cyber

You won't have any trouble finding rock-bottom prices on no-name TVs from sketchy online vendors this Cyber Monday, but if buying a good television from a trustworthy retailer is your priority, Dell's site has a couple of very good prices on big-screen TVs I can actually recommend.

Samsung 51-inch plasma, $578 with free shipping. Judging from the published specifications, the PN51E530 has the same picture quality as the PN51E550 that we really liked. Yeah it's missing Smart TV and 3D, but you could always just add a $40 Roku if you want streaming apps.

Samsung 60-inch plasma, $848 with free shipping. … Read more

More people are interested in the Kindle Fire HD, which starts at $199. But for those who don't want to spend that much, Amazon is running a Cyber Monday deal on the entry-level Kindle Fire (8GB), which was updated a couple months ago with a faster processor.

Enter the promotional code "FIREDEAL" at checkout and you can pick up the "new" Kindle Fire for $129, or $30 off its list price. That's a pretty nice deal, though I'd personally opt for the Fire HD.

This is the second time in the last few … Read more

At CNET, we've long ranked the Sonos family of products near the top of our favorite wireless audio gear. The secret to the bulletproof wireless streaming of the Sonos -- it operates free of dropouts -- is that the audio streamers uses their own proprietary mesh wireless network, which is separate and distinct from your home's Wi-Fi network. Up to 32 separate Sonos units can operate in your home, wirelessly communicating with one another -- and without the constrictions of Wi-Fi.

But there's one hitch: while the Sonos system is wireless, the first Sonos unit in your … Read more

Black Friday was a bright day for Internet retailers, as online sales for the key shopping day surpassed $1 billion for the first time.

Bargain hunters spent $1.042 billion online the day after Thanksgiving, a 26 percent increase of last year's Black Friday, according to new figures released today by market analyst ComScore. Online shopping on Thanksgiving Day also increased, totaling $633 million in receipts, a 32 percent increase over Thanksgiving 2011.

"Despite the frenzy of media coverage surrounding the importance of Black Friday in the brick-and-mortar world, we continue to see this shopping day become more … Read more

When it comes to holiday shopping, I tend to take a conservative approach: decide what you want, then look for good prices. That makes you a little less likely to be swayed by faux bargains, like bundles with mediocre bags or accessories you really won't use. The one exception is for lenses -- provided they're ones you'll actually use -- which do increase the value of a bundle, though you don't want to buy a mediocre body just because the two-lens kit is cheap. With that in mind, I found a handful of models that take … Read more

This year, some retailers are so impatient to open their doors for Black Friday that they're calling in employees to kick off the sales bonanza as early as 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. But why wait even that long? In fact, why even get off the couch when that tablet resting on your turkey and pie-filled belly has access to both your wallet and a whole universe of deals?

Digital ad agency Digitas told its hometown paper the Boston Globe this week that its recently commissioned survey (conducted by Harris Interactive) of consumers found that 28 percent plan to shop via a mobile device this Thursday. … Read more

Charities are businesses, too.

In order to keep the board members in tuxedos for fundraising dinners, they have to keep on sourcing money.

How beautiful, then, that Razoo -- which claims to be "the fastest growing crowdfunding platform for causes" -- is participating in a concept that the guilty side of you must find deeply persuasive.

The concept is Giving Tuesday.

Yes, these people want you to feel so thoroughly disgusted with yourself -- for yet again succumbing to commercial excess -- that you will donate some money to a charity of your choice.

And, lo, you can … Read more

Ah, it's that time of year again. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because you can gorge yourself on food without feeling guilty, spend time with your loved ones, and knock a stranger over at 6 a.m. in front of a department store in a frantic attempt to purchase that plasma TV.

All right, so it might not be everybody's definition of a good time, but Black Friday and Cyber Monday are grand institutions that let you save a lot of dough on some of this year's hottest electronics.

And as anyone can tell you, … Read more