Here are some of my BLACK FRIDAY Photo/AV objectives - any thoughts/criticisms folks?

[captaincrash]

Well... here are many of my picks: (any thoughts?)

Hitachi 51" Widescreen HDTV at Best Buy for $699. No... I don't want this but it is interesting how it compares against the 60" 3x4 Philips rear CRT projection HDTV I bought from Costco about 3 years ago (and returned due to major defects).... I paid $1800 back then!

Panasonic 52" LCD Projection HDTV at Circuit City for $999 with a HD tuner. Again... an impressive bargain considering I paid nearly $2000 for my 57" Epson LCD rear projection HDTV. 720p. But I remain satisfied with my Epson for many many other reasons. But HALF the price for only 5" smaller sounds pretty impressive too.

Polaroid 20" TV w/ Built-in DVD Player for $84.99 at Circuit City. DO I really need one of these??? MAYBE I'll get one...

Polaroid 8.5" Portable DVD Player for $100 at Circuit City. Problem: No DC charger or battery apparently.

7" portable DVD player at Kohls for - get this - $19.99? No name - probably no battery or accessories but then again it's just twenty bucks.

MAG 17" LCD monitor...Best Buy... $79.99 ???? I could use one of these - but 19" would be nicer!

Panasonic TH-42PX60U 42" Plasma HDTV from Best Buy for $999. Not that I want one (I don't) but it is amazing how much these have come down in price for a HDTV Plasma WITH HD tuner in 720p!

And Office Depot has a Haier 42-inch Plasma HDTV for only $799! But - who on Earth is "Haier"?

Pioneer 700 Watt 7.1 Channel Receiver at Circuit City for $119. Not bad looking with 7.1 sound processing and 700W.

Samsung 19" Widescreen LCD Flat Panel Monitor for $129 from Best Buy (This one I am thinking about).

Samsung 19" Wide-Screen LCD Monitor for $129 at Staples. Resolution appears to be 1280x1024 with a 700:1 contrasat ratio, 8ms response and 75hz. ARE these specs good enough? I may bet this one.

19" Proview Widescreen LCD Monitor for $129 from CIRCUIT CITY after rebate (Yuck - I hate rebates). This one states it has an SXGA resolution with a 500:1 contrast ratio.

Sandisk 1GB Ultra II Compact Flash Card only $15 at Circuit City

SanDisk 2GB Ultra II CompactFlash Memory Card at Staples for $40

Toshiba DLP Projector $399 at BEST BUY... the DMD DLP HD projector - it's XGA res w/2000 Lumens and can handle 720p inputs. It is a business class 3 pound machine so my expectations are low - but interest is moderate. $399? Wow!

Toshiba L35-s2151 Laptop for only $249 from Best Buy w/o need for a REBATE. Too bad I don't NEED a notebook cuz I'm looking at this thinking why not get a spare? If it really is $249 without requiring I subscribe to AOL or buy a cell phone in conjunction I just might get one of these. It comes with a 15.4" WXGA 1280x800 screen; Intel® Celeron® M processor 420 with 533MHz frontside bus, 1MB L2 cache and 1.6GHz processor speed; 512MB PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM for multitasking power, expandable to 2GB; DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive; 60GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 rpm); ATI Mobility RADEON X200M graphics with 64-128MB dynamically allocated shared video memory; Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OS; and it Weighs only 5.1 lbs. and measures just 1.5" thin for easy portability; lithium-ion battery . I may have to go wait in line at 1AM to get this one though... and I am uncertain whether I really want to do that.

Toshiba Satellite Notebook L35-S2171 W/Celeron M Processor 420 (same as at Best Buy) for $299. Maybe I'll stay home and sleep and pay $50 more then Best Buy... if the line is shorter here! Only problem is we have Best Buy gift certificates we would like to get rid of on black friday purchases!

Compaq Presario Notebook w/ Celeron M 420, 512MB, 60GB, 15.4" LCD for $299 from Circuit City after REBATE (I dislike rebates).

Free 3.2 MP Polaroid Camera with Any $249+ Purchase I'll get this from CIRCUIT CITY IF I buy the notebook there.

JVC 3-Pack of 60-Minute DV Camcorder Tapes for FREE from Circuit City. I wonder if I'll find any of these???

Western Digital MyBook 250GB External Hard Drive for $69.99 a BEST BUY. This is exactly what I just got - and for the same price I paid!

I/O Magic 250GB External 3.5" Hard-Drive for $39.99 from Circuit City after (yuck) Rebate.

External 250GB Hard Drive branded as a Comp USA brand by the same company for $49.99. It runs at 7200 with a 2MB Cache.

