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5 Black Friday Laptops That Aren’t Worth the Lost Sleep and Long Lines

Josh Smith — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:39:48 +0000

Standing in line on Black Friday isn’t just about getting a good deal. For some shoppers the experience is worth more than the HDTV or laptop that it results in. But, even if you’re having fun there are some Black Friday laptops that just aren’t worth waiting in line for, or even worth staying up late to order online.

Here are some of the worst deals for Black Friday 2010. We hope you’ll avoid these bad buys and look at Five laptops worth standing in line for. You can also view all the Black Friday laptops in a sortable list by store, price, specs and more.

7″ Sylvania Netbook – $95 at CVS

As far as bad netbooks go, this Sylvania netbook is at the top of the list. It doesn’t run Windows 7 like a rel netbook, but instead Windows CE which technically will allow you to get online and edit some text documents, but for all but the most basic needs (and someone with lots of patience) this is only to be given to people you don’t like. You can get the Compaq CQ10-405DX for $149 at Best Buy and it’s a real netbook.

Augen 7″ Netbook PC Powered by Android (model NBA7400A) - $89 Kmart

Similar to the Sylvania netbook, this Android netbook which Kmart is selling n Black Friday is not worth the price. Multiple accounts report an incredibly slow operation and since you don’t have access to the official Android Marketplace getting new programs is more trouble than most users will want to go through. Unless you have been looking for an underpowered Android netbook all year, pass for the Compaq from Best Buy.

HP G56-126NR 15.6″ Laptop w/AMD V-Series Processor – $349.99 at hhgregg

If the specs on this $350 Black Friday laptop look familiar, it’s because they are almost identical to the $198 Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5089 Black Friday doorbuster from Best Buy that was on our list of laptops worth waiting in line for. There’s no reason to pay an extra $150 for the same laptop on Black Friday — or any day of the year for that matter.

Sony VAIO EB VPCEB3AFM/WI 15.5″ Dual Core – $399 at Best Buy

At $399 you do get the Sony name and design that is often a price premium, but there’s not enough here to set this VAIO EB series apart from it’s under $400 Black Friday laptop peers.

Toshiba Satellite C655D-S5088 Dual Core 15.6″ – $429 at Office Max

Again, it’s not that this laptop is a bad one, it will meet the needs of many home users, but the price doesn’t justify waiting in line on Black Friday; especially when you can get a similarly spec’d laptop for $100 less!

Similar Toshiba laptop:

For the Black Friday Laptop winners (and more losers), check out our Best Black Friday Laptop Deals by Price:

5 Black Friday Laptops That Aren’t Worth the Lost Sleep and Long Lines is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Black Friday: 7″ Kmart Netbook for $89.99 Is Another Bad Black Friday Deal

Josh Smith — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 20:10:37 +0000

Black Friday Laptops and netbooks are often a great deal, but sometimes a bad buy sneaks in, and if you aren’t careful could cost you dearly. The $89 Kmart 7″ netbook looks like it will be one of those bad buys, especially when can get soo much more for an additional $100.

The Black Friday netbook from Kmart appears on the front page of the leaked Kmart Black Friday 2010 ad, boasting WiFi, web browsing and email. There’s a small note that the style may vary by location, but we looked on Kmart.com and found the Augen 7″ Netbook PC Powered by Android (model NBA7400A), which fits the original price and looks just like the netbook pictured as a Black Friday doorbuster. This netbook made rounds this summer as the Augen GenBook 74, which sold for $99.

We have nothing against cheap laptops, so long as they offer users a good value too, but according to reviews of the kmart netbook from this summer it is one you should avoid, as well as the 7″ Sylvania Netbook also sold by Kmart and featured as a bad Black Friday Sylvania netbook being sold at CVS.

Numerous reviews of this netbook hammer the device for being an underperformer — even in the super cheap netbook category. Joanna Stern of Engadget described the system as, “…slow. No, like really slow.” You can see Engadget’s preview of the $90 kMart Black Friday netbook in this video below.

John Walton of Android community website DroidDog returned his Kmart netbook due to numerous complaints including a trackpad that doesn’t work right, poor WiFi performance and software taht was, “slow and non-responsive.”

Even for the lowest demand users out there, this isn’t the netbook you should be looking at buying on Black Friday. You can find a real netbook for not much more, like the $149 Compaq CQ10-405DX from Best Buy that runs Windows 7, has an Atom processor and a 10.1″ screen.

