Like the Google Wave-inspired interface for Gmail, the new user interface is cleaner and bolder than the current version, offering more options to the user. It may still be far from deployment, however, but it's good to see some changes after so many years of same all same all.

In other words, many of these "deals" really aren't deals at all. Often, Black Friday sale products are priced differently between stores, or they are priced at or above deals you can find elsewhere any day of the week. You might see a particularly juicy deal in a flyer on a big ticket item like an HDTV, only to discover that the store only had a few units to sell. The bottom line is that you need to do your homework, and this is a good place to start.

After digging through a mind-numbing quantity of deals, I came away with a few impressions about how some major retailers do business. Simply put, they are taking advantage of the herd mentality. Losses taken on truly great deals (which are often in limited quantities), are made up by selling high volume products or crap products at or above their normal retail value.

The companies examined here have different angles on Black Friday, though. Amazon always has volatile pricing, so some of its Black Friday prices are already above the current going rates. Besides that, because it shows you its own prices and prices of its third-party vendors during searches, sometimes its own prices look high. Walmart has great prices, but you have to watch out for crappy products. And Sears and Best Buy, well, they just have bad deals—many of the hottest items on their list are available cheaper right now at other retailers.

The way I see it, your odds of scoring a big-time deal at a brick-and-mortar store are slim, and catching the best deal online is often based entirely on timing, maybe even watching the price of a product over an extended period of time. So this year I plan on skipping the crowds (and a potential trampling) on Black Friday in favor of shopping through some online comparison engines, setting up price alerts and doing some price trending analysis to give myself the best chance of scoring real deals.

The following lists feature some of worst deals on hardware offered up by four major retailers. At the bottom is a supplemental list of products you should avoid at all costs.

Best Buy

While Best Buy's offerings during Black Friday are decent, there are an alarming number of instances where they are getting beat on the price—sometimes badly.

• Cellphones: Motorola Droid priced at $199.99 w/contract, available at Dell Mobility for $120.
• Cellphones: Motorola H710 Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headset priced at $39.99, currently available from Wireless Emporium (via Amazon) for about the same price with shipping.
• Electronics: Bose in-ear headphones priced at $89.99, found on Amazon for $89.95 right now with free shipping.
• Home Theater: Monster HDMI Cable priced at $49.95, see our piece on the Truth About Monster Cable
• Home Theater: Sony 7.1 Channel 770-Watt A/V Receiver priced at $279.99, currently available on Amazon for $262.91
• Home Theater: Samsung Home Theater System priced at $399.99, currently available at Best Buy and Amazon for the same price.
• Televisions: Sony 46" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV priced at $852.99, but on Black Friday, Walmart will sell it for $798
• Televisions: Sony 40" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV priced at $662.99; Walmart's Black Friday price is $598
• Televisions: Samsung 42" 720p Plasma HDTV priced at $547.99, only $2 cheaper than current Amazon price with free shipping
• Televisions: Samsung 40" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV priced at $597.99, only $2 cheaper than current Dell price with free shipping
• Televisions: Samsung 32" 720p LCD HDTV priced at $397.99, only $2 cheaper than current Amazon price with free shipping
• Portable Storage: Sandisk Cruzer 8GB priced at $19.99, available at Office Depot and Office Max for $14.99
• Blu-ray: Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-ray Disc Player priced at $279.99, available online for $278.75 with free shipping
• Blu-ray: Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray Disc Player priced at $149.99, currently available from Amazon for the same price with free shipping
• Digital Media Cards: Sandisk 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo priced at $14.99, on Black Friday available from Staples for $12.99
• Digital Media Cards: Sandisk 8GB SD Card priced at $19.99, on Black Friday available from several retailers for $14.99
• Digital Cameras: Nikon Coolpix P90 priced at $299.99, currently available at Adorama (via Amazon) for the same price with free shipping

Walmart

Not surprisingly, Walmart is pretty good about setting the lowest prices. They don't always have the most eye popping offerings, but their deals are solid. Out of their Black Friday electronics lineup, I only found a few questionable (and relatively minor) issues.

• Blu-ray: The hot $78 Magnavox NB500 Blu-ray Disc Player deal is well priced, but keep in mind that this is the same player they have discounted during the holidays for the last couple of years. It's great for entry-level users, but don't expect streaming Netflix or Amazon on demand, or any of the other features found in sub-$200 Blu-ray players.
• Digital Media Cards: Sony 4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo priced at $20, available from ABX ProTech (via Amazon) for $13.63 with shipping
• Electronics: Philips 6-foot HDMI cable priced at $19. While that's still a lot cheaper than Monster cable, it's overpriced. You can get cable just as good at Monoprice.com or Amazon for under $4.

Sears

Sears has something of a reputation for bad Black Friday deals, and this year appears to be more of the same. Looking through their offerings, I noticed a significant number of electronics being sold at or above prices that you can find at other retailers on any given week.

• Digital Cameras: Sony DCR-SR47 60GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder priced at $299.99, on Black Friday available at Best Buy for $249.99
• Televisions: Sony 52" LCD HDTV (Model KDL52V5100) priced at $1599.99, available for less than $1400 from several online retailers with free shipping
• Televisions: Sony 46" LCD HDTV (Model KDL46V5100) priced at $1239.99, available for less than $1000 from several online retailers with free shipping
•Televisions: Sony 40" 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV priced at $664.99, on Black Friday available at Walmart for $598
• Televisions: Samsung 55" LED HDTV (Model UN55B6000) priced at $2469.99, currently available at or below that price from several online retailers with free shipping
• Televisions: Samsung 50" Plasma HDTV (Model PN50B530) priced at $899.99, currently available from Crutchfield for the same price with free shipping
• Televisions: Samsung 46" LED HDTV (Model UN46B6000) priced at $1599.99, currently available via ecomelectronics for $1574.95 with free shipping
• Televisions: Samsung 46" 1080P Class LCD HDTV (Model LN46B500) priced at $899.99, on Black Friday available for $848 at Walmart and Best Buy
• MP3 Players: GPX 4GB MP3/4 Player priced at $32.99, available from Kmart for $24.99
• Home Theater: Sony Bravia 5.1 Channel 1000 Watt Integrated Home Theater System DAV-HDX589 priced at $329.99, available at Best Buy for $279.99
• Home Theater: Panasonic Blu-Ray Home Theater System (Model SC-BT200) priced at $399.99, currently available at 6ave (via Amazon) for $376.84 with free shipping
• GPS: Magellan RoadMate 1220 GPS priced at $89.99, on Black Friday available at Kmart for $84.99
• Blu-ray: Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Disc Player priced at $149.99, on Black Friday available via Target with a $20 gift card and currently priced at Amazon for $133.89 with shipping
• Blu-ray: Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray Disc Player priced at $149.99, currently available from Amazon for the same price with free shipping
• Digital Media Cards: Sony 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo priced at $12.99, currently $12.82 on Amazon with shipping

Amazon

While I expected Amazon's prices to fluctuate from one minute to the next, I did not expect some of their current prices to be far below the price they planned to offer as part of their Black Friday deal. It's almost like they are using Black Friday fever as an opportunity to jack up the profits on certain items. Both price points are competitive, but it appears that scoring the best deal is more about price trending over an extended period of time than it is about Black Friday. Amazon also has a funny situation with its third-party retailers. You can see in the list below that many partners are already underselling Amazon's Black Friday prices. It's a good issue to have if you're in the market for particular items—provided you trust the third-party retailer.

• Computers: ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook priced at $349.99, amazingly it is currently available on Amazon for $339.99—so the promoted Black Friday price is $10 higher.
• Computers: Samsung N120-12GW 10.1-Inch White Netbook priced at $363.32, again, Amazon is selling it cheaper right now—only $319
• Computers: Toshiba Satellite T135-S1307 TruBrite 13.3-Inch Ultrathin Black Laptop priced at $699.99, selling on Amazon right now for $599.99
• Electronics: Archos 5 250 GB Internet Media Tablet priced at $259.95, currently selling on Amazon for $229.99
• GPS: DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 Green Handheld GPS priced at $224.37, currently selling on Amazon for $179.99
• GPS: DeLorme Earthmate PN-30 Realtree Handheld GPS priced at $236, currently selling on Amazon for $179.99
• GPS Garmin Nüvi 780 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator with MSN Direct Service priced at $179.99, important to note that MSN Direct is shutting down in 2011
• GPS: Magellan RoadMate 1220 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator priced at $96.94, currently available on Amazon for $89.99
• GPS: Magellan RoadMate 1440 4.3-Inch Portable GPS Navigator priced at $149, currently available on Amazon $138.91 with shipping
• GPS: Magellan RoadMate 1470 4.7-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator priced at $149, currently available from Electronics Expo (via Amazon) for $139.39 with shipping
• Home Theater: Denon S-32 Internet Radio with Built-in Speakers and 2-Alarm Clock priced at $319, currently available from One Call (via Amazon) for $299
• Television: LG 37LH55 37-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV priced at $866.97, currently available from Adorama (via Amazon) for $849.99
• Television: Panasonic VIERA G10 Series TC-P42G10 42-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV priced at $909.69, currently available on Amazon for $897.87 with shipping Update: price jumped overnight to $916.42

The Worst Gadgets of The Year

There are bad deals, and then there are bad products. Except where otherwise noted, the gadgets in the lists above are more or less worth it if you can find the best prices. The stuff below appear under the Worstmodo tag; it's the stuff we don't want to see any of you people buying. We've mentioned a bunch more Don't Buy products our continuing gift guide series, but here are the most egregious offenders of the year.

TwitterPeek: If you are going to make a gadget that only handles Twitter, it had damn sure better provide an experience that outstrips what I could do with just about any ordinary cellphone. By most accounts, the TwitterPeek fails in this regard. If you spend $99 for 6-months or $200 for a lifetime of service on this, you have lost your mind.

Garmin Nuvifone G60 GPS Phone: As our review clearly states, the Garmin Nuvifone G60 should be taken out back and put out of its misery. Besides functioning poorly, it charges you for what other devices can do better, and for free.

Sony PRS-600 Touch Edition Reader: Sony has long been a proponent of the e-ink ebook, but they keep messing it up by overlaying it with a resistive touchscreen. The trouble is glare—even in the gentle light of a reading lamp, you can see your reflection as you try to make out the page. Some reviewers don't mind this for some reason, but we do, and besides, with so many ebook options out there, why settle for a compromised machine? (We haven't reviewed the upcoming Sony PRS-900 Daily Edition, but we have been told that the touchscreen is constructed the same. This is bad news for Sony. Steer clear!)

Windows Mobile 6.5: With the bar being set by the iPhone and Android, and the Palm Pre doing a nice job of keeping up, Microsoft needed to get their act together with Windows Mobile if they really wanted to compete. The 6.5 update doesn't bring anything new to the table outside of some UI tweaks. As we noted in our review, it's a major letdown...and then some.

Panasonic SDR-SW21 Waterproof Camera: Despite a $400 price tag, the SDR-SW21 takes 640x480 SD video and 0.3MP stills, putting it the same league as some of the crappiest cameraphones. It's also billed as being waterproof and rugged, but can only be used at depths above 6-feet. A complete piece of garbage, pure and simple.

CatGenie Litter Box: A litter box that does all the cleaning for you sounds like a cat lover's dream come true—that is until you realize that the CatGenie creates as many problems as it solves. It cleans up well, but it's also an enormous, power sucking money pit. Check out our review for the full details.

Cell-Mate Hands Free Cellphone Holder: How could wearing a Bluetooth headset in public make you look like a bigger idiot? Answer: when the Bluetooth is coming from the phone strapped to your head. The product page doesn't explain where you can actually buy one of these cellphone-holding headsets, but if you come across the Cell-Mate in the wild, just keep on walking.

