Dell, Microsoft, Staples enter Black Friday fray
As the march to Black Friday continues, Dell, Microsoft and Staples have announced their respective Black Friday deals.
All three are offering a variety of deals — and as has been the trend this year — will be offering discounts in the days leading up to Black Friday as well. Here are a few of the notables:
Beginning Sunday and running through Nov. 25, Staples will be offering Beats Solo headphones for $79.99 ($90 off), $100 off "select" tablets $399 and above (not including the latest iPad Air 2 or iPad Mini 3) and $100 off various PCs priced $499 and up. Staples will also be offering a variety of deals throughout the week including a Google Chromecast for $25 ($10 off) and Amazon's new Fire TV Stick for $24 ($15 off. Best Buy also recently revealed that it too would be offering Amazon's new streaming dongle for $24.99). On Black Friday the company will also be offering the Apple TV for $79 ($20 off).
The deals apply in-store as well as online, though some of the in-store deals will require a coupon that can be found on the company's site. Staples will also be offering 25% off of one full priced item in-store on Nov. 26, and while some restrictions apply (Staples will only go so far as to say "there are exclusions on desktops, laptops, tablets, notebooks, mobile and other select brands"), you can use it on wearables such as Motorola's Moto 360 smartwatch that starts at $249.99. Staples stores will open 6 p.m.and close at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving (except in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island) and most will re-open at 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday.
While there are discounts for Dell devices at numerous stores, including Staples and Best Buy, some of the best deals at Dell's site are for products not made by the Texas-based computer maker. Dell will be selling an Xbox One bundle that includes the new Assassins Creed: Unity as well as Assassins Creed IV Black Flag for $330, one of the lowest prices we've seen for Microsoft's latest game console. Dell also has a good deal on the PlayStation 4, bundling Sony's console with Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us for $399.99. The PC maker will also be bundling a $50 e-gift card with the recently announced Alienware Alpha system, the company's new PC game console that plays Steam games and retails for $549.
As with other deals, if you're looking for the discount on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 at Dell's site you'll have to act quickly. The consoles will be in "limited quantities" and is the company's online "doorbuster" to kick off the holiday sales at 6 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Microsoft, it too will be getting into the Black Friday bonanza with a variety of deals. The biggest savings come for the company's Surface tablets, with the middle-to-higher end Surface Pro 3 (the ones running Intel's more powerful i5 or i7 processors) being discounted $100 (i5 models) or $150 (i7 models). The company will also be offering $150 off last year's Surface 2, though you may want to avoid that model as it runs Windows RT and not the full PC-version of Windows 8.1.
One other interesting deal is a Nokia Lumia 635 for $39 without a contract. While not the most powerful smartphone, the 635 has a 4.5-inch screen and runs the company's latest version of Windows Phone, version 8.1, making it a good first smartphone for a kid or a decent backup device (though it lacks a front facing camera for video chats or selfies). One thing to note: as of now Microsoft appears to only be discounting the model designed for AT&T's network (the T-Mobile variant is still listed at $129 while the unlocked version is $179).
The deal on the Lumia 635 is available now, while Microsoft's deals on the Surface will begin on Thanksgiving.
Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal
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