len_mullen

You may want to consider a PS3 as your blu-ray player. With prices coming down, it's a viable alternative even for people who will never play games. Besides the player function and internet connectivity, you can use a pc to stream content to it. Kids are always watching content stored on their PCs.

First thing you want to do is decide where your new tv will sit. If the room is brightly lit, an lcd will not be as reflective as a plasma. If you sit off to the sides, the lcd will wash out as you move away from center. Measure the distance from where you will sit to where the tv will be. Use this chart to get an idea of how large a set will be appropriate. A sales rep at Sears told me that most tvs come back because they are too big for the room. Put this distance on a piece of paper and stick it in your wallet. When you shop for tvs, stand back as far as you will sit at home. Also not a bad idea to cut out a piece of cardboard about the size of the set you are considering. Stick it where the tv will be and sit in your seat. Is it too big? Too small? Once you know size and distance, use this chart to get a feel for resolution. Use your eyes too -- at the stores at the distance you will watch from at home. Now it's time to shop. Visit a lot of stores. Watch sports and movies -- same stuff you watch at home. Note the sets that look good to you. Go home and google them. Search bargain sites for best recent prices. Make a short list of the tvs you like and grab the first one that fits your budget. I bought a set last year. I documented my experience and linked resources I used here. I think plasma looks best. I was sensitive to motion blur on LCDs and since we sit at wide angles to the set wanted a tv with a wide viewing angle. I went with 720p. In a 50" set, I could not distinguish 720p from 1080p at five feet and we sit eight to twelve feet back. Loved the Kuros, but they were too expensive. Samsung, Panasonic, and Sony occupied the second tier. Sony was much more expensive than the other two. I watched for a good deal and grabbed the Sammy pn50a450 for $930 with a 1200w htib shipped free. We curtained the living room and the window over the sink in the adjacent kitchen to eliminate reflections (many simply tilt the set slightly forward). After a year, I'm still blown away. Hope that helps.

Tough run of luck maisey, but Acer laptops have a *very* low repair rate per PC Magazine. 0% repair rate at my house

Two years ago, I took my sister with me. We started at Kohls. She was late so we were separated in line. I got in early and was at the checkout putting my credit card away when she entered the store. I've shopped alone since.

I mostly shop online and when I hit stores, I am in and out as quickly as I can be. I do, however, like to go out and enjoy the decorations, music, and cheer. Those who decorate get a smaller chunk of my gift money, but I do shop their stores, eat in their restaurants, and spend more time in their malls.

Puppies make a great Christmas toy. Just gotta get the right one... http://danvilledelivery.com/images/dogs.jpg

I couldn't share the data since it was part of a contract negotiation. It wasn't specific to laptops, either -- it was all computers. We just happen to be a Dell shop. Trouble tickets are not a good indicator of reliability. All that matters is hardware MTBF -- which is closely guarded for PC manufacturers. I also don't like that Dells are extremely closed systems -- proprietary parts and connectors make repairs/upgrades difficult/expensive. Mostly applies to desktops, though. I don't know what's going on at HP. I had to strap big honkin' coolers onto the CPUs of my a6112n Pavillions so they would not crash playing games or encoding video. A similarly equipped eMachine runs much cooler. The difference between the two machines is engineering -- HP put the card slots between the cpu and the power supply disrupting air flow once you install a video card. My personal laptop is an Acer 5516. It cost me $240 and I use it to edit and encode video, maintain my web site, surf the internet, and watch movies. I haven't had it long enough to claim it is reliable, but it was cheap and so far, so good. I really like that is runs cool. In the long run, this should correlate to reliability. Still, I don't recommend this to people. Each shopper has to work out the best combination of price, performance, form, and portability.

This is way off topic and not particularly germane to BF. There is definately empirical data that suggests Dell makes terrible computers (we did not extend the replacement cycle to four years because mtbf was 2.65 years for all Dell computers across the company). I've personally had two Dell 610 laptops fail in my camper due to moisture (I have three IBM 600Es that have been camping for six years). BUT a lot of that is part of getting these things to $300. Buy at that price and put the extended warranty money in a bank account. Your kid is going to drop, lost, or otherwise abuse the laptop. Spend as little as you need to and get a new one when that happens.

I can't do a WII. I'd like to have one, but it's SD and looks like crap on a HDTV. I'm going to hold out for an HD WII. Next year, I'm guessing. Thing about the WII is Nintendo has exclusives that are incomparable. For now, it's the PS3 for me -- got it for $250 last fall. Great games for big kids and an excellent blu-ray player for movies.

Listen kids, none of the major computer companies manufacture laptops. Acer is an exception and they make Gateways and eMachines too. They happen to be a Tiawanese company -- that's where laptops are made. At one time, Dell and Quantex laptops were identical except for the name tag and the software build -- and the price. For each distributor, there are high end and low end machines and a bunch of stuff in between. High end machines from one company have more in common with high end machines from another company than they do with low end machines from the same company. Furthermore, choosing a laptop/notebook is completely different than choosing a desktop. It's much more complex. This is because every laptop purchase is a compromise. Cost, size, performance, and battery life all play against each another. If you rely on another's opinion, you will probably find yourself among the 40% or so of laptop buyers experiencing remorse. I suggest that you begin by making a list of all the things you want to do with a laptop, identifying the software that will perform those tasks to your satisfaction, and setting a budget. Make a list of all the laptops that will make you happy. Go out into stores and touch each one. Eliminate all the ones that are too pokey or have a funky form, or you just don't like. Take your short list to google. See what other people think, read reviews, and note prices -- including past promotions. Keep this list near your computer. When a good deal comes up on one of these grab it. You will be a happy lappy pappy!

