2012 TV Black Friday Buying Guide

Who among us can completely ignore the allure of the low-priced HDTV? They have become the centerpiece of Black Friday, and many judge advertisements based solely on what kind of deal retailers are offering on the hypnotic glow of hi-def sets. Even those who have no intention of buying an HDTV will do a double take at a doorbuster price and think, “Well I don’t need one, but for that price…”

This year, the tradition continues, with retailers offering more HDTV sets than ever before. There are a couple of trends to take note of when you’re out shopping this year, most prevalent of which is the slow demise of the composite jack. In the past, HDTVs have always had the same old yellow, red and white inputs for our SD devices like DVD players. This year, those are disappearing fast, and most sets have one set of inputs that are shared between component and composite, meaning you can use them for one or the other, not both. Keep this in mind when you’re out shopping, especially if you still aren’t ready to ditch the DVD and to move on to Blu-ray.

With that said, we offer our picks for the best available Black Friday deals on televisions.