Looking for a netbook deal on Black Friday? There aren’t many going around this year, and only one of them is what I’d call decent.

Before you get up early (or stay up late) to get a low-price netbook, know which deals are worth the effort.

I’ve combed the Black Friday deals to find the best and worst. But before the big day comes, be sure to search the web to see if the netbook you want can’t be found at or close to these “deal” prices already.

Also, be sure to check out our Black Friday Notebook Deals as well.

Acer Aspire One (AOD255E)

$157 @ Target | $199 Fred Meyer

This is a basic 10.1-inc netbook from Acer. It’s pretty solid, but with a single-core Atom CPU, it’s not going to be a work horse. This deal is decent since it’s $279 new. It would make a good laptop for a kid or someone who wants a secondary laptop for basic tasks.

Gateway LT2802U

$149 @ BestBuy

Don’t bother getting up early for this one. Though the price is low, you can get this netbook online for just a bit more right now.

Samsung Series 3

$499 @ Staples

This 11.6 affordable ultraportable is a decent laptop, but you can get this for less on Amazon right now.

Sylvania 7-inch Netbook / Android Netbook / Smartbook

$74 @ Toys R Us | $79 @ Kmart | $79 @ Sears | $99 @ Hastings

Just as with tablets, you should seriously run away when you see a Sylvania netbook/smartbook in every incarnation you find it. Yes, it’s very inexpensive, but it’s also cheap and crap and it will likely break after a short time. It’s not worth even the small amount you pay for it.

Black Friday Netbook Deals is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Warner Crocker, one of the most prolific Tablet bloggers we know and GotteBeMobile writer, has released the 2010 edition of his Ink Blot Awards. This annual awards list is a celebration of tablets, mobile tech and blogging. If you’ve been looking for the cream fo the crop to watch, read or follow then you should check out all the winners on Warner’s personal blog, Life on the Wicked Stage.

The Ink Blot awards or “Blotties” began as a celebration of the tablet PC community which used to be comprised of Windows tablets, but as the tablet space has grown to include new entrants like the iPad, so has the awards; including blogging and mobile computing as well as a hodgepodge of cultural and political winners and losers.

Some highlights include our own win and our favorite netbook websites:

Best and Craziest Black Friday Coverage: Notebooks.com

Best We Still Cover Netbooks Even Though Nobody Cares Award:Steve “Chippy” Paine, Sascha Pallenberg, jkkmobile

Best How Does He Keep Going: Xavier Lanier

As well as some gadget naming highlights that are spot on regarding the Windows Tablet environment;

Best Gadget Release of the Year: iPad

Best Gadget Release of the Year that Might Make People Think Twice About the iPad: MacBook Air

Best Please Quit Trying Until You Start From Scratch Award:Windows 7 Tablets

Most Innovative Tablet PC of 2010: No Award Given

Best Tablet PC Software of 2010: No Award Given

Hit up the full awards list for a great selection of winners and beef up your Twitter following count while you’re at it.

Ink Blot Awards 2010 Winners Announced by Warner Crocker is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

To celebrate Black Friday we’re giving several hot Black Friday items. One of the hottest games of the holiday season is Call of Duty: Black Ops and we’re giving away a copy for you to play on your XBOX 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii or PC. A free copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops sure beats any other Black Friday price on this first person shooter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops has an MSRP of $59.99.

If you’re not familiar with the Call of Duty: Black Ops, please take a look at this trailer before buying it for your younger loved ones. It’s rated M for mature for a reason. The game is extremely violent, foul language is scattered in just about every scene and your character’s tasked to kill people in just about every corner of the world. While you might want young kids playing Call of Duty: Black Ops because of this kind of content, this is exactly what draws teens and adults to this game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops follows the story of a special forces fighter as he conducts covert missons during the Vietnam War era. The campaign mode is a bit more strategic than previous installations of the Call of Duty franchise. Rather than simply blasting everything that moves, Call of Duty: Black Ops requires you to sneak around and get crafty.

