Editor: Earlier today Retrevo offered a list of Black Friday deals. But we think many BetaNews readers will be just as interested in the duds and perhaps benefit more. You want to take this holiday, not get taken, right? Please add your own Black Friday duds in comments.
Mixed in with some great bargains this year are some questionable ones like a $38 Toshiba Blu-ray player that requires a $49 adapter to make its Wi-Fi work. We offer this selection of deals we think you might be better off avoiding.
LG 47-inch LCD TV and 42-inch Panasonic at Sears
Although a nice LED backlit LCD TV, the 47LV4400 is listed on Sears’ Black Friday deals for $679.99 but is available on Amazon for just $9 more. Similarly the TC-L42E3 listed for $599.99 at Sears is selling for that same price now at B&H Photo.
Panasonic TC-P50S30 50-inch Plasma for $699
We hate to pick on Sears but it looks Best Buy is selling this set for $100 less on Black Friday.
Is Toshiba Blu-ray Player’s Price Too Good?
We’ve seen the Toshiba BDX2150 "connected" Blu-ray player listed for as low as $39, which looks like an irresistible deal if you don’t mind hooking up an Ethernet cable. If you want to use its Wi-Fi "ready" capability you’ll need to buy a $49 adaptor. We think you might be better off spending more for a Sony connected Blu-ray player seen from $79 - $109.
Magnavox Blu-ray Player Makes Annual Appearance
This Blu-ray player gets trotted out every year on Black Friday. Not that it’s a terrible player for $79, we just think there are some better players to consider.
Not All Core i3 Laptops Are Equal
Intel didn’t make it easy for consumers to spot the new Sandy Bridge versions of the Core i3, i5, or i7 chips. The easy way to tell is that new versions have four numbers in the model (e.g. Core i3 21xx), while older versions have three. For example, the HP laptop offered by Office Max for $389 touts a Core i3 but the -370M suffix gives it away. At least this version has the graphics engine built in.
BlackBerry Playbook is No Bargain at $199
Yes, the Playbook is a well designed, good looking 7-inch tablet that is selling for a lot less than originally intended but it runs RIMs own OS not Android and so you won’t have that huge library of apps available to download.
Why Buy a Non-HD Camcorder?
The Sony DCR-SX85 camcorder normally sells for around $250 and Best Buy will offer it at $149 on Black Friday. It has 16GB of Flash memory and offers a long 60x optical zoom but it doesn’t shoot HD video. Why bother?
Photo Credit: Kenishirotie/Shutterstock
Andrew Eisner is Retrevo's resident gadget enthusiast. The former PC World executive producer helped establish Ziff Davis' premiere test lab, where he led a team testing the latest high-tech gear.