Kohls is a great retailer. They have LOTS of merchandise for BF and using their cards gets you another 20% in Kohls Cash. On top of that, they manage their crowd wonderfully. If Kohls has something I want, I stand in line knowing they will have enough on hand to satisfy their patrons.

The most important thing you can do now to get ready for Black Friday is to start shopping. Make a list of items you plan to buy. Research brands and features. Note 'regular' and 'sale' prices. Set aside some cash so that you do not need to finance unexpected deals with a credit card. Last year, I had most of my shopping done before Black Friday. That's unusual, but a deal is a deal. My most unexpected deal was a 50" plasma tv with a 1200w home theater for $910 in September. I have not seen a better deal since. Other unexpected deals included $150 off Chase credit cards. Even though it was not tangible, an offer to transfer credit card balances to a new account with no interest for twelve months saved me a bundle. Something you can do right now for Black Friday 2010 is to get a credit card with good cash back terms. I use a Discover card all year long to pay for everything that I can. This year, I have gotten $507.77 back. I take these as Staples gift cards so they give me $25 for every $20 I earn. That's $634.71 towards a couple netbooks for my kids. That's what I call a Christmas club!

It's not the same. There are sales, online sales, and black friday. BF is a wait in line event for a reasonable shot at some minimum quantity of merchandise at some well know prices. If you want it bad enough, and get in line early enough, you will get it. With online sales, the merchandise may be different and the pool of buyers is virtually unlimited. For some items, it's like playing the lottery. For others, you will be able to buy it when you get home Friday afternoon. I go out on BF if there is a deal or there are deals that make it worth my participating. If I'm not out, I'm always looking for a deal online, so BF online is just another day for me.

they are not asking for the old appliances back -- just offering dollars off new ones. there is supposed to be federal plus state money. if the verdors and retailers take a mark off, the prices could be pretty attractive. it's really the timing that is at issue. if the window includes BF, why not? people who are poo-poo'ing this program are saying that appliances are bought because... 1) failure 2) remodel 3) new home they say failure has to be bought so people are price insensitive. ditto on new homes since the cost is usually rolled into the monthly nut. they say a few hundred are not enough to get people to take on a remodel. I think people might say, "why not?" to a new frig under the tree if the price is right.

This may be wishful thinking on my part because I want a new frig, but what are the chances cash for clunkers kitchen edition collides with BF for some amazing deals on Energystar appliances?

I expect the sales to start much earlier. I got a laptop (not a netbook) for $240 this summer. I expect to see these kinds of prices return as soon as the kids get back to college. I've seen a few great deals on TVs already. GPS deals have been as low as $50. The PS3 has just dropped and I guess the x-box will follow. Blu-ray movies are as low as $10 already. With prices already so depressed, I wonder what it will take to get people out of bed.

Well, I shop when the prices are right. Last year, I was 90% done by BF. The BEST deal on an HDTV came in September. If the retailers put things on sale early, I'll bite.

I got my PN50A450 before black friday last year. It's a 50 720p Samsung. I am still amazed by the picture. I've collected all the information I used to make my decision here. It's a year old, but most is still relevent. I'm still very happy.

I used the RS contact form to let them know how I felt and linked to this thread. If you want to do the same, here is the url... http://www.radioshack.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=store&subdisplay=contact&stillHaveQuestion=yes I selected question 'about my order' and sent this... http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?p=1434626#post1434626 You have lost a lot of business.

Radio Shack canceled my fuze. I see they are in stock (other colors) for $100. Seems they could have offered me a different color plus a gift card. Radio Shack has lost my business 100%. Nice of them to not charge my credit card, I guess. I'll be looking for the charge. PS they spelled canceled wrong

i like the pandigital frames too

Best Buy has a good deal on a 26" Dynex LCD. This is their house brand, but specs and reviews are good. It was $400, but is $50 off and you get a $50 gift card. That brings it down to what you are looking for. Free shipping too. I bought one this morning. That was the best I could find on a 26" LCD>

$150 off is back at SonyStyle.com. I did do that, so dive in!

Well, Walmart probably has exponentially more opportunities for mishap given the number of stores and the popularity of their sales. Walmart has stores in tough neighborhoods too. And it sounds like common sense is in short supply with Walmart shoppers. What pregnant woman goes out for BF? I cringe when I see little kids in line. So, this is tragic, but not really surprising. I'm guessing the woman will sue Walmart for her own stupidity...

I haven't seen anything that put this number at more than 8 feet and most say six. That, of course, is looking at and *analyzing* 1080p content. My eyes say six feet. Also, unless you are watching blu-ray, your 1080p is scaled 720p or 1080i. 720p will look better on a 720p display than scaled to 1080p. Trust your eyes, folks. If you have trouble picking the winner when all the sets are lined up at CircuitCity, you won't be disappointed with the one you make the centerpiece of your living room.