len_mullen

LED and LCD TVs have LCD displays. What we call LEDs are LCDs lit by LEDs instead of fluorescent lamps. In theory, the LED lit LCDs should have darker darks since there isn't a lamp pushing through, but YMMV. I've seen some very good LCDs and some not so good LEDs. Only one thing is certain -- plasmas look better than LCSs no matter how they are lit. I love the Insignia 42" plasma at best buy. Search AVS for the model and you will love it too.

More good news... Thank you for shopping through ShopDiscover. The Cashback Bonus you've earned is currently pending. You'll see this reward reflected on your statement in 6-8 weeks. Continue to earn Cashback Bonus by doing your online shopping at ShopDiscover. Retailer's Name Date of Purchase Cashback Bonus Amount Crutchfield.com 11/25/2010 $5.50

Funny...it worked for me... Item Description Ship Qty B/O Qty Price Amount 625XX540MT TomTom XXL 540TM w/Map-Traffic Portable Navigation 5" Screen What's Included 1 0 109.99 109.99 AAAFA26 Refer a Friend Offer 1 0 0.00 0.00 000CARCAT Current Crutchfield Catalog Car Bounce Back 1 0 0.00 0.00 000PIPENV Envelope barcode Outgoing packages 1 0 0.00 0.00 000CEXCHNG CExchange Promo Sheet 1 0 0.00 0.00 Sub Total: $109.99 Shipping: FREE Total: $109.99

My oldest joined me for the first time this year. He commented on how nice everyone was -- much different than on TV. I helped a couple people decide on GPS and laptop purchases and disuaded a few more from paying $50 for setup service by explaining the process. The 8G thumb drives were 'lost' for a short time. I stumbled across the basket and returned to the table where the rest were to tell the associate where people could find them. When I left Staples, I held the door for an associate with a desk on a four wheeler. She assumed it was mine and followed me to my car. When we both arrived at my car, I told her that the very nice corner unit was not mine. I left an item behind at Home Depot and an associate ran across the lot in the pouring rain to get it to me. We were running too, so he had to keep up ;-) This is a good thread because everyone I meet in every store was all smiles. Lots of Merry Christmas greetings and good will.

It's been a long time since I've been willing to stand outside in the cold for the chance of getting a good deal. When I woke up this morning at 3:00am, I had already completed most of my shopping. By the time I finished my first cup of coffee, I had snapped up a couple more bargains. But my oldest wanted to experience Black Friday, so I woke him and we headed off to Staples. Except for one year, I have started each Black Friday at the Staples in Plaistow New Hampshire. I actually have acquaintences that I only see in that line. There were about (OK exactly) 19 people in line when we arrived. It was raining, but the line is covered, so we were fairly comfortable. It wasn't long before we joined discussions of the Door Busters. At 5:00am the Master of Ceremonies emerged to thank us for choosing Staples and to explain how they run Black Friday. He told us that employees would go from the front to the back of the line offering tickets for the Door Busters to each person until they were depleted. Each ticket had a number that was also afixed to the associated merchandise and the item would be held for the ticket holder until 11:00am. The manager told us that registers on one side of the store were for people purchasing a computer and registers on the other side were for people buying a GPS. The rest of the registers were for everyone else. He assured us that ticketless items were available in abundance on tables at the back of the store and disappeared into the store. Then employees walked the line with the tickets and fliers offering advice and answering questions. At precisely 6:00am the doors were opened and we were thanked as we entered the store. Employees directed traffic. Shoppers helped other shoppers. As tables were depleted, more merchandise was brought out from the back. Within a half hour, I was checking out with some terrific deals. And that is how Black Friday goes at the Staples in Plaistow New Hampshire. Next stop was Home Depot. I had no items from that store on my list, but there are always so many unadvertised deals that I always walk through. There were almost as many clerks in the aisles as shoppers and we had no problem spending $250. Then Walmart, Kohls, and Radio Shack before we settled into the Live Free or Diner for breakfast. Over my eggs benedict, I asked the new BFer if he'd do it again. He said, "Yes. It was fun. Everyone was nice and it felt Christmassy." I agree. See you all next year! Black Friday 2010 Haul... I take all my Discover rewards in Staples gift cards. Since they give you a $25 card for each $20 redeemed, it's like getting another 20% off... 2x 1t USB disk $50 1x 100 Count DVD+R $18 ($8 easy rebate) 1x 100 Count DVD-R $18 ($8 easy rebate) 2x 20 Count AA batteries $13 ($13 easy rebate) 2x HP 8G Thumb Drive $11 1x HP Photo Paper $10 ($10 easy rebate) 1x Remote $10 ($10 easy rebate) 3x Skull Candy Earbuds $10 2x Logitech v220 Wireless Mouse $7 $250 in Gift Cards == $200 in Cashback - $62 in rewards and rebates = $138 Home Depot almost always lets me use a Lowes mover coupon for an additional 10% off... Electric Fireplace insert $200 ($180) Changable Screwdriver $3 ($2.70) Three Prong Cord for New Stove $15 ($13.50) Four Prong Cord for New Stove $15 ($13.50) Bit and Screwdriver Set $20 ($18) $227 out the door! Walmart It's a Wonderful Life Collectors Edition $20 (no deal -- I just wanted it) So, $385 plus $25 for breakfast = $410 - $13.50 for the stove cord I return = $396.50. We're watching the colorized IAWL in front of the flames of the fireplace insert. What could be better?

