Deals of the Week: Black Friday Edition

If you're looking to stock up on Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and video games, now is the time to do it. Best Buy has Blu-ray movies starting at $8 and DVDs starting at $4, while Wal-Mart has DVDs starting at just $2. Kohl's has its entire stock of video games on sale for 20 to 30 percent off. And for music lovers, Costco is offering a discounted pack of iTunes gift cards: $60 worth (four $15 cards) for just $48.

If you're looking for a really cheap HDTV (to complete your really cheap home theater), Wal-Mart has a 32-inch Emerson LCD HDTV for under $250--$248, to be exact. This 720p HDTV has three HDMI input ports, one component port, and one S-Video input port, and the price (according to the Wal-Mart Website) has been slashed $100 from $348. The set has an unimpressive 2500:1 contrast ratio, but what did you expect for that price? This model is one of the very few 32-inch HDTVs you can find under $250 (though Target is rumored to have a Westinghouse HDTV for $246).

Best Buy is selling a 13.3-inch white MacBook for $1000. Though that is the same price Apple is selling the MacBook for, Best Buy is also throwing in a $150 gift card, which technically brings the price down to $850. The 13.3-inch MacBook comes with 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and it runs Mac OS X Snow Leopard. This is an in-store deal; Best Buy promises that each location will have at least three units. If you're an Apple geek (or you have one on your list) and you miss out on Best Buy's deal, don't fret: Apple has confirmed that it will be having a Black Friday sale, though it has not confirmed prices. To be on the safe side, however, check out our reviews of the MacBook Pro, the iMac, and the iPhone 3GS, so that you're prepared to jump on any deals when they become available.

The Nikon D3000 is a great entry-level DSLR, and it's on sale at Best Buy for $500 ($50 off the regular price). This 10.2-megapixel DSLR features 11-point autofocus and a lightweight design. The kit includes the camera body and the 18-55mm VR lens, and for an extra $100 Best Buy will throw in a 55-200mm telephoto lens and a Nikon DSLR bag. The D3000 also has a 3-frames-per-second burst mode, ISO settings that range from 100 to 1600, and a 3-inch LCD screen.

Wal-Mart is prone to lowering the price of its Blu-ray players to extremes--like when the chain sold a Magnavox Blu-ray player for $128 last Father's Day. Well, Wal-Mart is at it again, this time with an even crazier deal: The Magnavox NB500MG1F Blu-ray player is just $78, the lowest price we've seen on a Blu-ray player yet. According to a reviewer on the Wal-Mart site, this model was selling for $168 in stores just a week ago. You can pick up the NB500MG1F at this awesomely low price in stores or online (plus $0.97 shipping) on Friday.

Everyone seems to be offering one of the two Nintendo DSi bundles--with either Brain Age or Mario--for $170 with some sort of gift card. Amazon has decided to one-up rivals with its pre-Black Friday sale, though, and is currently offering the Nintendo DSi bundle for $155, shipped. The DSi, the third generation of the Nintendo DS line, features two large screens (one touchscreen), two cameras, and Wi-Fi. The metallic-blue Mario bundle comes packed with Mario Calculator, Mario Clock, Wario Ware: Snapped, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, and Dr. Mario Express, while the white Brain Age bundle comes with Brain Age Express: Sudoku, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math, Photo Clock, and Clubhouse Games Express: Card Classics. Both bundles are available for preorder on Amazon now.

Meijer's doorbuster deal this year is the Nintendo Wii, which the chain is offering (along with a $50 coupon toward your next Meijer purchase) for $200. The game console (which recently had a price cut) comes with the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk controller, as well as the Wii Sports game. The Wii has 512MB of internal memory, an SD Card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, and 802.11 b/g wireless. It outputs graphics at 480p, and does not play DVDs or Blu-ray discs. Though the list price (since the price cut) is currently $200, the $50 coupon makes the Meijer offer the best Wii deal we've seen (providing you're a big Meijer shopper--if you're not, HHGregg has the Wii on sale for $170 after a $30 mail-in rebate).

Here's a deal for anyone who likes printed photographs but can't really see the point of buying a printer solely for printing photos: RadioShack is offering a free Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer with any advertised camera priced at $89.99 or higher. This $60 value is free after a mail-in rebate. The PoGo Instant Mobile Printer prints 2-by-3-inch, borderless color prints with an adhesive back. It prints each photo in under a minute and uses no ink, but rather a special paper with embedded color crystals.

Wal-Mart has a 46-inch HDTV, the Sony Bravia KDL-46S504, on sale for $798. This 1080p HDTV features a 60Hz refresh rate and a 20,000:1 contrast ratio. It also has three HDMI inputs, and is Bravia Link compatible. The lowest price we found for the KDL-46S504 on PriceGrabber was $1200 at Crutchfield, so you'd save about $400.

