The Inquisitr » best buy

Best buys for Black Friday, all in one place

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:11:02 +0000

You may have noticed the Christmas season has started a bit earlier than scheduled this year, with Christmas deals, decor and even to the dismay of everyone but my mother, Christmas music all being relentlessly piped into stores and TV advertising since probably mid-October.

Black Friday is a uniquely American tradition of excess consumerism, following our holy day of excess food consumption and sloth seamlessly like All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day except, you know, more sin-y. A lot of people have the Friday following Thanksgiving off from work owing to travel and the fact that no one has a job, and Black Friday deals this year have started frenzied shoppers buzzing all over the interwebnets like whoa.

We told you about Walmart’s Black Friday ad, the Sears Black Friday deals for gaming, Best Buy’s techie deals and Target’s huge Black Friday sale, but so many retailers are trying to get a piece of the plum pudding for Christmas hoping cash-strapped consumers might ease up on the short arms, long pockets routine- how does a savvy shopper keep track? Consumerist pointed us towards a website that collects ads and information about Black Friday sales and even lists Black Friday circulars for your perusal. (BlackFriday.info) So if you want to get in on the action (or you really need a new toaster and only have $3), you can formulate your plan of attack and make it arguably worthwhile to brave the crowds.

Best Buy Black Friday Ad 2009, Plenty Of Goodies For Techies

James Allen Johnson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:48:46 +0000

In my opinion the best Black Friday sale every year comes from the folks at Best Buy. Typically their electronics are sold at ridiculously low pricing and what tech/gadget lover wouldn’t love a sale devoted to high end, yet low price electronics. Here’s a look at some of the top offerings in the Best Buy Black Friday Ad for 2009, both for online and in-store customers.

With 272 items to choose from the Best Buy Black Friday Ad is huge, however there are some deals that really stuck out, such as the Samsung 46″ 1080P 120Hz LED HDTV, offered as a doorbuster sale for $1599.99. Gamers can also pick up the 120GB Sony PS3, with the Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank games for $299.99.

The Canon EOS Rebel T1i D-SLR Camera with the 18-55mm IS Lens is also being offered for $699.99, while not the lowest priced item to procure, it’s still a great deal on a phenomenal DSLR.

The electronics chain is also offering a Garmin Nuvi 205W GPS for $99.99 and that price gets you a widescreen display, voice by voice instructions and plenty of Points of Interest (POIs).

If laptops are more up your alley you can take advantage of the Compaq Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory and a 160GB Hard Drive for $179.99. It may not offer the fastest processor but the price is right. An upgrade to a 250GB unit is also available at $229.99

If you’re more in the mood for a Blu-Ray player they also have several models on sale, the best deal of which is the Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Disc Player for only $149.99 which is a steal for such a great high definition player.

Those are some of my personal favorite offerings from the company, however with nearly 300 items set for Black Friday you’ll definitely want to keep your eyes peeled to your local paper for the companies full spread.

Little Buddy child tracker keeps tabs on kids so you don’t have to

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:23:51 +0000

Does your pesky kid have a habit of sneaking off while you’re trying to level up on WoW or watch Oprah?

Now you can watch your kid without ever having to watch your kid, thanks to the Insignia Little Buddy child tracker. Instead of having to talk to your child, you can slip this nifty device into their backpack, lunchbox or if you really want to make sure they’ve always got it on them, their Zig Zag rolling papers. Then, you can log onto a website and monitor their specific whereabouts via satellite.

While this innovation will probably be a boon to families with an autistic child or a similar situation, it seems to me that if your kid is old enough to be somewhere they aren’t supposed to be, they’re old enough to place the device in place they are supposed to be to deceive you. Potential kidnappers can easily divest a kid of backpacks and lunchboxes too, so it seems as if the Little Buddy child tracker is only useful in limited situations. Also, my kids can’t hang on to a juicebox for five minutes without losing it, and I forsee many of these devices living out their gadget lives under couch cushions and in Lego bins.

Still, if you want to have all your bases covered, you can snag a Little Buddy child tracker at Best Buy when they’re back in stock.

[via Mashable]

Buy two games at Best Buy, get one free

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:11:26 +0000

(I don’t usually write up posts about videogame bargains, but this is a rather juicy offer. My apologies if this sounds a little like a commercial.)

From this Sunday (October 25th), Best Buy is hosting a buy-two-get-one-free sale on any game under $59.99.

Handily, “any game under $59.99″ essentially means any game, aside from those pricey Rock Band/DJ Hero/Guitar Hero bundles, so it’s a bit of a good deal, really. You can even buy games from different platforms, and Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii games are all part of the deal.

I recall the store did this last year and got a stellar reaction from consumers. A repeat in 2009 will mean we get to feast on cheap games again in 2010, so get your wallets out, people.

