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There's certainly no shortage of coverage about Black Friday tech sales, and savvy shoppers have no doubt already scoped out their favorite deals from the leaked ad scans and early deals posted on sites such as BFads.net.

We've scanned some of the ads and picked several potentially promising Black Friday deals, including limited-time special offers, in order to give you some context on what constitutes a good doorbuster deal, and what's just a bust.

Note that many of the prices cited below are only available during the early hours of Friday morning.

Sony NW235, $399, Best Buy
Intel Pentium Dual Core; 4GB RAM; 320GB hard drive; 15-inch screen
Unlike some of the cheapest Celeron laptops out there, we find models such as this, with an Intel dual-core CPU, to fit the basic definition of usability. Best Buy is offering this as a Friday doorbuster, with a minimum of 10 per store (ticket required). We've typically seen similar systems for around $500.

HP G60-507DX, $197, Best Buy
Intel Celeron; 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 15-inch screen
A full-size laptop for under $200 may seem tempting, but we suggest you avoid any Celeron-powered systems. The nearly Netbook-level performance will definitely disappoint in a15-inch laptop. This is also a limited-quantity doorbuster, and would normally sell for around $350-$400.

eMachines eME627, $198, Walmart
AMD Athlon 64; 2GB RAM; 160GB hard drive; 15-inch screen
As Acer/Gateway's nearly forgotten entry-level brand, you don't hear a lot about eMachines these days. This deal is available 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Black Friday, but we're still adamant that your expectations must be kept pretty low.

HP G71-329wm, $398, Walmart
Intel Celeron; 4GB RAM; 320GB hard drive; 17-inch screen
Update: Walmart is now listing this system as having an Intel Celeron processor, making it less of a good deal than we originally thought. It's still inexpensive for a 17-inch laptop, but not something we'd go out of our way for.

HP Pavilion (model unknown); $379, OfficeMax
AMD Sempron; 3GB RAM; 160GB hard drive; 15-inch screen
Remember how we said you should avoid a Celeron-powered midsize laptop? Same goes for AMD's Sempron processor. We've seen similar systems for around $399, so it's not even much of a bargain.

Delstar DS700, $119, K-Mart
CPU unknown; 128MB RAM; 2GB SSD; 7-inch screen
It's like the first prototype Netbook ever made crawled out of the primordial swamps and stuck a "for sale" sticker on itself. Hopefully we don't have to tell you to avoid this Windows CE system, with components more typical for a mobile phone, even if it is being offered for $120 (down from the usual $150) as a Black Friday doorbuster.

Toshiba Satellite L505-S5984, $399, Best Buy
Intel Core 2 Duo T6500; 3GB RAM; 250GB hard drive; 15-inch screen
A real Intel Core 2 Duo CPU for the price of an HP Mini 311 Netbook. Considering it's only $50 more than the non-Black-Friday price of a typical Celeron-powered Toshiba, this is a decent mainstream deal.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Last Sunday, Palm and Sprint released their second WebOS device together, the Palm Pixi, for $99.99 with a two-year contract.

In the grand scheme of things, $100 for a smartphone is a pretty darn good deal, but when you consider the fact that there are other products out there with more power and more features (for example, Wi-Fi) for the same price or lower, it makes the Pixi look foolish. Fortunately, thanks to third-party retailers, you can now get the entry-level smartphone for much less.

Both Amazon and Wal-Mart have lowered the price of the Palm Pixi by 75 percent, so now the smartphone is only $24.99. You will still need to sign up for a two-year service agreement, but it's certainly a much more enticing offer. In addition, the Palm Pre is now available from Amazon for $79.99, which is $70 less than Sprint's price.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

A new 32-inch HDTV for under $300 is mighty hard to pass up.

(Credit: Walmart)

Sorry for the late post today, folks, and sorry to serve up a one-day-only deal at the same time, but that's what happens on those rare occasions when I travel.

Anyway, today only, Wal-Mart has a 32-inch Soyo LCD TV for just $298, and shipping will run you a mere $4. (You can also opt for in-store pickup, but either way you'll pay sales tax.)