Another great deal from Best Buy is the Sony VAIO NW235 laptop with an Intel Pentium Dual Core processor for $400. This 15-inch laptop has 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, and it runs Windows 7 Home Premium. For another $80 you can upgrade to a laptop with a built-in Blu-ray player (and the store will even throw in Sony headphones and the Blu-ray version of The Taking of Pelham 123), though we're not sure a Blu-ray player in a laptop is worth it. This is an in-store deal; Best Buy has promised at least ten units (ten regular laptops and ten with the Blu-ray player and entertainment package) per store.

RadioShack is offering the Olympus Stylus-7000 12-megapixel digital camera for $150, a $50 discount. The Stylus-7000 has a 7X optical zoom and a 3-inch LCD, and it weighs less than 5 ounces. In our review of the Stylus-7000, we found that it had excellent resolution and zoom, but a narrow (37mm) field of view. The camera features 15 preset scene modes (including landscape, self, night, and fireworks), and dual image stabilization. It takes only standard-definition video (a minus), but it has decent image quality compared with the results from other cameras in the same price range (it was in the top tier for color quality but in the lower tier for sharpness).

Looking for a bare-bones GPS device (nothing fancy, but good for knowing where you're going)? Kmart is selling the TomTom One 130 GPS for $80. The TomTom One 130 GPS lacks some of the functions that more-expensive devices offer (such as text-to-speech, a feature of its big sibling, the TomTom One 130 S), but it gets the job done. It offers a 3.5-inch touchscreen, turn-by-turn spoken instructions, preloaded points of interest, and an easy-access emergency menu. This is an in-store deal only; Kmart promises a minimum of five units per store.

Best Buy is offering the TomTom XXL 540S GPS device for $150--a $150 savings from the list price (and a $100 savings from the lowest price we could find online, $248 from Bonanzle). The TomTom XXL 540 S GPS has a large, easy-to-read, 5-inch screen, TomTom's "IQ Routes" (a feature that calculates routes and travel time based on historical traffic data), and a database of 7 million points of interest. It does not include a Bluetooth interface or live traffic updates, though you can buy an optional RDS-TMC traffic receiver for the latter for $60 (which includes a one-year subscription to traffic data).

Costco is offering a 55-inch Vizio LCD HDTV for $1200 (after you apply a $300-off coupon). This Vizio 55-incher (Costco doesn't specify the model) has 1080p resolution and 120Hz "Smooth Motion" technology. It features five HDMI input ports, as well as an S-Video input, a composite video input, a computer RGB input, and one USB port. The store is setting a limit of two per customer.

For serious gamers, Best Buy is offering the Xbox 360 Elite with six free games for just $300. Considering that the Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120GB hard drive and plays visuals at 1080p (HD), currently retails for about that price (and games cost from $35 to $60), this is a pretty good deal. The included titles are Lego Batman, Pure, Sonic the Hedgehog, Spiderman Web of Shadows, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2, and Wall-E. The Xbox 360 Elite comes with a black wireless controller, a black Xbox Live headset, and a one-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold. This is an in-store offer.

Best Buy is offering an HP Compaq netbook for just $180 (no mobile broadband contract required this time). The HP 110C-11000X has a 10.1-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and Windows XP. For $50 more, you can upgrade to a 250GB hard drive and the Windows 7 Starter Edition operating system. Get up early, though: This is available in-store only. Best Buy guarantees a minimum of ten units in each store.

RadioShack is offering the 15.6-inch Acer Aspire AS5517-1208 laptop for $400. This Aspire laptop features an AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive, and it runs Windows 7. It's currently selling on the RadioShack Website for about $550, so the deal is a good $150 off.

The Apple iPod Touch is on sale in several places--for instance, Best Buy is selling the 8GB version plus a $30 gift card for $199--but Wal-Mart has managed to come up with the best deal we've seen, offering the 8GB iPod Touch plus a $50 iTunes gift card for $195. The 8GB Touch, which holds up to 1750 songs, has an audio-playback time of over 36 hours (Macworld tests found that it played for over 40 hours), and a video-playback time of about 5.5 hours. The iPod Touch 8GB is currently priced at $199, directly from Apple.

Not to be outdone by Wal-Mart and its dirt-cheap Blu-ray offers, Best Buy is selling a decent Blu-ray player for under $100. The Insignia Blu-ray Disc Player (model NS-L4Q120-1GA, different from the one offered earlier this month for the same price) supports 1080p output, BD-Live content, and Netflix streaming. It comes with a remote control, batteries, and an A/V cable. The player currently sells on Best Buy's Website for $150, so the deal will save you $50.