Deals to be thankful for

[ Music ] ^M00:00:07 >> Hello, everyone. Welcome to CNET's holiday help desk, our shopping advice extravaganza. Used to be just a piddly little one day eight to ten hour extravaganza. >> That was nothing compared to what we got here. >> Oh, no. They know how to make us work for real and that is with a daily show that is gonna help you find the best deals. It's gonna give you shopping advice. We're taking calls. We're taking e-mails. This is your Thanksgiving weekend show. >> Yeah. >> I have to confess at this point that we pretaped it which is why this outfit might look a little familiar. >> In fact we -- they've been working us so hard, we're wearing the same clothes from two days ago. >> And we smell terrible. >> I smell all right. I don't know about you so. >> Actually, this is pretty exciting for us because we get black Friday off now for the first time in years. We actually could go to brave the crowds in the store. >> Oh, I want to throw some bows. I want to push through those lines. >> I want to get up at three in the morning and like [inaudible] and the whoo and the $200-laptop. I'm not doing that. >> You aren't? Okay. >> I'm going to the movies. >> I'll let you know how it goes. >> Right, don't you think the movies? >> Not that early in the morning. >> Anyway, we'll have some major deals, as usual, including Michael Amkreutz from Newegg.com. We talked to him last year. They've got some great electronic skills -- deals. Later on we're gonna talk gaming gifts. >> Always a big deal in the holidays. >> That's right. With Ricardo Torres who is GameSpot.com's editor at large. And then we will, even though we pretaped it, we took some calls. >> We're always gonna take calls. >> we're always gonna take calls, and we have e-mails. >> That's right. This is show number four of twenty-two. We're like one fifth through. I know. All right, we're gonna be going from now all the way to December 23rd and for the past few years we've done that crazy, 10 to 12 hour marathon, but you know you get us all the time. >> Every day at 1:00 p.m. pacific. >> 4:00 p.m. eastern time. >> 11:00 a.m. Hawaiian, I learned. >> It is 11? >> Yes, 'cause it's standard time. Anyway, you know we are off shopping and we're like eating turkey right now. >> There's cranberry sauce in my face right now. >> As you're watching this. I'm not doing cranberry sauce this year. It's bold, but I am doing a caramelized onion and thyme relish. >> Well, aren't we just foody, foody food? >> Anyway, we are still giving away prizes that will entice you to watch our show every day. We've given away like a TV. We've given away and Ipod, and now we have another TV, an LG TV up for grabs. Go to crave.cnet.com and look for the giveaway posting. I believe you can enter anytime between now when you're watching this and 4:00 a.m. pacific time on Monday November 30th. >> That's right, so just go to crave.cnet.com. You're gonna have to probably go through a few posts, but find the holiday giveaway, it'll be there. Typically with these TVs, we get like thousands of entries, so you don't want to miss out on that. Now let's check out some hot deals. We told you we have our in-house chief master Rick Broida. Rick, what's going on? >> Chief master, cut, cut faster. >> Can I get some of this action? >> Yeah, Ricka, Ricka, now I can't stop calling you that. Can you tell us about your cheap deals? No, sweet deals, sweet deals for the day? >> Well, I don't have any particular products lined up for today but I do want to share one of my all-time favorite shopping tips and that is you know how when you're shopping online and you get to that check out page and you see that little coupon code box or that promo code box and you think, gosh, I wish I had a promo code to stick in there and, you know, save myself a little extra. >> Uh-huh. >> Yeah, you know. >> I know where you're going with this. I think I do, I think I do. >> All right, so what you do is you just stop right there, don't check out yet. Open up a new tab in your browser and just do a little searching. Do a little googling for, you know, if you're at Dell for instance, search for Dell coupon codes. If you're at Newegg, search for Newegg coupon codes and very often, you'll find yourself taken to a site like RetailMeNot or CouponCabin or something like that where they aggregate codes from different sites. And I'll tell you something, I would say I would maybe 50% of the time I'm able to scare up a coupon that gets me 5% off or free shipping or whatever and it's just very gratifying to come up with that like light before you check out. It's like man, I got