A Review of my Black Friday and Cyber Monday Haul!

Dear Steemit Friends,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was that time of year again - the first day after the last major holiday before Christmas. This marked the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season when all the various retailers opened their doors early in the morning (and in some cases, Thanksgiving evening!) and offer special sales and promotions to the shoppers that arrive early. Along with that slashing prices of most of the merchandise in order to tempt frenzied consumers into buying more.

It has been several years since I have been able to join in on any Black Friday or Cyber Monday "festivities." It has been roughly 11 years since I last got the chance to partake in any Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals since this is typically a US only event. As a lot of you know, I have been on an expat assignment and living in the Philippines for the last several years and have missed most of this madness.

As someone who has in the past, camped out in front of Best Buy, CompUSA, and various other stores, I quickly realized that the deals were not as good as they once were when I was younger. Although there were several things I wanted to get, there was not as much stuff that I felt I needed to wake up early and stand in line in the freezing cold for.

I did manage to brave the traffic and make it into some stores after the early morning rush of people to get in on some good deals for some of the items that I wanted and needed (not that I really need them) given that I have just recently moved back to the US. This post is more of a summary. I plan on posting individual unboxing and reviews of everything that I picked up.

Here is a rundown of everything I was able to get my hands on:

• Sony 75" XBR-75X850E 4K HDR Ultra HD LED Television

Being the home theater and movie collector I am, a 75" television was the only way to go, especially given the price I was able to get this at. I spent a lot of time at Best Buy debating between this and the 75" Samsung television. Given that 4K HDR television and movies are relatively new, I decided to go with the Sony since it did a better job upscaling existing video to 4K. The interface (Android) and features as well added to the list of reasons making it a better choice than the Samsung. This Television is typically priced at $2499, but was on sale for $1999 for Black Friday paired with an $850 Best Buy Gift Card I received for a recently purchased couch and $50 in additional Best Buy Gift Cards earned, making the grand total a little over $1000 for this TV. Stay tuned for an in-depth unboxing and review.

• Sony 2.1 Channel Soundbar System with Wireless Subwoofer and Digital Amplifier

You cant buy a television without buying a set of speakers to amplify the movie watching experience. Although these will not be my end-all-be-all set of speakers to finish off my home theater system, I thought I would get this starter set which was reasonably priced at $99 down from its original price of $149.

• Google Home Wifi System

As seen partially in my Sony speaker picture, I also decided to pick up the Google Wifi System to ensure that my Wifi coverage across the house is evenly spread. The Black Friday price for these was $149 vs the original $299 price tag it carried. Of all the Wifi systems, this is bar far the cheapest. Stay tuned for an in-depth unboxing, setup and review.

• Google Home Mini

During Black Friday Google slashed prices on all of their products and because I purchased the Google Wifi System, I decided to also purchase the Google Home Mini in order to help automate and "simplify" my life a bit. I did have a moment of indecisiveness between choosing this and the Amazon echo dot, however, in the end, because of the Wifi system, I went with the Google Home Mini. The Black Friday price was $29 vs the original $49 and it also came with a $10 dollar Best Buy Giftcard making the actual cost $19 overall.

• Philipps Hue Starter Kit

As most of you can see, each purchase leads to another and as a result of buying the Google Wifi System and the Home Mini, I ended up buying the Hue lights and hub in order to automate some of the lighting in my house. The price for this was $49 reduced from its original price of $149 + the $10 dollar gift card I had received from purchasing the Google Home Mini. I'm hoping to do a walkthrough of the whole setup of my Google Wifi and Home Mini and the automation of my Television and Lights. Expect that eventually. I admit I am still tinkering with the setup and some of the roadblocks I am running into.

• DJI Spark

I also picked up a DJI Spark, however, I did not buy it from a retail store and instead ordered it directly from DJI. It is currently shipping and I expect it to arrive on my doorstep tomorrow. DJI had the best deal with the cost being $100 less during Black Friday from the original $699 price for the bundle along with some extra goodies thrown in that the retail stores did not have. The extra goodies were landing pads, hand guards, and blade holders.

• Jaybird Freedom Special Edition Wireless Earbuds

We also decided to pick up some wireless Earbuds. These work exceptionally well and were a pretty good deal priced at $49 vs their original price of $149.

• Sennheiser HD 4.50BTNC Wireless Noise Cancelling Headset

Because I'm a compulsive shopper (like a lot of people) who is easily enticed, I was quickly approached by a salesman while looking at the earbuds mentioned previously and convinced to buy this headset. They are amazingly clear and the noise canceling is spot on. There is even a built-in mic so I can use this on work con calls. I will definitely be posting an unboxing and review for this. These went for $149 off of the original $249 price, but are currently re-priced at $199. It wasn't that great of a deal, but it was definitely worth the price.

• Dell 27" Infinity Edge LED Monitors

Because I needed new monitors for my new PC build to continue my Steemit career, I got lucky and purchased some mid-ranged monitors. Originally priced at $199 these were on sale for $109 minus some Best Buy gift cards I still had in-hand. Expect a review as I use these to post a couple more Steemit articles.

• Logitech K750 Wireless Solar Keyboard

This Keyboard caught my eye given that it is wireless and solar powered. The idea of never having to buy batteries or plug it in to charge appealed to me. Just leaving the lights on is enough to charge the keyboard. The keyboard now priced originally at $49 dollars was only $20 on the day I purchased it

• Dell XPS 8920 Desktop

This again was an impulse buy. I planned on building my own PC, but because I needed one immediately and because it was on Sale I decided to pick one up. I purchased this unit at Costco for $999. Because I signed up for a new membership I got an additional $200 off making the price $799. I admit the other reason I purchased this PC was because of the Radeon RX480 (which is actually an RX580) in the system which I can use to mine Ethereum at a reasonable Hashrate. I also purchased this from Costco because of the additional 2-year warranty that they provide over the initial 2-year warranty covering my purchase for 4-years (Especially if I mine Ethereum using the video card.)

I hope you enjoyed the brief walkthrough of my various purchases over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. There were more purchases including those of my Wife's and some other gadgets and tech for me, but the above were the more notable that was worth mentioning.

Over the course of the next few weeks, along with my other various community-related posts, I will be posting unboxing, setup, and review articles and videos about all of the products I purchased. Hopefully, some of you will find them interesting and end up making more informed purchases based on my feedback and input.