Amazon, Newegg and Walmart unleash 'Black November' deals

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Summary: Black Friday is now a month long event, thanks to retailers like Amazon, Newegg and Walmart.

Black Friday may be on November 25 this year but Amazon, Newegg and Walmart want you to shop all month long with new deals being revealed each day leading up to Thanksgiving. This means you not only have to watch for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, but will also have to keep track of pre-Black Friday offerings: in case items on your wishlist sell out early.

Amazon.com’s pre-Black Friday discounts on select games and gadgets are already live, with three new Lightening Deals being unveiled at 6am, 10am and 2pm PT each day, so you need to keep a close eye on the site to not strike out on those bargains.

Gadget deals that caught my eye this morning:

ASUS gaming laptop G74SX-DH72, $1,947.99Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 G Aspherical Lens for Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Cameras, $331.97Buy 2 get 1 free video game (from a select though wide-ranging list)

To help you dig through its inventory of products, Amazon just launched Holiday Toy List where you can browse for gift ideas by price, age (of the recipient), category (electronics vs. fashion) and even the amount of discount available.

Newegg, on the other hand, is keeping its “Black November” deals simple by only discounting particular categories of items each day. For example, the retailer is taking 20-percent off on desktop-building parts like CPU coolers and enclosures today, which will be replaced by some other offer tomorrow. I’m not building my own tower at the moment so Newegg’s current offer isn’t very appealing to me, but hope the deals will get hotter as we get closer to Black Friday.

Walmart will be kicking off its one-day only, pre-Black Friday sale in stores this Saturday, November 5. According to its press release, here are some of the items and prices you can expect:

Sanyo 42” Class LCD TV, $398, was $448Vizio 42” Class LED TV, $498LG 47” Class LED TV, $698Nook Color, Rollback $199, was $249Xbox 360 250GB Console with Kinect, $399 plus a $50 Walmart Gift CardXbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect, $299 plus a $50 Walmart Gift CardBetter Homes & Gardens 10-Cup Programmable Grind & Brew Coffee Maker, $39, was $79Better Homes & Gardens 10-Cup Food Processor, $39, was $79Better Homes & Gardens Blender with 8-Cup Jar, $39, was $79

You will also be able to sign-up to preview Walmart’s Black Friday deals later today on its website and  Facebook page.

What are you shopping for this Black November/Black Friday? Share with us below!

[Source: Walmart, Amazon, Amazon, Newegg]

Gloria Sin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.

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Verizon's 4G/LTE Motorola Droid Razr arrives November 10

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Summary: The ultra-thin Motorola Droid Razr is coming to Verizon, but will you be able to tell the 4G/LTE phone from its slightly older brother, the Droid Bionic?

Verizon is adding to its Motorola Droid brood with the Droid Razr on November 10, but how do you tell two 4G/LTE smartphones apart?

While they both have a 4.3-inch display, the Droid Razr is slightly more powerful with its dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, has a higher quality Super AMOLED Advanced screen, and hence a higher price tag. The Droid Razr dares to command $299.99 with a two-year contract (or $650 without), while the Bionic is slightly more economical at $250.

For an extra $50 over the Droid Bionic, the Droid Razr actually comes with the slightly older build of Gingerbread (Android 2.3.3 but will be among the first to get Ice Cream Sandwich), but has a higher resolution 1.3-megapixel front camera that can shoot 720p HD videos, and is thinner and tougher. The Droid Razor’s back cover is made of Kevlar, which is a steel substitute that is used in body armor according to Wikipedia, and its “water repellent nanocoating” means it can withstand some water (but I wouldn’t go swimming with it to test my luck).

Other specs are below:

Display: 4.3” 540×960 Super AMOLED Advanced touchscreenRAM: 1 GB DDR2Internal Storage: 16 GB with a 16 GB micro-SD Card pre-installedConnectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Version 4.0 LE+EDR, DLNAPorts/Connectors: 3.5 mm headphone jack, HDMI (for mirror mode), USB 2.0HS, micro-SD Card slotCameras: 8 MP rear camera; 1.3 MP front camera; LED flashSensors: aGPS (assisted), eCompass, sGPS (simultaneous), GLONASSBattery: 1780 mAH Li–IonBattery Life: Voice = up to approximately 12.5 hoursDimensions: 5.15?(h) x 2.71?(w) x 0.28?(d)Weight: 4.48oz

Features that are unique to the Droid Razr:

Smart Actions app: Helps you conserve power and maximize each chargeMotoCast app: Remotely stream or download files from your computers to your phoneMobile HotSpot: Tether up to 8 other devices on 4G, or 5 on 3G to this phoneFIPS 140–2 compliant; Government–grade encryption for Email, Calendar, and Contacts

Still prefer the Droid Razr over the slightly cheaper Droid Bionic? Verizon is taking pre-orders for the Droid Razr online now for release on November 10, which means it will definitely arrive under someone’s tree this Christmas — as long as you don’t confuse the two Droids…

[Source: Verizon, Motorola]

Updated: The Droid Razr’s Android 2.3.3 is actually slightly older than the Droid Bionic’s version (Android 2.3.4) so I’ve corrected the sentence to reflect this in the post.

Related:

Gloria Sin is a freelance journalist based in New York City.

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