mcwalker

I got one at around 100+ in line at Westbury, Long Island. Other people were taking them from the shopping cart that staff person was distributing from, though, so some people from back of line got them, but they ran out soon after passing my point in line.

Got the Westinghouse 32" but also waiting to Christmas to open. Glad to hear that people are generally pleased, though. And what a deal.

Dropped off nephew in Best Buy line and got in Target line around 3:25. I got: Target: $246 Westinghouse 32" HDTV $170 Nintendo DSi bundle Easy Bake Oven Connect 4 game $3 Toaster $3 sandwich maker other miscellaneous Radio Shack Iomega 320MB Portable Drive Walmart Belkin N Wireless Router Home Depot Dremel 300 Rotary Tool Poinsettias And other odds and ends from these stores, Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics. Wife went to Kohls.

Don't know if I would say "jaw drop", but I got one of the $246 32" Westinghouse HDTVs at Target--a great deal even for a Westinghouse. (Could have bought more, and some people did, but I only needed one.)

Great job this year! and all year.

Was at the Best Buy and Target on Queens Boulevard, Queens, New York City at closing time last night (10-11PM) and didn't see any line as I left. Joined a "line" of around three million people this morning. Snoopy, Buz Lightyear, Dora, and other celebrities were also in the line with me! (See pictures below.) Happy Thanksgiving everyone from Broadway and 42nd Street at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Your best bet is to find people in line both on Thanksgiving day and through the night. Take your release forms and do on the spot interviews. (People have a lot of time on their hands then.) Then do additional interviews during the day (but after people are finished with the initial rush. (Most lines are on private property, which may be an issue, but you can always move to another store if any store reps/security challenge you.) (I am in New York City, but will be heading in the opposite direction from you--to Long Island--for my shopping.)

I did this last year at a small town Sears "showroom." I went in Wednesday afternoon just to scope the place out and found that they had only one of the Sony Bluray players that was to be on early bird special. I asked the clerk, (who asked the manager of the small store) if I could buy it then and just come back for a price adjustment on Friday. He said yes, just be sure to be there during the early bird hours and see him with just the receipt. I went back after hitting other stores and he refunded the difference to my credit card. It is most certain if you can talk to someone who says they will do it (and for that a small store is easier). Also, you can usually just return something for a refund if the attempt doesn't work, but be sure you can do that as a fallback first.

I did this pole last year, so here it is again. What time do you plan to arrive at your first store to line up? Will you go to an outlet center at/before midnight, then get out in time to line up at another store before it opens? How many plan to take BigJimSlade's advice and line up by 7:00 PM Wednesday to get top items? (see his latest video.)

Now that almost all of the ads are up, which stores do you plan to shop sometime this Black Friday? Check all that apply.

What item were you referring to?

They really aren't the same, and the difference could be important for some people and some uses. This is a 720p "native resolution" HDTV that can take a 1080i signal and "downconvert" it to 720p. That said, 720 resolution is generally just fine for a 32" HDTV unless you 1) want to use it as a computer monitor and get better resolution or 2) connect a Blu-ray player and sit relatively close watching 1080p movies. We have a 19" Westinghouse in our bedroom that I got on BF three years ago and, aside from its small size, it has been working just fine. I am going to try to get one of these to replace it in our bedroom and move the smaller one to our daughter's room. We have a larger 1080p HDTV in the living room for optimal viewing from all sources. Also note that the Westinghouse advertised at Target has a model number (SK-32H640G) unique to Target and a bezel style different than any other Westinghouse model (suggesting that it may differ in manufacture and performance). See the Westinghouse site at http://www.westinghousedigital.com/details.aspx?itemnum=265.

All credit cards, all the time. For miles / cash back! But I always pay balances in full each month. Also, my AmEx provides an extra year of warranty on most things that have warranties and some other protections. Be sure to check out GottaDeal's other site for good reward credit cards: http://www.bettercreditcard.com/ (This is an unsolicited endorsement. )

Some nice items and definitely a stop for me, but not sure yet if it will be first stop for me this year. Making my list. Checking it thrice.

