A complete guide to Black Friday deals, advice, and Ratings

We’ve been busy here getting ready for the holiday shopping season, which—despite its early start this year—traditionally starts on Black Friday. In addition to following deals and offering shopping tips here on the Electronics Blog, our reporters and testers have been updating the buying advice for a host of products at ConsumerReports.org. They’ve also been hard at work in our labs, as the flood of new product Ratings within the last week and a half can attest.

If you’re among the brave ones venturing out in search of deals this Black Friday weekend, we hope this buying guide will help prepare you. For buying tips and deals throughout this holiday season, be sure to check back with the Electronics Blog periodically. Check in also with Tightwad Tod, who is following deals for a number of products and offering useful shopping advice.

BLACK FRIDAY DEALS
Our reporters have combed through a number of Black Friday deal sites and retailer circulars. Below are the fruits of their labor. Many deals carry through the weekend. Even if they’re only valid on Black Friday itself, you might be surprised at what a little haggling can accomplish. And be careful of tempting bundled or package deals—sometimes they aren’t as great a value as they appear.

• LCD TV deals
• Plasma TV deals

Buzzword: Is it worth paying more for 240Hz?

One of the big decisions you’ll have to make if you’re shopping for a new LCD TV over Black Friday (or any time soon) is whether to pay more for a TV with 240Hz technology or 120Hz. These technologies are often advertised as reducing the blur in fast motion that has been an inherent problem for LCD TVs with the standard 60Hz refresh rate. It won’t cost you too much more for 120Hz, which has become fairly common over the past two years, but 240Hz is still available mainly on larger and pricier sets. My colleague, Jim Willcox, blogged on this a few months ago, and I think the eve of Black Friday is the perfect time to remind you of his advice, while adding a few findings from our latest tests.

Is 240Hz worth it? That depends. Our tests have shown that LCD TVs that quadruple the frame rate to true 240Hz can reduce motion blur in fast action scenes to the point that it’s barely noticeable, comparable to the rock-solid images on plasma TVs, which don’t suffer from motion blur. LCD TVs that double the frame rate to 120Hz, and those that use a 120Hz frame rate along with a scanning backlight to simulate 240Hz, don’t do as well, but they’re typically better than 60Hz TVs. Notice I said “typically.” That’s because the implementation of these technologies really determines how effective they are. We’ve found some models that show very little reduction in blur despite faster refresh rates. For our TV Ratings and reviews (available to subscribers), we test TVs on a model-by-model basis to show you which sets do a good job at reducing blur.

Black Friday: Last-minute shopping tips

Even though electronics goods are often at their lowest prices of the year on Black Friday, there are still a few tips to help insure you get not only the best deal, but also some peace of mind once you bring the item home. Happy shopping!

Shop the ads before Black Friday
By now, most of the major retailers have released their Black Friday specials, so check one of the comprehensive Black Friday-focused websites, such as bfads.net, blackfriday.info, theblackfriday.com, and gottadeal.com, to see if you’re getting the best deal. Some sites allow you to filter your searches by product categories, such as TVs.

Shop online
Also, before you brave the crowds at the stores, check to see if the retailer is offering the same—or even better—deals on its Web site. Amazon has a number of Black Friday-week TV deals, and Walmart’s online sale, for example, includes many of the same TVs it’s advertising as Black Friday deals in its stores (plus shipping for 97 cents on many models). Also, some retailers will have online exclusives you couldn’t get walking into one of its retail locations.

Shop close to home
If you find the best deals are in stores, you don’t necessarily need to drive all over town to get them. Our research shows that in many cases, the prices for highly promoted sets from major brands such as Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony vary by only a few dollars from chain to chain. So you can safely shop at the closest retailer without feeling that you’re missing out on a bargain.

New report for pocket camcorders

Pocket camcorders, or flip-style cams, are sure to be popular this holiday buying season. The best models may only offer decent, not stellar, image quality and performance when compared with the average standard-definition full-sized camcorder. But they’re inexpensive, easy to use, and very portable and lightweight.

To help you figure out which one is right for you, check out our new pocket camcorder report and model descriptions (available to subscribers). On the overview page, we provide a list of what type of features you can expect to find on these models. For example, most have small LCDs and no optical zoom lenses. We also provide a list of Rated models, including several recommended pocket cams. —Terry Sullivan

Black Friday deals start tonight

The diligent folks over at Gottadeal.com’s Black Friday site have alerted us that while most stores open at 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning, several retailers open up their online shops earlier to kick-start the holiday buying.

According to Gottadeal, Newegg.com fires the first salvo at 6:00 p.m. this evening, followed by some non-doorbuster deals from Sears at 9:00 p.m., both Eastern Standard Time. These will be followed by online specials from several other major stores, including Best Buy, Kmart, and RadioShack, at midnight. Target and Walmart will weigh in some time after that.

You can check out Gottadeal’s Black Friday site for other updates—and check in with our blog over the long weekend as we report on what we believe are great deals. —James K. Willcox.

Black Friday computer deals not so hot

Where are all the computer deals? We started flipping through the Black Friday sites and circulars in search of tempting laptops, desktops, and netbooks. The results? It’s a mixed bag.

You’ll have to work hard to find the best deals. Our favorite so far? The Sony VGN-NW235F/W that will be on sale Friday at Best Buy. Normally priced at $999, on Friday limited quantities will be available for $399. But you’ll need a ticket to be eligible to make this purchase.