[Image via Flickr]

Desktop Replacement Notebook: iBuypower M865TU

You want a speedy desktop replacement notebook wrapped in an unassuming, businesslike shell? That's precisely what the iBuypower M865TU delivers, courtesy of an 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo Mobile and a GeForce GTX 260M under the hood. Like the classic mullet, this speed machine lets you work all day then party all night, for a mere $2000. [Review]

Inexpensive Gaming Laptop: Asus G51Vx-RX05

If all you wanna do is have some fun, the G51Vx-RX05 gives you all of the raw gaming performance of the M865TU—it sports the same GeForce GTX 260M GPU—but instead of a spendy 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo, the Asus economizes at 2GHz. While the G51Vx's dual-core is down two cores and about a gigahertz from the iBuypower machine, when it comes to games, the big videocard is all that matters. For a cool grand, you can pick up this laptop exclusively at Best Buy. [Review]

Over-the-Top Crazy-Awesome Desktop: Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge DualX

What do you get when you put a Core i7 CPU overclocked beyond 4GHz, three GeForce GTX 285 GPUs in tri-SLI, four lightning-fast Intel solid-state drives running in RAID 0, and a shiny new copy of Windows 7 Ultimate in one case? Enough computing power to make your Xbox 360 piss itself and run screaming for mommy. This machine doesn't just demolish benchmarks, it rapes and pillages them, leaving nothing behind but a smoking crater and a host of lesser machines. The downside? It costs $9000. [Review]

"Cheap" Crazy-Awesome Desktop: Falcon Northwest Talon

From one of the original boutique PC manufacturer's comes the Talon. Packing 90% of the raw performance of Velocity Micro's $9000 wonder for a mere $4000, the Talon's watchwords are "extreme" and "efficiency." With a new Lynnfield Core i5 CPU and a pair of ATI's hot-off-the-presses Radeon 5970, this rig uses all four GPUs and all four CPU cores to deliver kick ass performance. [Review]

Will Smith is the Editor-in-Chief of Maximum PC, not the famous actor/rapper. His work has appeared in many publications, including Maximum PC, Wired, Mac|Life, and T3, and on the web at Maximum PC and Ars Technica. He's the author of The Maximum PC Guide to Building a Dream PC.

The Price

$100ish (cheaper at retail)

The Verdict

If you upgrade to the new Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter from the old, 802.11g version, you won't notice any difference while gaming. But media streaming over your home network will see a legitimate speed increase.

For a moment, let's ignore Microsoft's traditionally ridiculous price for their Xbox 360 Wi-Fi adapters. Instead, let's just focus on performance.

Upgrading from 802.11g networking to 802.11n has a few key advantages: range is longer, speeds are faster and, since 802.11n sits on the 5GHz band, you won't interfere as much with 2.4GHz frequencies used by 802.11g and basically everything else in existence.

But there's one big thing that stops 802.11n from being any better than 802.11g for gaming: latency. Overall throughput may be faster on 802.11n (the pipe is bigger), but latency is really no less present than on 802.11g (it takes just as long for that first burst of water to come through). So those quick gaming commands aren't faster on n, and my multiplayer testing (Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands...it was a real chore) confirmed it. Then again, I didn't really notice any lag over my 802.11g adapter to begin with.

Media streaming, however, is where those big throughputs pay off. Using Connect360, I streamed HD episodes of Mad Men from my Mac to the Xbox. I timed from the moment I hit play to to the first frame of video playback. And the difference was noticeable.
Buffering occurred between 2 and 3x faster, which was well beyond my expectations, despite how fast 802.11n is on a spec sheet. Clips went from taking as many as 15 seconds to playing (rounding up) to actually breaking the 5 second barrier. I'd love to have tested 1080P streaming over Live as well, but my DSL is the bottleneck in that scenario.

Yes, the Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter is still profanely expensive. No, if you have an older adapter (or you're just using some other solution), I wouldn't recommend the upgrade (nor do I think Microsoft is even marketing it that way). But it's nice to see a tangible improvement all the same.

Streams intra network media between 2 and 3x faster

Tiny formfactor still unique to the industry

No perceivable speed increases gaming

It's $100.

Costs half the price of a new 360

It'll set you back a month of dinners at McDonalds

I don't even want to think about what that is in White Castles

If you hate the gallery format, click here.

All pricing shown is with a new 2-year contract, and some deals may be temporary.

AT&T

iPhone 3GS
The iPhone 3GS is the best overall smartphone you can buy. It's really that simple. Best user interface, best internet, best apps, best media support—the list goes on. Okay, not the best network, but nothing's perfect. $199

BlackBerry Bold 9700
I miss the original BlackBerry Bold's king-sized keyboard, but the Bold 9700 squeezes the best of the BlackBerry for CEOs into an impressively tight form factor—faux leather back included—making it very possibly the best BlackBerry you can buy. $10

Bonus: Nokia e71x
It's free, and an actually good smartphone—my favorite Nokia phone on the planet. Free

Verizon

Droid
It's a terminator. A huge, disgustingly high-res screen, Batman-worthy industrial design, and the full power of Android 2.0 make it the best phone on Verizon—and the fact that it's running on arguably the best network in the US make it the second best smartphone you can buy, period. $150

BlackBerry Tour
Sure, it's notorious for trackball problems and it's missing Wi-Fi, but this is the BlackBerry of choice for email warriors if they're not on AT&T or T-Mobile—and it sure as hell beats anything running Windows Mobile. $50

Bonus: Droid Eris
If you're desperate to save $100 over the Droid, the Droid Eris will run Android 2.0 soon enough, and is smoother, smaller, and friendlier, if a little blander. $100

Sprint

Palm Pre
The Pre offers one of the best user experiences of any smartphone with Palm's webOS, and it's probably the best phone on Sprint, hardware build issues and comparatively dinky App Catalog aside. $80

HTC Hero
The best Android phone not running Android 2.0, HTC's Sense UI makes the sometimes confusing Android interface more digestible and has a few nifty tricks of its own, like integrated social networking. $100

Bonus: There is none. The Pixi's close ($25), but the fact that you can get the Pre for nearly as cheap undercuts a lot of the value, as much as we like the design and form factor.

T-Mobile

Motorola Cliq
Motorola's other Android phone is gussied up with Blur, a custom interface that's bright and friendly, with widgets for keeping track of everything happening on your social network. It's our favorite Android phone on T-Mobile. $100

Unlocked iPhone
No, I'm not kidding. A jailbroken and unlocked iPhone, even without 3G powers, is the second best smartphone you can use on T-Mobile.

Bonus: BlackBerry Bold 9700
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is the first BlackBerry with 3G on T-Mobile, which is reason enough, really, but it's good the reasons listed above, too. $130

First Place
"Smoke Signal was taken with an Olympus sp350 set to night scene. This was taken with a color changing led rave light about six inches long by 1/2 inch wide that I wrapped with electrical tape to create a candy cane stripe. I placed the light on my record turn table at a slow RPM and swiped the camera vertically to create the spinning stripe"
- Brad Bogle

Second Place
"No photoshop! To take this photo, I set up some white paper for a background in a dark room. I laid strawberries on a table and separately stood up a banana with some cardboard and tape. With the lights on, I set up a quick-release tripod properly framing the banana (this makes it much easier later). Now the lights are off. So now I set my camera to bulb and used my built-in pop up flash to shoot straight down on the strawberries, filling the frame. Keeping my finger on the shutter button, I put my camera on the tripod and then hit the pilot button on an external flash. The flash hits the white background behind the banana, silhouetting it briefly. Effectively, this washes out all of the original photo of the strawberries except for where the silhouette is, thereby superimposing the first image into the second. And you get a cool glossy product-shot-reflection-look that results from the shadow drop off of the external-flash (although if you look closely, you'll notice the "reflection" is actually just other strawberries from the initial shot) And now you can have a strawberry-banana! Canon 20D 17-55 IS lens @ f/22 ISO 200 13s (multiple focal length)"
- Jason Yore

Third Place
Nikon D5000; Nikkor 18-200mm VR; Exposure: 36.5 seconds; Aperture : f/5.0; Focal Length: 38mm; ISO: 400; WB: Daylight. I had a friend spin some burning steel wool in an eggbeater attached to a lanyard at the top of the overpass. What you're seeing are the resulting spark trails. More here. [Ed note: the umbrella shots are even more impressive]
- Dan DeChiaro

These placements are almost unfair with so many good shots being in the mix. I wish that I could honorable mention you all. Check the gallery. It's well-worth a waste of 10 minutes.

And I'm not sure that the solution is just a refresh away.

The Mac Pro was once the only viable option for a OS X lover in need of serious horsepower for tasks like editing media. Now, with the new iMac? I think it's straight up stupid to buy a Mac Pro.

The $2,500 Mac Pro, desperately in need of a refresh, gives you a 2.66GHz Quad-Core Xeon (essentially an i7), 3GB of RAM (triple channel, but seriously?), 640GB hard drive (again, seriously?) and a nominal graphics card. Spend $800 more and you'll get a another processor and 3GB more RAM.

The $2200, 27-inch iMac obviously includes a screen, plus you get a 2.8GHz Quad-Core (i7), 1TB drive, 4GB of RAM and a nominal graphics card.

But beyond those clock speeds, the Mac Pro's i7 processor is the more premium Bloomfield edition, while the iMac uses the Lynnfield. (More on those differences here.)

Still, the bottom line is that the iMac's Lynnfield processor is newer, and it shows in performance.

Macworld benched the new iMacs against the latest Mac Pros. And, you know what? The i7 iMac more than held its own. It basically defeated the 4-core Mac Pro across the board.

And other than a few specific tasks in which the most expensive Mac Pro's 8 cores proved beneficial (Handbrake, Cinebench, etc), the iMac outperformed the competition or kept things close enough not to be relevant, plus it straight-up won in the eyes of Speedmark 6.

Performance-wise, the base Mac Pro makes no sense at all. The 8-core Mac Pro offers a touch more power, sometimes, and other times (in many day to day tasks) even it is outgunned.

Of course, any Mac Pro still allows multiple internal hard drives, three PCI slots, more FireWire ports (four vs one) and more room for RAM expansion (32GB vs 16GB). But once again, even in the worlds of professional media creation, that's a pretty questionable upsell, especially with external storage solutions and the fact that most high, high end media pros (like special effects artists) turn to dedicated render farms to do their heavy number crunching anyway.

With the new iMac, Apple has shrunk the Mac-Pro-needing niche even smaller. And I can't tell anyone with a straight face that a handful of expandability is worth $300-$1100 with no monitor, no matter how deep their pockets are.

Apple needs to reexamine their pricing model. Even with an inevitable processor refresh (i9, anyone?), it's time for a price drop and/or some free with purchase displays. Just because you're a pro doesn't mean you're a sucker.

This started when Microsoft and Google paid for access to Twitter's millions of tweets and Bing paid Facebook and Twitter for access to their pages. Think about this perspective, if you ran Fox the WSJ and other major content makers, wouldn't you think that your content is worth more than all those 140 character posts? Right, you would. And if those sites are charging 100s of millions and up, for their content, wouldn't you ask for a lot more? You probably would, and if you're Murdoch, the most powerful man in media, you'd probably get what you want. Pulling out of Google would be just another part of Murdoch setting up his paywall. But it's going to set a nasty precedent for the rest of the short tail of mega media companies to get a lot of Google's cash. Maybe a lot of these companies value Google's help in promoting their stuff, but it never hurts to ask for money, especially when media and publishing are super duper hard up on cash these days, in general. I'm not an investor in big media or any tech companies, so its not a problem to me, in that way. But it is a problem to me as a guy who lives and works through search engines.

Microsoft is just being evil again. Now, this isn't typical Microsoft bashing — someone has to fight Google. And in a way, you have to hand it to Microsoft. They're the underdog here fighting a Google that grows in power every day, and their Facebook content deal won't likely be matched by Google any time soon. But this is so typically Bad Microsoft, because they've cleverly short cut the straightforward fight for marketshare by features and gone for a deal-based solution to the problem. Like the PC and OS fight in the 80s they're competing with business tactics instead of quality. (And Bing is great, so I'm not making a complete 1:1 comparison to Windows.) We're sort of left with—instead of a David and Goliath—a Clash of the Titans situation with pieces of rock and lighting falling from the sky and crushing us. Microsoft fails to see/care that the fragmentation that Microsoft is trying to achieve is not only going to hurt Google — it is going to hurt YOU AND ME.

This is the Microsoft we know from the last century, before great underdog products like Xbox and Zune. This is from a company who's CEO recently told us that sales are more important than critical acclaim, preferring profit over better product. And this is a company that gets in its anticompetitive digs when it can: For example, in Internet Explorer, it's really hard to set Google as your default browser, not being listed in the alternative choices to Bing. Yet, in Google Chrome, it's easy to set Bing as the default search.

Again, imagine that half of the top 500 media companies are delisted from Google. And imagine that Google stoops to this strategy and buys out the other half of that 500. Now imagine you have to search for something and now have to type it in twice because who the fuck is going to remember (no one) which search engine covers which content? *

People, I'm telling you, this is bad news. People talk about net neutrality like it's only about the data's prioritization over the pipes. But what good is equivalence in data speed and prioritization if you can't find it in the first place?

*the fix for all this is that we'll use search engine aggregators, which is just another layer of bullshit to sort through.