this

Crutchfield has the 540tm for $110 with free shipping after code 3A825. I'm hoping to get 4% cashback on this as I started my transaction from shopdiscover. This is the best deal IMHO as the 540tm allows for multidestination routes. If this is not important to you and you prefer a simpler interface, get the 550tm from Best Buy for $130. Get 5% back from shopdiscover. If you can wait until saturday, you may get the 540tm from staples for $130 - 10% with the coupon in their ad. All great deals!

that's a $1k computer. very nice, but kind of expensive. what is your budget?

I got the 550tm from BB and will probably get the 540tm from staples saturday. Sounds like the difference is in the user interface. I think either would suit me.

So, HP.com or Walmart. I didn't see anything exciting, but I'll keep my eyes open and post more information here. When you think about laptops, think compromise. The bigger the disk, the more memory, the brighter the screen, and the faster the CPU, the shorter the battery life. For multicore to be beneficial, you have to run multicore applications and a multicore OS (pretty common these days). What is your target for battery life?

This looks like a much better laptop for the money... Acer Aspire AS5742-7653 Notebook

do you only want to buy online? do you have to buy by friday?

I think you can do better jdrgr. I hope color isn't the reason you are looking at these. You can distinquish with a $5 sleeve and a custom wallpaper. It'd be easier to help you find the right computer if you talked a bit about how the computers would be used. What is important? Long batter life? Are there any must have games? Applications? How big of a screen do you want?

So, HDMI is a digital connection for any modern device. It can do up to 1080p. Component has each color on a separate wire plus audio right and left. Analog for up to 720p. Composite puts all colors on the same wire and is not HD. Neither is your WII, so you can connect that to a composite connection. XBOX and FIOS should connect HDMI or Component. How many should you get? you could get away with one of each per your post, but look for two or mode HDMI, two or more component. If you have older DVD/VCR/video game, get enough composite connections to serve them until you can upgrade.

BD 570 for $120: http://www.electronicexpress.com/product?prod_id=16692

search amazon.com for 'epson workforce wireless all in one' for descriptions and reviews of epson wireless inkjet printers. lots of steep markdowns. The 610 and 630 are worth a look.

looking for a reliable, small point and shoot and found the can sd1300 from amazon for $109 shipped with a 4g sd card included. add the camera and the card to your cart, enter the code UYFBFR9Z for free card and $20 off -- shipping is free.

I'm seeing $127 again.