We also recommend that you check out 10 Things to Look for When Buying a Black Friday Laptop or Netbook, which will help you figure out if a notebook is a good deal or not.

If you aren’t in the market for a notebook this year you, we’ve rounded up 10 Things to Buy on Black Friday Besides a Laptop to show you some of the other items available.

Black Friday: 7″ Kmart Netbook for $89.99 Is Another Bad Black Friday Deal is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Augen GenTouch78 Tablet Reviewed, Scores Poorly

Xavier Lanier — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:51:10 +0000

The Augen GenTouch 78 is a $149 tablet that’s been getting a lot of attention over the past few days because it’s been advertised heavily by KMart. Laptop Magazine reviewed the Augen GenTouch78 and gave it just 1.5 of 5 stars. It barely earned that pitiful score according to own of Laptop Magazine’s editors. If you’re tempted to buy this device, our advice is to save your pennies until you can afford a more robust tablet device or iPad.

At $149, we didn’t expect much, but the GenTouch 78 even disappoints those with already low expectations. The GenTouch scored lowly because of its terrible designâ€ and sluggish performance.â€ one highlight of the device is that it runs Googles Android operating system, but unfortunately the Android market app does not work properly on the GenTouch 78.

According to Laptop Magazine:

The GenTouch78 was never going to be a powerhouse or the most desirable tablet this side of the iPad, but even at $149 it’s a waste of money.

The GenTouch78 might look good in Kmart’s advertisements, but this sounds like one device that you wouldn’t even want to use if it were free.

via Laptop Mag

Augen GenTouch78 Tablet Reviewed, Scores Poorly is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

$99 Genbook74 Android Netbook Arrives at Kmart , caught on video

Josh Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:00:10 +0000

The $150 Android powered Augen tablet at Kmart has been making a lot of news recently, but it’s not the only new device to grace the store shelves. Kmart is also selling a $99 Genbook74 Android powered netbook.

The Genbook74 is cheap, but when you look at the specs you’ll know why. The $99 Android netbook has a 400MHz processor, 7 inch screen with a small 800×480 display and 128MB of RAM. The device is also running an older version of Android (1.6) and even though it has the Android Marketplace, it can’t install apps.

That hasn’t dissuaded Joanna Stern from Engadget from buying one to test out though. Stern put the $99 Android netbook through its paces and confirms what you may have guessed when you read the specs, “the GenBook, which is powered by a 400MHz CPU and 128MB of RAM, is slow. No, like really slow.”

Stern also adds comments on the design, usability and overall Android experience which provides additional clues as to why the netbook is priced at $99 and why it may soon be on the clearance shelf.

Via AndroidGuys

$99 Genbook74 Android Netbook Arrives at Kmart , caught on video is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Watch Out For Bad Black Friday Netbook Deals

Josh Smith — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:17:55 +0000

Every year manufacturers and retailers roll out cheap one notebook and netbook configurations for Black Friday. Many times these low cost computers are alright for basic users who only want to surf the web and browse photos; but some cheap netbooks sold on Black Friday are cheap for a reason. They aren’t any good.

Case in point, the $119 Delstar 7 Inch Wireless Netbook 05 rumored to be sold at Kmart on Black Friday this year is a horrible buy. The biggest problem with this netbook, for most users, is that it runs Windows CE; an operating system originally designed for phones. Since this netbook runs Windows CE instead of Windows XP or Windows 7 like many netbooks you’ll find that many of your favorite programs won’t install on it.

Not only is the operating system out of date; the 7 inch screen, 400 Mhz ARM processor and included 2 GB of storage are reminiscent of the first netbooks to come to market, not something that should be on the shelf today. In fact, most smart phones boast better specs than this netbook.

Additional specs from Liliputing:

The Delstar netbook does have the usual array of connectivity options including 802.11b/g WiFi, 3 USB ports, and mic and headphone jacks. It has a 3 cell battery and weighs less than 2 pounds.

Unless you have been looking specifically for a Windows CE netbook you’re better off looking at the $149 Acer Aspire One that’s rumored to go on sale at Office Max on Black Friday.

This netbook comes with a 10 inch screen, Windows XP 1 GB of Ram and a 160 GB hard drive which all add up to a more usable and functional computer for only $30 more. If you are looking for a deal on a netbook this Black Friday it should have similar specs.

Watch Out For Bad Black Friday Netbook Deals is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.