Cyber Monday Deals

Too lazy to roll out of bed at 4 AM on Black Friday? Luckily Cyber Monday is upon us, and lots of sites are offering free shipping for items on your holiday gadget wish list. Many of the discounts aren’t fabulous, but at least you don’t have to pay for door-to-door delivery. You can find free shipping deals at Best Buy, Amazon and HP.com, among many others.

If you’re looking for a little more than free shipping, choose your gadget categories wisely. Big-screen TVs are still your best bet for top deals. Newegg, for example, has a 52″ Sharp Aquos set listed at $1,100 off MSRP. You can also get decent discounts on digital cameras, though the Retrevo price index shows prices generally went up in November after declines in October. Two 8-megapixel cameras under $100: the Nikon Coolpix L18 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8K.

Of course, if you’re after coveted products, like the Apple iPod Touch, don’t expect much help from the Cyber Monday fairies. Best Buy will give you $30 bucks off a first-gen iPod Touch, or $10-$15 off second-gen versions.

CE retailers are naturally feeling skittish with the downturn in the economy. On the one hand, they don’t want to mark products down too far. On the other hand, they don’t want to end up with excess inventory. I can’t help but wonder if this year the best deals won’t be found closer to December 25th. But it’s up to you if you want to play chicken with the gadget dealers.