The last time I found a TV that size for that price, it was a not-too-great refurb. This one's brand-new, complete with a one-year warranty.

However, I'm a little concerned by one of the user reviews on Wal-Mart's site that states Soyo is out of business. Sure enough, I can't seem to find a working Web site for the company. Just who will honor this warranty, I'm not sure.

In any case, the Soyo features a 720p/1080i display and HDMI, component, composite, and VGA inputs (one of each, apparently--the specs aren't terribly clear).

In short, it's a pretty bare-bones HDTV, but one that might be ideal for a den, dorm room, game room, or the like.

And I'm going to leave it there (discuss!), as the streets of San Francisco are calling my name. Happy shopping!

Wal-Mart deals are heating up for Saturday.

(Credit: Wal-Mart)

Not content to wait until Black Friday, Wal-Mart announced Wednesday that it will deliver some great deals on assorted tech products this weekend.

Customers shopping in-store on Saturday will find several deals. The company said it will sell the 46-inch Panasonic TC-P46U1 1080p plasma HDTV for $788 that day. It also plans to sell the 42-inch Sharp LC-42SB45U 1080p LCD for just $498.

Besides that, Wal-Mart plans to sell a 15.6-inch HP notebook for $298, a Sony Blu-ray player for $148, and a Magnavox upconverting DVD player for $29.

But it might be the offer on the Xbox 360 Arcade that will attract the most attention. According to Wal-Mart, it will sell the Xbox 360 Arcade for its standard price of $199, but include a $100 Wal-Mart gift card with that purchase. That can cover almost the entire cost of an additional controller and a single game. It can also cut a big chunk out of the cost of a hard drive add-on for the console, if consumers decide to go that route.

Although all these deals will only be offered on Saturday in Wal-Mart stores, it should be noted that many of these deals are available now on Wal-Mart's Web site. That said, beware that the Xbox 360 Arcade offer is already sold out online. Anyone looking to capitalize on it will need to do so in a local store.

Wal-Mart's in-store special offers start at 8 a.m. local time on Saturday. It should be interesting to see if Amazon and other online retailers match Wal-Mart's offer at that time. We'll update this space if they do.

Wal-Mart is preparing to offer in-home tech support to its customers, according to Reuters.

The retail giant will partner with product-support firm N.E.W. Customer Service Companies, the report said. By the holiday-shopping season, all U.S. Wal-Mart stores plan to offer customers the opportunity to use N.E.W.'s service in their homes. Reuters said the service already kicked off this month in specified locations.

Wal-Mart will give shoppers the option of buying service plans "on a prepaid card, ranging from $99 to $339," Reuters said. The service plans will provide "basic television installation on the low end" to more advanced services like home-network or home-theater installation. Reuters said the plans include a "preliminary consultation and a tutorial after installation is completed."

The decision to bring on a Geek Squad-like service seems to underlie Wal-Mart's desire to become a major player in the electronics business. It may also solidify its position as Best Buy's most dangerous brick-and-mortar competitor since the death of Circuit City and its FireDog in-home service.

The elusive Snow Leopard.

(Credit: Elfwood)

Wilson's back, but we figure everyone is tired of hearing about the Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard by now, so we shift gears and talk about Walmart shoppers instead. Behold: a new blog documenting the People of Walmart. While Wilson "Tennessee" Tang thinks this all looks pretty typical, Jeff and I are straight up spooked. It's humiliating enough to set foot in a Walmart, but what if I just need to pick up deodorant? Now I have to worry about being publicly humiliated on this blog too? And who brought that goat into the store?

After our rant is over, we move on to dissect a few upcoming movies like James Cameron's newest science fiction CGI powerhouse, "Avatar." The weird part is that James Cameron has been planning this movie for 10 years but hasn't been able to make it because the technology just wasn't there. Well, now it's here...and the movie looks like a cheesy cut scene from Halo. Next up on the butcher block is "Cirque de Freak: The Vampire's Assistant." Don't get me wrong, I love me some John C. Reilly, but a convincing vampire he is not. When was the last time you've seen a bloodsucker with curly hair?

