Black Friday Deals And Where To Find Them

By: MithrandielWell, that wonderful time of year is nearly upon us. Yes, Black Friday approaches. That majestic day when you can convince your wife that yes, you DO need a 60" TV for $300. Black Friday deals are everywhere: consoles fly off the shelves, and $150 computers are bought en masse to appease the tech-hungry hordes. With so many retailers, however, it can be hard to parse out the best deals. That is why I've compiled this short list of some of the best deals we'll see on Friday.One thing to note before jumping into this list: if you weren't already aware, many manufacturers make a point of making alterations to their products before they sell them at fire-sale prices on Black Friday. TVs are a great example: a TV that would typically have 2-3 HDMI ports would most likely only have 1 at the "Black Friday" price. Another tactic is that other internal components are swapped out, often not affecting the picture quality, but definitely a notch or two below the standard build quality you'd find any other day. This is not a guarantee that your product will be faulty, but it's important to be aware as a consumer that this is a fairly standard practice.With that out of the way...onto the list!

Best TV Deals

 Best Buy - 49" TV for $150 This is probably one of the hottest deals around, and has got a lot of people talking. If you feel like braving the Best Buy crowds on  Thursday afternoon (better get that turkey started early!) and can walk away with one of these bad boys, you can count yourself a winner.Best Buy - Vizio 65" 4k TV for $999Besides the 49" Toshiba deal, a recurring theme on a lot of great deals this black friday is for 4k TVs. I'm a huge fan of the Vizio brand myself, and this particular model has outstanding reviews on bestbuy.com as well as Amazon. If you're in the market for a higher resolution TV, you'll have quite a few options this Friday.Buyer Beware - Samsung 60" 4k TV for $799One of the deals Best Buy is offering this Friday is on a Samsung 60" 4k TV. Taking into consideration my earlier remarks about specially made TVs for Black Friday, this TV could be a risky buy. They've had specials on this model before, including this most recent Father's Day, to very low reviews. I would say for the extra $200 you could get another 5" of screen space and a better reviewed TV with the Vizio model.

Best Computer Deals

 Best Buy - Acer Chromebook - $99That's right, $99 for a computer. Well, "computer" might be used loosely by some who see the specs on this thing, but if you're just looking for a machine to browse the web on and work on documents in the cloud (very little internal storage to speak of), you can't do much better than this.Wal-Mart - HP 15.6" Laptop - $199As with most doorbuster laptops, you won't exactly be playing Fallout 4 on maxed out settings on a setup like this. However, for basic day to day use, or a laptop for your middle or high-school student, this is an amazing deal, especially with that screen size.Newegg - Gaming Laptops - $649-$699Black Friday laptop deals aren't just limited to bottom of the barrel specs and internet browsing machines, but also extend out to more capable gaming laptops. Newegg has numerous models on sale that typically retail closer to $900-$1000 for just under $700.

Best Gaming Deals

 Gamestop/Walmart/Best Buy/Target - Nathan Drake Collection PS4 Bundle - $299Probably the go-to deal for gamers on Black Friday, this great price point not only gets you into the latest generation of gaming, but also throws in re-mastered versions of the critically acclaimed Uncharted series. Combine this bundle with some of the other deals you see below, and there will be one very happy gamer in your house.Gamestop - PS4 Bundle with COD 3 Black Ops and Destiny - The Taken King - $429This is actually a "Pre Black-Friday" deal that is currently going at Gamestop online, but is still a great value. Two awesome first-person shooter titles along with a custom PS4? Sign me up!Best Buy - Playstation 4 Gold Wireless Headset - $59At nearly half off, the wireless headset is a great buy. I've had mine for about 6 months now and I love the sound quality and ease of use when it comes to party chat. A great purchase for the gamer in your life (especially if they like to play late at night or early in the morning, and you want some peace and quiet). If you miss out on the $59 deal, or don't want to brave Best Buy on Black Friday, Gamestop will have it for slightly more at $69 that day.Best Buy/Walmart/Gamestop - $25-35 Video GamesMany of the major retailers will be having some of the hottest titles of the year for 40-50% off on Black Friday. Of course, which titles stand out the most will depend on your gamers' taste, but some solid titles out there on sale include: Destiny - The Taken King, Witcher 3, Dragon Age Inquisition and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Wherever your Black Friday stop may take you, make sure to try and grab one of these titles if the gamer in your life is still missing out. Well, that's about all I have to cover today! Stay tuned over the next few days as I highlight some great gift ideas for those gamers, techies and anime lovers in your life.