So, what does everyone want to find on sale this year?

[zinfamous]

A clean install couldn't have taken care of that?

She no longer has access to her Windows key, so not really.

 

[Mike64]

She no longer has access to her Windows key, so not really.

Given its age, I assume her old laptop uses Windows 7? You might want to give the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder a shot - never hurts to have a usable backup laptop lying around, though it also doesn't hurt to get a new one (especially for $200) after 6 years "just because"...

 

[tjtech94]

I'll never do BF again, other than online that is - went to Best Buy and stood in the frigid cold for nothing. To make matters worse, the item I wanted only had 5 in stock. Giant waste of time, and frankly those people are waaay to zealous about saving a few bucks.

 

[Mike64]

I'll never do BF again, other than online that is - went to Best Buy and stood in the frigid cold for nothing. To make matters worse, the item I wanted only had 5 in stock. Giant waste of time, and frankly those people are waaay to zealous about saving a few bucks.

I can't remember the last time, if really ever, I actually "did" Black Friday in the sense of standing on line longs in unpleasant weather even before the doors open... It's all just too terrifying.

I did go to Target on Friday... but pretty late, with no intention of trying to get any of the "doorbusters." By then, anyway, it was all quite calm, though somewhat crowded, and with long lines in the electronics section, of course. Didn't really take very long to get checked out either, for that matter... I'd made a list of a few (mostly boring, household) things from their ad that I wanted to pick up and then just wandered around seeing what, if anything, was being discounted to a point worth buying now rather than over the next few months, or as Christmas gifts...

I ended up doing a fair amount of shopping over the weekend so except for the couple of bigger-ticket things I'd bought online, on or before Thursday, at this point I don't remember exactly what I bought where, or when. But I did end up picking up quite a few things all told, though nothing individually worth writing home about. (And I got one of those -20% coupons for Target starting this Friday, so am planning to go back for another look-see, then... If nothing else, I'll stock up on shelf-stable pantry goods. I think it'll work on food, anyway, though I haven't actually checked the T&C yet.)

 

[zinfamous]

Given its age, I assume her old laptop uses Windows 7? You might want to give the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder a shot - never hurts to have a usable backup laptop lying around, though it also doesn't hurt to get a new one (especially for $200) after 6 years "just because"...

oh that's awesome, I'll check it out. Thanks!

and bolded--that's pretty much it. She had been wanting one for some time, and I had already been waffling about wiping and giving her my also-crappy core2 Athlon Costco special (Athlon) that I barely use, but it is so crappy I couldn't do it in good conscious. It is also 15" with full keyboard and just way too large for her.

She had set a price point of ~$300 she was willing to spend, and up to $400-450 if "is really nice and will last." We searched for a few hours online looking for deals, trying to piece together the type of things she needed most (basically small and light--which sucks for cost--and not too flashy because she only needs Word, internet, photos, youtube, facebook, etc. and to stream netflix/amazon to her TV). Anyway, we set out to actually touch some devices and get a better idea for more online shopping, and that $200 for the unblemished Yoga was something we couldn't pass up.

 

[zinfamous]

I'll never do BF again, other than online that is - went to Best Buy and stood in the frigid cold for nothing. To make matters worse, the item I wanted only had 5 in stock. Giant waste of time, and frankly those people are waaay to zealous about saving a few bucks.

indeed. And I think it's been that way for a very long time--the "door busters" are extremely limited stock: 5 per store is pretty much standard. Likely no more than 10 of each item, year after year.

On top of that, it's a deal that has been around at various times throughout the year, and will appear again, so it's all pointless in the end.

I can't remember the last time, if really ever, I actually "did" Black Friday in the sense of standing on line longs in unpleasant weather even before the doors open... It's all just too terrifying.

I did go to Target on Friday... but pretty late, with no intention of trying to get any of the "doorbusters." By then, anyway, it was all quite calm, though somewhat crowded, and with long lines in the electronics section, of course. Didn't really take very long to get checked out either, for that matter... I'd made a list of a few (mostly boring, household) things from their ad that I wanted to pick up and then just wandered around seeing what, if anything, was being discounted to a point worth buying now rather than over the next few months, or as Christmas gifts...

The last time I intentionally went out to a BB store on black friday, with the directed intention of purchasing a specific advertised deal, was ~2006. I woke up around 8am, snacked on some food, wondered if some stuff was on sale so I started scanning websites. Saw that Bestbuy was selling plasmas and LCDs at sub $1k prices (first time this had happened, I think), so I was like, shit! I need to upgrade that 15 year-old 27" CRT thing that my newly-acquired PS3 is attached too!

I walked down to Bestbuy (I was living in northside Chicago at the time, so it was about .8 miles down the street. I walked everywhere) to pick up a well-reviewed Panasonic 720p LCD 42" for $900. That was sold out by 11:30 or so, but they offered an un-advertised Samsung plasma (also 720, 42") at the same price and I was like, sold!

I carted it back 0.8m to my apartment on a dolly that they loaned me, because it wouldn't fit in a cab.

 

[ControlD]

I'll never do BF again, other than online that is - went to Best Buy and stood in the frigid cold for nothing. To make matters worse, the item I wanted only had 5 in stock. Giant waste of time, and frankly those people are waaay to zealous about saving a few bucks.

You are looking at this all wrong. What you need to do is get up earlier next year and get a better spot in line.

<---- Stays home on BF.

 

[Mike64]

that $200 for the unblemished Yoga was something we couldn't pass up.

Yeah, definitely. Generally speaking, I have no interest whatever in 2-in-1s like that, but for $200 even I would've grabbed it just for the hell of it...

 

[poofyhairguy]

You are looking at this all wrong. What you need to do is get up earlier next year and get a better spot in line.

<---- Stays home on BF.

It used to be worth it when it was good deals on the same quality items that were sold all year. Now that stores game the system with cut down low quality parts just produced for the day it really kills the incentive.

 

[RossMAN]

Yeah, definitely. Generally speaking, I have no interest whatever in 2-in-1s like that, but for $200 even I would've grabbed it just for the hell of it...

Agreed and I would have bought (them all), easily resell for $400 - $500-ish.

 

[TheGardener]

Received my heavyweight and lined LL Bean hoodie sweatshirt yesterday. It feels substantial and fits well. I was going to buy it anyway, so the 10% off, $10 coupon toward another purchase, plus free shipping were pluses. Checked Amazon. Many heavyweight hoodie sweatshirts were 1/2 the price. But even in a pic, they looked like crap or were made of polyester. Need to keep warm in the Northeast.

 

[Carson Dyle]

First year in the last 15 or so that that I bought NOTHING. Nothing in the stores (which I never go to anyway) and nothing online. Was waiting for some deals to hit online ... never happened.

 

[DCookSta24]

I didn't go out, picked up a few things online. Won't go out and wait in line for deals marginally better than the rest of the year.

 

[xxxkaliboyxxx]

Wanted a monitor, came out with nothing =(

 

[Kingsc23]

I actually posted about several Black Friday sales on my blog. I was actually to poor to afford to partake in them lol