Black Friday sales for MAME builders

[Burke LaShell]

Here are some Black Friday sales that might interest somebody.

Staples: http://download.bfads.net/BFAds-Staples.pdf

• Maxtor 200 GB 7200 RPM internal hard drive - $19.98 (after rebate)
• Samsung 19" wide-screen LCD monitor - $129.98 (after rebate)
• Altec Lansing  VS4121 speakers with sub - $19.98 (after rebate)

[Havok]

Sweet! Thanks for the post: one of those hard drives has my name on it...

[ChadTower]

FYI:  In Rhode Island, those rebates are no longer legal.

As of a couple of months ago, in RI, the store must give that rebate instantly at the register and submit the rebate themselves.

 

[AlanS17]

I wish they did that here with the rebates.

[ChadTower]

I've always stayed the hell away from stores during the holidays... but I have need for hard drives and there are a couple of Staples near me.  How does this usually work?  Is this the sale where people start to show up at like 4am?

[kelemvor]

Can you get that HDD deal online?  We don't have Staples in our area.  But $20 for a 200 gig drive..  Damn...

[Hoopz]

I've always stayed the hell away from stores during the holidays... but I have need for hard drives and there are a couple of Staples near me.  How does this usually work?  Is this the sale where people start to show up at like 4am?

Yep.  You may see if they that they will or won't accept online orders for the same pricing.  Makes more sense than waiting in line in the cold and dark...

[shardian]

FYI:  In Rhode Island, those rebates are no longer legal.

As of a couple of months ago, in RI, the store must give that rebate instantly at the register and submit the rebate themselves.

 

Mental note: move to Rhode Island and start an Ebay business...

[AlanS17]

I can picture lines forming outside Best Buy and places like that, but I can't picture a line outside of Staples. That doesn't mean I'm right, though.

[ChadTower]

Well, I know people wait outside Walmart for hours.  So I could imagine them having 20 of that 200G drive in stock and there being 20 people in line.

I wonder how one would verify whether or not online ordering will be honored.

[Hoopz]

Well, I know people wait outside Walmart for hours.  So I could imagine them having 20 of that 200G drive in stock and there being 20 people in line.

I wonder how one would verify whether or not online ordering will be honored.

The ads may say.  I recall seeing that being more prominently displayed last year.

[ChadTower]

Downloaded the ad... it says that the prices will only be honored in store and that that only applies to the items on page 1.

The hard drive is on page 2.

[saint]

Well, if you're willing to take a gamble 4 AM isn't that bad of a time to get in line.  I'll be there about 2:45 I think (Best Buy)

I've always stayed the hell away from stores during the holidays... but I have need for hard drives and there are a couple of Staples near me.  How does this usually work?  Is this the sale where people start to show up at like 4am?

[ChadTower]

For what?  I can't imagine sitting in line for hours in below freezing temperatures unless I was starving and they were giving out food.

[saint]

Actually I don't really want anything this year so I'm not sure I'm going, though I probably will. Previous years I've bought cheap computers and laptops, computer bits, etc...  Last year I think we bought 3 e-machines for various people who wanted/needed a computer. $200 or so for a complete PC including XP OS, monitor, decent CPU and RAM specs, etc... I also pick up the newest version of Symantec's antivirus, CD and DVD media, power strips, UPS, etc... for free after rebates up to a relatively few bucks. Typically I'll outfit myself for all computer projects I'll do during the year with what I pick up on Black Friday.

This year at Best Buy it's a Celeron D 352, 15" LCD monitor, Canon color printer, 512 Mb RAM, 100 gig HD, DVD/CD-RW, Windows XP -- $189.97.  If you're after a general purpose family computer that's a heck of a deal.

When I'm ready to buy a wide-screen tv one day that's how I'll probably do it also.

It's also fun to do, kind of like tailgating. Freeze your butt off with a bunch of other good-natured (mostly) folks, hit the masses for an orgy of shopping, go to Circuit City after BestBuy to pick up straggling items if they still have any, and then the mall to shop until meeting the wives for lunch at Ruby Tuesday's. Then the men carry about a million packages that the women have picked up at the toy stores and elsewhere in the mall, drag them out to the car, maybe do a bit more slower-paced shopping and head for home.

Good times.

--- saint

For what?  I can't imagine sitting in line for hours in below freezing temperatures unless I was starving and they were giving out food.

[ChadTower]

Sounds like you enjoy it.  Crowds are definitely not my thing.  I prefer to stay home and work in the yard and carry everything in from the car when my wife gets home.

You're right, that PC is a heck of a deal.  You could break the lot up and have several kickass gifts.

[saint]

Yeah - if shopping isn't your thing you'll absolutely hate this. There are a lot of downsides. Within the first few minutes of opening the line for the registers starts, and snakes around the entire fricking store till it loops back to the front doors -- probably an hour or so line to check out. It's insane. People are running like it's the second coming of the messiah, elbows are flying, it can be a real mess. It's a lot of fun also though

[ChadTower]

Thanks for that, you just talked me out of it.  I don't enjoy throwing elbows without intent.  It doesn't get fun for me until people start getting physical.  Too many years of football and hockey, I suppose.  When that fat guy started throwing elbows at me to get at a hard drive I'd either get out of his way or end up on the 6pm news as that guy that got arrested at Staples.

[saint]

Heh.

[shardian]

Last year at Walmart, you could show up at 11 am and not only get any of the Black Friday deals, but they were also MARKING THEM DOWN!! I felt sorry for all the people who made Walmart their early visit. 

[saint]

Yeah - my usual round is Best Buy first, then Circuit City where there's a few items left but not many, and then Staples/OfficeMax (whichever one it is that's near the BestBuy, I forget) where most of the deals are still available. I wouldn't wait in line at Walmart. The chain toy stores, chain electronics stores -- yes. Walmart/OfficeMax, no.

[ChadTower]

So, since Staples is so close by, AND in RI they have to give you the discount at the register rather than a rebate... it may be worth driving over to Staples around opening time to see if stuff is still there.

