If you’re not sure what gifts to get your family and friends this holiday season then you’ll want to check out the Amazon Holiday Toy List. According to Amazon, the Holiday Toy List features tools that allows customers to search based on criteria such as “bestselling” or “average customer review,” then filter by age, gender, category, price and discount. Here’s a sampling of product ideas for the coming season (we’ve bolded the ones we particularly liked):

• Apple iPod touch 64 GB (3rd Generation), $379.98, Age 12 and up
• Bakugan 7 in 1 Maxus Dragonoid, $44.99, Ages 5 – 15
• Barbie Pink 3-Story Dream Townhouse, $144.88, Ages 3 – 10
• Bop It, $15.00, Ages 8 – 18
• Crayola Crayon Maker, $29.99, Ages 8 – 15
• D-Rex Interactive Dinosaur, $148.88, Ages 8 – 12
• Eyeclops Mini Projector, $93.24, Ages 8 – 15
• Fender Starcaster Strat Pack Electric Guitar with Amp and Accessories (Black), $199.89, Age 12 and up
• Fisher Price Elmo’s Tickle Hands, $24.00, Ages 2 – 6
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy & BD-Live), $18.99, Age 8 and up
• Huffy Green Machine 2, $113.62, Age 6 and up
• Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym (Vintage Boy), $39.99, Ages 1 – 12 months
• Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Video Camera(Raspberry), $149.99, Age 12 and up
• LeapFrog Zippity High-Energy Learning System, $79.97, Ages 3 – 5
• LEGO City Corner (7641), $59.96, Ages 5 – 12
• Liv Fashion Doll Sophie, $19.97, Ages 4 – 8
• Manhattan Toy Baby Stella Doll, $24.03, Age 12 months and up
• Matchbox Mega Rig Pirates Ship in Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, $39.99, Ages 4 – 12
• Maxell M&M’s Earbud, $10.53, Ages 12 and up
• Mindflex Game, $74.99, Ages 8 – 15
• Monopoly City Edition, $29.41, Age 8 and up
• “Monsters vs. Aliens” (DVD), $16.99, Age 5 and up
• Nerf N Strike Elite Bundle (Nintendo Wii), $59.99, Ages 8 – 11
• New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo Wii), $46.99, Ages 8 – 11
• Nintendo DSi (Nintendo DS), $169.99, Ages 8 – 11
• Playskool Chuck My Talking Truck, $33.68, Ages 3 – 6
• Razor A Kick Scooter, $29.99, Age 5 and up
• Razor Rip-Rider 360 Drifting Ride-On, $89.87, Age 5 and up
• Scene It? Twilight Deluxe Edition, $28.24, Age 13 and up
• Schwinn Roadster 12-Inch Trike, $67.80, Ages 3 – 6
• Scribblenauts (Nintendo DS), $27.99, Ages 8 – 11
• “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + BD Live w/ Blu-ray packaging), $19.99, Age 5 and up
• Speakal iPig 2.1 Stereo iPod Docking Station with 5 Speakers (Pink), $95.50, Age 12 and up
• Sprig Toys Eco Recycling-Truck in Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, $19.99, Ages 3 – 6
• Transformers Movie 2 Combiner Construction Devastator, $84.99, Ages 5 – 12
• “Up” (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition + Digital Copy), $21.99, Age 5 and up
• Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board (Nintendo Wii), $97.99, Age 12 and up
• Zune HD 32 GB Video MP3 Player(Platinum), $289.00, Age 12 and up

And yes.. we’re less than 2 months away from Christmas folks!

Technorati Tags: Amazon Holiday Toy List

If you’re looking for a dirt cheap Blu-ray player, you might want to drop by your local Wal-Mart retail store. According to Crave.com (via several other blog sites), Wal-Mart is now offering the low-end Magavox NB530MGX for a mere $98 dollars. It’s not a profile 2.0 player so forget about BD-Live support – but then again how many of you actually use BD-Live? Seems like a good bargain for those on a tight budget.

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Technorati Tags: Magnavox, NB530MGX, Blu-ray player, Wal-mart

Just wanted to mention a great deal that is now available over at Costco.com. The vendor is now offering the HP EX485 750GB MediaSmart Windows Home Server box for $547.99 after a $50 dollar manufacturer discount which will be automatically deducted at checkout. In addition, Costco will also package a free Western Digital 500GB Caviar Blue SATA hard drive (WD5000AAKS). Not a bad deal at all – I might have to consider it since my current HP EX470 box is nearly out of space.

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Technorati Tags: HP EX485 MediaSmart Server, Costco deal

Black Friday weekend appears to be a great time to pick up a new VIZIO HDTV set. The company announced price cuts on select models for the coming weekend at various retailers – here’s what you need to know:

• VIZIO 19” HD LCD HDTV (VA19) $199.99 at Costco Locations Nationwide through 12/7/08 with Member Only MVM Coupon
• VIZIO 32” Plasma HDTV (VP322) $437.00 at Walmart effective today(Wednesday, 11/26/08) – New Everyday Low Value
• VIZIO 37” HD LCD HDTV (VW37) $499.99 at Costco Locations Black Friday weekend while supplies last Friday-Sunday, 11/28-30/08
• VIZIO 32” Full HD 1080p LCD HDTV (VOJ32LF) $559.99 at SEARS Stores Nationwide thru Sunday, 11/30/08
• VIZIO 42” Full HD 1080p LCD HDTV (VS420) $698.00 at Sam’s Club Locations Nationwide now while supplies last for the Holidays.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: VIZIO price cuts, HDTV, Black Friday

Looking for Black Friday deals? PC Magazine has compiled a list of their top Black Friday websites for 2008 here on their website. My favorites from that list include tgiblackfriday.com, blackfriday.fm, and bfgear.com which includes the scanned images of the deals themselves. Overall, I’m unimpressed with this year’s Black Friday deals but let’s hope consumers shop a lot anyhow – we all know the economy needs a boost!