Ace has some very nice BF deals on some basic tools that are good to have around the house or apartment (and make nice gifts for people who could use a few simple tools). In 2007 I did BF shopping on Long Island, then we made a family sightseeing trip to upstate New York. I had marked some Ace Hardware items on my list but didn't get them on BF, so I told the family to keep an eye out for an Ace during the trip and I would stop in and get the things. It took quite a while, but we did see one Saturday and I went in and bought a number of items for myself and as gifts for relatives who need a few basic tools in their apartment. After that, we kept seeing Ace stores as we passed through small towns. (You know how when you have been looking for something, you keep seeing them days after you are not looking anymore.) I began a major remodeling of the kitchen and bath in my co-op apartment this July (continuing) and have been using some of the tools I bought that day almost every day since July. Some of the cheapest but most useful BF deals I ever got!

On those past lists of ad dates, it would be good to see what date BF fell on each year, too: 2009: 11/27 2008: 11/28 2007: 11/23 2006: 11/24 2005: 11/25 2004: 11/26

JC Penney is my favorite department store at this point (used to be Sterns), but I don't recall being in one on BF. Probably will this year at some time during the day, though, due to location. What is the snow globe deal they were doing? My wife likes snow globes in general (unless they break).

Hey BigJim, don't mess with my turkey! ... (Sleep I can do without.)

Lots of people are awake IN LINE all night. Two of the three years I have done BF, I got a few hours sleep then went out. Two years ago my brother flew into town (NYC from Texas), we didn't sleep, and headed out with my nephew around 2 AM to wait in the cold. (My brother says, "Never again.") You probably won't have any problem through friday morning and early afternoon, as the excitement will keep you going, but you may feel need for a nap around 3PM Friday. Be carefull driving Friday afternoon.

I like the idea of a workshop. I figure a lot of people would find one both fun and informative, if a good presentation is made. Maybe what we need is a "speakers bureau" where we "BF experts" offer to give a brief talk, maybe in exchage for a free dinner. Anyone want to prepare a slick PowerPoint presentation with tips and tricks? :) On the other hand, are we sure we want to tell other locals how to get the doorbuster we are looking for?

Or another option is to go in the store with more than one person, putting one person in the line for each item you want, just as some people split up and wait in line at different stores. I would expect that it will likely be one unit per person in line, though, so that you would have to actually have a person for each individual item, not one person to pick up three of an item for different people.

I thought about ZipCar, and I am even a member, though I have not used one yet. Unfortunately, almost all the cars in my immediate area are already booked for that time period and their price is pretty high for the period that I would need. Still leaning toward shopping by subway/on foot with a nephew, a cart, and a backpack, and make a mid morning stop at home to drop things off, then go back out. There have to be others (teenagers in the five boroughs?) who take transit to at least one or two stores on BF, but doesn't look like any of the serious shoppers on GD have done this (myself included).

Photo 1: Now all I need are some reindeer to pull these carts. Photo 2: This stuff is for my wife, but THAT one is for my girlfriend! Photo 3: At least these chairs are more comfortable than the ones at the airport.

I love cranberry sauce at the holidays! I haven't made this exact recipe, but many will do the trick. 4 cups fresh cranberries 1 1/2 cups water 5 whole cloves 5 whole allspice berries 3 cinnamon sticks 2 cups white sugar Place cranberries and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Wrap cloves, allspice berries and cinnamon sticks in a spice bag and place in the water with cranberries. Cook until cranberries begin to burst, about 10 minutes. Stir in sugar and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking 5 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Discard spice bag. Chill in the refrigerator 8 hours before serving.

The adventure: starting out in the dead quiet of the night and going somewhere where lots of people just as crazy as me are standing in line in the wee hours of the morning in anticipation. And, I have probably just missed it, but where are the rows of dancing monkeys this year? So here is one... :2monkey::2monkey::2monkey::2monkey: and (purple?) elephants? :2elephant:2elephant:2elephant:2elephant:2elephant:2elephant:2elephant:2elephant