[grueinthebox]

Well, if you're willing to take a gamble 4 AM isn't that bad of a time to get in line.  I'll be there about 2:45 I think (Best Buy)

Years ago I worked at one of the busier Best Buy locations in the Houston area...  I'd talk with people who were in on Black Friday, and it seems like we commonly had people that had been in line since 10pm Thanksgiving night or earlier.  I've never bothered going out to be on the other side of the counter.  Would've liked to this year just to do it once, but looks like it'll have to wait as I used up the last of my vacation days in June...

[saint]

Yeah - first 10-20 folks or so get there insanely early like 10 PM or even earlier. Then the rest of the crazies start about 3 AM or so. Then everyone who thinks they've got a good idea but haven't been there to see the reality before try to get an early start at 4 or 5 AM, you know - 1 hour before opening. Poor guys - they're the ones who are like 100th in line.

Well, if you're willing to take a gamble 4 AM isn't that bad of a time to get in line.  I'll be there about 2:45 I think (Best Buy)

Years ago I worked at one of the busier Best Buy locations in the Houston area...  I'd talk with people who were in on Black Friday, and it seems like we commonly had people that had been in line since 10pm Thanksgiving night or earlier.  I've never bothered going out to be on the other side of the counter.  Would've liked to this year just to do it once, but looks like it'll have to wait as I used up the last of my vacation days in June...

[AtomSmasher]

I think I may show up at staples at or shortly before opening.  That hard drive deal is really good, but they also have mcafee internet suite 2007 for free (which includes pretty much everything mcafee makes, 8 programs I think), and I'll get turbo tax with free quicken.

I'll probably swing by best buy afterwards and see if they still have x-men 3 or arrested development season 3 for $9.99 each and neverwinter nights 2 or flight simulator X for $24.99

[ChadTower]

The ad didn't specify a limit on the hard drives... I could see myself making 4-5 trips to the car with $20 hard drives.   

[_) (V) (-)]

If the crowds/lines, freezing temps and general crazieness dosent put you off. Remember that most of these people had just stuffed their gullets full of turkey and will most likely be polluting your personal atmosphere while your stuck next to them in line, for and hour or more. 

[shardian]

I am seriously considering the 32" westinghouse lcd at Best Buy. I am curious though as to how many of them they will have on Black friday. I don't want to go freeze my butt off for a few hours just to find out they only had 5. I would be pretty pissed.

Oh yeah, and I also plan on getting a laptop too!

[ChadTower]

That LCD is even in my price range for a TV... I'd seriously consider taking a shot at it if it wouldn't require replacing our entertainment center too.

[AlanS17]

For what it's worth, my only experience with black friday was when I went in to buy a portable DVD player for my step-dad one year as a Christmas gift at Best Buy. We got there before 10 am and they had a mountain of those units by the door. Getting one was a snap, but paying for it took over an hour.

[Buddabing]

Why do they call it "Black Friday" anyway, and not "Green Friday"? Circles under the eyes, maybe? Bruises from thrown elbows?

I would not go shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving even if I was paid.

[AlanS17]

Why do they call it "Black Friday" anyway, and not "Green Friday"? Circles under the eyes, maybe? Bruises from thrown elbows?

I would not go shopping on Friday after Thanksgiving even if I was paid.

Agreed. It's hardly ever worth it. I might buy a new laptop on black Friday when the one i've got finally quits on me. I think that'll be a couple of years, though.

I would need a REALLY good reason to do it, and a $20 hard drive doesn't count. I'm content to follow the sales at Fry's for stuff that's just "cheap enough".

[ChadTower]

The $20 hard drive isn't a Black Friday item.  It will still be on sale later that day and in the following days.

[shardian]

Well, a $470 32" HD LCD tv is good enough reason for me. I am also looking into a digital camcorder. Looks like $200 for a minidv is the best deal going.

[ChadTower]

It may be hard to get both alone... I'd imagine people make mad dashes to specific items and then have a hard time getting to a second one before it's gone.  Especially if one of them is really big like that TV.

[saint]

At BestBuy, they go down the line as you're waiting outside with tickets for the rare/limited items. First in line, first serve. Once you have your ticket they're guaranteed to give it to you, so you can mad dash to the other things you want first. There are hiccups sometimes, but that's the general principle. One year they ran out of the hard drive I had a ticket for, so they upgraded me to a larger drive for the same price.

[ChadTower]

Nice.  Is there a limit to how many of an item or how many different items for which you can get tickets?

[More Cowbell]

Agreed. It's hardly ever worth it.

It's way worth it to us. We save literally hundreds of dollars on Christmas presents by spending one long day shopping. Like Saint mentioned, it's a tailgate type of atmosphere since everyone is excited about deals and in the same late night/early morning mentality. We take it as a challenge to get as many great deals as possible. Plus I get to throw in all of the fun gadgets and stuff for me.
There's a great deal at Curcuit City on a portable GPS unit for $149 that I'm lining up for bright and early (or dark and early).

[ChadTower]

Worth it is relative, though... here it is usually well below freezing on that day.  That skews the scale a bit compared to other places where you're just sitting on the sidewalk.

[More Cowbell]

Worth it is relative, though... here it is usually well below freezing on that day.  That skews the scale a bit compared to other places where you're just sitting on the sidewalk.

We're in Chicago so it gets pretty cold. That's what coats, scarves, gloves, hats, coffee, and hot toddies are for.

[ChadTower]

Good enough.  Cold doesn't bother me either, growing up in Canada.  For me the struggle is a babysitter.

[ahofle]

I agree with Chad.  Being warm and snuggled in my bed that morning and safely distanced from obnoxious shoppers (not you guys, the other shoppers LOL) is well worth the couple hundred dollars or so of potential savings to me.  In fact, I never even bother to go shopping that entire day -- it's just too crazy.  Anyway, it's not like that's the only day of the year you can get a great deal on something.

