len_mullen

Staples

It's fun to watch the tussles on TV. In real life, I've only encountered camaraderie.

PHOTO #1: Black water goes here, right? http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/images/cap1.png PHOTO #2: I can only take ONE of you home. http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/images/cap2.png PHOTO #3: Bathrooms are all the way back on the right. http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/images/cap3.png

Prime is not included with any Fire TV device. You can have many tablets, FTVs, and kindles associated with a single amazon account.

Saving on BF is no different than saving the rest of the year. - make a list of the stuff you want - research best brands and models - research best prices - shop for the best price - purchase using a credit card that doubles your warranty, provides price protection, or pays cash back - watch for opportunities to price match or return/rebuy With BF there is the slight twist in that you should try to make purchases late enough that the ads are out before your return period ends so you can ensure the best deal.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view6/2617045/laughing-kelso-o.gif

The Roku 4 was announced yesterday, so we know everything we need to know about streaming for the 2015 season. I thought the recent launches were incremental -- no new products, nothing unexpected. 4k came faster than I expected. Prices jumped unexpectedly. What do you think about what is going on with the television 'set top box' arena? Amazon Fire TVFTV added 4k, Alexa support, and a hardware upgrade. Amazon abandoned optical out but added an sd card slot. In its first year, FTV's app count has surpassed Rokus. At $99.99, FTV is the least expensive streamer -- and game console. Kind of unrelated, but not really, Amazon put Prime on sale for $67 last month. Apple TVApple added Siri, an interesting remote, and an app store. Their new streamer sells for $149 and $199 -- ideal for price insensitive Apple enthusiasts, but more expensive than any other streamer. Channel Master DVR+Channel Master launched their Linear TV this summer and added an enhanced remote. The DVR+ is now two years old. Google ChromecastAC wireless, better buffering, and some kind of audio feature which requires one Chromecast per speaker. Mohu ChannelsWhat ever happened to... RokuRoku added 4k, optical out, a remote finder, beefed up hardware, captive portal support, and AC wireless. And jacked the price 30%. This summer Roku added voice search. Simple TV DVRSimple TV DVR, we knew you well. After a difficult two tuner product launch, and a database crash, our friends at Real Simple Software have gone into hiding. The hardware is rarely seen in the wild. Tablo DVRTablo picked up the ball that Simple dropped, releasing two and four tuner DVRs to much fanfare. Their community and support are solid, but the product suffers a lot of the problems that doomed the Simple TV DVR. Regardless, Tablo updated their Roku app. TiVoTiVo announced their Bolt product. The Bolt supposedly targets new TiVo customers. It supports 4k and curated commercial skip. The price with 'All In' (aka Lifetime) will approach $1k! As far as I am concerned, the bigger news has been the $300 TiVo with Lifetime (still available on Amazon.com). TiVo added a Plex client this summer. Did I miss anything? Are there any other players out there? Assuming 4k is the theme this Christmas, people will be choosing among FTV, Roku, and Bolt. I don't think the Bolt is competitive, so most will be choosing between FTV and Roku. Objectively, Roku is going to have to work hard to overcome Amazon's advantages. Both products are available as part of Sling TV bundles (though I do not think Sling is a big deal right now), but Amazon will likely offer a Prime bundle and still offers more and better gaming options than any other under $100 device. FTV is significantly less expensive. Of course, all of the 4k sets will have 4k apps, right? And the Xbox and PS4 already support 4k streaming. Who is going to buy a streaming product this fall, is it an upgrade or an addition, and what is the driver behind the sale?

In 2015, Roku replaced the Roku 2 with a 2014 Roku 3 with an IR remote and the Roku 3 with a 2014 Roku 3 with a voice remote. Rumor has it a Roku 4 has passed through the FCC, so that should cause the others to be discounted. Also, you can get Roku discounts if you subscribe to Sling TV.

Wow! Even I did not remember that. I nailed it though, huh? Here's to hoping for a little Christmas Magic for 2015.

Things certainly have changed. I have never sat in a tent or peed in a bottle, but I always went out with a list and a purpose. At one time, the discounts warranted the effort. Lately, I enjoy the anticipation and discussion, but rarely even set an alarm. The 'discounts' are not as steep, the products are not as necessary, and, frankly, I'm a bit older.

Harbor Freight on 10/13

You got it just right Must have worked on it all night Hope you get unstuck

thank you.

'Tis the Season for OPSEC With apologies to CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE 'Twas the Holiday Season, and all through the streets Every hacker and burglar, was looking for treats; Boxes were stacked by the trash without care, Alerting the thieves to the treasures in there; Vacationers tweeted their plans and photos; While bandits were stealing their speakers by Bose; And mamma with her iPhone, and I with a map, Went off to the mall to plunder the Gap, First to the automated teller machine, Where my PIN was stolen and my bank was wiped clean. We shopped with our credit cards having no cash, Until a POS bandit ended all that. With no money for gifts we headed for home, Where my PayPal and I would the internet roam, When what to my wondering eyes did appear, But a really good offer that seemed quite sincere, With an unpleasant popup as soon as I clicked, I knew in a moment my Mac would be sick. More rapid than FiOS the popups did come, My outdated defenses could only stop some, From the click of a link with a virus attached, All the files on my disk were quickly dispatched! To another computer, I went to shop, But accounts and email were already locked. No money, no credit, and no PC too, Tax returns, photographs were all gone from view; No fav'rites, no bookmarks, no cookies, no clue, Gone were my high scores and the Christmas list too -- And then, in a twinkling, I heard in the street The prancing and pawing of very big feet. As I looked to the street, and was turning around, I saw a man escape from my home with a bound. As he covered my spare key with the mat, The thief turned to me and said, "Thank you for that!" At that very moment came a knock at my door, "I'm from DSS and I'm here to brief you some more." His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry! "Let's do this thing right, I'm not in a hurry." "Keep boxes inside until trash day, you know," "Expensive debris tells the crooks where to go." "Get your cash at a bank and keep your profile low." "Only swipe credit cards with merchants you know." "When surfing the net, be alert to the deals" "Which promise you things too good to be real." "Hover over links that might your click redirect" "Your identity to steal, or credit to wreck." "When away from home, leave shades down and lights on," "That way the prowlers don't know that you're gone." Then he seemed to accuse with a knit of his brow, "The key under your mat - go get that, right now!" And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, from my table he rose; He walked to his car, which was locked and well lit, And looked twice in back seat before he did sit. With a wave of his hand, as he drove out of sight -- "Practice good OPSEC each day, and have a safe life!"