[Via HBG]

Is The Nintendo Wii About To Price Drop At $199?

James Allen Johnson — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:09:04 +0000

With the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 systems both dropping in price over the last several weeks it didn’t surprise us to learn that the Nintendo Wii may soon be offering it’s own price drop to $199.

The new price was spotted in a Best Buy advertisement posted by Kotaku and it shows the standard system at the $199 price point. Yes there is definitely a possibility that the flyer is a photo shop trick, but considering a Toys R Us flyer was also spotted recently with the same pricing we’re hoping it’s the real deal.

If the Wii actually hits the $199 mark it could definitely help deflate the recent momentum of PS3 Slim Sales.

Best Buy Slashing HDTV Prices This Week

James Allen Johnson — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:34:41 +0000

Best Buy must be getting ready for Football season as the electronics retailer has “announced” plans (through a leaked flyer) to cut prices on their HDTV’s this coming week. The cuts according to the flyer will be available on televisions larger than 39 inches.

Best Buy has 33 HDTV models on sale according to the August 30th circular, with several higher end Samsung LCDs taking off as much as $1100 per set.

The circular also points to some very nice stereo packages with BluRay, including one package that’s $1500 off regular pricing. [HDGuru]

GameStop, Best Buy wage war over used games

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:47:20 +0000

A price war of sorts has erupted between two leading U.S. game retailers, leaving only one winner: consumers. Yeah, you.

Best Buy started this skirmish late last week, when it promised to price match “NEW video games at USED prices from Gamestop or Game Crazy.” In short, if you see a used copy of a game at GameStop or Game Crazy, you can get the same title new at Best Buy for a used price. Awesome, right? Right!

Except … it may not last. While Game Crazy has yet to respond to Best Buy’s gambit, GameStop has made its first retaliatory move. As the flyer (above and below) indicates, the retailer has slashed prices on used games, including some very recent releases – Red Faction: Guerrilla, Prototype, UFC 2009 Undisputed, inFamous, The Conduit, Punch-Out!!, and Fight Night Round 4 are all mentioned. This may well put the kibosh on Best Buy’s plans, as the retailer is forced to sell new games below wholesale prices.

Sadly, Best Buy and GameStop’s offers are also very location-specific. As far as I can gather, they’re currently only available in West Jordan, Utah stores; clearly, both retailers are testing the waters here. However, if Best Buy can stand up to GameStop’s reprisal, gamers everywhere could be having the last laugh.

Unless you live in the UK (like me) or Australia. In which case, you better bend over and accept that you’re still totally screwed. Sorry.

[Via Kotaku]

CircuitCity.com Traffic Going to Best Buy, Radio Shack

JR — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:14:07 +0000

With CircuitCity.com shut down (at least for now), it appears Best Buy and Radio Shack are gaining a big boost to their online traffic — and it looks like it’s coming directly from their old competitor.

Metrics firm Hitwise looked to see where surfers searching for Circuit City-related terms were ending up now. Not surprisingly, the number of them actually going to CircuitCity.com has sharply dropped. The number going to BestBuy.com and RadioShack.com, though, has jumped quite a bit.

Best Buy took in 20 percent of downstream traffic from CircuitCity.com last week, Hitwise says. Walmart.com, Kmart.com, and Sears.com also snagged respectable shares. Other sites seeing traffic from Circuit City-related search queries include CNET, Chase Banking, Yahoo, Closeouts EZ, The Consumerist, and PC World.

The free ride may not last forever, though: As we reported last month, another organization could end up buying the CircuitCity.com domain and identity, even using the site to sell electronics under the Circuit City brand.

About time: Best Buy being sued over price matching fail

Duncan Riley — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:39:49 +0000

US electronics chain Best Buy will face a class action lawsuit over its price matching policy in New York after US District Court granted a Class Action Certification to a suit against the company.

The suit alleges that: “Best Buy uses false and deceptive trade practices in advertising and applying the company’s well-known “price match guarantee” policy. Best Buy tells the consuming public it will match a competitor’s lower price on any item purchased in the store.” The suit states that Best Buy users its “price match guarantee policy as a ploy, to lure unsuspecting consumers into its stores and to induce them to purchase its merchandise, while allegedly having an undisclosed “Anti-Price Matching Policy,” pursuant to which employees aggressively deny customers’ legitimate price match requests.”

Two former Best Buy employees supporting the suit claim that Best Buy management would train their employees specifically to deny price matches.

The surprising thing is that it has taken this long to get to court. Reports across the blogosphere about Best Buy’s practices have been rampant for years. Even I’ve experienced Best Buy first hand, trying twice on two separate trips to the US to get them to price match without success, despite the price match being a big part of their advertising. There’s always an excuse why they can’t match it, and on one occasion I even had the catalog of the competitor in my hand. The key if you are in the US buying tech is that everything is cheaper online, particularly compared to Best Buy. Unlike it’s name, nothing is a best buy at Best Buy.

