Black Friday: Sears' ad is heavy on HDTVs, electronics

The three-day Black Friday shopping weekend, which kicks off the day after Thanksgiving, is often when we see the lowest prices of the year for TVs and other electronics items. Give the uncertainty of the economy, we're expecting the three-day period—which marks the day that retailers are supposed to enter into profitability for the year—to offer up strong promotional incentives to lure shoppers into the stores.

While some smaller retailers' Black Friday ads have already leaked, the first ad from a major retailer—Sears—has now been posted by several Black Friday websites, including GottaDeal and Black Friday Info. Based on the ad, which could be a bellwether for other Black Friday offerings, electronics in general—and TVs specifically—will be used as major inducements to get consumers into the stores. Perhaps the best news for shoppers is that while highly discounted lesser-known brands have often been used in years past to draw crowds, this year the focus appears to be on major brands offered at a discount.

Because TVs carry higher prices, these Black Friday specials offer a chance to save hundreds of dollars on a larger LCD or plasma TV set. Generally the best deals are on "doorbuster" specials, which are usually available in limited quantities and at limited times. Among the best Sears doorbuster specials:

• A 42-inch Panasonic 720p plasma (TH-42PX80U), for $700, down from $900
• Sony's 52-inch W-series 1080p LCD for $2,000, down from $2,700
• a 46-inch Samsung 1080p LCD (LN46A500) for $1,100
• Samsung's 40-inch 1080p sibling model (LN40A500) for $800
• a 46-inch Sharp 1080p model for (LC46SB54U) $900, down from $1,400
• a 42-inch Sylvania 1080p LCD (LC420SS8) for $700, down from $1,000

Many of these sets, from Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, are highly rated models in our HDTV Ratings (available to subscribers). Other sets with a bit lower ratings could be considered if they're offered at an unusually low price, particularly if they won't be used as the primary TV in a home.

If you're looking for a smaller model, other doorbuster sets include a 19-inch Samsung LCD TV for $300, down from $500; a 26-inch Sharp (LC26SB24U) for $400 (down from $550); and a 32-inch Proscan model for $500, down from $630.

Of course, not everyone can—or wants to—meet the conditions for getting a doorbuster deal, which often sells out within minutes of the deal becoming available. Sears is offering sales on a number of other LCD TVs—from brands including Element, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Vizio— that are not listed as doorbuster specials, so presumably they'll be available throughout the entire sale (or at least for as long as supplies last). For example, a 52-inch 1080p LCD TV from Samsung (LN52A650) is listed in the ad for $2,100, compared to $2,700 in our latest LCD TV Ratings (available to subscribers), while a 40-inch Sony Bravia V-Series 1080p LCD HDTV, currently $1,400, is $1,100 in the ad.

Beyond the 42-inch Panasonic doorbuster model, there's only one other plasma TV listed: Samsung's 50-inch 720p PN50A400 model, which will be priced at $900. Although we haven't rated this specific model—it may be a derivative model exclusive to Sears—Samsung plasmas have typically done very well in our plasma TV Ratings (available to subscribers).

As far as Black Friday specials, this is just the tip of the iceberg; we expect additional Black Friday ads to become available in the coming weeks prior to the holiday. Stay tuned for further reports on TV and Blu-ray pricing during the traditional three-day shopping period. And to see Sears' Black Friday deals on additional TVs, plus other electronics items such as digital cameras, DVD players, digital picture frames and GPS navigation systems, visit the Black Friday websites listed above.

—James K. Willcox

Comments

[Paul Eng]

To Vicki:

I'm not sure why you think we don't test and rate HDTV sets larger than 52-inches in size.

In our LCD TV Ratings:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/tvs-services/tvs/lcd-tv-ratings/ratings-overview.htm

We have information about the 55-inch Samsung LN55A950

In the Plasma TV Ratings:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/tvs-services/tvs/plasma-tv-ratings/ratings-overview.htm

We have several TVs (from LG, Panasonic, Pioneer, and Samsung) in the 58-inch class.

Which Sony and Sharp units were you looking for specifically?

--Paul Eng
Web Senior Editor, Electronics

[Paul Eng]

For more information about "derivative" HDTV sets such as the Samsung PN50A400, see our recent post:

Black Friday HDTV "specials": How do they compare to standard models?
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/11/black-friday-hd.html

--Paul Eng
Web Senior Editor, Electronics

[DOUG]

WALMART IS SELLING A SAMSUNG PN50A400 50"PLASMA FOR $758 ON BLACK FRIDAY. ANYONE KNOW ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THIS?

[Lisa]

Hi there, I have the question of what is the difference between the 46" Samsung LN46A550 listed on this page, and the Samsung 46" LN46A500 listed in The Black Friday ads? I really need to know.

Thank you!

[Jack]

The Samsung LN40A500 is a Black Friday stripped-down version of the LN40A550. It is about 15 pounds lighter, (accounted for probably by the lack of compnents), is an inch different in width, has no Qam turner, offers 20'000:1 vs 30,000:1 contrast, has 2 HDMI vs 3 HDMI inputs etc. It may still be a great deal, but know what you're getting. See the Samsung website for specifications on these models and others.

[Sandy]

Best Buy is also advertising the LN46A500 and 40LNA500, so it appears it is not a Sear's exclusive. Is there anyway to really tell if this model is equal in all respects to the highly rated A550 series?