Simpletech 250GB External HD at Office depot for $49.99

Maxtor OneTouch III 300GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive at Office MAX for $99.99

Western Digital 400GB MyBook External Hard Drive for the same $99 at Staples. It is also USB 2.

Westinghouse 22" LCD Widescreen Monitor at Best Buy for $199. I was wondering ... do I really need 22" versus 19" for $129?

Westinghouse 42" 720p LCD HDTV at Best Buy for $999. No, I don't really want one buy they are amazingly cheap, eh?

Westinghouse 7" Digital Picture Frame at best buy for $79.99. I really would like one of these. But for the money I want the $249 Toshiba notebook more as it makes for a more versetile device with a larger screen for the money!

Power Wheels by Fisher Price Dora Volkswagen Beetle Ride-on for $75 at Walmart. AND my only gripe about this deal is it means transacting with the "Evil Empire" and this minions!

 

[Groucho]

I refuse to step near the stores on Black Friday... it's just not worth the hassle. I hate the lines that stretch the entire length of a store. I'd rather spend the morning trying to organize my photos.

Many of those things can be found for similar prices online at any time... Buy.com recently had a 19" LCD monitor for $120... ZipZoomFly had/has a fast 2g SD card for $20 after rebate... Deep Discount DVD has 20% off regular prices (with coupon, check any DVD deal site) for incredibly cheap prices on DVDs until tomorrow... etc. Sure, some deals are better locally, but it's a crapshoot getting there before they run out of the hot items, then standing in line for 30+ minutes...

If I stand in line that long, there better be a DISNEY ATTRACTION waiting at the end of it. Splash Mountain or Expedition Everest or something!

 

[Kies99]

7" portable DVD player at Kohls for - get this - $19.99? No name - probably no battery or accessories but then again it's just twenty bucks.

I'd verify this with the actual ad. Two out of three web-sites I have show this listed at $49.99, not $19.99.

I got this deal at Kohl's last Black Friday. It was a 7" Portable DVD player (with case, remote control, battery, car adapter and home adapter) for $129.99. There was a $30 mail in rebate as well as 10 free movie rentals at Hollywood Video. What Kohl's did was gave you the $30 rebate on the price at the register, even though the ad listed $129.99. So I paid $99.99 at the register and then sent in the rebate for an additional $30. With the 10 free rentals being worth approximately $30, that brought the realized price down to $39.99. Not to bad. I bought two and got the rebate on both and used all my rental coupons. There were 2 brands but I can't remember exactly which. They were two out of Insignia, Initial or Mintek.

 

[MICKEY88]

Western Digital MyBook 250GB External Hard Drive for $69.99 a BEST BUY. This is exactly what I just got - and for the same price I paid!

where did you buy yours...

 

[captaincrash]

where did you buy yours...

Circuit City with a rebate... and it came out to $69 net about 3 months ago because it rang up wrong and they gave it to me anyway. It was supposed to be $129!

 

[Anewman]

Well... here are many of my picks: (any thoughts?)

Hitachi 51" Widescreen HDTV at Best Buy for $699. No... I don't want this but it is interesting how it compares against the 60" 3x4 Philips rear CRT projection HDTV I bought from Costco about 3 years ago (and returned due to major defects).... I paid $1800 back then!

Nice price I have been saving for a new projector, but this is tempting as is the WALMART tv commercial that shows a RCA 52 inch widescreen HDTV @ $499. I really did not want to replace our Dens Current tv(bout 10 years old) with another projection tv, but these prices are making it difficult.

Well... here are many of my picks: (any thoughts?)

Compaq Presario Notebook w/ Celeron M 420, 512MB, 60GB, 15.4" LCD for $299 from Circuit City after REBATE (I dislike rebates).

I am considering Laptops as XMAS gifts for the kids, this one is at the top of the list along with deals from Microcenter and FRYS.

Toshiba DLP Projector $399 at BEST BUY... the DMD DLP HD projector - it's XGA res w/2000 Lumens and can handle 720p inputs. It is a business class 3 pound machine so my expectations are low - but interest is moderate. $399? Wow!

I have crossed that one off of my possible list in favor of the Optoma DV10 from Circuit City, $449 after rebates but you get a free screen(greywolf II, 1.8 gain) in the mail. The free screen alone retails for about $300. Only 480p, but it supposedly resamples very well.


But mostly looking at the 32 inch LCDs from either Bestbuy, circuit city or even HOME DEPOT.

 

[amid chaos]

I usually park my car on Black Friday..sit in front of the fireplace and TV and eat turkey sandwiches. Ihis year I won't be shopping but I do need to head out in this mess as my daughter has a hockey tournament about an hour away.

I just hope the rink has good lighting.

 

[spoon2003]

Circuit City with a rebate... and it came out to $69 net about 3 months ago because it rang up wrong and they gave it to me anyway. It was supposed to be $129!