Best Buy will also have a $197 HP laptop with a 15.6-inch display. It uses a Celeron processor, which is a lesser performer than the processors used in most laptops. If you're interested in this one, think of it as a netbook-like performer in a larger laptop package. Actually, at that price it’s a pretty good deal for the kids or the grandparents.

Here are Best Buy’s instructions for getting a ticket:

Each store will decide when to hand out tickets in the two hours before store opening. Stores base their decisions on multiple factors, including the length of the line, the weather, and store personnel levels. Tickets will be handed out until they are gone. Lines tend to form early, and Best Buy is unable to guarantee that all customers will receive a ticket.

My local Best Buy opens at 5 a.m. You do the math—don’t bother going to bed.

New Ratings of laptop, netbook, and desktop computers

The new iMac, now in our Ratings.

The holiday shopping season is about to hit hyperspeed, and as you’d expect, there’s news to report on computers of every stripe. Our new computer Ratings (available to subscribers) should help you sort things out, but before you start shopping, here are a few things you need to know.

First, our Ratings include a range of computers—laptops, netbooks, and desktops—most of which run Windows 7, the latest iteration of Microsoft’s operating system. Two days before Microsoft introduced Windows 7, Apple debuted several new Macs, including a big-screen 27-inch iMac.

Next, don’t expect a big performance boost from Windows 7. Compared to Vista computers, Windows 7 systems didn’t perform any better or worse. But the good news is, Windows 7 systems don’t necessarily cost more than Vista laptops or desktops.

Here’s a look at the news from each category.

Netbooks. We added eight new Windows 7 models to our netbook Ratings, including two with 11.6-inch screens. The others have 10.1-inch displays, and run Windows 7 Starter, a version of Windows 7 that doesn’t include the Aero 3D interface. We didn’t find any notable differences between Windows 7 Starter and XP netbooks, although the Windows 7 systems showed a slight performance hit but a slight gain in battery life. Our advice is to make your buying decision based not on the operating system, but on ergonomics, battery life, and price.

Black Friday LCD TVs: Where to get the best deals

Those in the market for an LCD TV will have more choices, since plasma TVs are only available in 42-inch and larger screen sizes. Here are some of the deals we found in researching the Black Friday specials.

Best deals on 32-inch LCDs
If you’re looking for a 32-inch set, Sears offers Vizio’s 32-inch ECO-series set (model VO320E) for $350—$50 better than Costco's price with a coupon—and a 1080p AOC model for $380. RadioShack has Samsung’s LN32B360 for $400, while Sears, Walmart and Kmart have Sony’s KDL-32L504, a derivative 720p model, for about $380. Kmart will also have a Funai-made Sylvania-brand 32-inch 720p LCD TV with a built-in DVD player for $350. But Target may have the lowest price we’ve seen: an unnamed 32-inch Westinghouse LCD for just $246.

Best Buy has several 32-inch sets on sale, including a 720p Dynex (DX-L321-10A) for $300, a 720p Insignia (NS-L32Q-10A) for $340, and Samsung’s LN32B360C5D 720p model for $398. Toshiba’s 32AV502R/U is $400. Walmart has a Viore-brand 32-inch 720p set (LC32VX60HDT) for $298.

Best deals on 37-inch LCDs
We didn’t come across as many deals on 37-inch LCDs, but Sears has Sylvania’s LC37OSS9 for $400 as a doorbuster special. Amazon is pricing an LG step-up 1080p model (37LH55) with the company’s TruMotion 240Hz technology at $650. The set was $900 when we tested it last month.

For Black Friday, Blu-ray players dip below $100

If you’ve been holding out for Blu-ray player prices to drop, then this year’s Black Friday weekend shopping event could bring welcome news, as you’ll be able to get a decent player for $100 or even less.

Last year around this time, we saw prices fall to as little as $150 on older models that lacked newer features. The real news this year is that while some of the heavily discounted Blu-ray players being promoted in fliers and on websites are older so-called BonusView (Profile 1.1) models that lack Blu-ray’s BD-Live Internet feature, there are also some fully featured BD-Live models at new low prices.

For example, Best Buy is offering the Insignia NS-BRDVD3 Blu-ray player, a BD-Live model that can also stream instant movies from Netflix, for $100. Given its price and features, it’s one of the best deals we’ve seen.

Black Friday TV sales: Where are the best plasma TV deals?

For those of us thinking about heading out to buy a TV on Black Friday, where to get the best deals can be a bit confusing. One thing we found is that often pricing on highly promoted sets from major brands such as Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, vary by only a few dollars from chain to chain. That will allow you to shop at the closest retailer without feeling that you’re missing out on a bargain.

Looking over the various announced and leaked Black Friday ads, there are a number of great deals for TV buyers. From what we’ve seen so far, the deals break down into two scenarios: price drops on current models from major brands, and promotional pricing on derivative major-brand sets, and special deals on items from secondary or tertiary brands.

Also, before you head out to a store, check and see if the retailer is offering the same—or even better—deals online. Amazon has a number of Black Friday-week TV deals, and Walmart’s online sale, for example, includes many of the same TVs its advertising as Black Friday deals in its stores (plus shipping for 97 cents on many models). Also, some retailers will have online exclusives you couldn’t get walking into one of its retail locations.

Finally, while many of the retailers' Black Friday ads are now out, search the Black Friday websites, such as bfads.net, blackfriday.info, theblackfriday.com, and gottadeal.com for comprehensive listings of deals. Some sites allow you to filter your searches by product categories, such as TVs.

Here are some of the best deals we've seen on plasma sets. We've also filed a separate blog outlining LCD bargains.