Why do the retail stores bother to do this anyway?  Seems like more trouble that it's worth to them. 

[Chris]

Because it gets people to the stores.  Last year I went for Walmart's $400 laptop.  The line for it went around the store, but they only had 30 of them.  But I saw disappointed people leaving the line picking up other deals.  (I didn't get the laptop.)

Note that different stores may have different pricing.  Last year two walmarts 30 miles apart had a $100 price difference on the laptop.

[shardian]

One year, I worked for my brother-in-law to buy stuff on Black Friday. I got to buy a TON of stuff with his credit card. That was pretty fun. Oh, the reason was he has a back-woods store he sold the stuff at for the next month.

[ChadTower]

Loss leaders... they take a loss on a few items to get people in and buying the high margin stuff that goes with it.  For every one of those $500 LCDs they take a 25% loss on they probably sell $150 in 500% margin cables to go with it.  Plus the person is going to buy a bunch of other regular margin stuff while there.

I guess some of my issue is that  my family tends to not spend tons and tons and buy a lot of expensive stuff for the holidays.  We get together, have dinners and parties, stuff like that, but gifts usually tend to be small and in the lesser cost range than a lot of the stuff here.  So really, if I were to go out and freeze my sack off for hours to get into the store and drop a couple grand on tons of Best Buy toys for everyone, I'd get the same fleece coat/old movie DVDs/clearance coffee table books in return.  Not exactly the spirit of the holiday, I know, but that is what it is.

[AlanS17]

Well, a $470 32" HD LCD tv is good enough reason for me. I am also looking into a digital camcorder. Looks like $200 for a minidv is the best deal going.

Now that could certainly be worth it. Too bad I don't really have a need for it (and I can't afford it right now ever that that great price).

[ChadTower]

It's a great deal.  I'm cheap about buying stuff for myself but would buy that if I had a place to put it.

[my58vw]

The last 6 years I have stood inline outside best buy for items, last year it was a westinghouse 26 inch LCD tv for 499, and that is still a good deal today (yes I know about the 32 inch model for 479). The year before it was a 120 GB and an 80 GB for 60 dollars, a Laptop, etc.

This year I am going for CSI 3rd season, will buy 2nd season at reg price (29.99) and prision break (19.99), I might get a friend to think about the 32 inch LCD...

To be honest you can get some great deals, but it is all in fun, and one LONG night (I got at best buy last year at 9 PM!

[ChadTower]

Isn't the store still open the preceding day at 9pm?

[AlanS17]

Isn't the store still open the preceding day at 9pm?

The preceeding day is Thanksgiving. I'd imagine the stores are closed.

[ChadTower]

Every year more and more stores are allowed to open on such holidays... maybe Thanksgiving isn't one of them yet.

[Tiger-Heli]

Nice.  Is there a limit to how many of an item or how many different items for which you can get tickets?

Different items - generally no, but they only have tickets for the really great items - $200 laptops and $300 TV's they will have tickets for, but free surge protectors or $5 USB drives they won't.

How many of an item - usually the rebate will specify one per household or address.  You can often buy on separate receipts and have a relative submit the rebate form in their name, etc.

Not sure how this applies with you with the "at the register" rebates.

[Crowquill]

After I worked through 7 holiday seasons at Toys R Us, I avoid this day like the plague. I usually look through the ads, but something has to be really good for me to return to that type of environment no matter which side of the counter I'm on. It's a high-stress environment for both shoppers and workers and I've seen many people react badly to this. I've seen the lengths that people would go to get a Tickle Me Elmo back in the "holiday of '96". Not pretty at all.

[AlanS17]

I might be persuaded to wait in that line for a $200 laptop.

[ChadTower]

Heh.  I remember watching two fat chicks get into a fist fight once when I was at Toys R Us when they randomly put some Cabbage Patch Kids on the shelf.  They both wanted the last of one particular Kid... 10 seconds later they were hair pulling, kicking, screaming, and rolling around in a flabby heap.  I was like 9 then.

[fatfingers]

Heh.  I remember watching two fat chicks get into a fist fight once when I was at Toys R Us when they randomly put some Cabbage Patch Kids on the shelf.  They both wanted the last of one particular Kid... 10 seconds later they were hair pulling, kicking, screaming, and rolling around in a flabby heap.  I was like 9 then.

heh...you should have taken the doll while they were fighting!   

[ChadTower]

As a 9 year old boy that doll represented all that had cooties in the world.   

[shardian]

I asked my coworker if his high school senior son would stand in line for me at BB. Couldn't hurt to ask could it? What do you all think is a fair amount to pay someone to go to BB for me?

[ChadTower]

Probably min wage, I'd guess, if all you want them to do is stand in line until you get there before opening.

[AlanS17]

I asked my coworker if his high school senior son would stand in line for me at BB. Couldn't hurt to ask could it? What do you all think is a fair amount to pay someone to go to BB for me?

It might also depend on how long they're sitting there.

[saint]

Well, considering it's entirely possible that he and you will get lynched by an angry mob if you try to get in line with him, I'd pay him a lot

I asked my coworker if his high school senior son would stand in line for me at BB. Couldn't hurt to ask could it? What do you all think is a fair amount to pay someone to go to BB for me?

[shardian]

Well, considering it's entirely possible that he and you will get lynched by an angry mob if you try to get in line with him, I'd pay him a lot

I asked my coworker if his high school senior son would stand in line for me at BB. Couldn't hurt to ask could it? What do you all think is a fair amount to pay someone to go to BB for me?

No,no. I would NOT be joining him. I know better than that. Just as long as he gets the tickets for the things I need, that is all that matters. I could then show up at 8 after the lines die down a bit (hopefully).

[ChadTower]

The sites I read said that the tickets are only good for 60 minutes after opening.  I was wondering about that since they also say that the cashier lines are 90 minutes long.

