Netbook shopping on Black Friday: What you need to know
Netbooks growing in popularity
We see netbooks making a big splash at this year’s Black Friday. They’ve picked up in popularity greatly over the last year and this exponential rise seems set to continue. Some of the reasons why netbooks and netbook deals will be prevalent this year:
- Christmas is around the corner. Netbooks make a great gift. They’re not too expensive, they’re functional and everyone wants one. Also, they’re potential gifts for people who already own laptops or desktops as well, so the market of potential users is quite wide.
- With the recession and jobs scenario, the number of people spending on big ticket items has reduced. Budgets of $1000 plus, are now about $300-$400. Netbooks are perfectly priced to take advantage of this cutback in spending.
- Free WiFi is spreading. Starbucks, Mcdonalds and Peet’s are just a few of the locations that offer this service.
- Branding across categories. What I mean by this is well documented by ASUS’s example. They were a not-so-well-known brand that hit it big in the netbook space. The spillover effect is that consumers are now looking at buying into ASUS’s other product lines. Expect other brands to try to replicate this effect with slashed prices and better deals.
Black Friday Netbook deals have already begun to seep out. Check out netbookreview’s list here.
What you need to know
1. Stocks are limited. Stores want to lure you in with super-low prices, but they want to squeeze you for cash. So what they do? They keep 20 pieces of a particular product at the advertised price, and 200 of some other loser that they’re trying to push. So when you do get to the store, what you wanted is gone and you need to “settle”. Don’t.
2. Wake up early and get to the store as soon it as opens. This one follows from the last point. If you know there’s only a few items on sale at the price you want, make sure you get them! Black Friday is not a day to be late, it’s a day to camp out.
3. There are some deals which are available online exclusively or else other deals which are available both instore and online. Check through these so that you can cut out on unnecessary trips out.
4. Be wary of advertising scams. You’ve seen those deals before. The super-low price in large block letters with the tiny-a$$ star next to it. That star means to get that netbook for the advertised price, you NEED to buy all this additional crapware along with it. If they try to pull this on you at the counter, ask to speak to a supervisor and do a little pushing of your own. Threaten to write to the Ethical Advertising Forum or some other such body. It’ll work half the time.
5. Some stores have super deals already running. They’ve preponed their Black Friday! You can buy a Compaq CQ-139WM with a 15.4-inch screen, 2GB RAM and a 160GB hard drive for $298!
6. Check the operating systems before you buy. The cheapest netbooks come with Linux, and while we have nothing against Linux, you need to make sure you know what you’re getting. Also Vista netbooks. Windows Vista is Microsoft’s gigantic advertising slogan for Apple. It is S……….L…………..O…………….W. Get a Windows XP netbook instead.
Well, that’s it from us. Happy shopping and keep checking back to see what new deals we’ve discovered for you.
Filed under: Netbook