len_mullen

I use a GPS. I think the GPS manufacturers are putting themselves out of business. While I can load an app on my phone which is free and continuously updated, the GPS I paid for has to be attached to a PC for updates and the companies that make them sell 'lifetime maps', but 'kill off' models in a few short years. Not sure I will buy another. Kohls has a Garmin on sale for $90. If has 'Lifetime Maps' and you get $15 Kohls Cash. You can get it shipped free from Garmin for $60 right now... https://g.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/75555-287937/Garmin-Drive-Series.html?cid=226265&chid=1&campaignid=137396524&adgroupid=49395376763&creative=238218961399&targetid=kwd-299434211743&matchtype=e&device=c&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpMW55PjS3gIVBITICh1DkwsBEAAYASAAEgIzXvD_BwE if you are OK with a refurb. You can get the model with traffic for the same price (scroll down). Best Buy has the 51 LM for $90.

A conversation about a computer purchase ought to start with apps. And 'number of apps' is not important. If you only want to do email and surf the web, any one will do. If you have investment in the Amazon, Google, or Apple ecosystems, then you may want to stay within the ecosystem. My 'tablet' is an Asus convertible. It folds up like a laptop but the keyboard comes off for use as a tablet. The battery lasts eleven hours. Because it is Windows, to has laptop and tablet modes. It runs MS Office, so I can run Microsoft Access when I need to. And it runs DOSBox, so I can play old games and apps I still love. There is an HDHomerun app so I can use this outside or in the attic to point an antenna. Windows tablets start around $100 (Walmart), so you will not be out much if you make a mistake. The Microsoft Store has the Surface discounted for BF.

Sorry to hear that. Have missed your contributions here and am glad you are better!

Welcome home! Thought you died. Let's talk about the sweet spot in televisions for BF2018!

Most in these parts know I shop 24x365. BF is just another sale to me. Like Santa, I am making my list and checking it twice. There is risk and uncertainty associated with Black Friday shopping. If I see my item on sale for a great price, I will buy it even if I could get it a little cheaper on BF. I already paid $30 over BF for a 27" curved monitor. I have purchased clothes from Kohls. I grabbed a great slow cooker at a good price from BB&B. If you see a good deal, buy it. You can always return, price match, or price adjust.

Requirements are light... Window® OS* OS: Windows® 8 or later**CPU: Intel™ Core series or equivalent AMD® processorRAM: 4GBBrowsers: Latest version of Mozilla® Firefox®, Google Chrome™, Microsoft Edge™***50MB free disk spaceAvailable USB port or Bluetooth® connectionDisplay: Minimum 1024px x 768px screen resolutionI would expect that ANY laptop would suffice. I would not get a laptop with less than 8GB of RAM. I'd be looking at these (and partial to the 17" if it is in your budget)...

^^^ I agree. Simply trading cpu performance, battery life, and screen resolution for screen size. I'd get the 17" for myself and the 15.6 for my son.