This is the best answer. Lots of promotional cards will provide points/cash back for purchases. After Christmas, lots more will offer free finance transfers. Use a promo card for your purchases then pay it off immediately or use a transfer to pay the bill for a year. If you are planning to use cash or debit, then simply put that cash in an interest bearing account until it's time to pay the bill. For October-December, Discover's 5% promo includes Amazon plus BF retailers like Kohls and Sears. If you do not have a card, have a friend refer you and both will get $50 cash back.

I bought my SMP-N200 streamers in 2012 so I would have the option to switch to Prime. We really liked our Fire tablets and had 'trialed' Prime at the beginning of the year. Seemed inevitable. I came close to subscribing before the price increase. I jumped on the $67 deal today. I will be watching it on a TiVo or a Fire TV rather than a SMP-N200. I am doing it as much for shipping as video. I will probably save $67 by Christmas. I am doing it because I am going to be buying an Amazon Fire Phone next month. Talk about stars aligning.

These guys make a living on bad predictions. Two others will predict robust sales. Personally, I have been predicting lackluster sales. For starters, there is nothing new out there. Retailers are counting on drones and 4k televisions to buoy sales, but I think they are wrong on both counts. I don't know anyone who wants or wants to give a drone. (Brad, do we need a dedicated drone discussion?) While I think people who are looking for televisions will get 4k sets, I can't imagine anyone replacing a 1080p or even a 720p set with a 4k set. So you are limited to people looking to add a set and we have all bought a LOT of televisions over the last decade. The biggest PC upgrade this year was free (Windows 10) and it runs better than Windows 7 or 8 on upgraded machines, so don't expect people to be churning computers. I heard on the radio this morning that the smart phone market is saturated and people are keeping their phones longer. This is a big deal. We suspected this was happening when ATT and Verizon started offering non-contract programs. We KNEW it was happening when Apple announced their own phone churn programs. Is anyone talking about tablets this year? Amazon is doing six Fire tablets for $250. I'm sniffing a commodity. Personally, my family is FULL. I think we could go the rest of our lives without buying anything except food (we have an antenna). Of course, we will buy stuff. We'll snag deals and clean up on clearance, but these will be on our terms. I think it is going to be a tough year for retailers.

Lore has it that Sony lost the beta/vhs war because it would not license the tech to the adult entertainment industry. JVC accommodated and the rest, as they say, is history. Sony was less rigid (sorry) when blu-ray came (sorry again) out, but their policy continues to prohibit manufacture of adult BDs. BD won because the PS3 came with and the XBOX did not come with HDDV. The PS3 was a reasonably priced BD player that also played games.

To anyone considering an amazon tablet, get an emulator on your Amazon account now so you can accumulate free apps, books, and other media between now and Christmas morning. For those with very young children, there are some amazing apps that were popular PC games back in the day. I love the Humongous games. Putt Putt's Funhouse is free and many others are free from time to time. Living Books are a great way to start youngsters associating words with sounds and fun. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks are both free. Many others. http://www.bluestacks.com/

Brad, sounds like it's time to open the 'first ad' contest

Big Lots used to give away nice things,but I cannot remember a single one. Staples used to have a lot of free-after-rebate items (I still have a few hundred DVDs, four boxes of paper, and a copy paper box full of batteries). The only giveaways I truly treasure are from sites like this. I have received a number of shirts over the years that I pull out for November each year. The collection is rather extensive, spans many years, and a few forums. Let the giveaways begin!

Now that Apple and Amazon have rolled out their 2015 streamers, what do people think? I think Amazon killed Apple in this round.

My USB controllers are from a 360 and work with Windows. We had them, so I plugged one in and it worked. Fire TV has very good parental controls. The Roku has no parental controls. Many have complained that ads inserted in apps are not consistent with program rating as well. Good overview of Amazon's parental controls here... http://www.howtogeek.com/204881/how-to-enable-parental-controls-on-the-fire-tv-and-fire-tv-stick/ Amazon help for this feature here... http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201452530

A haiku is a poem consisting of three lines. The first and last line have five syllables and the second line has seven. The first and third lines are juxtaposed ideas with the middle line serving as a bridge between the two. Early Birds Are Here Waiting for Black Friday Deals And Free T-shirts Too Floating In the Pool Hope My Case Is Waterproof Hate To Lose My List Friends and Strangers Meet As the Leaves Begin to Change To Plan their Big Day

What do people think about the Fire phone? You can get them on ebay (and sometimes Amazon) for ~$130 which included a year of Prime, so the unlocked phone is $30. AT&T will add one to my plan for $15/month. I'm tempted to get one for myself.