me that the Tivo Series2 DVR works with any TV source, unless you refuse to believe what Tivo says.

We're, at least I am, going to be cruising by the BB we frequent around noon-1PM. I'll probably set up our chairs and wait in the car until someone else shows up....if I'm first in line, that is. The wife will mosey on down a few hours later with food, more coffee, etc.

If I remember correctly, when you pay, you'll get one main receipt with everything you've purchased on it, a rebate receipt for each item that has a rebate......this receipt is to be sent in as your purchase receipt, and a rebate form for each item that has a rebate. (You'll send in the rebate receipt and the rebate form for each rebate.....you'll keep teh main receipt for returns, etc.) If you have twenty items, you'll be seeing a LOT of paper spit out of the register as they all print out.

Also, there is a small matter of the weight of the thing......a tad over 100#. A bit of a load to tug around.

How do you get tickets? Another thread with an article from the WSJ has several relevant lines in it....the article details how BB drills its employees to deal with BF. Tickets: Those in line are given claim tickets for their desired doorbuster items, starting at the front of the line and progressing back, until the supply of those items is exhausted. Number of tickets per person: Standing in line, Tony Roberson, a senior sales associate in the store's computer section, was tasked with attempting to buy both a special-offer laptop and a plasma TV. He received claim tickets for both and instructions of where to go in the store. Once the doors opened, he strolled to the designated TV line, made his mock purchase after a quick consultation with employees there and was told he could pick up his TV in the store's car-stereo installation bay. He then went through a similar drill in the laptop line. I have never been refused multiple tickets for multiple items....now, there is usually a one-per-household/person limit on doorbuster items, but there has NEVER been a one-doorbuster-item-per-person limit. You may be able to only buy one doorbuster laptop or desktop or TV, but you can buy one of each, provided you're early enough in line to get tickets for each item. BTW....the thread I quoted from is here: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=56356

And exactly what would that accomplish? Either you will have a ticket for it or you won't. You get a ticket, you get a pc, no elbows needed. You don't arrive early enough to be close enough to the front to get a ticket and you won't get the pc. Simple. Of course, if you wait around till noon, there may be a pc or two that weren't picked up by the ticket holder..........then you may have a rush for the remaining ones, but in my experience over the last decade and a half, the el cheapo doorbuster desktops always sell out.

I cannot imagine them not being SSE3 capable as both are using very recent iterations of cpus.....Core Solo. Now, if ithe cpus were an old version, like an older Sempron or Celeron D, maybe it'd be a question, but not with the Core Solo cpus. And, btw, if you are waking up to get to BB or Fry's in Atl, you're late............I'll already be there!

Also remember about Insignia, BB's house brand, that it only carries a 90-day warranty. I haven't seen any TV, even ilo from Wal-Mart, with a warranty less than 1 year, but Insignia is only for 90 days. Does this speak to its quality? Well, when you Google Insignia, you can find horror stories over the last two years since Insignia was introduced into BB (in 2004). TVs and other Insignia-branded electronic hardware, including computers, that failed a month or so after the warranty ran out. Then, when taken back to BB for repair, parts are unavailable. Personally, I'd buy a name I recognize for the few dollars more that it'd cost...............like Philips, Sanyo, Toshiba, Samsung, RCA, anything else, almost.

For myself, the only issue with the BB HP laptop is the video card choice.....really wish it had been a Radeon or GeForce built-in instead of the Intel graphics option. C'est la vie...cannot have everything, I suppose, esp. for that price.

Guess you missed the part in the section you talk about: "...does not apply to our free offers, limited-quantity items (which is darned near everything in the BF ad.....they almost all have a limited quantity of each item which is why they list a minimum number avail. at the store)...... For other exclusions, etc., etc." So, as I read this, the front page overrides anythign else, and even if it doesn't somehow, the limited-quantity clause covers pretty much everything else.

By 11PM last year at the BB we go to there were over 75 people in line. The desktop and laptop were the driving forces last year for the crowds.....just wonder what the addition of the cheap LCD TV and the widescreen LCD monitor will add to the lines since the desktop and laptop are essentially the same from last year as far as price goes.

I don't understand why you cannot run Adobe Acrobate Reader or a ZIP opening program. Even if you only have limited RAM nad are still using Windows 98, you can most assuredly use Acrobat Reader and a zip program, you just have to be selective about which version/product you use. I'd recomment Reader 5.0 for your computer (only requires Win95 or 98 and 64MB RAM) and ALZIP (again, very light requirements.) You can download a copy of 5.0 from here: http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=acrobat http://www.nics.gov.uk/acrobat/ ALZIP can be downloaded from here: http://www.altools.net/Default.aspx?tabid=62

Think about it for a minute.....we're a week before BF. Don't you think that most, if not all, the Best Buy staff at any Best Buy knows what's going to be on sale and for what price by now? Don't you think that if they don't know, that they're at least a little bit curious about all the stock that's arrived and NOT been put on the floor for sale yet? With hundreds of stores and hundreds of items, the stock for the BF sale has been arriving for weeks......and has been segregated from their normal replenishment stock for the store shelves. That fact alone must be giving the store staff a little bit of a hint as to what's on sale for BF.