I have yet to see an i9 processor in a door buster, but I am seeing a lot of discounted Optane computers which may include a iX+ designation (i5+, i7+, etc.). In theory Optane increases the performance of a mechanical hard drive to match that of an SSD by caching the files you use most. That's great for booting a PC or if you live in Office or some other large application, but less great for the things most people do all day long. From Anandtech... It doesn't seem to add much to the cost of a laptop, so I suppose we should be looking for Optane systems. NOTE the recommendation of 8g of RAM. Which makes me think the $499.99 15.6 8th generation i7 with 16GB Optane plus 8GB DRAM and 1TB mechanical disk (Item #: 24327021 | Model #: 4AG15UA#ABA) is probably a pretty sweet laptop. Note that the same laptop without Optane (Item #: 24327020 | Model #: 4AL55UA#ABA) sells for the same price and is not part of the BF ad. ###################### I guess I am always passively surfing for a great deal on a good laptop. It's really confusing these days because we have lots of CPU, screen, memory, and storage options. Then there is the keyboard layout, whether it is backlit, the camera, battery life, and the speakers. Finally there is build quality. Right now, I feel like Lenovo and Dell are building the best laptops. I have worked on a lot of laptops and most have some specific challenge you should be aware of (non-replaceable battery, hard to reach RAM or disk, or a case that is difficult to disassemble/reassemble either due to special tools or egress -- I hate to remove those zero insertion force ribbon cables. If you are willing to upgrade a laptop, find a video on disassembling any model you are considering. Search for upgrading the component you are interested in upgrading plus the model of the laptop you considering. If upgrading is overwhelming for you, just get enough memory and disk to get you to your next purchase and make sure you can replace the battery. Screen size and resolution are very subjective. For me, I want a big screen, but do not particularly care about resolution because my eyes are not as great as they used to be. If you are the kind of person who notices every detail or edits photos, visit local retailers to make sure your eyes are not going to be disappointed. As soon as you get your laptop, open paint, fill the screen with red then go full screen. Look for defective pixels. Most laptop warranties do not cover a few dead pixels, but most retailers let you return without a restocking fee for a certain period -- take advantage. I'm looking for a 17" screen that looks OK with two documents or web pages side by side. Some people love a touchscreen. If you put your finger on my screen, you may not get it back. To each his own, but no need spending for a touchscreen if fingerprints drive you nuts. When will Corning give us a beautiful screen that is print-proof? Most people think you should get an SSD. Not me. I've had two fail at work and cost per unit of storage is still too high. Frankly, I think they solve a problem that does not exist -- mechanical disks are fast enough for me. In fact, I prefer 5400 to 7200 just to keep the heat and noise down. I want 1t. More RAM is better. No less than 6GB, 8GB is fine, but 12GB is better. 4GB is not enough these days. They keyboard is something else you should try before you buy. Some games (and accountants) make use of a numeric keypad. Check the speakers out while you are in the store. Two things about the battery: 1) make sure it suits your use. If you plan to use a laptop on long commutes, get a battery rated at least 3x the duration. 2) If you rely on a battery, make sure your laptop includes one which is easily replaced. Nothing like a spare battery in the bag for long trips. Then there is the CPU -- the brains of the laptop. I used to get a current or last gen i5 and have ignored AMD chips in laptops due to heat. Looks like heat is no longer an issue with current gen AMD chips... https://www.digit.in/laptops/amd-ryzen-5-2500u-vs-intel-core-i5-8250u-intel-is-not-longer-the-only-option-40141.html Here is a chart that compares 60 current/recent chips. The fraction on the end is the relative performance. Some surprises for me... from https://laptopmedia.com/top-laptop-cpu-ranking/ 1. AMD