[shardian]

I live in WV, so maybe the line won't be too long at Best Buy. I wonder if I called them they could (read that as would) tell me about last year. I would be fine with showing up at 3 or 4, but there is no way I would camp out overnight for a frikkin TV.

It would easily be worth paying someone $100 or so IF they could get me the tv, camcorder, and a cheap laptop.

[ChadTower]

They'd probably take off with the TV, camcorder, cheap laptop and $100.   

[AlanS17]

The sites I read said that the tickets are only good for 60 minutes after opening.  I was wondering about that since they also say that the cashier lines are 90 minutes long.

It won't matter how long the cashier lines are if you're holding the item you want in your own two hands.

[shardian]

They'd probably take off with the TV, camcorder, cheap laptop and $100.   

Hence why it would be someone I know, they would buy the stuff themselves, and then I would pay them back, plus the $100.
Come on Chad, not ALL of us pay $300 for a faucet installation. ( I will never let that one go. )

[ChadTower]

Heh.  Most of the people I know, after all that effort, holding all that stuff, would want a lot more than $100 and reimbursement. 

[shardian]

If someone offered me $100 to do this in high school, I would have been all over it.

[ChadTower]

Me too.  My friends and I used to do furniture moving all summer for half what the pro movers did it for and we loved it.  Most of the teenagers I know now scoff at min wage jobs and seem to have a sense of entitlement I don't understand.

[u_rebelscum]

Why do they call it "Black Friday" anyway, and not "Green Friday"? Circles under the eyes, maybe? Bruises from thrown elbows?

There's two reasons according to wiki.  I only heard of the accounting reason before today.

[fatfingers]

OK, I'll finally bite ... where are you guys finding these Black Friday deals?  I've looked on the sites you are talking about and I don't see anything...

[saint]

http://bfads.net ?

Best Buy text listing: http://bfads.net/store/bestbuy


Best Buy ad scan: http://download.bfads.net/BFAds-BestBuy.pdf

All the ad scans:

http://bfads.net/adscans/

--------------

Also the FatWallet forums have a Black Friday section.

[_) (V) (-)]

Best Buy Information Removed November 14, 2006
We weren't directly contacted by Best Buy, but were told by a second-party (I think that's what you'd call them) source that they were considering legal action if we didn't remove the Best Buy information.

So, we've temporarily removed all posted Best Buy stuff. We'll try to get in touch with Best Buy tomorrow to see if what we were told was legitimate, and if not, we'll put them back up.

  HATERS!

[AlanS17]

http://bfads.net/adscans/

It looks like that site boofed their reporting at Circuit City for a Compaq laptop. They announce that it's a $299 laptop, but looking at the ad, it's just a $99 laptop (unless I'm seriously turned around).

[saint]

Google Cache of Best Buy ad

And....

http://download.bfads.net/BFAds-BestBuy.pdf

 Looks like the link is still there

[AtomSmasher]

http://bfads.net/adscans/

It looks like that site boofed their reporting at Circuit City for a Compaq laptop. They announce that it's a $299 laptop, but looking at the ad, it's just a $99 laptop (unless I'm seriously turned around).

Its $99 with a 12 month Vonage subscription, $299 without.

[AlanS17]

Oh that's lame. Nevermind...

[SithMaster]

when does bestbuy open on black friday?  i plan on being there around 1 or 2 am but is that too early or not early enough?

[AlanS17]

when does bestbuy open on black friday?  i plan on being there around 1 or 2 am but is that too early or not early enough?

That definitely depends on the Best Buy in question.

[saint]

I think that's perfect. 5 AM is when they all open this year from what I understand. I'm getting in line about 2:30 I think.

when does bestbuy open on black friday?  i plan on being there around 1 or 2 am but is that too early or not early enough?

[ChadTower]

Only 2.5 hours preceding?  I thought people lined up for hours.

[shardian]

Slightly off-topic, but there were a small group of idiots camping out in the local Wal-mart for a ps3. If I was the manager, I would make then ninnies camp outside in the cold rain.

[ChadTower]

In?

[WaRpEd]

Yeah we've got some PS3 morons here too.
It'll be just like the Xbox 360 no games to choose from but a ton of accesories.

[erictrumpet]

I've heard people are already selling their PREORDERS for ps3 on ebay and making a killing. Crazy.

Sorry to perpetuate the off-topic topic.

Eric.

[sealslayer]

Excuse my ignorance but whats "Black Friday"? I Live in the UK so I have no idea what it is but it sounds like good fun 

[AtomSmasher]

Excuse my ignorance but whats "Black Friday"? I Live in the UK so I have no idea what it is but it sounds like good fun 

The day after thanksgiving is black friday, which is the biggest shopping day of the year in America (everyones shopping for christmas presents).  Stores then started having huge sales on black friday, often with a few deals so great that people wait sometimes camp out over night to get it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

[hypernova]

I've heard people are already selling their PREORDERS for ps3 on ebay and making a killing. Crazy.

Sorry to perpetuate the off-topic topic.

Eric.

We go grocery shopping in WM.  Checked their line, and asked around of the workers/service desk.  No one seemed to know how it was going down that night.  I kept getting conflicting stories.  According to ps3seeker.com, they were only getting 4-14 units (down from 10-25 as once believed yesterday.)

I wanted to hit that profit margin.  I would've easily stood outside in that cold, rainy mist for 6 hours.  (Line was apparently inside, near the restrooms though.)  At the approximate going rate of $2000 for a system, that's a net gain of $200/hour of my time.  Well worth it.  But since nobody knew what was going on, I didn't want to waste my time.  There were about that many people there, but since no one knew anything about how they were going to divvy them out, I didn't want a part of that and waste my time.

Oh, how I underestimated the stupidity of America.  I didn't have the slightest clue that people would pay THIS much for one.  If I'd known, I'd have preordered one.

[erictrumpet]

Friend-of-a-friend sold his PS3 preorder (yes, he sold the PREORDER... he doesn't even have the unit in-hand) for -- are you ready? -- ending bid = $2,800.