You don't have to use a smartphone for more than a few weeks to amass a staggering amount of stuff on it, from text messages and phone numbers to personal settings and photo libraries. And as with your laptop or desktop, a significant portion of this stuff is stuff you want to keep, whether you know it or not. And cellphone backup isn't just a matter of keeping copies of data that you consciously archive every day, like contacts, photos and notes—it's about keeping copies of information that you didn't even know you wanted. How many times have you needed to dig through an old text message conversation? Referred back to your received call list to recover a number you didn't save? In a lot of ways, your smartphone is more closely tied to your personal identity than your computer is. So, people: back it up. You'll feel better.

By platform:

iPhone

If you've got an iPhone, there's a good chance you've already sat through—and been annoyed by—its backup routine. iTunes updates your iPhone's backups at every sync, which makes users' lives a bit easier, and guarantees some kind of safetly net by default. But! As with most fully automated systems, iTunes backup is kind of enigmatic. It just sort of... happens, and it's not clear what you're saving, where it's going, and how to keep it truly safe.

What it's doing is performing a full backup equivalent. In other words, instead of just mirroring your entire device as a big image file, it's extracting all the useful bits, so it can restore your iPhone as if it had undergone a full, mirrored backup. This includes, among other things, bookmarks, app settings and data (including in-app purchases, but not the apps themselves), contacts, call history, Mail accounts, SMSes, videos and photos. In other words, pretty much everything. Backups are performed automatically, and restoring to one is a simple matter of plugging in your iPhone, alt-clicking on its icon in iTunes, and selecting "Restore from Backup."

Crucially, this is different from selecting "Restore" in the device summary page: doing that will revert your device to a clean, factory-default image, which will delete all your personal data. Which isn't what we're trying to do here! (In fact, it's the opposite!) If you attempt to do this, you will be prompted to perform a backup, which should be a red flag.

iTunes stores its backups as archived files in semi-cryptic directories, so if you want to pull them out of the closed iTunes system for proper backup, i.e. to an external HDD or online storage solution, you can find them here, as per Apple's useful support page on the subject:

On a Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

On Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

On Windows Vista: \Users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\

To add a backup to iTunes, simply copy it back to its default directory, and it should show up as a restore option, labeled by date, when you're setting up a wiped or recently capital "R" Restored iPhone or iPod Touch.

Android

Google's position Android backup and sync has been translucent, perhaps to a fault: Since it depends so much on web services, it doesn't need to be backed up, right! It's already backed up, in the cloud! We're freakin' Google, y'all! THIS IS THE FUTURE! (Carried to its logical conclusion, this is the Chrome OS ethos. Anyway.) To a certain extend this cloud-focused cheerleading is fine, and can be put to good use. Gmail and Gcal are always safe, and your contacts can be added to your Google account too—should you designate them to be saved as Google contacts, not just SIM or Phone contacts. To do this:

1. Open your Contacts list
2. Press the Menu button
3. Select Import
4. Tick the "Google Contacts" box

But for anyone who wants to back up more than their Google-service-based info, this doesn't really help. For that, you'll need to go third-party. There are lots of backup apps for Android, but most of them are paid, either immediately or after a free trial. I assume just go with the best free(ish) solutions, all of which you can find by searching for their names in the Android Market.

Backup apps on Android are split into two types: the all-in-one apps that sync your data to a single file, and the piecemeal apps. Unfortunately, the AIO apps tend to be paid; doing this for free takes multiple downloads. Download these three apps: SMS Backup and Restore, Call Logs Backup & Restore, and APN Backup & Restore. Each one backs up its respective data to your microSD card (in /sdcard/*appname*BackupRestore/) for easy restoration on another phone. Using these apps is self-explanatory, since there are only three buttons: Backup, Restore and Delete.

Astro File Manager fills a remaining gap: app backup. It's a free file browser at heart, so the backup option is kind of hidden—once in the app, press the menu button, then click "Tools." Select "Application Manager/Backup," and you'll be able to backup your apps to your SD card. To restore, just install this same app on the device, insert the old SD card, navigate to the same "Application Manager/Backup screen" again, and select the "Backed Up Apps" tab. Astro is also a solid file browser, you can can manually move your data—like photos and videos—to a microSD card, where you should probably be storing them by default anyway. [Pic via]

There! Sprite Mechanic does the same in a slightly simpler way, but I'm hearing reports that it's a bit buggy on certain handsets (the Hero variant and Droid, specifically). Still, it's free, so it may be worth a try.

Lastly, if you've got a rooted phone, Backup for Root Users backs up virtually everything, and it's totally free. That catch? You need to have a rooted phone, or else it won't work. Which is either a crying shame, or a great excuse to root your phone.

Palm Pre/Pixi

Where Android's cloud-based not-really-a-backup system doesn't feel remotely complete, the Pre's is actually pretty good: Backup is performed automatically, every day, and linked to your user account. This just covers the basics, though. For example, a list of apps is kept server-side, but the app data itself isn't backed up; browser bookmarks are remembered, but no form data or website passwords. Media isn't backed up at all. Here's the full list. The solution is a bit hackish, but it works fine for most data. From PreCentral, a brief guide on backing up using either Microsoft' Sync Toy for PC, or with slight, obvious modifications, ChronoSync for Mac:

1. Plug in the Pre and select USB Drive.
2. Download SyncToy and install.
3. Click SyncToy on your desktop to run SyncToy for the first time.
4. Click Create New Folder Pair. For the Left Folder, Browse to the Pre's Drive (maybe E: or F:)
5. For the right folder browse to your documents folder and create a new subdirectory such as PreBackup and select it.
6. Choose to Synchronize and name your folder pair something easy to remember like PreBackup.
7. Click Run.

What you're doing here is essentially backing up the Pre's internal storage, bit for bit. Unfortunately, this doesn't back up settings and some application data, so restoring from this image won't ensure that you don't lose some data; just media, ringtones, etc.

Between this, Palm's backup and the natural backup inherent in being tied to online services like Gmail and Flickr, the only notable things not really backed up properly are specific application data and SMS conversations.

Windows Mobile

Microsoft has always offered some kind of backup out of the box, and as of the release of version 6.5, there are multiple options. The core backup utility, of course, is Windows Mobile Device Center, or as it's known in XP, ActiveSync. Pairing your device with these apps is quite simple, and gives shelter to most of the data you could want to back up, including contacts, calendar appointments and media.

In XP, download and install ActiveSync, and when you plug in your phone, start the ActiveSync app, which you should be prompted to open anyway. Set up a pairing relationship, select the data you want to backup, and you're good to go.

In Vista, you'll need to download Windows Mobile Device Center and do the same; in Windows 7, you should be prompted to install Windows Mobile Device Center as soon as you plug in a WinMo handset.

Now, let's assume you're not using a Windows PC, or you don't want to bother with setting up a sync relationship with a computer. You've got two free options, which together back up even more data than ActiveSync, without and external machine.

My Phone, another Microsoft app, is available for free to any Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1 or 6.5 user. It's a misleadingly basic-seeming little app, which backs up nearly everything you store on your phone:

[By default]: contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, photos, videos, text messages, songs, browser favorites and documents between your phone and your My Phone web account.

Restoring from MyPhone is just a matter of logging into your Live account from within the app. You get 200MB of free storage, after which you've got to pay. Still: pretty fantastic, especially if you set it up to do scheduled backups.

If you want to back up your phone's data without a PC or a cloud-based service, there's PIM Backup. This utility feels and looks kind of ancient, but it's great at what it does. And what does it do? Everything:

- backup/restore appointments
- backup/restore call logs
- backup/restore contacts
- backup/restore messages (SMS, Mails, ...) NEW !!!
- backup/restore speed dials
- backup/restore tasks
- backup/restore custom files

Best of all, it stores your backup in a single file, which can be restored on any device using the same app. The procedure is dead-easy: Download the PIM CAB file to your device, install it, open it, check the data you want to back up off the list, and go. To restore, you go through the exact same interface, selecting "Restore" from the app's pulldown menu instead of "Back Up." In the spirit of safety, you may want to back up PIM's backup files on some kind of external storage. PIM lets you designate where you'd like to store its backups: select your microSD card if you have one, after which you can transfer it to any media your want. If not, you may want to transfer your backup to a PC or external storage device. (Unfortunately, the easiest way to do this is probably with ActiveSync or Mobile Device Center, since most WinMo phones don't allow you to browse the root storage in Explorer.)

BlackBerry

RIM has made life easy for BlackBerry users, who can back up their entire devices using BlackBerry Desktop.

First, install the app.

Under "Backup," select "Options," where you can specify encryption and data type parameters (encrypt the data for safety if you want, but make sure to select "Back up all device application data."

Click "Back Up," and select the destination directory for your backup. It's a single file, so it's easy to throw on an external HDD, USB stick or microSD card for safe storage.

That's it! Further instructions, including a detailed restore guide, are available here. [Pic via]

Symbian

Depending on which brand of handset and Symbian shell you're using, your backup options are going to differ. The Ovi Suite will do the trick. It's a full, automated backup suite, but it's PC-only and works exclusively with Nokia phones. Using it is as simple as setting up a sync relationship—just install the suite and plug the Nokia phone in via USB, and follow the wizard prompts—and it'll keep contacts, calendar items and media backed up. [Pic via]

Non-Nokia Symbian users—Samsung folks, listen up—can use a free app called The Symbian Tool. This will actually pull a full image copy from your Symbian phone, meaning that you can restore your phone bit-for-bit to the state it was in at the time of backup. There are also less severe options for basic media backup, or selective sync. More details here.

So, that's it! If you have more tips and tools to share, please drop some links in the comments-your feedback is hugely important to our How To guides, and your collective troubleshooting efforts have SAVED HUNDREDS OF LIVES, possibly. And if you have any topics you'd like to see covered here, please let me know. Happy backups, folks!

To view as a single page, click here

Voices: There are a few voice modulation apps on the shelves of the App Store, but none has captured Jesus' heart like Voices:

Retro tape recorder and microphone, cute icons, simple touch interface, and sharing via Twitter, Facebook, and email, so you can spook everyone with that infernal Reverse Voice effect. For $1, it's impossible to resist.

Zosh: Signing things over email: a thing that is dumb. Zosh: a thing that makes that process much easier.

Zosh is a $3 app that allows you to sign attached documents on your iPhone. Basically, you forward the emailed document to Zosh from the iPhone's mail app, then you open the Zosh app to sign it (plus you can add a date and stuff).

I especially like this one because it's not just a good way to sign documents on the iPhone, it's a good way to sign documents in general. I mean seriously, who wants to scan their signature, or jitter one out in MS paint? One catch: it only supports PDFs for now, so convert or die.

CatPaint: Negative space, as defined in the eminent McFairlyshire Encyclopedia of Artistic Principles (1904): An area, perimeter or measurable expanse that lacks cats. And one of the first thing they teach to you any good art school is to fill it up, with cats. Facts! Enter CatPaint:

Cats can be added to preexisting photos or cat-scarce shots from the iPhone's camera, and either saved to your camera roll or sent via email. Using it takes a while to get used to: Once you've selected a cat from the app's animal palette and set the slider for size, each tap on the photo instantly splashes a new cat at the point of contact, which can't be edited, save for a temperamental shake-to-delete function.

It is the best thing, this app. A dollar.

Knocking: Live Pic Sharing: Uses server-side galleries to let you view photos in sync with other people, which you can send or flip through by "knocking." Ideal scenario: You're talking to your friend over the phone, you want to show him a gallery of pictures, you tell him to jump onto Knocking, and suddenly you're in control of his viewing experience. It pretty much works like that. Free.

Blower: Real Air: Can you guess what this one does? Really, no? Then you're probably a good candidate for spending money on it. For what it's worth—something?—Blower explores the iPhone's absurd novelty potential in a completely new way. From the reviews, a perfect description: "It feels like an ant blowing on you."

Call of Duty: The control scheme isn't perfect, and the price ($10) is high, but it's tough to argue with a Nazi Zombie shoot 'em up with the Call of Duty name. Protip: switch to the tilt controls, because the overlaid joystick is not good. (They never are!)

Magellan: It's a late entrant into a crowded field, and without extensive testing it's hard to recommend plunking down for Magellan RoadMate's $80 introductory price. That said, for Magellan devotees, which probably exist somewhere, RoadMate is great news.

FunMail: MMSes are a bit of a conundrum. Like, it's great that you can send pictures and sounds and all, but phones—even the iPhone—aren't exactly the best tools for creating media, so you usually end up sending some pretty basic stuff: pictures of puppies, brief voice recordings, hot nudez, etc. FunMail takes whatever you type and converts it into an MMS-able image, generally with some kind of punny adornment. Call someone an ass, and there's a picture of a donkey. Say you want to get coffee, and your recipient gets your message overlaid on a picture of a mug. It's earnestly cheesy and a lot of the images look like clipart, but this isn't always a bad thing. FunMail works over MMS, email or Facebook, and it's free.

