It may have been invented as a cynical marketing move to force people to spend more money, but Cyber Monday has the edge on Black Friday by not asking you to actually leave the house. Many retailers this year have decided to roll their Black Friday deals on over the weekend until today; others have introduced some reasonable discounts on electronics and other big-box goods.
The best of Cyber Monday
- Kindle Fire tablets: Amazon's flagship Cyber Monday deal offers $50 off the price of the 7-inch and 8.9-inch model Kindle Fire HD and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX. For context, that makes a 7-inch 16GB Wi-Fi Kindle Fire HD $119, a 7-inch 16GB Wi-Fi Kindle Fire HDX $179, and an 8.9-inch 16GB Wi-Fi Kindle Fire HD $229.
- Barnes & Noble Nooks: The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight drops from about $70 to $49 today while B&N extends the $39 Nook Simple Touch price announced on Black Friday.
- Motorola Moto X: From 8AM CST, Motorola will be selling a 16GB, off-contract version of its Moto X smartphone for $349, reduced $150 from its base price. Purchasers will be able to use Motorola's Moto Maker app to design their own phones, but threatens that "supplies will be limited." Get in there early if you're keen to support a solid smartphone that hasn't yet performed well at market.
- HDTVs: TV prices are where Cyber Monday makes some of its biggest slashes. The stand-out is Amazon's offer on Panasonic's 60-inch TC-P60VT60, a beautiful 600Hz 3D plasma television reduced in price by $950 to $1,749. The 65-inch 1080p Samsung HDTV on offer at Best Buy pales in comparison to Amazon's offering, but weighs in at a cheaper $1,099, $300 off its base price.
- Home audio solutions: It's a good day for audiophiles. Amazon's price for the Sonos Playbar is an un-discounted $699, but buyers of the wireless speaker will receive a free Sonos Bridge and $100 of Amazon credit to spend elsewhere on the site. You can also pick up the same Logitech Harmony Smart Control that was recently included in The Verge's Holiday Gift Guide for $99.99, reduced from $129.99.
- Pebble smartwatches: Smartwatch manufacturer Pebble extended its Black Friday deal over the Thanksgiving weekend, offering US buyers $20 off watches purchased on its own site.
- PC gaming: Digital download service Steam is offering rolling sales until December 3rd, with flash sales every 8 hours. Current recommendations include the trippy Far Cry 3 for $7.49, the brain-teasing FEZ for $2.49, and the superlative Portal 2 for $4.99. An honorable mention to the full series of Telltale's The Wolf Among Us for $16.74. Purchasers will only be able to play the first of five planned episodes at the moment, but after developer Telltale's work on The Walking Dead, they've earned our trust. People who need something to play these reduced games on should take note of Alienware's Cyber Monday deals, including $500 off an Alienware 18 laptop, and a $100 reduction on the price of the Alienware 14 ultrabook included in The Verge's Holiday Gift Guide. If you'd prefer to build a machine yourself, Newegg's Cyber Monday sale has hundreds of dollars off computer components, monitors, and peripherals.
- Lytro cameras: Lytro has reduced the price of some of its light field cameras for Cyber Monday, selling its 8GB model in one of five colors — red, blue, pink, graphite, and "seaglass" — for $199, 50% off its regular price.
- 3DS XL: Best Buy is selling a special edition silver 3DS XL with Mario & Luigi Dream Team for $179.99. The game's not a system seller alone, but the console's on offer for $20 cheaper than expected, and the Mario Bros. decal on the machine's silver body is a tasteful way to remember the Year of Luigi.
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Nathan Ingraham
Jacob Kastrenakes
Chris Welch