O

M

F

G

This is true.

Eric.

[_) (V) (-)]

Cool! But has the payment cleared yet?

[ChadTower]

Make damn sure to either only accept a certified form of payment or to use every delivery tracking/confirmation available.  I would be very wary of someone bidding that much trying to do a credit card chargeback or paypal fraud report.

[shardian]

Cool! But has the payment cleared yet?

Exactly why I wouldn't sell (or buy) one on ebay. You are just setting yourself up to be scammed.

also, I stopped by another Wal-mart yesterday, and there were a bunch of older ladies in line. Two ladies were easily 70 years old! The first two people in line looked to be 40 year old women. Near the end of the line was another that was knitting to pass the time. That was some funny ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!

I wish I had a grandma that would sit in line for 3 days to get me a ps3. Those are some lucky kids.

[ChadTower]

If you accept only the right forms of payment and only ship with all tracking mechanisms in place, there can only be two results:

1)  You get your money safely.

2)  You get a nonpaying bidder.

Either way, you can't get scammed.  You can miss your profit window, though, if the bidder strings you out long enough.

[Glaine]

Excuse my ignorance but whats "Black Friday"? I Live in the UK so I have no idea what it is but it sounds like good fun 

The day after thanksgiving is black friday, which is the biggest shopping day of the year in America (everyones shopping for christmas presents).  Stores then started having huge sales on black friday, often with a few deals so great that people wait sometimes camp out over night to get it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

Reading all this stuff about Boxing Day on that wiki makes me want to shout that out and punch my brother in the face the day after Christmas. Could become a yearly thing too.

[erictrumpet]

This auction just ended. PS3 preorder sold for $3,800. Many of these auctions are probably bogus, but surely some are legit. Think about it, if you were a millionaire, and you simply HAD to have a new PS3 this Christmas, what's $3K? The home theater in which you will be playing with it probably cost 6 figures, so another 3 grand to a rich guy like that is totally "worth it."

Eric.

[ChadTower]

If you're a millionaire odds are you have no spare time to play video games.  Or your secretary is buying it for your kids to keep up with the neighbors.

One thought I've had on the Black Friday thing... for those, like me, who hate the stores, I wonder how many of these deals can be had elsewhere online with a little vigilance.  Take that 32" LCD... a little searching turns up better models than that one at the same price without rebates online.  I was thinking of waiting in line that day to pick up the 32" LCD but instead ordered one that arrives monday.  So perhaps we're getting to a point where the same deals can be had without waiting for hours in the freezing cold.

[SithMaster]

has anyone checked out the compusa ad?  one deal seems too good to be true.  its the cell phone get a free psp and all this other stuff.

link

does anyone have a better scan of the ad so i can read the fine print?

[ChadTower]

Odds are it comes with a long contract for a pricey service.  Several years long.  That's how they usually do that for the really good "freebies".

[SithMaster]

hmmm

what about the EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT from circuitcity, is the tv encoder good?

its a step up from my card (a pci 5500) and i was planning on getting a hauppage card soon.  if it has decent encoding then ill get it instead of the 150 mce (it wont come with a remote but i really dont need it).

[ChadTower]

I bet a reviews site could tell you that.  I can't.

[NIVO]

Ill be out BF just like always, but im not one of the early riser crazies. Im lookin forward to Black Monday actually, mosty sites like ClubIT.com, Newegg.com, Directron.com, ChiefValue.com just to name a few. Grab the biggest mug of Hot Chocolate I can find and sit here at the desktop clicking away on deals, not fighting for that parkin' spot. 

[SithMaster]

the sites ive checked only mention that its a capable gaming card but nothing is mentioned of the encoder capabilities.

i checked a dvr (think thats the acronym) sites but they mentioned only the hauppauge cards.

i plan on getting to the store early to wait which isnt so bad becuase im usually at home not sleeping.  so i can try and get a good deal on one item while my friend gets his laptop.  then we can have a lan party perhaps.

[ChadTower]

When I was a teenager we were out like that drinking and getting laid.  Not sure if that is better or worse.

[SithMaster]

well i guess it depends on what you were drinking and who you were getting laid with.

ahh but my generation isnt as good as the older one.  you had morals and ethics.  what do we have?

[ChadTower]

We didn't have morals and ethics.  We had teenage girls and cheap vodka.

I guess you guys have mpeg encoders and lan parties?

[SithMaster]

 

[erictrumpet]

In my post above I forgot the link. And in the tradition of this insane forum by the time I figured that out, there have been 10 replies. Don't you guys WORK?

Anyway here's the link to the happy $3,800 PS3 auction:

eBay Link

Eric.

[erictrumpet]

Here's another one. I want to kill this guy. But can you blame him? I'm gonna go play my Xbox360 now.

eBay Link

Eric.

[shardian]

Here's another one. I want to kill this guy. But can you blame him? I'm gonna go play my Xbox360 now.

Nah. Just report him. Buy it now is against the ps3 rules.

[AtomSmasher]

Here's another one. I want to kill this guy. But can you blame him? I'm gonna go play my Xbox360 now.

Nah. Just report him. Buy it now is against the ps3 rules.

I thought it was jsut against the ps3 preorder rules, I think you can do buy it now if you actually have the ps3 in hand.

[SirPeale]

Before anyone asks, I shortened a bunch of long links.  That's why the posts were edited, nothing else!

[JustMichael]

hmmm

what about the EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT from circuitcity, is the tv encoder good?

its a step up from my card (a pci 5500) and i was planning on getting a hauppage card soon.  if it has decent encoding then ill get it instead of the 150 mce (it wont come with a remote but i really dont need it).

I think you are getting confused by their wording.  It has some TV-out connections (ENCODING).  No tv inputs (DECODING).  If you are going to get the 150 mce, why not get the 500 instead?  It has 2 tuners on 1 card.  You can then watch a show while another one is being recorded or if you are recording two show and their time overlaps no problem with the 500.  For recording and playing back shows I personally like SageTV.

