Costco has the Panasonic DMP-BD35AK Blu-ray player for $199 ($279.99 – $80 instant rebate = $199.99) at their brick and mortar stores. CNET called the DMP-BD35 the “best player for the money” and noted it was the first standalone Blu-ray player to match the essential features of the gold standard Playstation 3. See their video review below.

This is a solid price for a great player, especially with the inclusion of the HDMI cable. Not a bad deal if you missed out on the Sears’ pricing mistake that had it at $149 a couple weeks ago.

Links:

Panasonic DMP-BD35AK at Costco deal discussion at FatWallet.com

CNET’s review of the Panasonic DMP-BD35

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Starting Sunday, November 23, Sears.com has the Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-ray player on sale for $150. The player won the coveted Editor’s Choice award from CNET as one of the best Blu-ray players for the money. Unfortunately, it looks like the site quickly sold out of them. No word on if they’re getting more in stock.

*Update* Looks like they removed it entirely from their online store. Bummer.

Link

Panasonic DMP-BD35 $150 at Sears.com

The entire list of Wal-Mart Black Friday deals has finally been released. It looks like Walmart may have some of the best deals for Black Friday. The standouts are what we listed previously: a Samsung 50-inch 720p Plasma for $798, Magnavox Blu-ray player for $128, and an Xbox 360 with Guitar Hero 3 and guitar for $199. An asterisk (*) means it’s a doorbuster deal, good only for the early hours.

HDTVs

• Emerson 32″ LCD HDTV $388.00*
• Polaroid 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV $598.00*
• Samsung 32″ LCD HDTV $498.00
• Samsung 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV $798.00
• Samsung 42″ Plasma HDTV $698.00
• Samsung 46″ 1080p LCD HDTV $1,098.00
• Samsung 50″ 720p Plasma HDTV w/ 2 HDMI Inputs $798.00*
• Sansui 19″ LCD HDTV $178.00*

Blu-ray Movies

• Blu-ray disc: American Gangster $15.00*
• Blu-ray disc: Indiana Jones Crystal Skull 2-Disc Special Edition $15.00 *
• Blu-ray disc: Iron Man Ultimate 2-Disc Edition $15.00*
• Blu-ray disc: Kung Fu Panda $15.00*
• Blu-ray disc: Shooter $15.00*
• Blu-ray disc: Transformers 2-Disc Special Edition $15.00*

Miscellaneous

• Magnavox Blu-ray Disc Player $128.00
• Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player $198
• Xbox 360 Arcade Bundle w/ Guitar Hero 3 Game & Guitar $199.00*

A PDF of Walmart’s official Black Friday ad can be found here.

Radio Shack, king of cables and cords, has a few HDTV-related deals for the 2008 Holidays. The standout bargains are a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player for $199.99 (CNET rated the BD-P1500 a 6.8 our of 10) and a 50-pack of blank TDK DVDs for $8. Here’s a look at all of Radio Shack-s Black Friday HDTV-related deals:

Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player $199.99 (regular price $299)(link)

iLive Sound Bar $79.99 (regular price $129)(link)

AOC L32W861 32″ LCD HDTV $399.99 (regular price $599.00) (link)

TDK 50-Pack of 16x DVDs $7.99 (regular price $27.99) (link)

Sam’s Club’s Black Friday 2008 deals were just released, and their HDTV-related items are a bit underwhelming. There is one bright spot, a Sharp Aquos 1080P 52-inch LCD HDTV for $1384.00. The Aquos is a solid television, although we’d like to see a couple hundred more bucks knocked off.

Here is the entire list of HDTV-related Black Friday deals:

• JVC 32-inch 720P LCD/DVD Combo TV $598
• Phillips 42-inch 1080p LCD HDTV $898
• Sharp Aquos 52-inch 1080p LCD HDTV $1384

And some Blu-ray discs:

• A Clockwork Orange Special Edition Blu-ray $10.87
• Battle Of The Bulge Blu-ray $10.87
• Dark Territory Blu-ray $10.87
• March Of The Penguins Blu-ray $10.87
• Out For Justice Blu-ray $10.87
• The Aviator Blu-ray $10.87
• The Searchers Blu-ray -$10.87
• Under Siege 2 Blu-ray $10.87
• Wyatt Earp Blu-ray $10.87

Link:

Sam’s Club.com

Dell Home (link) will have some HDTV-related deals for Black Friday. The most impressive is an XBOX 360 Arcade with 7 games, including Rock Band 2, for just $199. Wow. Check out all of Dell’s HDTV-related Black Friday deals below:

Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray Disc Player $249.99. This is a great player, but K-mart has same model for $180 on Thanksgiving Day. (Link.)

Sony HDX275 Home Theater System $229.99. 5-disc DVD/CD changer. 1000 watts. iPod dock. DVD upscaling to 1080p. HDMI interface.

Sharp LC42SB45U 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV $779.00. This is Sharp’s bargain line of LCDs. Not a bad price. Sears will have a 46-inch Sharp Acqous 1080p LCD for $900. (Link.)