[Vicki]

I just subscibed to Consumers Reports to get the latest information and ratings on large television sets. I was so dissapointed to see that the ratings only reviewed up to 52 inch sets!!! I needed information on Sony 55, and Sharp 65 inch sets. Where can I go to get the information??
(Just paid $26.00 for a year subscription to get that information!)

[woody]

Hello James,

Please find out more about the Samsung LCDs models ln40a500 and ln46a500. Sears, Best Buy, and Circuit City all advertise this model for Black Friday but none of them have them in the stores. Why is this model special? Why do all the stores advetise it for Black Friday. A Samsung rep told me its special Black Friday model.

What going on are here it seems fishy. Are we getting a stripped down version in the LN4Xa500? since the ln40xa550 got great reviews from consumer reports and they trying to trick us into thinking we are getting a 550.

Or is th 500 model simply replacing the 550?

We need the truth!

[Alicia]

I too am looking at a 46" Samsung. I went to http://www.2008BlackFridayAds.com (they were mentioned in PC World and MSN) and looked at the Sam's Club ad. Didn't see a Samsung. Then I clicked on a link at the top that took me to Sams Club online. Found a 46" Samsung LN46A540 for $1498. Then went to Samsung site. The 540 has the best contrast ratio of any of the 500 series. I went to Sams Club. The Samsung is beside a Sony 60Hz and a Sony 120Hz - and the Samsung looks great! I'm leaning :)

[Will]

I was looking at the 46'' Samsung LCD. The Sears ad at http://bfads.net/Sears-Fri-Sat is listed as LN46A530, not a generic LN46A500. Samsung's website lists the specs for the A530 (and other models) http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=lcdtv&model_cd=LN46A530P1FXZA
The Friday sale seems to be $200 than the everyday price.

[jim crackcorn]

I would not waste time with the early morning black friday junk for sale. The retailers are so hungry for any business that I'm sure you'll see even better prices before black friday. also- you can save $$ by going with a 720p plasma or LCD- you'll never know the difference unless side by side. Prices are going down, so unless you want the TV for football games, hold off as long as possible (January).

[Mike]

Dear Tim,

Re your bfads and gottadeal.com posts are incorrect. The ads were first out on a deal site I shall not name. BFADS even gave credit to this deal site for the advertisement. Please make sure before you go on a rant you have all the CORRECT facts and information. Other sites beat bfads and gotta deal these days.

later

[everett whitney]

TO: P. THomas -
"Out of Country - will I still be able to buy ?"

HOW ?

These - excluding the web - are @ 3 AM - 4 AM - on a first-come, first sold basis, with Zero Rain Checks even to those waiting but too far back in a line !

Usually, the extremely outstanding pricing only apply for a very few pieces or only a limited few hours.

[P. Thomas]

Will I be able to get these good deals since I will be out of the country over Thanksgiving and will miss Black Friday weekend?

[james willcox]

Hi, Brian. As we suspected, the Samsung A400 and A500 series TVs are retail exclusives—derivatives—made for Sears. We haven't tested them, so we can't comment about performance, but as you mention their specs ad features seem close to the company's A450 and A550 models, and Samsung models have typically done well in our Ratings.--James K. Willcox

[james willcox]

Hi, Tim: When we report on Black Friday ad leaks, we check numerous Black Friday websites, including those cited, plus BFads.net, BlackFriday.net, dealnews.com and and dealtaker.com. In the past we have cited all these websites. We’ve found BFads.net to be an excellent source of info on Black Friday, and its omission from this story was not intended as a slight. But Gottadeal.com was the first site to email us about the Sears ad. As we continue to follow Black Friday pricing trends, I’m sure you’ll see Bfads.net cited as a key source, as it has been in years past.--James K. Willcox

[Marguerite Beauchesne]

Hello . Re: HD verses Plasma TV Explain difference

Re any of the above What would be a middle of the road TV in 1. Pixels 2. Size ( ratio 16-9) 3. other features like attachments for VCR, DVD, Camera, Programming for taping movies.

Thank You

[Brian]

This post states "Many of these sets, from Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, are highly rated models in our HDTV Ratings", in reference to Samsung models LN46A500 and LN40A500. These specific model numbers are not found in the CR HDTV ratings; however, the LN46A550 and LN40A550 are rated.

LN46A500 seems to be a model number specific to Sears, although the specs appear identical to the LN46A550 (aside from the price). Is there any difference between these two models?

[Tim]

I find it hard to believe that ConsumerReport.org did not list the web site that had the sears ad first. I believe this year it was WWW.BFADS.NET followed by WWW.GOTTADEAL.COM. These two sites are always #1 and #2 in displaying the blackfriday leaked ads.

You should also know that BFADS.NET and GOTTADEAL.COM account for 90% of the leaked ads. Everyone out there, except I guess ConsumerReports.org, knows this. These two sites are the only sites that initially that will have the pdf files showing the actual ads. This is why a lesser site like blackfriday.info only lists the items and does not show a pdf version of the ad. Basically Blackfriday.info copies the info from either BFADS.NET or GOTTADEAL.COM.

There, you need to give credit where credit is due. The oldest and only two original blackfriday web sites out there are:

WWW.BFADS.NET and WWW.GOTTADEAL.COM