[erictrumpet]

Before anyone asks, I shortened a bunch of long links.  That's why the posts were edited, nothing else!

No prob Peale, I will avoid long links from now on. Thanks for cleaning my posts up for me,

Eric.

[AtomSmasher]

I just had a thought.  Since Circuit City has a lowest price guarantee, do they do this on black friday as well?  I'm just thinking if Staples runs out of harddrives, then you should be able to get it even cheaper at circuit city.

[JustMichael]

I'm just thinking if Staples runs out of harddrives, then you should be able to get it even cheaper at circuit city.

Wrong.  Circuit City will call the local store to be pricematched to see if they have product in stock.  If the other store doesn't have the item in stock then you are s-o-l.

[ChadTower]

The hard drives aren't a Black Friday item according to the circular.  So you may be able to just get a rain check.  It may also be available online.

EDIT:  The flyers coming out now are different than the ones that website had listed last week.  At least the Staples flyer is different.  Now the hard drive IS a Black Friday item.  Before the ad specifically said that only items on page 1 were time limited.  The hard drive was on page 2.  I just got an email from Staples, however, that says the drive is only available at $20 (after rebates) from 6-10am.

[AlanS17]

I won't be getting up early, but I will be headed down to Staples to take advantage of their "easy rebates". I'm going to try and finish as much of my Christmas shopping tomorrow as possible.

[SirPeale]

So far on my list I'm getting the DVD burner (mine died) and the 200G drive (I keep running out of space).

[sidekick]

Scored a 200G HD from Staples.... Left work and stopped by on the off chance there was one left...

[AlanS17]

I did a lot of Christmas shopping at Staples. I picked up a 200GB drive which I'll probably keep for myself, too. I got 2 label printers, a 60GB external drive, a UPS, and a 1GB memory stick.

I also hit up Best Buy and Circuit City. We grabbed a ton of DVD's, an up-converting DVD player, rechargable walkie-talkies, a 1GB MP3 player, a bluetooth headset, and some othet stuff.

All in all, we cleaned out. And we didn't wake up til 6am.

[mmmPeanutButter]

Hit Staples also...

I was happy about the change to the 20" widescreen monitor (the leaked ad showed a 19") so I got that.  Got the 200 GB internal, the DVD burner, the 1 GB flash drive, and the 400 GB external.

I am really happy with the external.  It's a great (physical) size and it just looks really sharp.  Get more than one and put them on your shelf and they kinda look like books (thus, they're called "My Book").

 

[AlanS17]

I am really happy with the external.  It's a great (physical) size and it just looks really sharp.  Get more than one and put them on your shelf and they kinda look like books (thus, they're called "My Book").

I almost got one of those for my brother, but the 60GB was cheaper and it uses a 2.5" drive so it ought to be completely powered through the USB port. The larger ones usually require a seperate power cable. The main reason was that it was cheaper, though.

[my58vw]

Black friday was a total disaster... we got in line at 8pm and there was 90 people in front of us. At 3 am everyone rushed the door - 90 turned into 150 - and of the hard disks, computer, et al... enough tickets for the first 30 only... everything on the 7 hour sale was gone in 30 seconds!

The first people got there at 7am - 22 hours before the store opened - last year I got there at 10 pm - with only 15 people in line...

Reality is - you can get near all the deals online throughout the year - it is not worth it anymore 

[saint]

So we got up at 1 AM and got to Best Buy at 2 AM. The last 5 years, that would have placed us roughly 50th in line, and would have given us an excellent shot at getting all the items we were after (never have missed before, in fact).

This year, at 2 AM, there were roughly 300 people already in line. No chance in Hades at getting what we were after there. Bummer. Don't know why the numbers jumped up like that.

So we headed across the street to Circuit City, and ended up 52nd in line. Not bad. Deals were almost as good as Best Buy, better in a few instances I think, though the computer deal at Best Buy was better.

Had my collapsable sports chairs, multiple layers of clothing on, and a good heavy blanket. Weather wasn't as cold as last year (bloody froze last year) and everyone was in pretty good spirits.  Sent my nephew in my car to McD's at 3:30 to buy us breakfast. Waited until 5 AM for store to open. Only hostile moment was when someone who got a voucher for one of the laptops came back in line to our area and started taking offers on it (in other words, they didn't want it, they just grabbed the voucher to sell it to make a profit). They got $40 for it (so the buyer ended up paying cost of computer + an additional $40). The tense bit was a guy a few spots back from us who pitched a fit about how that wasn't cool and how some people in line had wanted a fair chance at the laptop that this guy was scalping. Kid took his money and beat it quick

Here are the highlights on how we made out:

$3    - 160 DVD-R blanks
$0   - Kids calculator
$200   - Lexmark Printer, E-Machine PC, 17" Monitor, 160 Gig HD, 512 Mb RAM, Windows XP, Vista upgrade
$149   - GPS w/ MP3 playback ability
$2.97   - 1 Gig SD-RAM
$0   - D-Link wireless router
$29.99   - Phillips DVD player
$129   - 19" Flatpanel LCD monitor
$14.99   - 10-mile 2-way radios (2)
$19.98   - 16x Dual Layer, Dual format, internal DVD Drive
$0   - 6 outlet surge protector
$19.98   - 200 gig internal Maxtor HD
$39.99   - Office chair (leather, arm rests -- 4 total)
$115   - Clothes from JC-Pennies (Jeans *3, shirts*3)

All in all, picked up $2500 worth of stuff (retail price) for $850, saving $1700 or so. Of course, $700 of that is rebates I have to wait for now. Still, I have a success rate in the high 90% range of actually getting my rebates.

The monitor, computer, and GPS were for my in-laws and nephew and they paid me for them, so I'm personally only out of pocket some $400 or so for the items I bought.  That doesn't include non-door-buster miscellaneous deals like buy one get one free on deskjet photo paper packs, 10%-20% discounts on various piddly items, etc...

