Analyzing the Black Friday Ads: Target Offers TVs, Apple Products, Electronics

The entirety of the 2012 Target Black Friday ad has leaked. Below, we dissect some of the more notable deals that you might see if you choose to wait in line early in the morning.

Also, don't forget to check out all of our Black Friday ad analyses over on our Black Friday hub.

• Apex 32" 1080p LCD HDTV for $147
  An earlier version of Target's Black Friday circular described this TV as having a 1080p resolution. However, Target's confirmed ad lists it as 720p. Nevertheless, it's still a note-worthy deal as TVs in this size category rarely hit such lows, and at $147, it's the cheapest 32" 720p HDTV we've seen. Also note that it's a buck less than a similar deal from Walmart. The only difference? The TV at Walmart is guaranteed to be available if you get there between 10 pm and 11 pm on November 22. (Target makes no such guarantee.)
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• $10 Target Gift Card with Select Purchases of $50 or More
  Even though this deal is restricted to people shopping between 4 am and noon, it's still among the best such offers we've seen from Target in about a year. (A similar mention from last December applied to all items, storewide; this deal is restricted to apparel, accessories, and home items.) Still, not a bad "cherry on top," if you shop at Target.
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• Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch WiFi eBook Reader for $49
  In our eBook reader predictions, we claimed that we'd see this type of reader for full-price, but bundled with at least a $25 gift card. If being wrong means that you're actually saving $50 off list, we're happy to be wrong! Furthermore, this is also the lowest total price we've ever seen for this device by $21.
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• Microsoft Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Bundle for $200
  This would be the lowest total price we've seen for an Xbox Kinect bundle by $50, as we've only seen a refurbished bundle for this low before. Since this system retails for $400, our modest Black Friday gaming prediction that stores would offer holiday console bundles for 30% to 40% off is slightly off, but to the benefit of the consumer.
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• Select Blu-ray Titles for $4
  Target joins Walmart in making our Blu-ray predictions come true with titles hitting this low. Like Walmart, the available movies are not all terrible, either! Titles like Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Lucky One, Dumb and Dumber, Twilight: Eclipse, and more are available at this price.
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• Westinghouse 50" 1080p LCD HDTV for $349
  Sure it's a third-tier brand, but that doesn't stop this set from being the lowest total price we've seen for any 50" 1080p LCD HDTV by $131.
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• Samsung Series 4 32" 720p LED-Backlit LCD HDTV for $248
  At $2 under Dell's Black Friday ad price for this TV (model no. UN32EH4003), it's also the best deal we've ever seen for any Samsung Series 4 32" LCD HDTV by $50. Keep in mind however that our HDTV prediction for a 32" 1080p LCD HDTV is $159, so we should see cheaper 1080p options beyond even Target's own Apex 32" deal above.
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• Apple iPad with Retina Display bundled with a $60 Gift Card for $500
  With the gift card, this is be the best deal on 4th generation iPads we've ever seen, beating its own deal from earlier in the week, where the latest iPads with Retina Display came bundled with a $40 gift card. And if you consider the gift card as good as cash, it also beats our iPad prediction of seeing this new model for $449.
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• Apple iPod touch 16GB MP3 Player (4th generation) bundled with a $40 Gift Card for $195
  If you take the gift card into account, this deal blows Walmart's Black Friday deal' out of the water by $40, which was for the same price, but lacks a gift card bonus. Also remember that Apple is only going to be discounting these items by 10% at best; this deal is essentially 20% off!
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• Apple iPhone 4S Prepaid Smartphone for Virgin Mobile bundled with a $100 Gift Card for $500
  Assuming you use the gift card, this would be the lowest total price we've seen for this previous-generation phone on a pay-as-you-go plan. It'll also probably be one of the few deals on an iPhone that we'll see.

  If you don't mind having a two-generation-old phone, Target also will offer the Apple iPhone 4 Prepaid Smartphone for Virgin Mobile with $100 Gift Card for $400.

• Gateway AMD A8 Quad-Core 15.6" 4GB RAM 500GB HDD Laptop for $349
  As we predicted, mainstream 15" to 16" laptops would drop to around $364; this Gateway deal beats that by $15. We do also expect to see many more models around this price.
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• Samsung 50" LED 1080p HDTV for $699
  This same TV (model no. UN50EH5000) is currently selling at Abt for $299 more. It's also the lowest total price we've seen for this particular HDTV by $101. Sure, Target also offers that Westinghouse 50" TV for $349, but this is still a good price for a name-brand TV. (If that kind of thing matters to you.)