Was just going to ask same...as I just got mine from Dell for $96. This is a good deal.


Sue

 

[captaincrash]

Nice price I have been saving for a new projector, but this is tempting as is the WALMART tv commercial that shows a RCA 52 inch widescreen HDTV @ $499. I really did not want to replace our Dens Current tv(bout 10 years old) with another projection tv, but these prices are making it difficult.



I am considering Laptops as XMAS gifts for the kids, this one is at the top of the list along with deals from Microcenter and FRYS.



I have crossed that one off of my possible list in favor of the Optoma DV10 from Circuit City, $449 after rebates but you get a free screen(greywolf II, 1.8 gain) in the mail. The free screen alone retails for about $300. Only 480p, but it supposedly resamples very well.


But mostly looking at the 32 inch LCDs from either Bestbuy, circuit city or even HOME DEPOT.

You're right... getting a free screen is worth a bunch. However, a 1.8 gain screen will be pretty high magnification and will degrade the image a bit (supposedly). I just visited a slightly snobbish AV store to gain insight into the stuff and the salesman said high gain sacrifices the image but brightens the image. Not sure exactly HOW the image is degraded.

As for the 32" LCD or otherwise... I hate to admit this but these TVs mostly look the same to me. I walked down the HDTV asile of Costco today and was just glancing at them in blank confusion as I took in the price range and finishing touches. I pasused a little longer to look an Optomo projector (model - uncertain but I think it was $899 or something like that). Since I'm sort of building an addition to the house with a sizaable room to be dedicated as a home theater - projectors are gaining interest from me. However, I think I still know next to nothing about them or what really matters... and what does not.

So Anewman, may I ask why you favor the Compaq over the cheaper Toshibas? Is it the processor or do the models actually look different?

 

[Anewman]

You're right... getting a free screen is worth a bunch. However, a 1.8 gain screen will be pretty high magnification and will degrade the image a bit (supposedly). I just visited a slightly snobbish AV store to gain insight into the stuff and the salesman said high gain sacrifices the image but brightens the image. Not sure exactly HOW the image is degraded.

Well yes the sales rep is correct, in ideal situations one would have totaly dark rooms with a high end home theater projector with a good WHITE screen.

But when one(mainly me) is looking to use a projector in a room with significant ambient lighting and a lower end projector, a high gain GREY screen can help with overall brightness and contrast.

I pasused a little longer to look an Optomo projector (model - uncertain but I think it was $899 or something like that). Since I'm sort of building an addition to the house with a sizaable room to be dedicated as a home theater - projectors are gaining interest from me. However, I think I still know next to nothing about them or what really matters... and what does not.

Well Optoma makes home theater projectors and business(confrence room) class projectors, one really needs to seperate the two.

So Anewman, may I ask why you favor the Compaq over the cheaper Toshibas? Is it the processor or do the models actually look different?

Well I did not see Toshibas in that same price range, so I dont understand which of the "cheaper Toshibas" you are comparing it with. But really at that price I am really looking for built in WiFi and Burning(dvd) capabilities, they are for the kids. I usually load up on memory so they can do some photoshoping.

But I have had very good luck with Compaq/HP laptops, I am typing on one right now..

 

[boBQuincy]

I'll go along with Groucho, if I'm in a line there better be a darn good ride at the end of it!

I'm going shopping at the NC Art Museum Gift Shop on Friday, that shouldn't be too crowded.

 

[Groucho]

Re: screens. The higher reflection gives a brighter image but the colors are not as accurate, as you're projecting onto a gray or silver screen.

A few days ago, Woot had an InFocus SP5000 projector and 76" screen for $650... yes, it was a refurb, but it's a true HD (1280x720) projector. The screen was an InFocus one; I'll too lazy to look up its reflectivity. That's outrageously cheap for true HD. From the little bit of time I've been following Woot, a lot of things crop up repeatedly, so maybe this'll appear again.

If you want to go cheap (in terms of a screen), look around for a basic pull-down screen or similar. Possibly your office may have one laying around, or a training facility might have an old one, or something. It's pretty easy to build a frame and cut down a pull-down to fit that. I was fortunately enough to get mine for free, it's a white DaLite one. (Don't remember the details off the top of my head.)

Back on projectors... I would not expect to find much in the way of knowledgable help at the majority of retailers when it comes to front projection, and very rarely will you find one with a decent selection of projectors. Most big stores just carry the big business ones like InFocus, Epson, etc, who either don't make home theater projectors or don't make very good ones. Best bet is to go to somewhere like the AVS Forum, try to find some people near you (I believe there are regional sections there), and wrangle an invite to someone's theater, so you can see what you can expect from a front projection setup, plus get some inspiration.