Many gamers couldn’t care less about Call of Duty: Black Op’s campaign mode. Instead, they simply want to jump online and play in multi-player mode. The game has multi-player maps of all sizes and something for everyone. Gamers can customize their characters like never before. You can spend a good amount of time changing out uniforms and customizing your weapons.

How to Win Call of Duty Black Ops

If you’ve read this far that probably means you’d like to win a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops for yourself or a loved one. Entering to win is easy, just answer the below questions in the comments section below. You must answer all three questions in the comments if you want to be entered to win a copy Call of Duty: Black Ops.

1. Which gaming system would you play Call of Duty: Black Ops on if you won this giveaway?

(we need to know so we can send you the right version)

2. Why do you prefer gaming on the PS3/XBOX 360/Wii/PC?

3.  Besides Call of Duty: Black Ops, which game  is the BEST game out there that’s on your Christmas wish list? What makes it so great?

Only one entry per person is allowed. This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents aged 18 and over, where allowed by local regulations. Multiple entries will be disqualified. We’ll pick a random winner via Random.org next Friday, December 3, 2010.

Visit Notebooks.com’s Black Friday page to learn more about shopping for gadgets on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season.

Good luck!

Giveaway: Call of Duty Black Ops is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

Best Buy has some great deals for Black Friday, but they’ll be impossible to get if you’re not already in line. Best Buy’s doors open at 5am local time, but people have been lining up all day long, and in some cases well before then. One family began camping out for Best Buy’s Black Friday deals nine days ago.

All of Best Buy’s doorbuster deals are limited to the quantities on hand. In many cases, Best Buy guarantees a minimum quantity of each Black Friday deal units at each store. Busier stores are often allocated more than the minimum quoted in the Best Buy Black Friday advertisements, but that’s still not enough to satisfy more than the first several dozen customers in line. Many Best Buy stores, such as the main San Francisco Best Buy, already have several hundred shoppers lined up around the block. Unfortunately, that means several hundred people are out in the cold for both the night and the best deals.

Best Buy stores and their attached warehouses are stuffed to the brim with inventory, packing literally hundreds of some popular items into the store aisles. Those items will be relatively easy to buy with modest Black Friday discounts. There’s genereally no need to camp out in a freezing Best Buy parking lot to get those deals however. In many cases, these deals are readily available on BestBuy.com, Amazon.com and other online retailers.

We’ve heard countless stories of Black Friday shoppers being frustrated at not getting the advertised deals. In some cases, even those towards the head of the lines miss out. Some shoppers have accused Best Buy stores of not actually having the minimum advertised quantities of the Black Friday doorbuster deals. In a few cases, Best Buy employees have violated store policies to hoard the deals for themselves, friends and relatives.

For a full list of Black Friday Best Buy deals visit this page. Or you can visit our Black Friday deals and guides page.

Best Buy Black Friday: If You’re Not in Line Already You Can Forget About the Doorbusters is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

Best Buy will be having a quite a few doorbusters tomorrow morning at 5AM for Black Friday. We have covered some of the larger items such as the Nintendo Wii, but we have also taken the time to compile a complete list of all of Best Buy’s doorbusters.

Most of the deals are limited to one per customer with no rainchecks. Also, every item except for the video games, movies, and tv series are only available with a ticket obtained at the door. So if you are looking to score some of these deals, you may want to head out early. On second thought, you may already be too late.