Fit or Fugly: Rounding out our cr-appier selections for the week, an app that purports to measure your beauty according to some kind of mathematical equation. It's not a good way to actually tell if someone is attractive, nor is it a particularly well-executed app. It is, however, a good excuse to tell your friends that their faces are asymmetrical, which evokes surprisingly intense responses. Try it! (The face thing, not necessarily the app.)

Google Earth 2.0: You can create and store your own customized maps in the desktop version of Google Maps, and save them to your account—this is great for keeping running routes, sharing driving directions and the like. You can view them in the new version of Google Earth for the iPhone now, which is useful, and also sort of hilarious, since you can't even access them in the official Google Maps app. Sound silly? Welcome to the iPhone, y'all!

Konami Apps: Whooooole bunch good stuff discounted to $1 for a few weeks, including: Field Prowlers, Frogger, Metal Gear Solid Touch, Silent Hill: The Escape, Silent Scope, Krazy Kart Racing, DanceDanceRevolution S, DanceDanceRevolution S+ -Power Pros Touch. Decent stuff to take a look at, with a few gems—especially MGS:T.

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a great weekend, everybody!

If you have a problem with you TV, like a certain 70-year old Missouri man did with his converter box during the DTV transition, DO NOT get loaded, shoot it and engage in a standoff with the police. [Link]
If you work in a tech-related retail store, DO NOT do what 29 year old Aaron Seiber did and stab yourself so you don't have to go. Making up a phony story about a skinhead attack to the police doesn't help matters either. [Link]
If you have trouble getting up the stairs, escalators are a real lifesaver. However, DO NOT use one like the man in this video.
If your phone dies, DO NOT take it to get fixed and threaten to shoot it in the store with the 9mm concealed in your jacket. There are no cellphones in prison—unless you have a really good hiding place (and there is only one really good hiding place). [Link]
If you have a tall hedge, and no gadget designed to trim it, DO NOT raise your ride-on mower up with a crane to do the job like this lunatic from New Zealand. [Link]
So you have bought a new phone and you are not sure what to do with your old one. Unless is is complete garbage, DO NOT smash it. Get some money for it or donate it to charity. If you want an iPhone to smash, there are cheaper ways to do it. [Link]
If your kid acts up in a Verizon store, DO NOT drag him around on the floor with a leash. Someone with a cameraphone is bound to make a video of the whole incident and share it with the police.
If your internet connection goes down while playing an online game, DO NOT vent your frustrations by grabbing a knife and stabbing the first 15-year old girl that walks down the street near your home. You could wind up in a mental hospital with pending manslaughter charges. [Link]

Panasonic Z1

Panasonic's flagship HDTV is its thinnest 54-inch plasma HDTV ever, with only 1-inch depth. They did it by eliminating a third sheet of glass found in all other plasmas except Pioneer's Kuro, and bonding the anti-reflective coating directly top glass. The Z1 employs SiBEAM's 60GHz 1080p for wireless glitch-free images sent via the included transmitter/media box from up to 30 feet away. The Z1 has THX picture mode and a custom calibration mode, plus nice bonus features including VieraCast Internet connectivity for YouTube and Amazon VOD and an SD card reader for photos. The Z1 delivers amazing performance with full 1080 line motion resolution, accurate HD color, deep black levels and 96Hz for judder free movie viewing.

The sexiest HDTV of 2009, the TC-P54Z1 will set you back $4000.

Update: Many of you have commented that you prefer Panasonic's excellent Viera V10 series, and to Gary's credit, he gave the TV his highest rating, and is including it in his top 10 list, which he'll publish next week. There's nothing wrong with that TV, and if we indicated six here, it would certainly be shown. It has the same NeoPDP panel as the Z1, but it's not the same picture, because it has the third separate piece of glass with anti-reflective coating.

Pioneer Kuro Signature

You know it's been a weird year for TVs when not one but two of our top picks are no longer being manufactured, but are still being sold. Pioneer's sweetest (and last) Kuro line is technically a monitor: There's no tuner or audio. But the Signature models offer the deepest black of any high definition display on the market—without any white-letter-on-black-background halos occasionally seen on LED-based LCD TVs. The Signature models features hand selected parts, 2.5-in. depth, Custom Calibration, 72Hz refresh and control over the internet via its Ethernet connection. The Pioneer uses a single top sheet of glass to minimize internal reflections, with the anti-reflection coating bonded directly to the surface.

The Signature models are available at scattered retailers around the country in the 50-inch size (PRO-101FD) for about $3000 to $3500, and 60-inch size (PRO-141FD) for $4000 to $4800.

Samsung LNB8500

The 8500 series is Samsung flagship LED LCD TV. It feature packed with thin 1.6-inch depth, white LED local dimming backlights for improved uniformity, dual-chip 240 Hz plus a scanning backlight for excellent motion resolution and the best black level of any LED LCD observed to date. The 8500 features four HDMI inputs plus internet connectivity with Flickr, YouTube, weather, news and other widgets. It also has a PV+C input for connection to your computer or HTPC. This is a benchmark LED LCD to judge against every other make and model.

All this performance comes at a price. The LNB8500 series comes in 46-inch (UN46B8500) and 55-inch (UN55B8500) screen sizes, currently on Amazon for $2620 and $4020, respectively.

LG LH90

This LG has all the hot LCD performance features video freaks crave, including white LED dimming backlights for excellent black levels, wide viewing angle LCD IPS panel, accurate color, and 240Hz (120 refresh + scanning backlight) for excellent motion resolution. This LG also has all the tweaks anyone could ask for including ISF CCC mode for calibration, THX certification and LG's "picture wizard" for user set-up without calibration discs or external test signals. The LH90 isn't the thinnest LED LCD, but it more than makes up for it with its price.

The LG LH90 series is available in 42-, 47- and 55-inch screen sizes at street prices that are considerably lower than many competitors' edge lit 120 Hz LED edge lit models. The 42LH90 is online for $1200 to $1500; the 47LH90 sells in the $1700 range; and the 55LH90 goes for $2200 to $2800. In case you couldn't tell, the LH90 series is the value/performance leader of the pack.

Sony XBR8

A comparable model never replaced Sony's 2008 flagship model in 2009. It is the only HDTV available with separate red, green and blue LED backlights (rather than all white), with local dimming for deep black levels. Though slightly thicker than other TVs in its class, the XBR8 has accurate HDTV color, enough brightness for a beach house, a non-glossy anti-glare screen coating (rare for 2009), 120Hz refresh rate and Sony's Bravia Engine 2 signal processing.

You can still find the XBR8s—we spotted the 46-inch KDL-46XBR8 for under $2200 and the 55-inch KDL-55XBR8 for under $4000.

Gary Merson is the HD Guru, the industry's leading HDTV journalist. He's been reviewing TVs for well over a decade, and recently wrote a guide to choosing an HDTV.

First, Know That Some Black Friday Deals Are Not Really That

Check here for a breakdown of the not so great deals to avoid from Best Buy, Sears, Amazon and Walmart.

Recent Changes

Coming Soon - [Amazon], [Sony], [CompUSA], [Apple]

Updated November 23 - [WireFly], [HP], [Newegg]

Updated November 20 - [Best Buy], [Staples], [Office Depot], [Office Max], [Dell]
, [Sears], [Target], [Wal-Mart], [K-M]

Doorbuster items marked with an *

UPDATE: We had to add a Page 2 with TVs, Video Games, Printers, Software, MP3 Players and more

Cell Phones

AT&T Blackberry Bold 9700 (Bold2) - Free for new activations, $29.99 for current [WireFly]
BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone - $149.99 [Amazon]

AT&T Sony Ericsson W518a - Free w/2 Year Contract * [Best Buy]

HTC Pure Windows Phone (With New AT&T Service Plan) - $0.01 [Amazon]

LG Xenon GR500 Cell Phone (With New AT&T Service Plan) - $0.01 [Amazon]

BoostMobile Motorola Clutch i465 - $59.99 [Best Buy]

DLO Jam Jacket For iPhone - $9.99 [Best Buy]

Jabra BT-2080 Bluetooth Headset - $19.99 [Best Buy]

MiFi 2200 By Novatel Wireless - Free with 2 year contract [Best Buy]

Mobile Broadband Card 598U By Sierra Wireless - Free with 2 year contract [Best Buy]

Motorola S9 HD Stereo Bluetooth Headset - $49.99 [Best Buy]

Net10 Samsung T401G - $39.99 [Best Buy]

Sprint BlackBerry Curve 8330 Smart Phone - Free with 2 year contract [Best Buy]

BlackBerry Tour 9630 Phone (With New Sprint Service Plan) - $49.99 [Amazon]

Sprint Samsung Instinct S30 -Free with 2 year contract [Best Buy]

Sprint Samsung Moment - $79.99 for new activations, $99.99 for current customers [WireFly]
Samsung Moment M900 Phone (With New Sprint Service Plan) - $79.99 [Amazon]

T-Mobile Motorola Renew Phone - $7.99 [Best Buy]

Verizon Wireless DROID - $199.99 with 2 year contract [Best Buy]

Verizon Wireless Motorola Rival - Free for new activations * [Best Buy]

Verizon LG Chocolate Touch - Free with 2 year contract * [Best Buy]

Verizon BlackBerry Storm2 - Free for new activations, $29.99 for current customers [WireFly]
BlackBerry Storm2 9550 Phone (With New Verizon Service Plan) - $149.99 [Amazon]

Virgin Mobile Kyocera X-tc - $49.99 [Best Buy]

Motorola TalkAbout Earbud with Microphone for All Series - $12.05 [Amazon]

Plantronics Discovery 975 Bluetooth Headset - $84.99 [Amazon]

Plantronics Voyager PRO Bluetooth Headset - $70.00 [Amazon]

Computer Accessories


APC 450VA Battery Backup - $19.99 [Staples]

APC 550VA Battery Backup - $24.99 [Office Depot]

All Case Logic Laptop Sleeves - 50% Off [Office Depot]

Altec Lansing VS2621 PC Speakers - $19.99 [Staples]

Any Business Case, Sleeve, or Backpack - 40% Off [Staples]

Antec USB Powered Notebook Cooler - $19.82 [Amazon]

Belkin 6-Outlet Surge Protector w/Left Extension Cord Combo - $5.99 [Staples]

HP Wireless Mouse (Black) - $9.99 [Staples]

Logitech C600 Webcam - $39.99 [Staples]


Logitech QuickCam Pro Webcam - $49.99 [Office Max]

Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 - $75.99 [Amazon]

Logitech Z13 Speaker System - $29.99 [Office Max]


Logitech LX6 Cordless Optical Mouse - $7.99 [Office Depot]


Logitech V220 Optical Wireless Mouse - $9.99 * [Office Max]


Logitech V450 Wireless Laser Notebook Mouse - $14.99 [Staples]

Logitech MX 1100 Cordless Laser Mouse - $49.99 [Amazon]

Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse - $49.99 [HP]

Logitech Illuminated Keyboard - $29.99 [Staples]

Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Combo - $39.99 [Office Max]
Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro - $59.99 [Amazon]

Logitech Black Cordless Ergonomic Desktop Wave Keyboard/Mouse Combo $46.99 [Newegg]

Microsoft Lifecam VX-5000 Webcam - $9.99 * [Office Max]


Microsoft Mobile 300 Mouse (Pink) - $4.99 * [Office Max]

Microsoft 4000 Wireless Laser Keyboard/Mouse Set - $29.99 * [Staples]

Microsoft Digital Media Keyboard 6000 - $12.99 [Office Depot]

Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 USB Keyboard - $19.99 [Dell]

Microsoft VX-3000 LifeCam Webcam - $9.99 [Staples]

Height-Adjustable Mobile Laptop Cart - $17.99 [Office Depot]

Moble IT Retractable USB Hub - $4.99 [Office Depot]

Targus 208-CD/DVD Album - $9.98 [Staples]

Targus Chill Mat Notebook Fan - $9.99 [Staples]

USB Web Cam - $9.99 [Office Depot]

iHome Wired Optical Mouse - $6.99 [Office Depot]

Computers


Acer Aspire One 10.1" Netbook w/ 1GB RAM, 160GB HD, Windows XP - $149.99 * [Office Max]

Acer Aspire One Black Intel Atom N270(1.60GHz) Netbook $189.99 [Newegg]


Acer Netbook 10.1" Netbook w/Intel 1.6GHz Atom Processor N270 - $199.99 [Office Depot]

Acer Aspire 15.6" Widescreen Notebook Computer w/AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor L310, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $379.99 [Office Depot]

Acer 17.3" Blue Laptop w/4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive and Windows 7 Premium (Online Only) - $498.00 [Wal-Mart]

ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - $349.99 [Amazon]

Compaq Presario Dual-Core Desktop w/ 3GB RAM, 500GB HD, Windows 7 - $239.99 * [Office Max]

Compaq CQ4010F Desktop Computer w/AMD Sempron LE-1300 Processor, 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive - $229.99 [Office Depot]

Compaq Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive - $179.99 [Best Buy]

Compaq Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive - $229.99 [Best Buy]

Compaq Presario AMD LE-1300 Desktop w/18.5" Monitor - $329.99 [Office Depot]

Dell 10.1" Inspiron Mini 10V Netbook w/Atom 1.6Ghz Processor N270 - $249.00 [Dell]

Dell 10.1" Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive - $379.99 [Best Buy]

Dell 14" Inspiron 14 Notebook w/Intel T4300 Processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $599.00 [Dell]

Dell 14" Studio XPS 13 Notebook w/Intel P7450 Processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive - $999.00 [Dell]

Dell 15.6" Inspiron 15 Notebook w/Intel T4300 Processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $549.00 [Dell]

Dell 15.6" Studio 15 Notebook w/Intel T6600 Processor, 4GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive - $499.00 [Dell]

Dell 15.6" Studio Laptop w/Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 Processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive - $599.98 [Staples]

Dell 16" Studio XPS 16 Notebook w/Intel P7450 Processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive - $999.00 [Dell]

Dell 17" Studio 17 Notebook w/Intel T4300 Processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive - $749.00 [Dell]

Dell 20" Studio XPS 8000 Desktop w/Intel i5-750 CPU, 6GB RAM, 750GB Hard Drive - $899.00 [Dell]

Dell Desktop PC w/AMD Athlon X2 215 Processor, 4GB RAM, 640GB Hard Drive, 20-inch LCD Monitor - $499.98 [Staples]

Dell Inspiron 537s Desktop w/Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 Processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $349.00 [Dell]

Dell Inspiron 537s w/Intel E5300 Processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, w/20" LCD Monitor - $499.00 [Dell]

Dell Inspiron w/Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 Processor, 3GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $499.00 [Dell]

Dell Studio Desktop w/Intel E7500 Processor, 6GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, w/18.5" LCD Monitor - $699.00 [Dell]

Dell Studio Desktop w/Intel Q8300 Processor, 6GB RAM, 640GB Hard Drive, w/20" LCD Monitor - $749.00 [Dell]

Dell Studio Slim Desktop w/Intel E5400, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, w/18.5" LCD Monitor - $599.00 [Dell]

Free Software w/Purchase of Computer - Free [Office Depot]

HP Notebook Computer G60-508US w/Intel Celeron Processor 900 - $299.99 [Office Depot]

HP Notebook Computer G71-343US With Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6600 - $449.99 [Office Depot]

10.1" HP Mini 110-1037NR Pink Netbook - $339.95 [Amazon]

10.1" HP Mini 110-1109NR White Netbook (Windows XP) - $199.99 [Amazon]

13.3" HP Pavilion DM3-1030US Silver Laptop - $499.99 [Amazon]
13.3" HP Pavilion dm3z AMD Neo Laptop w/4GB RAM, 320GB HD - $529.99 [HP]

HP 15.6" Laptop w/Intel Celeron Processor 900, 3GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 - $299.98 * [Staples]

HP 15.6" Notebook w/Intel Processor, 3GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive (Model # G60-519WM) - $298.00 * [Wal-Mart]

HP 15.6" Laptop w/Intel Pentium Processor T4300, 4GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 - $399.98 * [Staples]

HP 15.6" Notebook w/AMD Turion II Dual Core Processor M500, 6GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 - $599.99 [Best Buy]

HP 15.6" Notebook w/AMD Turion II Dual Core Processor M500, 8GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 - $699.99 [Best Buy]

15.6" HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition Laptop w/i7 Processor & HD LED Display - $999.99 [HP]

HP 17" Notebook w/4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive (Model # G71-329WM) - $398.00 [Wal-Mart]

HP 17.3" Laptop w/Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 Processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $599.98 [Staples]

HP Desktop AMD X4 Quad Core, 8GB Memory, 1TB Hard Drive w/20" Monitor, HP Deskjet DJ350 Color Printer & Windows 7 Home Premium - $499.97 [Best Buy]

HP Pavilion Desktop P6229PG w/20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - $499.99 [Office Depot]

HP Pavilion Elite e9250t w/Intel i5 Processor, 6GB RAM & 500GB HD - $799.99 [HP]

HP Pavilion p6280t Desktop w/Quad Core Processor, 6GB RAM & 640GB HD - $569.99 [HP]

HP Pavilion All-In-One 19" Desktop w/4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, MS213 AMD - $598.00 [Wal-Mart]

HP Pavilion Desktop w/AMD Processor, 3GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, w/20" Monitor (Model # P6243w-b) - $398.00 * [Wal-Mart]

HP Pavilion Slimline s5210t Desktop w/Dual Core Processor 640GB HD & 3GB RAM - $349.99 [HP]

HP Pavillion Slimline s5220f Desktop Computer w/Intel Pentium Processor E5300, 4GB RAM, 640GB Hard Drive - $369.99 [Office Depot]

HP Pavillion Slimline Intel E5300 Desktop w/20" Monitor - $519.99 [Office Depot]

Macbook 13.3" Notebook w/2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, w/$150 Gift Card - $999.99 [Best Buy]

10.1" Samsung N110-12PBK Netbook - $326.95 [Amazon]

Sony 15" Laptop w/Intel Dual Core Processor, 4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 - $399.99 [Best Buy]

Sony 15" Laptop w/Intel Dual Core Processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB HD, Windows 7, Sony Headphones, Built-In Blu-ray, Blu-ray Movie - $479.97 [Best Buy]

Sony 15.5" Laptop w/Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 Processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $649.98 [Staples]

13.3" Toshiba Satellite T135-S1307 TruBrite 13.3-Inch Ultrathin Black Laptop - $699.99 [Amazon]

Toshiba 15.6" Widescreen Notebook w/AMD Turion II Dual-Core Processor M500, 3GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive - $469.99 [Office Depot]

Toshiba 16" Laptop w/Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 3GB DDR3 Memory, 250GB Hard Drive (Model # L505-S5984) - $399.99 [Best Buy]

Toshiba 16" Laptop w/Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4GB DDR3 Memory, 320GB Hard Drive (Model # L505-S5984) w/Printer and Case - $499.97 [Best Buy]

Toshiba 17" Notebook w/AMD Turion II M500, 3GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive - $499.99 [Office Depot]

Toshiba L505-S5998 T4300 4GB RAM, 320GB HD Notebook - $399.99 [Office Max]

Wacom Intuos3 6x8" Pen Tablet - $199.99 [Amazon]

eMachines 15.6" Notebook w/AMD Processor, 2GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive (Model # EME627) - $198.00 * [Wal-Mart]

eMachines Desktop w/AMD Athlon Processor, 3GB RAM, 320GB HD, Windows 7, w/18.5" LCD Monitor and HP Deskjet Printer - $299.97 [Best Buy]

Digital Cameras


Ativa Digital 1080p HD Video Camcorder 4x Optical Zoom - $89.99 [Office Depot]

Canon 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera, EOS Rebel XS - $569.99 [Sears]

Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS 10.0 MP Digital Camera - $149.99 [Best Buy]

Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS 10.0 MP Digital ELPH Camera - $149.99 [Office Depot]

Canon PowerShot A1100 12.1 MP Digital Camera w/4x Optical Zoom, 2.5" LCD (Silver) - $129.99 * [Staples]

Canon PowerShot SD780 IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera - $179.99 [Office Depot]

Canon Powershot SD780 IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera - $179.99 [Sears]

Canon 980IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera - $279.99 [Sears]

Canon Rebelx XS Digital SLR Camera & Canon EF 75-300MM Telephoto Zoom Lens - $669.98 [Sears]

Canon EOS Rebel T1i D-SLR Camera w/18-55mm IS Lens - $699.99 [Best Buy]

Canon Rebel Tli Camera w/55-250mm IS Telephoto Lens and Lowepro D-SLR Bag - $849.97 [Best Buy]

Disney Pix Micro Digital Cameras Designed For Just For Kids - $9.99 * [Sears]

Flip Ultra Camcorder w/2" LCD - $129.99 [Staples]

Free Canon Photo Printer With Purchase Of Any Digital Camera (After Rebate) - $0.00 * [Staples]

Fuji J29 10MP 3X Zoom 2.7" LCD Digital Camera Bundle - $89.99 * [Sears]

Fujifilm FinePix A170 10.2 Megapixel 3x Optical Zoom Digital Camera (Silver) - $59.99 [Dell]

Fujifilm Finepix Z37 Polka Dot 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera - $119.99 [Best Buy]

Fujifilm Finepix Z37 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera w/Extra Battery and Case - $149.97 [Best Buy]

GE A1250 12MP Digital Camera - $69.99 * [Sears]

Hi Pro Camera Kits - 50% Off * [Sears]

Insignia 720p HD Camcorder - $69.99 [Best Buy]

Insignia NS-DSC10A 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera (Pink) - $49.99 * [Best Buy]

Insignia NS-DSC10B 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera (Blue) - $49.99 * [Best Buy]

Jazz T20 4X Digtal Zoom 1.5" LCD Camcorder - $19.99 * [Sears]

Jazz T55 Camcorder - $49.99 * [Sears]

Kodak EasyShare CD80 Digital Camera Bundle - $79.99 [Office Depot]

Kodak EasyShare C140 Digital Camera With 7" Kodak Digital Photo Frame - $109.99 [Best Buy]

Kodak EasyShare M381 Digital Camera w/Case & Tripod - $169.99 [Office Depot]

Kodak EasyShare Z915 Digital Camera w/Case & Charger - $199.99 [Office Depot]

Kodak M1063 10.3MP Digital Camera - $89.99 [Sears]

Kodak 10.0 MP Digital Camera w/Memory Card And Bag - $79.99 * [Staples]

Kodak CD80 10.2 MP, 3x Zoom Digital Camera 2.4" LCD 2GB Card And Case - $79.99 * [Sears]

Kodak EasyShare C180 10.2 Megapixel 3x Optical Zoom Digital Camera w/Kodak P820 8" Digital Picture Frame - $99.99 [Dell]

Kodak EasyShare C182 12.0 Megapixel Digital Camera - $69.00 [Wal-Mart]

Kodak Z950 12 Megapixel Digital Camera - $149.99 [Office Max]


Nikon L20 10 Megapixel Digital Camera - $79.99 [Office Max]


Olympus X905 10MP Digital Camera - $49.99 * [Office Max]

Nikon COOLPIX L20 Digital Camera - $99.99 * [Sears]

Nikon CoolPix S230 10MP Digital Camera - $139.00 [Wal-Mart]

Nikon Coolpix 12MP S570 Digital Camera - $149.99 [Sears]

Nikon Coolpix S60 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera (Red) - $179.99 [Best Buy]

Nikon Coolpix S60 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera w/Extra Battery and Case - $209.97 [Best Buy]

Nikon Coolpix L100 10.0 MegaPixel Digital Camera w/15x Optical Zoom, 3" LCD (Black) - $199.99 * [Staples]

Nikon Coolpix P90 12.1 Megapixel Digital Camera - $299.99 [Best Buy]

Nikon Coolpix P90 12.1 Megapixel Digital Camera w/Extra Battery and Case - $329.97 [Best Buy]

Nikon Coolpix S570 12.0 MegaPixel Digital Camera - $149.99 * [Staples]

Nikon Coolpix S570 12.0 Megapixel Digital Camera - $149.99 [Office Depot]

Nikon D3000 10.0 MegaPixel Digital Camera - $499.99 * [Staples]

Nikon D3000DX 10.2 Megapixel D-SLR Digital Camera w/10-55mm VR Lens - $499.99 [Best Buy]

Nikon D3000DX 10.2 Megapixel D-SLR Digital Camera w/10-55mm and 55-200mm Lens and Bag - $599.97 [Best Buy]

Olympus Stylus FE 4000 12.1 MP Digital Camera - $99.99 [Sears]
Olympus Stylus FE 4000 12.1 MP Digital Camera - $99.99 * [Staples]

Samsung SL40 12.2 MP Digital Camera - $79.99 [Sears]

Samsung C10 SD 1200 Digital Zoom 10X Optical Zoom 2.7" LCD Camcorder - $149.99 * [Sears]

Samsung Compact Full HD Camcorder - $399.99 [Sears]

Sony 4GB Camcorder - $249.99 [Sears]

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC S930 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera - $79.00 [Wal-Mart]

