Black Friday and Cyber Monday Spotlight Disturbing Trend in Electronics Deals

You may be wondering why we’ve been spotlighting little else than movie deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. The reason is simple: the big box electronics deals kinda suck this year.

I don’t mean there aren’t good deals to be had, mind you; I just mean there aren’t amazing deals to be had on electronics you should actually be spending your money on. Case in point: I’ve been looking for a rocking deal on an SSD for my computer this year, and one of Amazon’s Lighting Deals yesterday was for an OCZ Technology 128GB Agility 4 Series drive. I’ve heard great things about OCZ, so I instantly hopped on the $69.99 deal (two, in fact). Luckily, I read a few reviews in time to cancel the order literally moments before it shipped. Apparently, the Agility 4 is plagued with problems, and appears to be one of OCZ’s worst drives yet.

And then there’s the Gold Box Deal of the Day today at Amazon: up to 60% off of select Panasonic LED Smart TVs. Sounds like a steal, right? Panasonic’s plasmas are aces! And everybody loves LED TVs! Yeah, as it turns out, CNET called this year’s batch of Panny LEDs, and I quote, “among the worst we’ve seen this year,” adding that they “can’t hold a candle to the company’s plasmas.”

So be careful out there today, folks. If you’re looking to snag a fantastic deal on big ticket items, do your research first. Read reviews. Buy with patience. There’s nothing worse than getting a great deal on something you regret buying.