Televisions/Accessories

• Samsung 32″ Class LCD HDTV and Nintendo Wii Console Bundle – $399.99
• Panasonic – VIERA / 50″ Class / 1080p / 600Hz / Plasma HDTV – $699.99
• Toshiba – Blu-ray Disc Player – $59.99

Laptops

• Toshiba – Satellite Laptop / AMD V-Series Processor / 15.6″ Display / 3GB Memory / 320GB Hard Drive – Black – $189.99
• Sony VAIO Laptop with 3GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive and Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor – $399.99
• Sony VAIO Laptop with Built-In Blu-Ray Player , “The Karate Kid” Blu-ray Disc, Laptop Bag & Antivirus Software Package – $499.99

Other Electronics

• NOOK Wi-Fi eReader by Barnes & Noble – $99.99
• Samsung Fascinate Mobile Phone – Black or White (Verizon Wireless) – Free
• Insignia™ – 10.0-Megapixel Digital Camera – $59.99

Video Games/Game Consoles

• Nintendo Wii Console (Black or White) with Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Remote Plus – $169.99
• Madden NFL 11 – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• NHL 11 – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• NCAA Football 11 – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• FIFA Soccer 11 – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Limited Edition – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• The Sims 3 – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• Medal Of Honor – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99
• EA SPORTS MMA – Xbox 360/PS3 – $34.99

Movies/TV Shows

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – Blu-ray Disc – $9.99
• Predators – Blu-ray Disc Plus Digital Copy – $9.99
• Predators – DVD – $9.99
• Saving Private Ryan – Blu-ray Disc – $9.99
• Smallville Seasons 1-9 – $9.99 each season

Appliances

• LG Laundry Pair – $999.98

Looking to get ahold of doorbusters at other retailers tomorrow morning? Check out our guide to when stores will be opening their doors.

Best Buy Black Friday Doorbusters (Black Friday 2010) is a post by Carter Sprunger from Notebooks.com.

Black Friday iPod deals are finally available for purchase online at Best Buy. These deals are some of the best we have seen during Black Friday and best of all you can buy these Black Friday iPod deals online without spending all day in line.

These iPod deals are for sale at normal price, except the iPod Nano which is $10 off, but they come with a Best Buy gift card to sweeten the deal up to $50. You can score these Black Friday/ThanksGiving Day iPod deals online right now.

iPod Nano 8GB – $10 OFF – $139.95 at Best Buy plus Free Shipping: This new iPod Nano 8GB is the best deal we have seen for an online Black Friday deal. You can pick up the same size iPod Nano from Radio Shack in store with a $15 Radio Shack gift card, but the time you have to spend in store won’t be worth the extra $5. This deal is valid until November 27th.

iPod Nano Video Demo:

iPod Touch 8GB – $30 Gift Card – $229 at Best Buy plus Free Shipping: This entry level iPod Touch is the new iPod Touch 4th Gen, which provides access to all types of apps, including over 200 which are on sale during Black Friday. If you need to find an iPod Touch before Christmas, this is the deal you need to get right now.

iPod Touch 32GB – $40 Gift Card – $299 at Best Buy plus Free Shipping: For users with more storage needs, check out the 32GB iPod Touch which comes with a $40 Best Buy Gift card. Other stores are offering the iPod Touch with a $50 gift card, but you’ll have to wait in line. Again, your time is likely worth more than the extra $10 in savings. If you can afford the upgrade, jump up to this Black Friday iPod deal instead of the 32GB iPod Touch.

iPod Touch 64GB – $50 Gift Card – $399 at Best Buy plus Free Shipping: The most expensive 64GB iPod Touch is available form Best Buy with a $50 gift card online right now. This is a great deal and one of the few Black Friday iPod deals we have seen on the 64GB model which is well suited for users with huge music or video collections.

iPod Touch Video Demo:

Online Black Friday iPod Deals: $30, $40 or $50 Gift Card with iPod Touch, Nano Purchases at Best Buy is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Apple has finally listed some of its Black Friday deals over at Apple.com. The company is taking $101 off many of their Macs including the new MacBook Air.