I may have been wrong about the Toshiba laptop getting 10% back. I went to buy a blu-ray player from best buy this morning and shopdiscover still shows 5%. In years past, they bumped to 10% when shopdiscover doubled cashback for the holidays, but maybe not this year. This is what is listed, FYI... Dell 10% Cashback Bonus HSN 10% Cashback Bonus Kohl's 10% Cashback Bonus Microsoft Store 10% Cashback Bonus Sears 10% Cashback Bonus Apple Store 5% Cashback Bonus Free shipping on all orders over $50! Best Buy 5% Cashback Bonus Circuit City 5% Cashback Bonus CompUSA 5% Cashback Bonus Crutchfield.com 5% Cashback Bonus HP Home 5% Cashback Bonus iTunes 5% Cashback Bonus Lenovo 5% Cashback Bonus Office Depot 5% Cashback Bonus OfficeMax 5% Cashback Bonus Free shipping on orders of $50 or more Sony Style 5% Cashback Bonus Staples 5% Cashback Bonus Free shipping on most orders over $50 Target 5% Cashback Bonus Walmart 5% Cashback Bonus

walgreens kind of surprised me

right. to me, 5400 rpm says runs cooler.

Right, it depends on the Celeron chip. I think our thinking is starting to converge ;-) For my baseline, I use a desktop that we bought for the kids to play Sims, Halo, Quake III,etc. Not the most demanding games, but still a good benchmark. These guys WEI'd at 5 and had no problems with the games. I matched the GPU (8600gt) to the rest of the system. Absent the GPU upgrade, the Pavillions WEI'd at 3 -- which was fine until we started playing games. My 5516 WEI'd at 3 -- mostly due to graphics -- and played Sims but struggled with the other games. It's a cheap laptop my wife takes to dialysis. Great for email, the internet, Office, and the card games she plays. It plays DVDs and other videos too and streams Netflix fine. I have edited and encoded video on this computer. It works fine. It's not fast, but there are no sync problems. The 1410 WEI'd at 3 as well due to graphics and CPU. But this kid has a desktop and uses the 1410 for Office, email, and web. The AS5741 WEI'd over 5 except for desktop graphics and is a very decent game machine. My little guy has surrendered his desktop because this laptop does everything at least as well. As I said, perfect for their applications. The reason I point people to the WEI is that it is a benchmark that is on all modern computers. You can look at it on computers in stores. The details are more helpful on a desktop you can upgrade than a laptop where you have to live with the bottleneck. I agree that people should touch the computers before BF. There are still a few days to touch all the computers, check their WEI, and decide whether 3 or 5 is sufficient. A close up visit will also help filter touchpad and screen options. I didn't want to threadcrap, but people get caught up in the marketing and end up disappointed. Purchasing a computer -- especially a laptop -- takes a little thought. If people want some help picking a winner, it's best to post a note describing what the computer will be used for, how big a screen is needed, what the financial constraints are, and how important battery life is. Post that much and I can help you buy a laptop you'll love.

I have two wireless printers in my house. Our day-to-day printer is an hp cp2025dn color, full duplex laser. This is a terrific color laser that can be had for cheap at staples. It's always on sale and usually qualifies for the $50 trade in. If you can get it via shopdiscover or using staples gift cards from discover card you can save another 10-20%. I ended up paying $53 for mine. dn is for duplex. You can get less expensive via third parties on eBay and from meritline.com. My inkjet is an HP6480. We only print from this in an emergency (waiting for a deal on toner), but it is an all-in-one that we use almost everyday for scanning. Also cheap with trade in ($65 for me). So that's my bias and the cp1215 is on sale at staples and office depot for $150. OD also has the 6500 AIO for $100. Staples has the 6500 for $80. Neither of these is wireless and I don't think I'd wait in line for either deal.