The rest of the show devolves into the three hosts doing vampire impressions, which isn't incredibly hard to do, just follow these three steps:

• Talk loudly and open-mouthed
• Raise the intonation of your voice at the end of every sentence
• Don't forget the "AH AH AHHH" at the end

If you're like Wilson and don't have anything to do over the weekend, why don't you give us a call at 1-866-404-CNET and tell us what's on your mind? We're also on Twitter, Facebook, and Meetup as well, so there's really no excuse for falling out of touch. Or, if you have a suggestion for our Weekend Throwback Episode, let me know in a comment below!

I should have bought the $31 DVD player.

(Credit: Matt Hickey)

Exploding iPhones are so earlier this week, people. The new scary consumer electronics product that might explode and kill you and your family is the cheap Durabrand DVD player exclusive to Wal-Mart. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a recall of the device, saying the players can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers.

The players retail for less than $30, are made in China, and are full of shrapnel to flay flesh from bone. OK, that last bit was hyperbolic, but still, any Durabrand DVD player bought from Wal-Mart after 2006 can be returned to the nearest store for a full refund.

So far 12 out of approximately 1.5 million units have flamed up, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which adds that the fires have caused property damage but no injuries. While 12 problematic devices don't really add up to epidemic-like numbers, it's still troubling knowing yours could be the 13th. Not that I'm fearmongering or anything.

So this isn't quite a sub-$300 laptop, but it's close and is a decent deal for back-to-school.

(Credit: Wal-Mart Stores)

Beginning Sunday, Wal-Mart Stores will offer a 17-inch Toshiba Satellite L355 for $348. The model is almost a year old, so the specs aren't fantastic--3GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, Intel Celeron processor, and Windows Vista Basic--but for the price it's understandable. (Also, you'll have to wait. If you try to buy it now it will say "out of stock.")

Of course, not everyone is going to want a 17-inch laptop, but if you're looking for value it's a steal. At $348, it's a full-feature laptop that's less expensive than some Netbooks, with a normal-size keyboard, screen, and everything. As competition heightens for consumers among retailers there's sure to be more where this came from, with better deals on traditional notebooks. And then there's the new wave of CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) laptops that are super sleek and light that will come with very attractive pricing too. The effect these lower-priced laptops will have on Netbooks still remains to be seen.

If you do happen to be in the market for a back-to-school laptop, don't miss our handy buying guide put together by resident PC experts Dan Ackerman and Rich Brown.

Bad news folks, TWITTER IS DOWN! Today, we report on the subsequent worldwide meltdown in addition to stories about Wal-Mart BlackBerries, the fall of gaming magazines, and more submissions for the "Choose Justin's new glasses" competition!

When Motherboard is away, LASERJET will play!

(Credit: Hayato Shimizu)

All hell has broken loose in the tech world with this morning's Twitter crash. The popular microblogging Web site suffered a denial-of-service attack earlier this morning around 6 a.m. PT, but has yet to give out details or an in-depth status update. The last update said it is "defending" itself from an ongoing attack, so good luck to all the frontline GIs fighting the good fight in the trenches so that Ashton Kutcher can continue telling us facts about technology that we already know.

Earth will continue to rotate on its axis despite Twitter soiling the bed, so we bring you more stories from the Internet, including the awful news that Wal-Mart is now selling the new BlackBerry Curve for $48. So now, in addition to supporting an evil dictatorship conglomerate and taking food from the mouths of independent business owners for a 50-cent discount on a box of Tide, consumers can now pick up a cheap mobile phone so that the Walton children can put one more Benz in the garage. Cool! /rant

Be sure to tune into the second half of the show to hear more rants from The 404, but we also lament the death of classic gaming magazines like GamePro, PSM, EGM, etc. While many of them are still available for print subscription, we can't help but reminisce about the old days when you had to subscribe to them in order to get the latest tips and tricks.

So, all that, PLUS we discover the true identity of Motherboard's wily sidekick, LaserJet (thanks Hayato!) and reveal some serious (and some not-so-serious) submissions to the "Choose Justin's new glasses" competition!