The MacBook Air cited on the teaser page at Apple is the 13.3″ MacBook Air with 128GB of SSD storage and 2GB of RAM. This is a good deal, probably one of the best prices you will see on this new laptop on Black Friday. The MacBook Air has been reviewed both here at Notebooks.com and our sister site Gottabemobile, receiving high praise. Below is our video review:

The MacBook Air has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which may seem like a real speed bottleneck. However, the fast 128GB SSD more than makes up for it. Below is a demo of just how fast this computer boots:

The excellent display and keyboard make this a delight to type on, view video, and use for general tasks.

The MacBook Air is not perfect. The limitations of storage and lack of an optical drive will be a hindrance for some. However, the excellent battery life makes the MacBook Air the perfect travel companion.

Apple has a series of videos that include the TV ads, info about the MacBook Air and other related content.

Be sure to check out our excellent MacBook buyers guide to be sure if this is the Apple Notebook for you. If you do go with this one then we think you will enjoy your purchase or if it is a gift, the recipient will be excited about your choice.

Black Friday Deal: Apple MacBook Air $101 Off is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Apple has finally listed some of its Black Friday deals at Apple.com. Apple is taking $101 off many Macs for Black Friday, including the 13″ MacBook Pro.

The entry-level 13″ MacBook Pro, which has a glossy screen, 4GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a backlit keyboard, a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a DVD burner. The MacBook Pro has a whopping 10 hours of battery life. Unlike other laptop manufacturers, Apple’s battery life estimates are often quite accurate.

If you are having a difficult time deciding between the MacBook Pro and the entry-level 13″ MacBook Air, you should understand the trade-offs of each.  The MacBook Air is much lighter and portable. The MacBook Air has a much faster drive, but it only has a 128GB capacity, about half the capacity. Also the battery life is a little bit longer on the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Air has less ports and doesn’t come with a DVD drive.

We have a full MacBook Black Friday buyers guide ready to help you make your choice. And here is a video review from MacMall:

For other Apple Black Friday deals, check out our roundup. There are deals listed from other stores as well.

Black Friday: Apple MacBook Pro $101 Off is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Earlier we wrote a brief article about why you might want to avoid buying the Apple iPad on Black Friday. In this article we’ll take a look at five reasons you should buy an iPad on Black Friday. The Apple iPad is selling faster than any other new gadget in history. If you’re thinking about buying an iPad, it may be time to pull the trigger.

Apple will be discounting the Apple iPad by about $50 starting on Black Friday.

Before you head out to buy the iPad or any other Apple product on Black Friday you should check out our Apple Black Friday resource center.

1. Apple’s iOS 4.2 Mobile Operating System

Apple just released iOS4.2, its latest version of the mobile operating system (the software that serves as the foundation for the iPad’s functionality and apps). iOS4.2 has a host of new features that brings the somewhat stale iOS3 iPad experience back on par with the iPhone’s experience. The new interface allows for folders, Airplay and over 100 other new features.

2. Great for Travelling

In the previous article, we recommended waiting for the second generation iPad if possible. But that doesn’t you much good if you’re hoping to take the iPad on a long trip to the in-law’s. The iPad’s 10 hour battery makes it one of the best devices to travel with. You can watch five or six movies on a single battery charge, which is simply incredible. Doing even half that is impossible on most laptops. It’s also compact enough to tote anywhere, but powerful enough to serve as a basic computing device for a few days. Many iPad users ditch their laptops at home for cross-country flights.

3. KIds Love It

According to a recent survey, about a third of all children are wishing for an iPad in the next few months. Whether you give the iPad to a kid or their parents for Christmas, you’ll be their favorite uncle for years to come. Even if you buy the iPad for yourself on Black Friday, you’ll be mister popular as your nieces and nephews will get to play with it when they come visit you. There are some excellent entertainment and education apps and games for kids. You can of course also rent recent movies, cartoons and TV shows.