Not true. Celeron is a marketing device not a measuring tool. More apt comparison is ford to mercury. Modern celerons are very capable. Research/compare the individual chips and computers. Vista/Win7 have a Windows Experience Index (WEI) that you can use to compare computers as you prowl the stores. Also misleading. i3, i5, and i7 are marking classifications comparable to good, better, best. Since we are already in the second generation of the i-era, this can get very confusing. If you want to know a little about all this, read this and this. The major distinction between i3 and i5 is called turboboost and what it does is dynamically manage the speed of the CPU. So you use less energy when you are surfing than when you are gaming which is good for battery life. Right now, core duos are considered last gen and you can get a leftover cadillac for cheap. Check the WEI. True on the GPU/chipset, but WEI simplifies the benchmark as desktop/gaming numbers. Best advice is to research the requirements of the games/programs that will be run. Of all the characteristics of a computer, brand reliability is the least useful. For instance, I have had my Acer AS5741-6073 repaired twice. The hard drive failed and a key on the keyboard failed. Assuming these were not isolated incidents, not all Acers use this particular disk drive and keyboard and many other laptops use the same disk and keyboard. Unless you are buying a Toshiba Toughbook, a laptop is kind of a frail device and should be carefully cared for. I stay away from units with loud fans or strong air coming out the vent because it's dusty in my house and when these things become obstructed, they overheat. I DO like cheap laptops. When they fail or become obsolete, you are out less money. Avid gamers are better off with a desktop so they can upgrade the video card every couple years. Get as little laptop as you need. Every ounce of performance steals from portability. In my house, an i5, a celeron, and a single core athlon all power perfect (for their application) laptops.

My first laptop was an IBM 600e. I had a few of these for many years and repaired and upgraded myself. We installed Margi mpeg accelerators and DVD players and got many wonderful years of service. We only moved on when flash and other modern technologies overwhelmed the little laptop that could. We have passed these laptops on and they are still in use. My first modern laptop was an acer 5516 (specs). It cost me $240 a year and a half ago. I only got to use it for a couple weeks before my oldest borrowed it. My wife has been using it for a year and loves it. It takes a beating too as she is not gentle and has no respect for magic. My oldest decided this was a pretty lame computer. It was too big and the batteries did not last very long (I think three hours is pretty good). We shopped for months before buying him an Acer as1410 (specs). I had some serious doubts about this laptop and paid full freight ($400) for it, but I have to admit that it is a compelling package. Six hours on a charge, flash and dvd playback, and enough cpu and disk to do school work in an 11.5" form is very useful. He has been using this laptop for nearly a year and still loves it. I got his little brother an Acer AS5741-6073 (specs) for about the same price. This is an i5. It is amazing as both a portable computer and a desktop replacement. The i5 runs faster when plugged in. He uses this as a portable desktop and is very happy. The disk failed within two months and acer sent me a new one. A key came loose a few months later and I had to send it out for repair ($22 shipping). Despite this, I would HIGHLY recommend this computer. I could see me buying a service contract, however, going forward. All of these computers are made by Acer (which owns eMachines and Gateway). Acer is hands down the value leader in computers at this time. Looking at the BF ads, I see a few Acers... OfficeMax Acer Aspire 15.6" Core i3 Laptop w/ 4GB, 320GB $529.99 OfficeMax Acer Aspire 15.6" Core i5 Laptop w/ 4GB, 500GB $499.99 Radio Shack Acer Aspire One 10.1'' Netbook w/ 1GB, 160GB $179.99 Walmart Acer Aspire 17.3" Dual-Core Laptop w/ 4GB, 320GB (Online) $498.00 I love the i5 at OfficeMax and I like the 17" Aspire at Walmart, but I wouldn't stand in line for either. If you have a Discover card, rewards are doubled until the end of the year (10% for Staples, Walmart, and Best Buy) and you will undoubtedly be able to match these prices before Christmas. If you are planning on buying a laptop, I recommend you visit a Staples or a Best Buy to tickle the keyboards. Netbooks are better than you think. I watched netflix via wireless on all of the netbooks at Staples. There is a wide variety of keyboards, touchpads, screens, and software loads out there and you will likely find you have a preference for one or another. If you want to watch DVDs, bring one with you. If you want to run a particular program, bring it with you. Stores are pretty tolerant of players (they just reimage the machine after you leave). If you use your Discover card a lot, you can take your cashback as gift cards. I like Staples ($25 card for $20 cashback means 20% off their best deals). Happy shopping!