Sony Cyber-Shot W180 10.1 MP Digital Camera - $99.99 [Sears]
Sony Cyber-Shot W180 10.1 MP Digital Camera (Black) - $99.99 [Best Buy]
Sony Cyber-Shot W180 10.1 MP Digital Camera w/Flexpod and Camera Case - $119.97 [Best Buy]

Sony Cyber-Shot W220 12.1 MegaPixel Digital Camera w/4x Optical Zoom - $129.99 * [Staples]
Sony Cyber-Shot W220 Digital Camera - $129.99 [Office Depot]

Sony Cyber-Shot W290 Digital Camera w/Case & Charger - $229.99 [Office Depot]

Sony Cyber-Shot H20 10.1 MP Digital Camera - $249.99 [Sears]

Sony DCR-SR47 60GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder - $299.99 [Sears]

Vivitar Digital Camera Bundle - $49.99 [Office Depot]

Digital Media Cards


Olympus 2GB xD Memory Card - $4.99 [Office Max]


PNY 4GB Flash Drive - $9.99 [Best Buy]

PNY 4GB MicroSD HD Memory Card - $9.99 [Best Buy]

PNY 4GB SDHC Memory Card - $9.99 [Best Buy]

SanDisk 2GB SD Card - $5.99 [Sears]

SanDisk 4GB Memory Cards Or Flash Drive - $8.99 * [Sears]


SanDisk 4GB SDHC Card - $4.99 [Office Max]
SanDisk 4GB SDHC Card - $8.00 [Wal-Mart]

SanDisk 4GB Ultra II SDHC Memory Card - $12.99 [Office Depot]

SanDisk 4GB microSD Memory Card - $7.99 [Office Max]

SanDisk 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo - $14.99 [Best Buy]

SanDisk 8GB SDHC Memory Card - $14.99 [Office Depot]
SanDisk 8GB SDHC Card - $14.99 [Sears]
SanDisk 8GB SDHC Card - $19.99 [Best Buy]
SanDisk 8GB SHDC - $19.99 [Office Max]

SanDisk 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo Memory Card - $24.99 [Office Depot]

SanDisk 8GB Ultra II CompactFlash Memory Card - $19.99 [Office Depot]

Sony 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo - $12.99 [Sears]

Sony 4GB Memory Stick - $20.00 [Wal-Mart]

DVD Players

Coby 7" Portable DVD Player - $49.99 [Staples]

Curtis DVD Player AR - $17.99 * [Sears]

GPX 8" Portabe DVD Player PD808BU - $79.99 [Sears]

GPX BD707B DVD/CD Boom Box w/7" LCD Display - $99.99 * [Sears]

Insignia Blu-ray Disc Player (Model # NS-BRDVD3) w/Superman Returns or Beetlejuice Bluray - $99.99 [Best Buy]

Memorex 1080P HDMI Upconvert DVD Player - $29.99 [K-M]

Magnavox DVD Player with VCR - $49.99 * [Sears]
Magnavox DVD Player with VCR - $49.99 [K-M]

Magnavox NB500 Blu-ray Disc Player - $78.00 * [Wal-Mart]

Memorex Compact DVD Player With Progressive Scan - $19.99 [Target]

RCA 7" Portable DVD Player - $47.00 [Target]

RCA 7" Dual Screen Portable DVD Player With Car Adapter - $88.00 [Target]

Samsung BD-P1590 Blu Ray Player (Saturday) - $148.00 [Wal-Mart]

Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Disc Player - $149.99 [Best Buy]
Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Disc Player- $149.99 [Sears]

Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-Ray Disc Player - $279.99 [Best Buy]

Sony DVD Player DVP-SR200P - $34.99 [Sears]

Sony BDP-S360 Blu-Ray Disc Player - $149.99 [Best Buy]
Sony BDP-S360 Blu-Ray Player with $20 Gift Card - $149.99 [Target]
Sony BDP-S360 Blu-Ray Player - $149.99 [Sears]

Sony BDP-S369 Blu-Ray Player - $148.00 [Wal-Mart]

Sylvania 7" Portable DVD Player - $49.99 * [Sears]
Sylvania 7" Portable DVD Player - $49.99 * [K-M]

Electronics


1.5" Digital Photo Frames - $7.99 [Office Depot]

2GB Pulse Smartpen w/$30 Gift Card - $169.99 [Best Buy]

4-Device Universal Remote - Free After Rebate [Staples]

AT&T DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone System with 4 Handsets - $59.99 [Sears]

AT&T DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone With Digital Answering System - $49.99 * [Staples]

All Philips HDMI Cables With Any TV Purchase - 15% Off [Sears]

Ativa 8" Digital Photo Frame - $49.99 [Office Depot]

Belkin HDTV Starter Kit - $34.99 [K-M]

Bose In-Ear Headphones - $89.99 [Best Buy]

Brother P-Touch PT-1290 Electronic Labeler - $9.99 [Office Depot]

Canon Vixia HD HF20 Camcorder - $499.99 [Best Buy]

Canon Vixia HD HF20 Camcorder w/Extra Li-Ion Battery & 8" HDMI Cable - $599.97 [Best Buy]

Casio Keyboard With Stand And Song Book - $49.99 [Target]

Cobra Radar Detector - $29.99 * [K-M]

Cobra Two Way Radio Pair - $19.99 * [K-M]

Coby 7" Digital Photo Frame - $29.99 * [K-M]
Coby 7" Digital Photo Frame - $29.99 * [Sears]

Coby 8" Digital Photo Frame - $49.99 [Sears]

Coby 7" Portable Digital TV - $99.99 [Staples]

Digital Decor Color LCD Key Chain Holds 48 Pictures - $10.00 * [Target]

Dynex 7" Digital Photo Frame - $29.99 [Best Buy]

Emerson 3-Handset DECT Phone Bundle - $39.99 [K-M]

Emerson Portable Karaoke CP398 System - $29.99 [Sears]

First Act Electronic Drum Set - $35.00 [Target]

GE 6 Foot HDMI Cable - $9.99 * [Target]

GPX 2.1 Channel DVD Home Theater System - $39.99 [K-M]

GPX Portable Karaoke Machine - $39.99 [Best Buy]

HP 8" Digital Picture Frame 512MB Memory - $109.99 [Staples]

HP 10" Digital Picture Frame 512MB Memory - $139.99 [Staples]

Insignia 7" Digital Photo Frame - $44.99 [Best Buy]

Jazz VGA 4X Digital Zoom 1.5 in. LCD Screen Pocket Digital Camcorder - $19.99 [K-M]

Kodak EasyShare P720 7" Digital Frame - $49.99 [Sears]

Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote - $39.99 [Best Buy]

Maxell Noise-Canceling Headphones - $20.00 [Staples]

Memorex 7" Widescreen Portable DVD Player - $29.99 * [Office Max]


Memorex Micro Speaker System for iPod - $11.99 [Office Max]


Memorex Home Audio System For iPod - $49.99 [Target]

Memorex iPod Clock Radio - $25.00 [Staples]

Midland LXT360VP3 2-Way Radios - $24.99 [Staples]

Motorola H390 Bluetooth Headset - $9.99 * [Staples]

Omnitech 12" Digital Picture Frame - $69.99 * [Staples]

Omnitech Bluetooth Speakerphone - $20.00 [Staples]

Omnitech Digital Photo Ornament - $10.00 [Staples]

Omnitech Mini-Speaker - $9.99 [Staples]

Panasonic DECT 6.0 Digital Cordless KX-TG9332T Phone Answering System (After Rebate) - $29.99 [Office Depot]
Panasonic DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone w/Digital Answering Machine - $49.99 [Staples]
Panasonic DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone System w/3 Handsets - $59.99 [Best Buy]

Pandigital 9" Digital Photo Frame - $59.99 [Best Buy]

Pandigital 10" Digital Photo Frame - $69.99 * [Sears]

Phillips 4-Device Remote Control - $9.99 [K-M]

Plantronics Explorer Bluetooth Mobile Headset 220 - $14.99 [Office Depot]

Sharp Handheld Calculator - Free After Rebate [Staples]

Skull Candy Ink'd Earbuds - $9.99 [Staples]

SmartPants 8.5" Digital Photo Frame - $49.99 [K-M]

Sony DCR-SR47 Handycam Camcorder - $249.99 [Best Buy]
Sony DCR-SR47 Handycam Camcorder w/Extra Li-Ion Battery & Bag - $299.97 [Best Buy]

Sony DCR-SX40 Handycam Camcorder - $199.99 [Best Buy]
Sony DCR-SX40 Handycam Camcorder w/Extra Li-Ion Battery & 8GB Memory Stick - $259.97 [Best Buy]

Sony E10 Ear Buds Headphones - $4.99 [Sears]
Sony Earbuds - $4.99 [K-M]
Sony Earbuds - $7.99 [Office Depot]

Sony Reader Pocket Edition And Cover With Light Combo - $214.98 [Staples]

Sony Reader Pocket Edition Cover With Light - $54.99 [Staples]

Sony Reader Pocket Edition With 5" Display - $199.99 [Staples]
Sony Reader Pocket Edition w/$30 Gift Card - $199.99 [Best Buy]

Sony Reader Touch Edition With 6" Screen - $299.99 [Staples]

Sony Reader Touch Edition And Cover With Light Combo - $319.98 [Staples]

Sony Studio Monitor Headphones - $9.99 [Best Buy]

Sony Wireless Headphones - $29.99 [Sears]

Sungale 7" Widescreen Digital Photo Frame - $29.99 * [Office Max]

Sungale 7" Digital Picture Frame - $29.99 * [Staples]

Uniden DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone w/5 Handsets & Digital Answering Machine - $59.99 [Staples]

VTech DECT 6.0 Expandable Cordless Phone System LS6215-2 w/2 Handsets - $44.99 [Best Buy]

Verizon 100 Cordless Phone w/ 2 Handsets - $19.99 [Office Max]

iHome Dock - $9.99 [K-M]

iHome PC Accessories - $9.99 [K-M]

iHome Portable Alarm Clock Speaker iPod Dock - $39.99 [Best Buy]

iHome Portable iPod/MP3 Speaker System - $9.99 [Sears]

GPS

Garmin GPS Friction Mount - $14.99 [Best Buy]

Garmin Nuvi 205 GPS - $89.99 * [Sears]
Garmin Nuvi 205 GPS Navigation System - $99.99 * [Best Buy]

Garmin Nuvi 255WT GPS Navigation System - $129.99 [Best Buy]

Garmin Nuvi 1200 GPS Navigation System - $119.99 [Office Depot]

Garmin Nuvi 1300 GPS Navigation System - $149.99 [Office Depot]

Garmin Nuvi 1350T GPS System - $179.00 [Target]

Lowepro Black Neoprene Sleeve - $7.99 [Best Buy]

Magellan RoadMate 1220 GPS - $84.99 * [K-M]
Magellan RoadMate 1220 GPS - $89.99 [Sears]

Magellan SE4 GPS - $89.99 [Best Buy]

Magellan RoadMate 1440 GPS - $119.99 * [Sears]

TomTom ONE 125-SE GPS - $59.00 [Wal-Mart]

TomTom ONE 130 GPS - $79.99 [Sears]
TomTom ONE 130 GPS - $77.99 [Office Depot]
TomTom ONE 130 GPS - $79.99 [K-M]

TomTom XL325 GPS - $89.00 [Wal-Mart]
TomTom XL325S GPS - $99.99 [Sears]
TomTom XL325S GPS - $99.99 [K-M]

TomTom XL 330 GPS Navigation System - $97.99 [Office Depot]
TomTom XL 340S GPS With Case - $97.00 [Target]

TomTom 540S Portable GPS Navigation System - $149.99 [Best Buy]

TomTom GO 630 GPS Navigation System - $169.99 [Office Depot]

TomTom GO 730 Portable GPS Navigation System - $174.99 [Best Buy]

Hard Drives


LG External Slim Portable USB 2.0 DVD Drive - $49.99 [Best Buy]

Seagate FreeAgent Docking Station - $19.99 [Office Max]

Seagate 320GB Expansion External Portable Hard Drive - $59.99 [Office Depot]

Seagate 500GB Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive - $59.99 [Office Max]

Seagate 640GB FreeAgent Go External Portable Hard Drive - $119.99 [Office Depot]

Seagate 750GB Free Agent Go External Portable Hard Drive - $149.99 [Office Depot]


Seagate 1TB External Hard Drive - $69.99 * eBay [Staples]

Seagate 1TB External Hard Drive - $79.99 [Office Max]

Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $97.99 [Newegg]

Seagate 1.5TB External Hard Drive - $99.99 [Office Depot]
Seagate 1.5TB External Hard Drive - $139.99 [Staples]