XBOX 360 Arcade With 7 Games Including Rock Band 2 $199.00. The Arcade bundle includes 6 packaged games like Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Boom Boom Rocket, Pac-Man Championship Edition, Uno, and Superstars Tennis. The real value is the addition of Rock Band 2, which is $60 on its own. Doesn’t come with instruments, however.

Via BlackFriday.info

K-Mart’s Thanksgiving Day 2008 deals have just been released. They will be good for Thursday, November 27, 2008, which is the day before Black Friday. Here are all the HDTV-related deals. A star means we find the deal interesting. Check out the Sony Blu-ray player for only $180!

• Sony Blu-ray BDP-S350 Disc Player $179.99 (Ed. One of the better quality Blu-ray players. See a video review below.)
• Element 32″ LCD HDTV $399.99
• Memorex 26″ LCD HDTV/DVD Combo $399.99
• Samsung 42″ PN42A400 720p Plasma HDTV $699.99

The Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray player received a 7.0 out of 10 rating from CNET (link), who said it delivers a superb Blu-ray picture as well as very good DVD upscaling.

Link to scanned copy of K-Mart’s Black Friday ad.

Via BlackFriday.info.

Here’s an early look at a list of HDTVs and other interesting items of note that will be on sale for Sears on Black Friday 2008.

HDTVs:

Element 37″ LCD HDTV – $599.99
Panasonic 37″ Full HD LCD TV – $749.99
Panasonic 42″ 720P Plasma HDTV – $699.99 *
Proscan 32″ LCD HDTV – $499.99 *
Samsung 19″ LCD HDTV – $299.99 *
Samsung 32″ LN32A300 LCD HDTV – $499.99
Samsung 40″ 1080P LCD HDTV – $799.99 *
Samsung 46″ 1080P LCD HDTV – $1099.99 *
Samsung 46″ 1080p LN46A530 LCD HDTV – $1199.99 Ed. Great TV.
Samsung 50″ 720p PN50A400 Plasma HDTV – $899.99
Samsung 52″ 1080p 120Hz LN52A650 LCD HDTV – $2099.99
Sharp 26″ LCD HDTV – $399.99 *
Sharp 46″ Class Full HD 1080P LCD HDTV – $899.99 * Ed. A lot of screen for a low price.
Sony Bravia S-Series 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV – $999.99
Sony Bravia S-Series 46″ 1080p LCD HDTV – $1299.99
Sony Bravia V-Series 40″ 1080p LCD HDTV – $1099.99
Sony Bravia V-Series 52″ 1080p LCD HDTV – $1799.99
Sony Bravia W Series 52″ 1080P LCD HDTV – $1999.99 *
Sylvania 42″ Class 1080P LCD HDTV – $699.99 *
Toshiba 40″ 1080p 40RV525U LCD HDTV – $849.99
Vizio 26″ LCD HDTV – $379.99
Vizio 37″ 1080p Full HD LCD TV – $699.99

Other items of note:

Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Disc Player – $199.99
Samsung DVD-1080P Upconvert DVD Player – $49.99
Sony DVP-NS700 1080p Upconverting DVD Player – $69.99
Belkin HDMI Kit – $34.99
Logitech Harmony Remote – $59.99 w/32″ TV Purchase
Samsung 1000 Watt Home Theater System – $159.99 *
Samsung HT-BD2E Blu-ray Home Theater System – $599.99
Sony Blu-Ray Disc Player – $179.99 * (Ed. Model unknown, probably the BDP-S300)
Sony DAV-HDX275 1000-Watt 5-Disc Home Theater System w/1080p Upscaling HDMI
Sony DAV-HDX576WF 1000-Watt 5-Disc Home Theater System w/Wireless Rear Speaker – $349.99
Tech Craft 48″ TV Stand – $149.99
Tech Craft 58″ TV Stand – 50% Off
300 BluRay – $19.99 *
National Treasure 2 Blu-Ray – $18.99 *
Sleeping Beauty Blu-Ray – $18.99 *

*Doorbuster item.

(Via BlackFriday.info)

The Sylvania NB500SL9 Blu-ray player had its priced chopped to $199.00 at Amazon.com.

The unit has not been professionally reviewed, but it shares the same internal hardware of three other bargain Blu-ray players manufactured by the Chinese company Funai, two of which were rebranded:

• Funai NB500
• Magnavox NB500MG9
• Insignia NS-BRDVD

Of these brands, only the Insigna NS-BRDVD was reviewed by CNET. It received a 6.0 out of 10 rating. CNET liked the unit’s 1080/24p video quality and its DVD upconversion. They also liked its ability to output Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio in bit stream format. They didn’t like the subpar video quality Blu-ray discs in standard 1080/60p mode, and the fact that it’s forever stuck as a Profile 1.1 player. Check out CNET’s video review below:

Links:

Sylvania NB500SL9 at Amazon.com

CNET’s review of the Insignia NS-BRDVD