Ryzen 7 2700 8 / 16 3.20 GHz 4.10 GHz 10.0/10 Check price 2. AMD Ryzen 7 1700 8 / 16 3.00 GHz 3.70 GHz 9.5/10 $1449.00 3. Intel Core i9-8950HK 6 / 12 2.90 GHz 4.80 GHz 9.3/10 $3279.97 4. Intel Core i7-8750H 6 / 12 2.20 GHz 4.10 GHz 8.2/10 $699.99 5. Intel Core i7-8700 6 / 12 3.20 GHz 4.60 GHz 7.8/10 $2899.00 6. Intel Core i7-8850H 6 / 12 2.60 GHz 4.30 GHz 7.8/10 $2108.50 7. Intel Core i5-8300H 4 / 8 2.30 GHz 4.00 GHz 5.8/10 $699.00 8. Intel Core i7-7820HK (@ 3.8GHz) 4 / 8 2.90 GHz 3.90 GHz 5.6/10 $2201.12 9. Intel Core i7-7920HQ 4 / 8 3.10 GHz 4.10 GHz 5.4/10 $5989.00 10. Intel Core i7-7820HK 4 / 8 2.90 GHz 3.90 GHz 5.4/10 $1400.00 11. Intel Core i7-8550U 4 / 8 1.80 GHz 4.00 GHz 5.3/10 $589.00 12. Intel Xeon E3-1505M v6 4 / 8 3.00 GHz 4.00 GHz 5.3/10 $1899.14 13. Intel Core i7-8705G 4 / 8 3.10 GHz 4.10 GHz 5.3/10 Check price 14. Intel Core i7-7820HQ 4 / 8 2.90 GHz 3.90 GHz 5.1/10 $1140.00 15. Intel Core i7-7700HQ 4 / 8 2.80 GHz 3.80 GHz 5.0/10 $719.00 16. Intel Core i5-7300HQ 4 / 4 2.50 GHz 3.50 GHz 5.0/10 $649.00 17. Intel Core i7-8650U 4 / 8 1.90 GHz 4.20 GHz 4.9/10 $1099.00 18. Intel Core i5-8250U 4 / 8 1.60 GHz 3.40 GHz 4.8/10 $431.29 19. Intel Xeon E3-1535M v6 4 / 8 3.10 GHz 4.20 GHz 4.6/10 $2199.00 20. AMD Ryzen 7 2700U 4 / 8 2.20 GHz 3.80 GHz 4.6/10 $559.99 21. AMD Ryzen 5 2500U 4 / 8 2.00 GHz 3.60 GHz 4.0/10 $431.29 22. Intel Core i5-7440HQ 4 / 4 2.80 GHz 3.80 GHz 3.9/10 $719.99 23. Intel Core i5-8265U 4 / 8 1.60 GHz 3.90 GHz 3.4/10 Check price 24. Intel Core i7-7660U 2 / 4 2.50 GHz 4.00 GHz 2.8/10 $1199.99 25. Intel Core i7-7560U 2 / 4 2.40 GHz 3.80 GHz 2.6/10 $1255.56 26. Intel Core i7-7600U 2 / 4 2.80 GHz 3.90 GHz 2.6/10 $846.77 27. Intel Core i5-7267U 2 / 4 3.10 GHz 3.50 GHz 2.5/10 $1529.00 28. Intel Core i7-7500U 2 / 4 2.70 GHz 3.50 GHz 2.4/10 $346.99 29. Intel Core i5-7360U 2 / 4 2.30 GHz 3.60 GHz 2.4/10 $1279.00 30. Intel Core i7-4600M 2 / 4 2.90 GHz 3.60 GHz 2.3/10 $1299.99 31. Intel Core i5-7300U 2 / 4 2.60 GHz 3.50 GHz 2.3/10 $469.99 32. Intel Core i3-8130U 2 / 4 2.20 GHz 3.40 GHz 2.3/10 $319.00 33. Intel Core i5-7200U 2 / 4 2.50 GHz 3.10 GHz 2.2/10 $391.99 34. AMD FX-9830P 4 / 4 3.00 GHz 3.70 GHz 2.1/10 Check price 35. Intel Core i3-7130U 2 / 4 2.70 GHz - 1.9/10 $384.99 36. Intel Core i7-7Y75 2 / 4 1.30 GHz 3.60 GHz 1.8/10 $629.99 37. Intel Core i3-7100U 2 / 4 2.40 GHz - 1.8/10 $349.87 38. AMD FX-9800P 4 / 4 2.70 GHz 3.60 GHz 1.8/10 $469.95 39. Intel Core m3-7Y30 2 / 4 1.00 GHz 2.60 GHz 1.7/10 $398.92 40. Intel Pentium 4415U 2 / 4 2.30 GHz - 1.7/10 $549.00 41. AMD PRO A12-9800B 4 / 4 2.70 GHz 3.60 GHz 1.6/10 $599.99 42. AMD A12-9700P 4 / 4 2.50 GHz 3.40 GHz 1.6/10 $399.99 43. AMD A10-9600P 4 / 4 2.40 GHz 3.30 GHz 1.6/10 $419.00 44. Intel Core i3-6006U 2 / 4 2.00 GHz - 1.5/10 $335.00 45. Intel Core i5-7Y54 2 / 4 1.20 GHz 3.20 GHz 1.4/10 $839.99 46. Intel Celeron N3450 4 / 4 1.10 GHz 2.20 GHz 1.3/10 $229.63 47. Intel Pentium N4200 4 / 4 1.10 GHz 2.50 GHz 1.3/10 $248.00 48. Intel Pentium Silver N5000 4 / 4 1.10 GHz 2.70 GHz 1.1/10 Check price 49. Intel Celeron N3160 4 / 4 1.60 GHz 2.24 GHz 1.0/10 $219.99 50. AMD A9-9420 2 / 2 3.00 GHz 3.60 GHz 1.0/10 $262.00 51. AMD A9-9410 2 / 2 2.90 GHz 3.50 GHz 1.0/10 $500.00 52. Intel Celeron 3855U 2 / 2 1.60 GHz - 0.9/10 $290.04 53. Intel Pentium N3710 4 / 4 1.60 GHz 2.56 GHz 0.9/10 $269.79 54. AMD A6-9220 2 / 2 2.50 GHz 2.90 GHz 0.9/10 $176.70 55. AMD A4-9120 2 / 4 2.20 GHz 2.50 GHz 0.8/10 Check price 56. Intel Atom x5-Z8350 4 / 4 1.44 GHz 1.92 GHz 0.8/10 $249.00 57. Intel Celeron N3350 2 / 2 1.10 GHz 2.40 GHz 0.7/10 $165.00 58. AMD A6-9225 2 / 2 2.60 GHz 3.00 GHz 0.6/10 Check price 59. Intel Celeron N3060 2 / 2 1.60 GHz 2.48 GHz 0.5/10 $152.00 60. Intel Celeron N3050 2 / 2 1.60 GHz 2.48 GHz 0.5/10 $102.99 https://www.howtogeek.com/223020/what-are-the-meanings-of-intel-processor-suffixes/ What Do the Suffixes Mean? C – Desktop processor based on the LGA 1150 package with high performance graphicsH – High performance graphicsK – UnlockedM – MobileQ – Quad-coreR – Desktop processor based on BGA1364 (mobile) package with high performance graphicsS – Performance-optimized lifestyleT – Power-optimized lifestyleU – Ultra-low powerX – Extreme editionY – Extremely low powermore information on intel chips... https://www.trustedreviews.com/best/best-intel-processor-3517396 Let's talk about this!

