BLACK
BLACK FRIDAY IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER -- AND WHILE SHOPPERS MAY THINK
THEY'RE GETTING
AMAZING BARGAINS -- YOU COULD
END UP OVERPAYING.
SO SENIOR TECH REPORTER FOR THE
NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION CONSUMER REPORTS --
NICHOLAS DE
LEON -- IS JOINING US TO TALK
ABOUT THE BEST BLACK
FRIDAY DEALS ON TECH &
ELECTRONICS.
ELECTRONICS.
Q:
Q: TVS
Q: TVS ARE FEATURED IN JUST ABOUT EVERY BLACK FRIDAY AD. WHAT'S THE BEST DEAL
YOU'VE SEEN?
A: THIS YEAR WE'RE SEEING MORE
4K UHD TVS OFFERED AT
LOW PRICES, PLUS DEALS ON LARGER
SCREEN SIZES. IN THE
PAST, BLACK FRIDAY TV DEALS
ALWAYS INVOLVED
SUPER-LOW-PRICED DOORBUSTERS,
OFTEN ON
LESSER-KNOWN BRANDS. BUT NOW
WE'RE ALSO SEEING A
LOT OF MAJOR-BRAND SETS,
ESPECIALLY FROM LG,
SAMSUNG, SONY, AND VIZIO.
BUT ONE THING WE'VE NOTICED THIS
YEAR IS THAT MANY OF
THE TV DEALS FROM THOSE MAJOR
BRANDS ARE THE SAME
PRICE AT SEVERAL RETAILERS. SO
BEFORE
TRAVELING ANY DISTANCE, CHECK
YOUR LOCAL STORES TO SEE IF THEY
HAVE THAT SAME DEAL OR WILL
MATCH THE
PRICE AT ANOTHER COMPETITOR. IF
YOU'RE LOOKING
FOR A BIG-SCREEN VALUE, WE LIKE
THE: SAMSUNG UN55RU7100 4K LCD
TV - TOP-NOTCH HD PICTURE
QUALITY AND SATISFYING 4K
PICTURE QUALITY
- GOOD VIEWING ANGLE FOR AN LCD
SET
- IT'S A CR 'BEST BUY'
Q:
Q: WHAT
Q: WHAT ABOUT LAPTOPS? ANY GREAT DEALS ON THOSE THAT YOU LIKE? A: SURE. THESE ARE A COUPLE THAT
STAND OUT:
15.6-INCH HP PAVILION GAMING
LAPTOP
THE DEAL: $500 AT WALMART
THIS GAMING MODELTHE MOST
POWERFUL
POWERFUL LAPTOP IN THIS ROUND- UPNORMALLY LISTS FOR AROUND $750. WHAT MAKES IT A GAMING
MODEL? THE
HIGHER-END SPECS, FOR ONE: IT'S
GOT AN INTEL CORE I5
PROCESSOR, 8GB OF MEMORY, AND
256GB OF SOLID STATE
STORAGE. THERE'S ALSO A
DEDICATED NVIDIA
GRAPHICS CARD, WHICH MEANS YOU
CAN PLAY MODERN GAMES
AT HIGH SETTINGS AND ALSO EDIT
HIGH-RES VIDEO. WE TESTED THIS
MODEL AND GAVE IT MOSTLY HIGH
MARKS,
THOUGHLIKE MANY A GAMING
LAPTOPIT'S A LITTLE HEAVY AT
MORE THAN 5 POUNDS.
13.3-INCH APPLE MACBOOK AIR
THE DEAL: $900 AT BEST BUY
THE MACBOOK AIR IS APPLE'S
ENTRY-LEVEL LAPTOP FOR
MAINSTREAM CONSUMERS, AND IT'S
USUALLY
AVAILABLE FOR AROUND $1,100.
THIS MODEL HAS AN INTEL CORE
I5 PROCESSOR, 8GB OF MEMORY, AND
128GB OF SOLID STORAGE
SPACEMORE THAN ENOUGH TO GET
"REAL" WORK DONE IN
APPS SUCH AS MICROSOFT OFFICE,
GOOGLE DOCS, AND
APPLE'S OWN IWORK, BUT PERHAPS
NOT ENOUGH TO EDIT
HIGH-RESOLUTION VIDEO OR PLAY
GRAPHICS-
HEAVY GAMES.
HEAVY GAMES.
Q:
Q: SMART
Q: SMART SPEAKERS ARE PRETTY POPULAR RIGHT NOW. WHAT'S A GOOD DEAL YOU'VE
SEEN?
A: WE LIKE THE BOSE SOUNDLINK
REVOLVE
WIRELESS SPEAKER
THE DEAL: $119 AT BEST BUY
DOWN FROM THE NORMAL PRICE OF
$199AND BOSE PRODUCTS
AREN'T FREQUENTLY DISCOUNTEDTHE
REVOLVE
OFFERS A SOLID VALUE. IT
FEATURES LARGE AND
INTUITIVE CONTROLS EASILY
ACCESSIBLE ON
THE TOP OF THE SPEAKER. AND OUR
TESTERS SAY IT
PERFORMS WELL SONICALLY WITH
SPARKLING HIGHS AND A
WELL-CONTROLLED BASS.
WELL-CONTROLLED BASS.
Q:
Q: HEADPHONES MAKE A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT ITEM. ANY GOOD DEALS ON THOSE?
A: WALMART IS GOING TO HAVE THE
BEATS BY DRE SOLO3
WIRELESS HEADPHONES FOR $130.
THAT'S A REALLY GOOD
DEAL ON GREAT- SOUNDING PAIR OF
HEADPHONES
- THEY ONCE RETAILED FOR $300,
AND RIGHT NOW THEY'RE
DOWN TO $165 AT BEST BUY. VERY
GOOD SOUND QUALITY
AND IS A DECENT CHOICE FOR THE
MORE CRITICAL LISTENER FOR
BOTH MUSIC AND MOVIE SOUNDTRACK
PLAYBACK,
ACCORDING TO OUR TESTS.
Q: LASTLY, WHAT ARE SOME GENERAL
TIPS YOU HAVE FOR
FOLKS
FOLKS WHO
FOLKS WHO ARE PLANNING ON DOING SOME SHOPPING THIS WEEKEND?
A: DO YOUR HOMEWORK. ONLY
ROOKIES HEAD OUT ON BLACK FRIDAY
UNPREPARED. THAT MEANS STUDYING
THE
ADSIN PRINT AND ONLINE. THERE
ARE NOW DOZENS OF BLACK FRIDAY
WEBSITES WHERE YOU'LL FIND TONS
OF
LEAKED BLACK FRIDAY ADS. WE
REGULARLY CHECK
BFAADS.NET, AND
BESTBLACKFRIDAY.COM, FOR
EXAMPLE. SIGN UP AND THESE
SITES WILL SEND YOU DEAL
ALERTS, WHICH YOU CAN TYPICALLY
FILTER BY PRODUCT CATEGORY.
ALSO, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO KNOW A
STORE'S PRICE-MATCH AND RETURN
POLICIES. WE EXPECT MORE
RETAILERS TO PRICE-MATCH
SPECIFIC ONLINE AND IN-STORE
DEALS THIS YEAR. ALMOST ALL THE
MAJOR RETAILERS HAVE
SOME FORM OF PRICE-MATCH POLICY,
AND THEY'VE BEEN EXPANDING THEM
ALMOST EVERY YEAR. BUT SOME
STORES MIGHT SUSPEND THEIR
PRICE-MATCH GUARANTEES DURING
THE BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND ON
CERTAIN ITEMS,
SO READ THE FINE PRINT.
BREAK
BREAK YOUR