(via Gadgetell)

MacBooks and iMacs Get The Black Friday Treatment

JR — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:33:09 +0000

If you’re looking for a new MacBook or iMac, now may be the time to buy. MacMall has announced its online Black Friday sales for Apple products, as the folks at macrumors.com discovered. The sales are in full swing now and last until midnight (PT) this Friday, November 28.

MacRumors created a convenient chart that breaks down the discounts offered by MacMall compared to those coming to Best Buy’s Black Friday sale. As you can see, some of the models are discounted by as much as $200-$250 at MacMall. (Click on the chart to access MacRumors’ interactive version.)

You can also check out our list of places to track down the best Black Friday deals and discounts online for more tips on upcoming tech-related sales.

Is Napster the Best Buy for Best Buy?

JR — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:46:11 +0000

As Wall Street takes a tumble with what’s quickly being branded “Black Monday,” Best Buy is announcing a new and slightly out-of-left-field purchase: Napster.

The electronics chain is snatching up the once-thriving music service for $121 million ($2.65 per share), it announced this morning. The move comes just weeks after word of internal turmoil and hints of “strategic alternatives” in the works.

Under the new deal, Best Buy will get all of Napster’s subscribers — said to somehow be in the range of 700,000 — along with its platform and mobile capabilities. Napster’s senior management will move into new roles within Best Buy. The 140 employees at Napster’s LA headquarters are expected to keep their jobs and locations, at least for the time being.

Can the move save the struggling download service, which hasn’t seen its heyday since certain events transpired back in the early part of the century? Let’s be honest: Probably not. It’ll no doubt grow from its current stagnant state — surely the soon-to-come heavy in-store push and packaged deals will help — but all the vending machines in the world won’t let it hold a torch next to the music monster that is iTunes. As Paid Content points out, both Best Buy and Circuit City have played with the idea of digital distribution in the past with little ending effect. The sale can only help Napster in the long run, but one wonders how much it’ll ultimately help Best Buy.

The deal is expected to be completed before the end of the year. Wonder what Shawn Fanning’s thinking right now…

Napster

Best Buy Finally Figures Out MMOG Gift Cards?

Guest Poster — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:56:34 +0000

Apparently, Best Buy has finally figured out that all those teens and tweens who come in with their parents to get computers aren’t just using them for schoolwork. Virtual World News notes that GMG Entertainment is working with AdventureQuest, Gala-Net, Meez, and Stardoll to launch prepaid cards at Best Buy. The cards, often sold in multiple dollar amounts, allow players who aren’t privileged enough to have their own credit or debit card to pay for subscriptions or virtual gifts in MMOGs.

What took Best Buy so long? And why is this news? Retailers like Target have long had these cards, and they aren’t located in the generalized card kiosks where the Meez CEO claims retailers leave them. At least in Target, the cards can be found right with the rest of the teen- and tween-focused media, and I have yet to take a trip through the movies and games there without having an eight-year-old beg me for permission to buy a card for ClubPenguin, Zwinky, or Stardoll.

The question that remains is how much of a draw the cards will be for Best Buy. Because they are attractive to younger players (and those giving gifts to younger players), the customer base is more likely to be found in a retailer like Target than an appliance- and electronics-focused store like Best Buy.

Introducing the Best Buy Vending Machine

JR — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:34:31 +0000

Next time you forget your headphones on travel day, you may be able to just stop by the vending machine. The Best Buy vending machine, that is.

Amidst the overpriced snacks and beverages, Best Buy has rolled out this automated electronics dispenser at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, the Dallas Morning News discovered. Inside everything from blank discs to headphones and even a full-fledged iPod awaits you — if you don’t mind, of course, paying the presumably inflated price.

Wonder if there’s a button to get an unhelpful store associate, too.

(Image: Dallas/Fort Worth Airport via Dallas Morning News)

Best Buy Selling Free Software

JR — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:48:30 +0000

Best Buy is now selling a packaged version of the free Linux OS Ubuntu for $19.99.

The program you buy is the same exact one you can download at no cost from Ubuntu’s web site. So why put it up for retail sale? To target users who might not know about or be able to access the free downloadable version, execs say.

“Making it available through Best Buy is an opportunity to reach users who are unaware of Ubuntu or who are bandwidth restricted and don’t want to download Ubuntu themselves,” Corporate Services Director Steve George explains.

The packaged version does include 60 days of support as well as a “getting started” guide. The web site, of course, includes unlimited community support and ample startup documentation.

Your choice.