Where to Find Black Friday Gadget Deals
Whether you or not you want to spend money this year on gifts, you can't escape the fact that the official holiday shopping season kicks off today, "Black Friday," as the day after Thanksgiving is dubbed. Retailers in every category offer significant deals on this day, and the consumer electronics industry is no exception. If you're planning on buying either yourself or someone else a computer, television, MP3 player, or other gadget, you should take a look at the various sites that highlight the latest holiday sales, as well as any newspaper circulars.
Whereas in the past, Black Friday deals were mostly reserved for the Friday after Thanksgiving itself, this year the economic downturn means that the sales are likely to last well up to Christmas and beyond.
Though some deals have already been leaked or announced, many Black Friday markdowns don't get announced until today, so here are a few online places to find out about the latest sales:
Free Stuff: Not only is Engadget offering updates on the latest Black Friday Gadget deals, but will also be giving away actual merchandise, which means you may not even have to schlep to the mall this year!
Apple Deals: The Unofficial Apple Weblog will keep you up to date on any Apple-related deals, in case you're in the market for Apple software or a new MacBook, iPod, or iPhone.
What the Biggest Retailers Are Offering: Looking for the rare sub-$1,000 50-inch plasma HDTV? Hint: You can get it at Wal-Mart, but make sure to check out Walletpop's roundup of sales at all the other big stores, from Target and Circuit City to Toys R Us and Amazon.
The Best Bargains: CNET has a good roundup of which gadgets have the best markdowns, from PlayStation 3 packages to memory cards.
All Bargains All the Time: For everything else, check out DealNews.com, which offers up-to-the-minute listings of every single online and brick-and-mortar deal on pretty much everything, including, of course, consumer electronics.