Not a bad day all in all I think, exhausted at the end of it of course. Spent a good chunk of today filling out all my rebates too.

--- saint

[ChadTower]

I didn't make it out, I got a bunch of unannounced houseguests that would have been plenty annoyed if I had gone out shopping.  It never fails.  Really wanted to snag that HD, too, dammit.

[mmmPeanutButter]

Not a bad day all in all I think, exhausted at the end of it of course. Spent a good chunk of today filling out all my rebates too.

I thought I'd be filling out rebate forms all day too, but those Staples "easy rebates" are actually easy.  Just went online, typed in the codes from my receipts, filled in my address and I was done.  No UPC clipping for me.

[stephenp1983]

Did anyone else get the 19inch provision monitor at circuit city.  I have it ordered any wondered if its any good

[RandyT]

Didn't do the BF thing this year.

Went out yesterday (Saturday evening, in fact.) Stopped by Wal-Mart (had to get some dog food) and strolled through the electronics area.  They still had about 100 1gb SD cards for <$14 each.  I also passed one of those <$1000 42" plasma's nobody bought.  And way too many digital camera/printer combos to count.

Also still saw half a pallet or so each of other various "5-11" sales items.

I have a feeling the sales results are going to be below expectations this year.


On the videogame console thing;

I hope the scalpers hang onto the PS3's long enough for Sony to release all the PS3's they most likely have warehoused for the "shortage", that amazingly happens every time a new machine is released, and the scalpers machines become worthless.  These nimrods, and the people who fall prey to them, are just unwary corporate marketing tools.  And most, if not all of those ridiculous eBay prices are scammers putting it to the scalpers, which unfortunately is a concept a bit too complicated for the local media to grasp.  So they pick up the "story" and it gets perpetuated to the unwashed, who invariably walk around saying things like "yeah, them PS3's is selling for $10,000 on eBay.  It must be incredible."  I'm not kidding...heard this twice.

The videogame companies know that that they need to get the machines to the stores well before Christmas.  If they miss Christmas with a new machine, and the competitor has plenty to sell, they are are going to have a helluva game of catch-up to play.

Makes you think that that there will most likely be a lot more machines hitting the streets soon.

Sony is also appearing to use the limited distribution as a tool against retailers who don't do things the way it likes them to.  My nephew is a manager at a GameCrazy and they got the pointy end of the stick on PS3 shipments, while EB / Gamestop  seemed to have plenty to sell.  Interestingly, from what I have heard from previous EB employees, EB "pushes" games they are encouraged to push, regardless of a title's quality, whereas other outlets like GameCrazy encourage free-thought recommendations from their employees.  I watched a "housecleaning" take place at a local EB around when I started hearing this, so I tend to believe it.

KMart / Sears had none to sell.  Hard to believe that SEARS didn't rate, but maybe Kmart still owes Sony tons of money.  Who knows.

Nonetheless, it is very interesting to analyze who got the units and who didn't.  It's certainly not based on where they would have the highest likelihood of selling through.  That would have happened even if they were sold at a roadside rhubarb stand in Timbuktu.

It will be even more interesting to see how many of each of the systems are available at Christmas, as compared to a couple of weeks after.

RandyT

BTW, congrats to everyone who managed to make out well at the sales.  Around here, that comes with a risk of pneumonia, so I hope the rest of you get well soon! 

[ChadTower]

Yeah, thursday night/Friday morning, it was 35 degrees and raining hard here.

[AtomSmasher]

Wow, I never knew RandyT was such a conspiracy theorist.

[RandyT]

Wow, I never knew RandyT was such a conspiracy theorist.

That's just business, my friend.  Conspiracies are a whole different bird

Spent too much time in management positions and know too much of what goes on behind the scenes.  It makes it very hard to take anything a company says or does at face value.

If you still think what I presented are conspiracy theories, read some of the leaked stuff from the boardrooms of tobacco companies   And if that is too far removed, review some of the sensationalist advertisements Sony put out a while back. whose sole purpose was to create a media frenzy and to be removed from circulation.  Any publicity is good publicity when you are an 800lb gorilla.

RandyT

*EDIT*  Hehe.  I had to look at your home page after you made that statement, and the first thing on your blog is "As far as I can tell, AT&T Home Entertainment hates their customers, or at least hates anyone thats tries to cancel on them."   Ummm.....conspiracy or aggressive business practice?  Sorry, couldn't resist.   

[AtomSmasher]

*EDIT*  Hehe.  I had to look at your home page after you made that statement, and the first thing on your blog is "As far as I can tell, AT&T Home Entertainment hates their customers, or at least hates anyone thats tries to cancel on them."   Ummm.....conspiracy or aggressive business practice?  Sorry, couldn't resist.   

hehe, fair enough.  But then AT&T HE is just doing bad business practices, its generally not a good idea to make sure everyone that quits your service hates you so much that they will never come back and will tell their friends never to use the service.  Its a fairly new division of AT&T (formerly SBC) and they are still completely lost on how to properly do their job.  I remember when I first activated the service with them it took 3 trips from the cable guy to get it working.

Anyways, I don't think Sony's shortage was on purpose, they already had a lot of publicity being the sequal to the biggest last gen console and would have sold extremely well even if they were as plentiful as the Wii.  They had massive production problems with the computer chip used in the PS3, which is why they had such a shortage.  I think the only reason they released with the shortage is because they needed to be out before Christmas.  Its one of those things that you either believe the production problems reported from muliple sources were correct, or its a conspiracy for publicity by sony.  Conspiracies are not always wrong, so you could be correct.  I guess we'll see if theres a sudden surge of ps3's in all the stores before Cristmas.

[ChadTower]

Well, the best case scenario is that they usually rush a console to market, ahead of practical manufacturability of it, in order to meet holiday demand.  They rush it there before it is ready to satisfy the amount of units that would sell.

[saint]

That's the one we picked up for my nephew. He's happy with it. I have not seen it myself yet.

