Staples press release - Black Friday hours, first leaked ad items

[Brad]

http://investor.staples.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96244&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=1986831

 

Black Friday deals for November 27-28 are available in store and/or on Staples.com while supplies last and include:

$99.99 Asus laptop with Intel® Inside Processor (save $150), in-store only
Free Kindle e-reader after easy rebate (reg. $79) with any laptop purchase over $399, in-store only
$39.99 Android 7-inch tablet from JLab, 8GB (save $30), Staples.com and in-store
$99.99 Samsung Galaxy Tablet Lite (save $40), Staples.com and in-store
$25 Visa Prepaid Card by mail with purchase of wearable tech including Fitbit® and Jawbone®, Staples.com and in-store

 

Holiday Hours

Staples retail stores will extend holiday hours on Thanksgiving and Black Friday including:

Thurs., Nov. 27- Staples stores will open from 6 p.m.to 10 p.m. in all areas allowed* (excluding, Mass., Rhode Island and Maine)
Fri., Nov. 28 – Staples stores will open at 6 a.m.*

[riven3d]

 

$99.99 Asus laptop with Intel® Inside Processor (save $150), in-store only

i wish they would quit lying to people you cant call it a laptop if it doesnt have all the features at the price one can be almost sure this is netbook this means it has no dvd/cd drive and will have low specs

[bribri25]

i wish they would quit lying to people you cant call it a laptop if it doesnt have all the features at the price one can be almost sure this is netbook this means it has no dvd/cd drive and will have low specs

 

Probably can't even call it a netbook.  It's just a really heavy e-reader...

[bribri25]

i wish they would quit lying to people you cant call it a laptop if it doesnt have all the features at the price one can be almost sure this is netbook this means it has no dvd/cd drive and will have low specs

 

 

Probably this "beast":

http://www.staples.com/StaplesProductDisplay?catalogIdentifier=2&noredir=true&langId=-1&productId=4254676&storeId=10001

 

Not bad for the price, but still an overweight tablet.

[momlori]

Great price on the laptop but as others have said, not that great a laptop

[len_mullen]

I see nothing to corroborate bribri25's speculation, but, if true, this is a really good deal.  I have had a T100 since August and it is a very capable laptop.  There's no optical drive, but that is not unusual these days.  Performance is very snappy.  For $100, I think an 8 hour touchscreen laptop would be welcome under a lot of trees.  Looking forward to the ad scans. 

[bribri25]

I see nothing to corroborate bribri25's speculation, but, if true, this is a really good deal.  I have had a T100 since August and it is a very capable laptop.  There's no optical drive, but that is not unusual these days.  Performance is very snappy.  For $100, I think an 8 hour touchscreen laptop would be welcome under a lot of trees.  Looking forward to the ad scans. 

 

It's the only 249.99 Asus "laptop" I see they have.

[riven3d]

ITS not a laptop if no optical drive then it's a netbook

[bribri25]

.....Hence my constant air quotes around the "laptop" every time

[Deal Grabber]

laptop, notebook and netbooks are a size reference.Laptop refers to computer sized to fit your lap.Just becasue it doesnt have a disk drive doesnt mean its nt a laptop. My kids first computers were Asus"netbooks" and they did everything my $800 Acer did except it didnt have a disk drive.I agree with Len lots of kids would be happy to have it for Christmas.Especially as a first laptop.Can be used to browse the web fb even play games.Worse case you could spend bout $40 and by a disk drive if it was needed.

[len_mullen]

It's the only 249.99 Asus "laptop" I see they have.

 

Could be a special order.  Regardless, good hunting and it's probably pretty close even if it isn't THE laptop.

[len_mullen]

ITS not a laptop if no optical drive then it's a netbook

 

Maybe, but I was buying laptops before desktops had optical drives.  The venerable IBM 600 series laptop had a removable bay which could hold an optical drive, a floppy drive, a magnetic drive, or an extra battery.

 

While the definition of a laptop may not be precise, wrapping definitions in historical perspective might help.  Initially, there were computers which came as components or all-in-one configurations.  Then we got portables and 'luggables' which were designed to stand up to the rigors of transportation.  The Gavilan SC was the first computer actually marketed as a laptop.  Launched in 1984, it ran on batteries and had the familiar clam shell style case and a 400×64 LCD display, but no optical drive.  A year later, the first 'IBM compatible' laptop arrived.  The Kaypro 2000 had no optical drive.  

 

Optical disks did not become important or common until Windows 95.  Windows 95 could be installed from optical disk or floppy -- the upgrade version came on 25 floppies.  Office Pro came on 30!  I believe the first consumer laptops that came with an optical disk were Gateways.  

 

Notebook is a nebulous term created by marketing types.  Generally, it was supposed to conjure images of increased portability at the expense of power.  The Grid Compass (1979) was called a notebook and the Gateway Solo 9100 -- which had a bay for an optical drive -- was called a notebook.  Apple produced a 17" notebook!

 

In 1992, Gateway introduced a 'Handbook' which was half the size of a subnotebook.

 

I believe the Asus eee pc was the first netbook (2007).  Its key characteristics were size and cost.  It did not run on intel iron and ran linux not Windows and had a solid state drive.  That was followed by atom based devices which did run some flavor of windows. 

 

The tablet has been around since the fifties and Microsoft and Apple both had tablets on the market in the nineties.  Generally, any computer which abandons mouse and keyboard in favor of touch and pen is considered a tablet.  Of course, now we have computers which use both and tablets have keyboard and mouse accessories.

 

The bottom line is that it doesn't really matter what you call this or any portable computer.  You really need to consider and specify the various components.  This is definitely not a tablet simply because the keyboard is attached, but I think it's OK to refer to it as a laptop or notebook -- even though its specs more closely track to what you would expect in a tablet.

[len_mullen]

My wife asked me if I would go out and get one of these for her.  I will venture out so no one has an excuse to borrow my t100 -- which also has no optical disk ;-)

[MusicMama]

If Staples managers are smart, as the one I encountered last year was, they will also have some alternative deals available. Went out later in the morning to vet the doorbuster laptop for a friend and got a much better laptop for just $20 more. Store had the doorbuster list and specs plus alternatives on a big display board at the door which made it easy to see what was a good deal.

[momlori]

My wife asked me if I would go out and get one of these for her.  I will venture out so no one has an excuse to borrow my t100 -- which also has no optical disk ;-)

So would you get this for a student?

[len_mullen]

I think this inexpensive laptop with a small form and 8 hour battery life would be great for taking notes in class or working on homework just about anywhere.  I might add that $99.99 24" display and a full size keyboard and mouse for working at home, but a lot of people do work on phones and tablets, so this would be better than that.

 

Seems like some posts were pruned from this thread.  I wonder if that was related to yesterday's outage or if Brad did not like the sneak peak items piggybacked on his press release,..