bluebear

I agree, if you can spend that much, your options are a little greater. I would probably try and find him a 10 in tablet, you should be able to in that price range. And the docks for the Asus Transformers are nice, he may like having a keyboard if he needs it. The new Windows 8 tablets may also fall within that price range, that's another possible option...

It's on page 15 of this week's ad. Be sure you choose Lowest Prices of the Season, and not the Savings Guide. Here is their return policy http://www.kmart.com/csreturns/nb-100000000000007?adCell=W3

We had the same thing happen to us one year, the first year we got a real tree. It was sad, and a mess too. With a real tree, it's nice not having to store it. But with artificial, it's nice not having to water and clean up after it so much.

Yay, so glad I'm not the only blanket freak. Along with the fleece ones, I also love those plush throws. I think I will justify them this year by buying them for teachers. Maybe get some cozy socks and a BAM or Amazon GC. Then I can buy them, and not have to keep and store them!

McDonough, Ga

My mom got one of these and took it back the next day. It just didn't do what she (and the grandkids) wanted it to. It doesn't have access to the Google Play store, and so it didn't have the games they wanted. There were a couple other things it wouldn't do too, but I can't remember what now. For the price, though, they are fine. Just like anything, though, depends what you want to do with it...

I know for sure we are already getting 2 Surfaces. Probably an RT and a Pro, possibly 2 RTs. We have had Windows Phones since they came out, so we are used to the interface. Other companies are also making the Windows 8 tablets. Lenovo has already announced their price for their Pro tablet, $799 I believe. The RT tablets will be cheaper. Those will be priced more along the lines of other higher-end 10 in tablets probably. Not like the $199 smaller ones though. (Small chance we will get one in another brand, but very unlikely.) The RT tablets will be like the tablets we know and love, with just the tablet-y interface. The Pro tablets will have a more powerful processor in them, and will also have a desktop mode, which will allow you to use it like a laptop. So for whenever it's been said that a tablet isn't necessarily a laptop replacement, this one could be. Of course they are priced accordingly.

Yes, they do crack easily, my "careful" kid even cracked his. But, I was able to get one on eBay and replace it myself. Just make sure you get the screen and the digitizer.

Blankets. I fall for them every year at Kohl's. Even when my blanket chest is overflowing, I still have to get one, "in case"...

Best Buy still does. Website says in-store only though.

Ace Hardware, 10/4

I have done well ordering things from Best Buy and Staples on Thanksgiving or early BF and getting them real quick. But, the 2 laptops I've gotten for Christmas gifts, I haven't got on Black Friday at all. One of them I got on a normal sale in November, it was a lower-mid-range. The other one I got in early November when best Buy was clearing out their back-to-school stuff to get ready for Christmas stuff. It was on clearance, had been a display so was open-box, and the had coupons out that week for open-box items. Ended up getting it for half price. This was a fairly high-end laptop (reg $1100) If he wants Alienware, is he going to be using it for gaming? You will need to take that into consideration. Typically you will want to make sure there is a video card in the computer, and decent amount of memory. For desktops, both can be added later. For laptops, you will need to make sure it has the video card already (will say ATI Radeon or NVidia Graphics), but memory can be added later. That is going to bring up your cost. And will be harder to find on BF (that's why I got mine beforehand last year). I am also going to in the market for a laptop this year, thankfully not a gaming one again.

Yay! Found my jam maker today, 70% off! And if you buy any Sodastream mixes, check the dates. I checked a couple last week and they were fine. Bought one tonight at a different store, and it expired July 2012. So back it will go tomorrow.

That is wonderful, sweet girl!

Seems like TRU usually has one in their pre-Thanksgiving sale for about that price, in the Big Toy book or whatever they call their toy catalog.

Some of the sales go live on Thanksgiving day, so you may still be able to do it from your computer and not worry with a smartphone. Last year I stayed up to 2am Wednesday night waiting for Best Buy to go live, then slept with my laptop on my night table and woke up every hour to refresh. I think it finally went live between 5-6am. Seems like TRU also went live early Thanksgiving too, but I might be mis-remembering.

I'm going to need to buy laptop, a mid-range one, so not a crazy doorbuster. i7 preferred, doesn't have to have a video card like the one I needed last year did, so that should help. The other major thing will be a windows 8 tablet, probably a Surface, and probably 2 maybe 3 of those. I don't expect there will be any deals on those. Then I will be pretty much out of money! So everything else will need to be really good deals.

Probably less, out of neccessity since my husband changed jobs. But that's probably good, since I usually spent waaaay too much anyway ($1000 each x3 kids). The kids aren't asking for much, really just a couple things each, and my mom will get one of those. Assuming I can pull of those big gifts, then just a couple more little things. Which I hate because I like giving them stuff. Oh well, I keep telling myself will be less clutter.

Okay, got through today with no problem! Thanks again!

Thanks, I'll keep trying, maybe on a weekday it won't be too bad. It will turn out okay. I'll be persistent for a deal!

Well, I expected for them to try and sell me something, that's fine, but they can't do it if they never answer the phone. Just sayin'. I didn't get another chance today, but I'll try more tomorrow. I just feel bad because I told other people too, I hope they don't have as much trouble...

I have been semi-stalking a jam/jelly canner, and it was gone today. Accessories were 70% though. Checked another store, and they had one canner left at 50%, and their' "stuff" was still at 30%. Guess I need to go stalk that store. Found Sodastream mix, one store was 30%, one was 50%. Will definitely stock up on that. Didn't find any safes. Saw several different electrical cords and things, different %. Saw an HP wireless printer that tablets can print to for 15%. I have this printer and like it, would love to get one for mama for Christmas. Something else to stalk. Of course all these are at the further store. Did the first walk-around of Halloween stuff, scoping out what I want to grab on clearance.

Yikes, after being on hold for 45 minutes to redeem my voucher, I gave up! I'll try again later and hopefully it be faster.

Thank you !!

Before you change from an iPod to a Fire, you may want to check with him. And see what he wants it for. My son who has had Zunes and Windows phones, and loved them, suddenly started asking for an iPod. The reason was he had some friends at school with iPods, and they hung out in the morning before school and played a certain game. It was something only available for iOS. When asked if he wanted an iPad, he said no, he'd rather have an iPod because it was small enough for his pocket. (Of course this same kid is now asking for a Windows 8 Surface tablet for Christmas.)