4. Pairs Well with the Apple TV

If you have a new Apple TV, or are planning on buying one, you’ll be able to use AirPlay on the iPad to send movies, photos and music to your HDTV. You could do the same with an iPhone, but the iPad has a far superior battery life and you don’t have to shuffle between phone calls and enjoying your multimedia content. You can also just leave the iPad in the living room, while people usually bring their iPhones wherever they go. With the iPad, your family can finish a movie, even if you need to run to the store for candy and popcorn.

5. Great Resale Value

We’re pretty certain that we’ll see a new and improved Apple iPad within the next couple of months, making the first generation iPad obsolete. While the smart thing to do, at least financially, would be to just wait for the new iPad there is an alternative. You can sell it to a friend, family member or stranger on a site like eBay or Craigslist. You can also sell it to a reputable gadget buying service like Gazelle.com, which is currently offering $289 for a 16GB iPad. That means someone who bought an iPad when it originally launched would get almost 60% money back after using it for most of the year. Apple products typically have very good used resale value. This is a rarity in the world of nearly disposable gadgets, many of which are nearly worthless after less than a year.

If you’re not on a tight budget, reselling an iPad after using it for a few months is a viable option.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Apple?v=FJWfReUwMSg

Here’s an overview of the iPad from Apple

Black Friday Advice: 5 Reasons to Buy the Apple iPad on Black Friday is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

Apple’s begun its one-day Black Friday sale, but if you’re in the U.S. you’ll have to wait until midnight to get the deals. The first country to see Apple’s Black Friday deals go live is Australia, where’s it’s already Black Friday, even though Aussies don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Perhaps that’s why Apple’s calling this a “Special one-day Apple shopping event.”

So what is Apple discounting on Black Friday? Pretty much everything except the iPhone 4. There are slight deals on iPads, MacBooks, MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, iPods and accessories. Apple rarely discounts its core products, so this is one of the few chances you’ll get to buy these items directly from Apple below sticker price.

Unfortunately, the discounts on most of the MacBooks and iPods are underwhelming and in many cases it’s a better deal to buy from Amazon.com, MacMall or one of Apple’s other numerous authorized resellers. However, Apple.com is the only place where shoppers can completely customize their MacBooks and have their iPhones, iPads and iPods engraved before shipping.

Visit Notebooks.com’s Apple Black Friday Deals page to see deals from other retailers on iPods, MacBooks and iPads.

As you can see in the above image, Apple is discounting the iPad by A$ 51. That’s a savings of  8% on the 16GB WiFi iPad and just under 5% on the 64GB iPad WiFi + 3G. That’s hardly enough to motivate most people to jump up and buy an iPad, but if you’re already planning on buying an iPad on Black Friday it’s a nice bonus and enough to pay for an iPad case or enough apps to get started.

The iPod Nano is discounted by up to 25 dollars, depending on storage capacity. The iPod Touch is discounted by 35 to 51 dollars depending on capacity. Walmart, Radioshack and Best Buy are all offering free gift cards with the purchase of a full-priced iPod Touch on Black Friday.

The iMac, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are each discounted by 121 dollars regardless of configuration. That means you’ll get a bigger discount percentage wise on the base configurations of each of these Macs.

We expect to see very similar deals here in the U.S. on Black Friday both at Apple retail stores and at Apple.com. The dollar off amounts will be adjusted for U.S. currencies and pricing. There is a chance that Apple could offer deeper discounts on select items considering Black Friday is largely a U.S. phenomenon.

There’s no word of freebies, such as free printers, software or accessories like we’re seeing at some authorized Apple resellers on Black Friday. Best Buy is charging full price for MacBooks, but offering free gift cards. MacMall is offering both discounts and freebies. Amazon.com is offering decent discounts, free shipping and the advantage of not having to pay tax up front.

Visit Notebooks.com’s Black Friday page for more Black Friday deals and guides to shopping for laptops and gadgets on Black Friday. Visit our Apple Black Friday page for more MacBook and iPod deals.

Black Friday: Apple’s Black Friday Sales Rolling Out, Discounts on iPods, MacBooks and More is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.