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Technorati Tags: Black Friday, PC Magazine, Top 10 Black Friday websites

Best Buy is looking to make Black Friday truly special for 25 “lucky shoppers” out there with the “Black Friday VIP Content”. Launched yesterday, consumers will get VIP treatment from Best Buy as well as a $1,000 Best Buy Gift Card.

To enter into the contest, Best Buy is looking for consumers to ”share how Black Friday shopping is an important holiday tradition for them and their family, and what kinds of rituals they have to make the morning after Thanksgiving an enjoyable kick off to the holiday season”

Consumers can submit stories to http://www.AskABlueShirt.net/blackfridayvip from October 29th till November 18th, 2008. One winner in each city will be notified by November 24th. The cities involved are as follows:

Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington DC.

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Technorati Tags: Best Buy Black Friday VIP

I totally glanced over this particular deal at Best Buy from last weekend’s circular. They currently have the Acer Aspire 5735 notebook (not a netbook) for a whopping low price of $399. Although it is currently sold out, you can still order it and have it shipped to you when there’s more stock. If all you’re looking for is a cheap notebook and you don’t care about weight, then you should definitely consider this system a look over. Yes, the specs aren’t awe-inspiring but come on now, it’s $399. You’ll get a system with an Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T3200 (rated at 2GHz), 2GB of RAM, a DVD burner, 15.6 inch WXGA display, 160GB SATA HDD, Intel GMA 4500M graphics, media card reader, Wi-Fi (even draft-N!), speakers, and Windows Vista Home Premium. It does weigh around 5.9 lbs and measure 1.5 inches thick.. but again.. it’s $399!! CNET’s Crave took a look at the notebook here and found:

If I were in the market for a new laptop, I might split my budget and grab the Aspire 5735 for my home machine and a Netbook for when I’m on the road. At a combined $800 to $900, I’d get two machines for the price of one (mainstream) model.

Seems like a great buy! Not sure if this price will last through till Sunday or not.

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Technorati Tags: Acer, Aspire 5735, Best Buy

Just wanted to provide a little sales heads up this morning. If you’re in the market for a new laptop, you might be interested in the Best Buy sale of a new Sony VGN-NR385E/W notebook for $599.99.  This is $230 off the regular price of $829.99. The system comes with a 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, DVD burner, a 15.4 inch display, 200GB HDD, Intel X3100 graphics, and weighs 6.3 lbs. I got one myself this morning – looks like Sony is discontinuing this model – hence the sale.

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Technorati Tags: Sony VAIO VGN-NR385E/W, Best Buy, Sale

Looking to build your Blu-ray film collection? Amazon is running exclusive Blu-ray bundle deals where you can save up to 45% off the titles. Bundles are as follows:

• Blu-ray War Classics Bundle (Patton / The Longest Day / Sand Pebbles) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray War Bundle (Battle of Britain / A Bridge Too Far / Flyboys) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Action Bundle (Robocop / Predator / Terminator) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Sci-Fi Bundle (I Robot / Independence Day / Day After Tomorrow) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Comedy Bundle (Juno / The Devil Wears Prada / Mrs. Doubtfire) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Comedy Bundle (Simpsons the Movie / Me, Myself and Irene / Meet the Spartans) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Horror Bundle (The Hills Have Eyes 2 / 28 Weeks Later / 28 Days Later) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray War Bundle (Rescue Dawn / Windtalkers / Behind Enemy Lines) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Suspense and Thriller Bundle (The Usual Suspects / Speed / Phone Booth) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Kids and Family Bundle (Ice Age / Alvin and the Chipmunks /Night at the Museum) [Blu-ray]
• Blu-ray Superhero Bundle (Fantastic Four / Fantastic Four – Rise of the Silver Surfer / X-Men 3 – The Last Stand) [Blu-ray]

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Blu-ray Bundles, Blu-ray Deals,

I thought I’d pass this little deal along to all of you out there (one of my friends actually just got this deal too). Dell is currently offering their business line Vostro 1000 notebook for as low as $399. That puts their notebook in line against the likes of the ASUS Eee PC from a price perspective. Yes, the Dell Vostro 1000 won’t win any beauty pageants anytime soon but it’s also a far more capable notebook than the Eee PC (although it’s also bulkier and heavier too). What do you get for $399? How about the following:

• AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core processor TK-53 running at 1.7GHz
• Windows XP Home Edition
• 15.4 inch wide-screen XGA LCD Anti-Glare display
• 1GB DDR2 SDRAM
• 120GB 5400 HDD
• 8x DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVR+R write capability
• ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 256MB
• Dell Wireless
• Integrated Audio

Not too shabby if you ask me. If you simply need another mobile system around the house, you might just want to consider getting this system for the holidays.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Dell Vostro 1000, 9