Seagate 2TB FreeAgent External Hard Drive - $179.99 [Office Depot]

Verbatim 1TB External Hard Drive - $79.99 [Office Depot]

Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB Hard Drive - $49.00 [Wal-Mart]

Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB Portable Hard Drive - $69.99 * [Staples]

Western Digital Elements 500GB Portable Hard Drive - $59.98 [Target]

Western Digital 500GB My Passport Elite Portable Hard Drive Titanium - $79.99 [Best Buy]

Western Digital 1TB 3.5" External Hard Drive - $78.00 [Wal-Mart]

Western Digital Elements 1TB Desktop Hard Drive - $59.98 [Target]

Western Digital 1.5TB My Book Home Edition External Hard Drive - $119.99 [Best Buy]

Western Digital WDTV Media Player - $74.99 [Best Buy]

Home Theater

4' Monster Cable 700 Series HDMI Cable - $49.99 [Best Buy]

Ativa Home Theater System 5.1 - $39.99 [Office Depot]

Init Cherry Wood Stand With Mount For TVs Up To 46" - $99.99 [Best Buy]

Init Cherry Wood w/Black Glass Shelves TV Stand - $149.99 [Best Buy]

Klipsch Icon 2-Way Triple 5.25" Floorstanding Speaker - $186.99 [Best Buy]

Klipsch Icon 2-Way Triple 6.5" Floorstanding Speaker - $236.99 [Best Buy]

Samsung 5.1 Channel 1000W Home Theater System With Blu-ray Disc Player - $399.99 [Best Buy]

Sony Bravia DAV-HDX589W 5.1 Channel 1000W Home Theater System - $279.99 [Best Buy]

Sony STR-DH800 7.1 Channel 770-Watt A/V Receiver - $279.99 [Best Buy]

Tilting Wall Mount For 30"-56" Flat-Panel TVs - $99.99 [Best Buy]

YAMAHA 5.1-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver plus Energy 5CH Home Theater Speaker System $299.99 [Newegg]

Monitors

Acer 20" HD LCD Monitor - $79.99 [Best Buy]

Dell 20" S2009W HD LCD Monitor - $99.99 [Best Buy]

Dell 21.5" S2209W Full HD Widescreen Monitor - $144.00 [Dell]

Compaq Q2159 21.5" Full HD Widescreen LCD Monitor - $169.99 [HP]

Dell 23"SP2309W Full HD Widescreen Monitor w/Webcam - $219.00 [Dell]

UPDATE: This list is so long we had to add a PAGE 2...

Click HERE for TVs, Video Games, Printers, Software MP3 Players and more

To bypass the gallery format, click here. And no, this is not a holiday gift guide.

OSA PB2 "Less-Lethal" Multipurpose Pistol
Ever since I watched Rosa Klebb trying to kill Bond with her shoe-dagger, I considered the Russians the world experts in tiny hideaway weapons. The PB2 is an eeency-weeency little double-barreled "less-lethal" pistol weighing less than 7 ounces, firing anything from rubber bullets to flares to flashbangs. It's also got a safety and integral laser sights, which can be upgraded to near-Scott-Summers strength on order. Just don't practice on some poor country bumpkin like they did here. [OSA]

DrugWipe by Securetec
The DrugWipe is what makes the customs guys all-knowing. It's a tiny drugtest in a pocket. These plastic sticks can test up to four classes of illegal drugs in a single go. According to Securetec's PR guy, your saliva can give you away 12 hours after doing—or even just being near—cocaine, weed, opium, meth or whathaveyou. All the government grunts have to do is wipe your tongue. Won't open your mouth? They can also swipe your sweat and random stuff you're carrying. [Securetec]

Spy Watch
When I approached the director of a small security/protection company to ask about this normal looking watch, he wouldn't tell me a whole lot. What I managed to squeeze out of him is that although it's normal size, it also records audio and video. Near the 2 o'clock mark you can see a tiny lens, activated by buttons on the side. He wasn't the only cagey guy on the show floor—the guys in a nearby booth forbade me from taking pictures of their micro surveillance gear.

Trikke uPT
The Trikke uPT (ultralight personal transporter) was the funnest (and funniest) thing at the entire expo, and that's saying a lot when you're surrounded by a pirateload of guns. It's an idea so simple, the company's European director, the dark-suited Dutchman whizzing around on it, couldn't figure why his potential buyers would spend any money at all on the wayyyy more expensive Segways parked in the next booth. The uPT is a trike tricked out with a 250-watt electric motor and a 22-mile range lithium-ion battery; it weighs just over 37 pounds. And like that blasted Segway, there are plenty of models to choose from. [Trikke]

RiotBot by Technorobot
The RiotBot is billed by its makers as "the first robot for riot control." It uses a PS3-looking remote controller to zip this PepperBall-equipped metal beast at 12 miles/hour into all kinds of riots. The carbine fires at 700 rounds per minute and can be operated for 2 hours. [Technorobot]

MaxFit Gloves
It's usually next to impossible to do precise tasks with gloves on. Most of the time, your hands move around in the gloves, you can't feel what you're holding and you end up feeling as useless as a eunuch in a whorehouse. But the MaxFit workgloves are fanfriggintastic. They were the thinnest, grippiest workgloves I had ever worn. Their try-out test was having me grip an Armor-All lubed PVC tube, then try to twist it out of my hand—it didn't budge. Unfortunately, though the site advertises that it's good for construction, DIYers and "fall yardwork," I couldn't help but wonder what ulterior activities they were promoting it for at a security show. [MaxFit]

Piexon Guardian Angel
The Guardian Angel is a tiny plastic toy that looks like your niece's water pistol, but it's actually a lightweight, disposable two-shot explosive-propelled pepper-spray gun. The cartridges give it way more range than a spray can. Just don't carry it around in Scandinavia or other places where it's banned, or they'll arrest you for it (like they nearly did with me two months ago). By the way, it's interesting to note that the Piexon website names "liberal politics" as a chief reason for needing more protection these days. [Piexon]

Rimmex 288 Prototype Amphibot
The Rimmex 288 is a prototype amphibious robot that can roll straight into water—streams, rivers and lakes mostly, or just very muddy terrain—and then roll right back out again. Its single arm with 6 degrees of freedom can be swapped with whatever you like—from a gun to an x-ray, apparently, depending on your, uh, objectives. [ROV Developpement]

Apoorva Prasad is a freelance writer and photographer based in Paris, France, who recently covered the Milipol 2009 military-police expo for us. He has a thing for holo-scoped assault rifles, and sounds disappointed when admitting he's never been Tased.

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about Chrome OS 1.0. You can build that now and (maybe) install it on your netbook, and should be able to buy on hardware next year. All that stuff is, to borrow a word that Google loves to misuse, is a beta. A test. A trial. A first step toward a larger vision, which Google has been hinting at since they branched out from search: In the future, we will live on the internet. We'll be able to do all the things we do on computers now, and probably more, while connected to the cloud. And it'll be great.

Chrome OS is an explicit step towards making this happen, but the version we saw today is just an early, broad step. Google even said so! Despite early talk about how Chrome OS could be a full replacement OS one day, suitable for regular ol' laptops and desktops, today's preannouncement of a version strictly for netbooks included an admission that it would only be intended as a secondary OS. So, what does Google need to see this thing through, and make Chrome as capable as the OSes we're used to using now? Lots:

The Internet Needs to Get Way, Way Faster

And I'm not just talking about higher bandwidth. Broadband connections are pretty quick nowadays, but compared to reading—and especially writing—data to a hard drive, sending bits over the internet is excruciatingly slow. And Chrome OS isn't even really a true web OS: it'll slurp the guts of larger web applications like Gmail and Gcal and effectively make them local, meaning that the kinds of tasks that require low latency and fast load times will run tolerably.

That kind of local storage, along with Javascript technologies like AJAX, is a salve. We need them because communicating with a server for every event in an application would take forever, and make using them miserable. Remember how webmail used to be, before it got all AJAXy? Awful. And it still would be, if not for recent Javascript advances and local storage.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with making web apps local, and Chrome OS will keep doing that forever: it's the only way Chrome OS can work offline. But that doesn't cover everything. What about high-bandwidth tasks like photo and video editing? To do it the way they suggest would require constant syncing between local memory and a remote server. These are basic tasks for a computer. Basic tasks that'll be impossible on Chrome until super-low-latency, 100mbps+ broadband is commonplace, and not only commonplace, but wireless and effectively ubiquitous. That's quite a few years away, even by generous estimates.

Web Apps Will Need To Get Much Better

I'm sure Gmail, Google Reader and Google Calendar will be totally swell in Chrome OS. They're some of the most feature-complete web apps in the world, and they're good enough to replace desktop apps for most people. But what about VoIP apps? Torrent clients? Media players? Image editors? Video editors? There are web apps for almost all of these things, but collectively, they amount to a big bag of dick. Trimming videos with YouTube's tools is nothing like editing them in Final Cut, or even iMovie. Cropping a few images in an online photo editor and playing with their contrast is fine, but what about my bloated Sony RAW files? There are still some massive gaps in the web app world, hence Google's repeated, vague pleas for developers to do better, alright?

Web Standards Will Have To Evolve, Fast

Google wants to replace regular apps with web apps by making web apps more like native apps, in concept and execution. Eventually, the hope is that they could use the new features of HTML5, like local storage, drag and drop, canvas drawing, native animation and location awareness, to have all the powers of a native app. Thing is, HTML5 is just a stepping stone; it'll take more than a few new HTML tags to pave the way for honestly native-seeming applications.

Google's obviously got a lot of leverage over standards bodies like the WHATWG and W3C, so they could help move new HTML capabilities along in theory. But even HTML5 is brand new, and very few people are using that. It'll be at least another generation before developers will be able to code native-equivalent apps in web languages, and that's assuming that standards development keeps heading in that direction. Which it might not.

Someone's Going to Have To Solve the UI Problem

Talking about Chrome OS's interface almost seems like a waste of breath, since your real UI is the internet, which is the very definition of inconsistent. Part of the reason email apps, Twitter apps IM clients, and the like are still so popular is because they offer services that people want in an interface that's consistent with the rest of their system. Web apps offer no such thing.

Sure, if all you use are Google products, you're fine: Your life is blue, white, boxy and clean. But what about when you want to jump over to Meebo? Or Aviary? This kind of inconsistency wouldn't be acceptable in another OS, so it would feel like a compromise here. I suppose you could use tools like Greasemonkey to reformat pages on the client side, but this is hacky and, well, lots of work. We'd need some kind of framework for skins, or something, to make the experience more uniform.

People Will Have To Give Up On Owning Media, an Get Comfortable With Subscription Services

People need their music and videos, and now, most people have collections. That's sooooooo 2009, am I right? For Chrome OS to work, people are going to have warm up to subscription services and streaming media.

Before you get mad at me, forget about Rhapsody and Napster, and think more about your cable company, your wireless company, or your beloved Netflix. Those work, and these kinds of arrangements are going to have to be extended to all media. Which is possible, but also fraught, since you really won't own your media.

The Rest of the (Browser) World Has To Be Onboard

During the announcement, Google made the point that the Chrome browser in Chrome OS won't have any special talents that Chrome elsewhere won't, and that at present it's no more able—in terms of what kinds of web apps it can run—than, say, Firefox. Nobody's going to want to write web apps just for Chrome (that would make them Chrome apps, right?), so it's vital that other browsers support the same new HTML standards that Chrome needs to succeed. Google can go all out supporting the latest, greatest web standards, but unless everyone else does too, nobody—not even Google—is going to write for them.

None of these things are impossible; in fact, most of them sort of feel inevitable, given that they're all just extrapolations of obvious trends from the last few years. They're just optimistic, and sit well in the future. Chrome OS can carry out Google's LET'S ALL LIVE ON THE INTERNET vision when the conditions are right, eventually. But these are long-term bets, measured in years.

That might make sense to a room full of Google engineers. To the rest of us, though? It's abstract. It's strange. It seems gimped. It's largely irrelevant, and it's not all that exciting. Yet.

To be clear, we're only looking sets that are at least 46 inches—go big or go home. And though there are some nice 720p plasmas out there for amazing prices, the majority of TVs we're concerned with are 1080p—it's the standard now, even in cheap HDTVs, and probably the only resolution you'll see next year.

We focus on LCDs quite a bit here, not because we prefer them, but because there are key enhancements that can be put in LCD technology to make them look better. With plasma, the problems—energy consumption, weight, thickness—are more of an evolutionary, year-to-year thing. A cheaper plasma often is one that's just using older technology.

