The time is close at hand when lots of people stop everything they usually do and spend lots of money on items that have had their prices cut to the bone. It"s Black Friday 2013 and this year"s event seems to be bigger than ever as some retail stores actually start their sales on Thursday afternoon or evening, rather than wait until midnight on Friday. Online retail websites, like Amazon, have already started their "Black Friday week" sales.
We here at Neowin are not adverse to saving a few bucks while getting some tech and software products that we really want. We checked all over the Internet to find some of the best deals we could find, including some from outside the usual sources. This article is not meant to be a comprehensive guide; we don"t think any Black Friday 2013 feature could cover all of the deals out there. These are just some of our favorite price cuts that you might be able to take advantage of during the Black Friday sales period. Keep in mind that some retailers will likely have a limited number of each sales item so if you really want it you should try to buy it before the item sells out.
Microsoft
Microsoft will have some Black Friday 2013 sales of its own this weekend. The original Surface tablet (formerly known as Surface RT) will be on sale at a number of retailers during Black Friday, with prices as low as $199. The Microsoft Store will begin its official Black Friday sales at midnight Eastern Time on Thursday with sales on a number of other products. They will include a Dell Inspiron 15z touchscreen laptop for just $399 (normally $849), an Xbox 360 250GB console for only $199 and sales on Xbox 360 games like "Call of Duty Ghosts" for $39.99.
Oh, and if your are a member of the Bing Rewards program, Microsoft has announced that people can redeem two credits to get an exclusive online code for five percent off anything on the Microsoft Store website from now until Monday. That code can even be used for sale items, which offers even more savings off the ones Microsoft is offering this weekend.
Lenovo
The PC maker has already launched its Black Friday sales event on its website, with deep discounts on most of its laptops and tablets when people use the code "BLACKFRIDAY" at checkout. That includes the normally expensive ThinkPad Helix notebook-tablet hybrid. Lenovo is using the sale to cut the cost of the Windows 8 PC from its normal starting price of $1,679 down to $1,149, a $530 savings.
Best Buy
The biggest electronics retailer in the U.S. will have lots of deals to choose from during the Black Friday period. One of our favorites is the price cut on the HP Split X2 Windows 8 notebook-tablet hybrid. Normally priced at $729.99, Best Buy will have the 13.3 inch hybrid on sale starting for just $499.99 when the sale begins at 6 pm on Thursday. Best Buy is also offering Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 for sale for $79.99 for anyone who buys a new PC from them.
Fry"s Electronics
Want some free software that would normally cost $90 or over $100? Sure you would. Fry"s Electronics has the deal for you for their Black Friday sale. Their sales starts at 9 am on Thursday and they are offering the Windows software editing program Sony Movie Studio Platinum Suite 12 for "free". The catch is that the "free" part comes after using both a coupon and a mail-in rebate but since this software is normally priced at $119.99 it might be worth it. The same store is offering the Kaspersky Pure 3.0 Total Security software for "free"during the Black Friday sale after a mail-in rebate; it normally costs $89.99.
Blizzard
If you are a PC game fan, there are plenty of downloadable price cuts on lots of games to be found during Black Friday week. Some of them come from Blizzard. If you have never been sucked into their MMO World of Warcraft, the company is making it easy to do so this week. They are offering the original game plus the first three expansion packs for sale via download for just $4.99 this week, a 75 percent discount. They are also offering the fourth and latest expansion pack for the game, Mists of Pandaria, for just $9.99 this week, which again is a 75 percent savings.
Of course some retailers like to surprise us with last minute sales during Black Friday week. If any of them pop up that might be of interest to you, we will be sure to mention them in posts this week. If you find any deals that you think are interesting, feel free to share them with the rest of the Neowin community in our comments.
Black Friday image via Shutterstock