Did anyone else get the 19inch provision monitor at circuit city.  I have it ordered any wondered if its any good

[shardian]

Well, me and two friends got to Best Buy at around 3. What a frikkin joke! What were those people thinking actually standing in that line! Unofficially, I believe there were 300-400 people in line. Word was that 200+ had been camping since 8pm or so yesterday.
Anyways, we ended up at Walmart where I played ps3 for about an hour. I wasn't that impressed. Definitely not worth the price tag. I later played WII at the mall, which I thought was pretty neat, even though the graphics were not up to par. I also played the xbox 360 on the same NBA '07 game, and it was crap compared to the ps3. Graphics were inferior, and the game was dropping frames like crazy.

At Walmart, I got the $200 minidv camcorder, the $18 bag and minidv tape deal, a $13 1 gig thumb drive, and a $13 1 gig sd card.

Next, went to Sears and got the $39 19.2 Volt drill. Then went to J.C. Penny and ended up getting one of the $20 leather biker jackets. These were a steal at that price. Very nice quality.

Next, we got to Best Buy at about 8am. The checkout line was about 3 hours long.
I was able to get a ticket for the $699 laptop (with free 3-in-1 printer I might add  ) I wanted. I also got the $19 lappy bag w/ optical lappy mouse combo. They also had the nice foam dance pads for DDR on sale for $30 each - got two of those. What was sweet was that the line for computers was only about half an hour long. hehe. Screw you campers!!
As we were leaving the store, I noticed one of the ticket things sitting in a buggy. I grabbed, and it happened to be one of the $189 desktop tickets!!! I gave it to my buddy, and he went in and got one. Screw you again campers!!!

All in all, I considered the day a success. I definitely will never be waking up early again for Black Friday though. The ridiculous amount of campers really spoils things.

[stephenp1983]

That's the one we picked up for my nephew. He's happy with it. I have not seen it myself yet.

Did anyone else get the 19inch provision monitor at circuit city.  I have it ordered any wondered if its any good

Thanks, I kinda figured from your post that is the one you had gotten but wasn't sure.  I've now read a few reviews for it and it seems pretty good.  I won't be getting it til after Christmas.

[More Cowbell]

Staples was my first choice too. They had a ton of great crap. I bought the 60 gig external usb drive, the 1gig thumb drive, 1 gig sd card, the GPS w/ MP3 player, a free powerstrip, 4 cordless phones, and a pack of cd cases. When I got to the front of the line to pick up the thumb drive and sd card, the guy started checking people out so I was first to go. The clerk was so frazzled already that he scanned everything wrong, put it in a bad, handed it to me, and told me my total was $22.50. This was like $400 worth of stuff. The good angel and bad angel popped up and I had to make a split second decision. I decided to take the high road and told him that seemed low. He rescanned it all and it came up over $350. That's my good deed for 2006.

[mmmPeanutButter]

Staples was my first choice too. They had a ton of great crap. I bought the 60 gig external usb drive, the 1gig thumb drive, 1 gig sd card, the GPS w/ MP3 player, a free powerstrip, 4 cordless phones, and a pack of cd cases. When I got to the front of the line to pick up the thumb drive and sd card, the guy started checking people out so I was first to go. The clerk was so frazzled already that he scanned everything wrong, put it in a bad, handed it to me, and told me my total was $22.50. This was like $400 worth of stuff. The good angel and bad angel popped up and I had to make a split second decision. I decided to take the high road and told him that seemed low. He rescanned it all and it came up over $350. That's my good deed for 2006.

Wow.  I'm impressed.  I do a lot of good (like opening doors for women with strollers, pulling over and fixing flats), but I tend to be less good when it comes to corporate stupidity.  Good on you.

[ChadTower]

It's risky to try and get away with that large of a discrepancy.  Some places will charge it as shoplifting.  Undercharging at the register is a high traffic shoplifting method.

[shardian]

Yeah, I'll let errors in the dollar or two range go, but anything more I will always let the person know. It really does suck to have a conscience sometimes.

[_) (V) (-)]

Was it just here or did there seem to be a lot of extra media hype about the black Friday ads this year?  They had helicopters out patrolling the skies here this year. Freakin crazy man!

Seems all the stores had like 2x-3x more people lined up at them this year.
We used to get to the store 1-2 hours before the doors opened would have gotten you a real good place in line. (30-50 people) This year, we were in the back of a huge mob! like 250 - 300!

As already mentioned by others, the shelves were getting picked over when we finally got into Circus City, but I did still manage to snag a few items, (helps to have 3 people doing the snaggin) Still the situation with the checkout lines were horrible, worst I'd ever encountered! People were cutting in, 2 or 3 lines merging into 1. It took us 4 hours just to checkout and this was getting in line only 20 min after the doors opened!!! 

And the 'deals' (if you can call them that) weren't that great this year. It'll have to be a lot better next year to get me out into that mess again!

[ChadTower]

There was a lot more hype this year than usual.  And I have heard that same sentiment across the board... that other than TVs, the deals this year were not as good as usual and that there were a lot more people competing for them.

[kelemvor]

You can get deals almost as good as the BF deals if you watch the deals websites like www.fatwallet.com and others.  The deals for the past couple years haven't been anywhere near as good as they were 4+ years ago.  But all the media hype makes people who are uninformed think this is the only time to get these deals so they all go out and buy these things like crazy.

Me, I'd rather get them online during the rest of the year and not get sucked in by the hype.  heh heh.

[shardian]

Personally, the cheap doorbusters are out of the question for pretty much everyone now. However, BF still has great deals on the mid-high level priced stuff. For instance, the sub $400 laptops were impossible to get. However, the $699 and $899 laptops at Best Buy were excellent deals. Same with tv's - the cheapo 32" no dice, but plasma prices are at rock bottom AND you have a great chance of getting them on BF.

[ChadTower]

Or, as I did, you can just keep an eye out on the price watch sites and get a better TV for the same price online.