Also, we're using Amazon as our pricing base line, since it's on average a good standard for low but legitimate street prices, and we use Samsung examples a lot because they have a ton of different models on the market, so it was easier to isolate individual features, and to gauge subtle differences in pricing.

Size Matters

The first, and most obvious thing that'll cost you is more screen real estate. There's not an absolute inches to dollars ratio, but generally speaking, the first step up is the cheapest, and somewhere in the middle, there's a sweet spot, after which you basically lose money by upgrading. The funny thing is, each maker seems to have a different idea of where the sweet spot is, which you could play to your advantage:

Take for instance, Panasonic's plasma G10 series. It's $200 to go from the 42-inch model to 50, and then $400 to go up to 54. So the sweet spot is at 50 inches. Similar thing happening with Vizio's XVT line: Going from 42 to 47 inches is just $250, though going up to 55 from 47 costs about a a grand. Hence 47 inches makes the most dollar-per-inch sense if you like that TV.

With Sony and Samsung, though, it pays to keep going up. In Sony's top-of-the-line Bravia XBR9 series, the hop from 40 to 46 is $360, but going from 46 to 52 is just $250. Samsung's LED-backlit TV costs $350 to go from 40 to 46, and just $500 to go from there to 55 inches. (There's a limit, of course, Samsung's 65-inch LN65B650 doesn't have many of the frills discussed below, but still lists for $6000.)

The real lesson here: Don't think of size as a foregone conclusion. When you've narrowed down your options using all the criteria, go back and check the sizes and relative prices. There may be a surprise, hopefully good but possibly bad.

Vroom, Vroom

Everything after size you can roughly sweep everything you'd pay more for into the category of performance. The grand trick of buying TVs though, according to our friend Gary Merson of HD Guru, is that "the TV industry is setup like the car industry." Just like buying a Corvette to battle your mid-life crisis because it vrooms real good, when you pay extra money for extra horsepower, you're also going to get leather bucket seats and the in-dash GPS. It's hard to buy a stripped-down car that just delivers better performance, and the same goes when you're trying to scrimp on a TV without compromising picture. In the case of TVs, a higher performer might come with a million HDMI jacks or integrated Wi-Fi and video on demand, and you never know exactly what you're paying for.

Fortunately, we can break performance into a two major categories so it's slightly easier to interpret those price differentials: Backlight (for LCDs) and panel quality.

Fancy Backlighting

The single most expensive upgrade for LCD TVs right now is LED backlighting. As we explain here, there are a bunch of advantages to LED over conventional CCFL backlighting for LCD TVs. Which particular advantages you pick up depends on the kind of LED backlighting in the set. While both offer instant on and power savings, edge-lit models mainly deliver serious thinness, while backlit sets can offer local dimming, which delivers noticeably better black levels and contrast.

How much will it cost you? Well, comparing two Samsung sets with fairly equivalent panels, the price difference is about $500. The CCFL-backlit LN46B650 is $1360, while the UN46B6000 is $1850. Because it's got LED edge lighting, the B6000 is only 1.2 inches thick, compared to the B650's 3.1 inches. When you step up and compare Samsung's edge-lit to back-lit, the difference isn't as great: A 46-inch 8000 series edge-lit model goes for $2300, while the 8500 series with local-dimming is $2600. (If you're already paying for LED technology, you definitely want to step up.)

So yes, backlit LED sets with local dimming tend to cost more. Sony's year-old Bravia XBR8 uses tri-color LEDs to improve color accuracy over the most LED sets, which use white ones. Though its production is discontinued, it's still nearly $2200 at 46 inches. However, Toshiba consistently delivers cheaper sets than most of its fellow "name" brands, and their 46-inch LED backlit set with local dimming is just $1700.

Panels and Oh, It Hertz

The panel is the other major thing that determines how good an HDTV actually is, and it applies to both LCDs and plasmas. Typically, as you move up in price, you get a better panel. Cheaper sets generally use older panels with previous-generation tech that Merson says have a poorer viewing angle, so there's a smaller area you can actually stare at on your TV to get a good picture. The problem is that no TV manufacturer actually declares its panel attributes on the box, so you're often on your own to figure it out. The best way is to go to the store and check out the viewing angles.

Hertz, for the uninitiated, is simply the number of times per second that LCD TVs refresh their picture. (Plasma isn't part of this discussion because phosphor pixels work differently than liquid crystal ones, and plasma's "refresh rate" would be way higher—to the point of irrelevance.) A 60Hz LCD refreshes the picture 60 times a second, 120Hz is 120 times a second, and so on, up to 240Hz in the top-priced LCD sets. A higher refresh rate is supposed to increase the ability to see fast-moving video at its highest intended resolution, and works well in theory, though there are issues with 240Hz execution. At this point, a minimum of 120Hz is a given on all premium LCDs, says Merson. There isn't one LED-backlit set that doesn't have it.

Here's how the refresh-rate step-ups look: The 46-inch Samsung B550 is a standard 1080p CCFL-backlit set for $1020. Moving up to the same size B650 for $1360—$300 more—gets you 120Hz (plus a higher contrast ratio). Going up again, to the B750 for $1630, another $300, you get 240Hz, and again even better contrast ratio. That's about the top of Samsung's CCFL-backlit line.

You can see the same thing with their LED sets: The 46-inch B6000 is a 120Hz LED edge-lit set for $1850. The 46-inch LED edgel-lit B8000 goes to 240Hz, and it costs $2300, about $450 more.

What About Plasma?

As we mentioned, plasmas are a little less complicated, since there's nothing like refresh rates to deal with. On the other hand, the situation may be more obtuse, since you don't always know what the real differences are. Merson says there are a few basic levels of plasma performance. On Black Friday, Walmart is selling a 50-inch plasma for $598 if you don't mind the fact that it's 720p (and branded Sanyo, which is probably Panasonic-based but who knows?). Stepping up to the 50" 1080p plasmas will generally cost $300 to $400 more.

There are more issues, however. Panasonic has a new panel called NeoPDP that's more energy efficient, but it's sometimes hard to tell which models have it and which don't. (Hint: Look for the Energy Star sticker.) Finally, you have THX-certified panels that offer nearly perfect calibration right out of the box. Beyond that, contrast ratios do tend to get better over time, but it's relative: At the low end of the HDTV price spectrum, plasma sets have generally delivered better picture than LCD anyway.

Frills and Other Stuff

The funny thing about TVs nowadays is that there's more to them than the screen. Like inputs. Until recently, one thing you got more of by paying more money were more holes to stick things into. That's not really the case once you get up into 46-inch sets—you're gonna get 4 HDMI slots in a set that big no matter what. But, there are other things nowadays. Like video services that come in through other holes, or maybe without wires at all.

An example, to use our old friends at Samsung: The B6000 looks a lot like the B7000, but with the B7000, for $180 more, you get online video services via Yahoo's widget engine, like YouTube.

Or, let's look at the upcoming crop of LED TVs that aren't even out yet, or are in limited distribution for now. LG's 55LHX and Sony's Bravia XBR10 both have wireless HDMI and 240Hz, but with Bravia Internet Widgets and Slacker radio, the Bravia is $5000, $200 more than 55LHX. Wireless HDMI itself is a pretty pricey feature. Same Sony, compared to Samsung's 8500. The 8500 has built-in video services, but no wireless HDMI, and it's $500 cheaper, at $4500. Oh, and did I mention that the Sony is even 3 inches smaller than the Samsung and LG?

Wireless is still in the gimmick phase, but next year, we assume we'll be able to track its price premium as well as we can track size, refresh rate, backlighting and other factors today, $300 to $400 at a time. How do you get from $600 to a $6000? You just add, add some more, and then keep adding.

Still something you wanna know? Send questions about addition, subtraction, hertz, aches, pains and LEDs here, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

Google went to great pains to emphasize that today's event wasn't a launch—that'll come a year from now, apparently, with a public beta still well over the horizon. This is all about a seeing the OS for the first time; understanding in real terms how it's different from what's out there; figuring out why you might actually want to use it; etc. So! Here's what we knew going in:

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks" and "most of the user experience takes place on the web." That is, it's "Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel" with the web as the platform. It runs on x86 processors (like your standard Core 2 Duo) and ARM processors (like inside every mobile smartphone). Underneath lies security architecture that's completely redesigned to be virus-resistant and easy to update.

Like I said, there were plenty of questions. Onwards:

What It Is

• It's basically just a browser: meaning that it'll be based around preexisting web services like Gmail, Google Docs, and so on. There are going to be no conventional applications, just web applications—nothing gets installed, updated, or whatever. Seriously.

• It only runs web apps: It's going to integrate web apps into the operating system deeper than we've ever seen before, meaning that a) they'll seem more like native apps than web apps and b) they'll be able to tap into local resources more than a typical web app in Firefox, for example. They're web apps in name, but they'll have native powers.

• How, exactly?: With HTML 5. This is the next version of HTML, which gives the browser more access to local resources like location info, offline storage—the kinds of things you'd normally associate with native apps. More on that here.

• Chrome is Chrome: The user's experience with Chrome OS will basically be synonymous with their experience on Chrome Browser. Technically speaking, Chrome OS is a Linux-based OS, but you won't be installing Linux binaries like you might on Ubuntu or some other Linux distribution. Any "apps" you have will be used within the browser. Chrome OS is effectively a new version of Chrome, that you can't leave. There are a few reasons Google's pushing this, which we'll get to in a bit.

• And as you've probably guessed, it's super-light. It starts up in a matter of seconds, and boot straight into the browser. Likewise, the Chrome browser is apparently very, very optimized for Chrome OS, so it should be faster than we've ever seen it.

• It won't support hard drives, just solid state storage. I mean, hard drives are dying, sure, but this is pretty bold. Hardware support sounds like it'll be pretty slim, because:

• You'll have to buy a Chrome OS device: You might be able to hack this thing onto your current machine, but you won't just be able to install it to replace Windows, or opt for it on your next laptop, for example. You'll have to buy hardware that Google approved, either component by component, or in a whole package. They're already working on reference designs.

• For now, it's for netbooks. It's not intended for desktops, to the point that Google is saying that the first generation of Chrome hardware will be secondary machines.

How It Looks

• It looks like Chrome browser—specifically, like the leaked shots we saw before. As in a browser, you have tabs—these have to serve as a taskbar as well. To the left of the tabs, you have a sort of start menu, which opens up a panel full of shortcuts. These are your favorites. These are your apps. (Get used to this weird feeling, btw. That Google whole point here.

• You can peg smaller windows, like chat windows or music players, to sit above your tabs at all times. This feature looks a lot like the Gchat feature in Gmail, which is to say, it's a box in the corner.

• Along with tabs, it's got its own version of virtual desktops. This means you can have multiple "windows" of Chrome OS to switch between, each of which is a different set of tabs. Think one desktop for work, one for play, on for porn, etc etc etc. It's a bit like using Spaces on Mac, except only with the browser.

When, and How, It's Coming

Google's staying specifics on the exact release date—it'll be sometime next year—but the source code for the project is published now. That doesn't mean it's ready, really, but rather that they're just planning on developing it in the open from here on out. Expect builds to start showing up online, which'll probably work wonderfully in a virtual machine app like VirtualBox.

The code is available as part of the Chromium OS (the Chromium/Chrome distinction should be familiar to anyone who's wrestled with the open source Mac version of Chrome) project, posted here.

Why It Matters

With Chrome OS, Google is taking (or in a way, forcing) the operating system to go totally online. As Google's freshly designated evangelists are eager to tell you, the browser is already the center of most people's computing experience. The idea here is to make the browser powerful enough to render the rest of the operating system, and its native apps, moot.

It's more pure than a lot of people expected: When Google said that Chrome OS would be centered around the web, I think most people just assumed it would be a lightweight Linux distribution with deep integration for Google web services. It's not that. It's a browser.

But it's a browser that runs different processes for each tab, that will have access to local OS resources, will to some extent work offline. In other words, it's not really a browser in the sense that we use the word, and the web apps that we'll be using won't be like the ones we're used to now, either. The idea, here, it seems, is to replicate most, if not all, of the functionality in a native OS, while keeping the lightweight, ultra-secure framework of a thin client. In other words, Google's not asking much of its users in terms of changing how they do stuff; they're trying to change the way the operating system lets you do those things, transparently.

Think of it this way: now, the buttons in your taskbar or dock are now tabs; your email client now runs within your browser, but stores stuff offline just like Mail or Outlook; your documents will still open with a few clicks, but they'll be stored remotely (and locally only if you choose). It's all the same stuff, given to you in a different way.
Update: you can download it here. [Chrome on Giz]

It looks very similar to what everyone imagined. I'm glad we are moving into single-window, task-oriented environments.

Everything you need to know about Google here.