seems like the consensus is can all the fanboys submit favorite make/model? Op, can you tally these as an update to the first post? thanks all!

I CANNOT allow you to do this. Butter both side and GRILL until golden brown. Those are the rules.

You are taking all the fun out of Black Friday! When are you going to start he t-shirt thread for next year?

My sister swears by hers, but I don't get it. Sounds like a convection oven to me.

Has Staples become completely dysfunctional? Nothing follows...except 'Worth the Wait'. It's been a long time since that has been true!

So, what did you end up buying? How much did you spend? How did you decide? Are you happy?

https://www.techradar.com/news/best-3d-printer

I can't believe you are giving StationChief love for my idea!

The good news is that you can check out the sets in person over the next three weeks to make sure the inexpensive doorbuster is going to work for you.

@brad Did this work for you? Did it accomplish your goals? If the answer is YES, may I suggest that you immediately open a new thread for 2018-2019? I think opening the thread now will attract people who were gone before the thread started last year. I really enjoyed this and hope you do it again.

I have two of the TCL sets. One did fail and TCL sent a guy to my home to fix it. Tech support was awesome and I am happy with the set and my purchase.

Anyone have this specific 6.5' tree? What do you think? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Accents-Holiday-6-5-ft-Pre-Lit-LED-Wesley-Spruce-Artificial-Christmas-Tree-with-300-Color-Changing-Lights-TG66M3W89D13/305124632

11/1: I win!

Kindle or Kindle Fire?

First question: What kind of entertainment do you own or plan to buy? Second Question: How do you like to be entertained when you travel? When I was traveling a lot, I carried a Kindle Fire with me. I had the biggest one that fit in the front pocket of my pants. I had a couple games installed, copied some movies the device and a bunch more to one of these... https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Wi-Drive-64GB-Wireless-Storage/dp/B0081LJ0QK and I had a lot of books and magazines on the Fire. I thought that worked great.

How about a counter top Aerogarden for the cook who has everything? Very small footprint yields fresh herbs year round... https://www.amazon.com/AeroGarden-Sprout-Gourmet-Herb-Black/dp/B010NBJLZU

So, here is a $449 laptop... https://www.staples.com/hp-laptop-17-by0062st/product_24327018 Operating system: Windows 10 HomeProcessor: 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-8250U ProcessorDisplay: 17.3-inch diagonal HD+ SVA BrightView WLED-backlit Display (1600x900)Memory: 8 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM (1 x 8 GB)Internal storage: 1 TB 5400 RPM SATA hard driveOptical drive: DVD-WriterGraphics: Intel® UHD Graphics 620Webcam: Front-facing HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated digital microphoneProduct weight: 5.42 lbThat CPU is about half the performance of the top CPU on the list and rated 18th. Probably worth an in person visit to Staples.