Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great days to find deals on technology. The current shopping season is focused on Black Friday deals for ebook readers, but those Black Friday ad scans show some discounts and bundles on the Apple iPod nano, the iPod touch, and some mp3 players.
Black Friday 2010: iPod Nano from Apple
If you do not want to wait until November 27, 2010 to buy an ipod nano, the Apple store has good prices on refurbished nanos. A refurbished 5th generation, 8 gb iPod nano sells for $99 in the online Apple store, and the 16 gb is $149. For a new iPod nano, wait until Black Friday.
The prices for the $149 iPod nano are not dropping significantly on Black Friday, but several stores are offering a gift card with the purchase of a 6th generation nano. Target will have the nano for $145, and buyers get a $15 Target gift card. Radio Shack will sell the nano for $149 with a $15 Radio Shack gift card. Best Buy is offering a $159 iPod nano bundle, which comes with a case, a charger, and earbuds.
Black Friday 2010: iPod Touch from Apple
Apple is selling refurbished models of the previous generation 8gb iPod touch for $149 at the US online Apple store, but better deals await on the morning of Black Friday, 2010. Toys R Us will have the 4th generation of the Apple iPod touch for $299 (32 gb) and $229 (8 gb), but shoppers get a $50 Toys R Us gift card with any purchase of a new iPod touch. Walmart will also be offering a $50 Walmart shopping card with the purchase of an 8gb iTouch.
Other stores will have similar Black Friday bargains. Radio Shack will offer a $20 Radio Shack gift card withthe $229 8 gb iPod touch, and Target will give shoppers a $30 Target gift card with the purchase of the 4th generation 8 gb iPod touch. Best Buy will give shoppers $30 Best Buy gift cards with the purchase of the $229 4th generation model.
Black Friday 2010: Audible-Ready Mp3 Players
Best Buy has two deals on the Microsoft Zune, which is an Audible-ready mp3 player. The 16 gb Zune HD will be marked down $30 and sell for $169. The platinum version of the 32 gb Zune HD will sell for $209, which is a $60 discount. Since Best Buy is also selling the Barnes and Noble Nook for $99, the store is clearly positioning itself to be a contender for Black Friday sales.
The Sandisk Sanza shows up at several stores, and the Sanza Fuse will play the enhanced Audible.com files. Toys R Us will have the 8 gb Sansa Fuse for $50, which is $30 off. The Sansa Clip+ will also play enhanced files, and Radio Shack will sell the 4gb Sansa Clip+ for $30, which is a $20 discount.
There are going to be a lot of $20 mp3 players for sale on Black Friday, but anyone interested in audiobooks will want an mp3 player that works well with Audible.com's protected files. Even Kindles and some GPS devices are Audible ready; to be sure about an mp3 player's compatibility, check the Audible.com device list.
Sources
All Black Friday sale prices were confirmed at Black Friday 2010 on November 14, 2010. Apple's refurbished and list prices were confirmed at the Apple Store online on November 14, 2010. Refurbished ipods Nanos and Touches can be found in Apple's Special Deals section.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