a deal. >> And I gotta yeah, I have to say my favorite site for that is dealcoupon.com. >> Yeah, that's a good one. >> Which just has a huge list of retailers and they've got this big data base and they just have kind of ongoing. That is -- I'm all about that hack [assumed spelling]. I'm so excited that you said that 'cause I'm always like, who would ever buy anything without going to get a coupon first? >> Yeah, yeah, no it's good. >> So actually where do you find all these deals? While you're scouring, where exactly are you scouring? Do you just get a bunch of e-mail? >> You know what? Brian Cooley tried to get this out of me the other day. >> I had no idea it was like we're all trying to find the secret. >> You know it's like you're not gonna see Cheapskate's biggest secrets revealed on TV anytime soon. I'm not giving up that privileged information, but I will say -- >> Come on. I'm a lot cuter than Brian Cooley. Come on. >> So am I. >> No, very true, but nevertheless you know it's not hard to find this stuff really. It's just there are a lot of sites out there that aggregate deals and let's not forget our own shopper.com which is a great resource. >> Oh, definitely. >> So now that I got the nepotism out of the way, you know just keep your eyes and your ears open and shop around. You'll find good stuff. >> And what do you think is gonna -- what do you think? Do you have any predictions about what are gonna be particularly cheap this season? >> Particularly cheap this season or we're talking about tomorrow, black Friday? >> Well, maybe -- >> Just for this holiday year. >> Yeah, what are the big sales that -- you know what are the things that you're seeing discounted the most, it is TVs, is it laptops? >> You know what? TVs I'm seeing a little bit of movement like in the 32-inch models but like the 40s, the 46s, I'm really not seeing any spectacular deals there. Blu-ray players, we're finally getting them under a hundred dollars which is nice to see. I'm hoping that more people are gonna start to pick them up now at that price point. You can get a GPS for as little as 50, 60 bucks, a 3 1/2-inch screen. You can get a slightly larger screen, closer to the hundred dollar levels, so you know, stuff like that is really, really getting affordable and I think that's where a lot of people are gonna be looking for the good stuff. >> All right. Don't ever forget to check Rick's blog cnet.com/cheapskate to keep an eye on all of those deals and then don't forget that coupon tip because that is useful. >> No, do not do that at all. All right, should we just jump in and take a call here? >> Let's do some calls. >> Okay, here we go. Let's go to a Marco on line one. Marco, what's up? >> Hey there. >> Hey, how's it going? >> Hey, it's going good. How are you? >> I'm doing good. How can we help you out, Marco? >> Hey, so I got my mom a new Ipod nano, [inaudible] Ipod nano, and I'm looking for an inline remote that works with third-party headphones. >> Okay, so and inline remote that goes in between your headphones, correct? >> Yeah, exactly because she don't want to use the provided headphone that comes with it. >> Got it. Now one of the things that you can't -- the thing about it is most of these third-party remotes and one that I found, they're a little clunkier and the reason why is because they kind of integrate FM transmitters or tuners with the remote. I did a bunch of searching, you really -- I haven't been able to find a specific just a mini baby control. So if you want to least look at this, this one's from Griffin. It's called the navigate and it's an inline controller. It works on the iPhone and the Ipod so obviously the nano will work. But if you do a big search over the internet, there's not too many of like a slim, sleek one just because the market for it really isn't, you know, a remote maybe $20 but most people, like you said, will probably pop in the headphones that they have. >> Okay. >> That will allow you though to pop in third-party headphones of all different varieties if your mom likes that better. >> Okay, so this one goes through the dock? >> Yes, that is correct and it's called the navigate. It's around $39.99 right now. >> That's a good price. >> You might even want -- and the thing is it does -- again the new nano does have FM radio on it so that's kind of redundant, but the key is that it is a controller and you know there you go. So you might want to wait around black Friday because, you know, a site like Griffin, they might offer some deals as well if they're not doing one right now, so that's something to check out. >> Yeah, I hope that helps and good, happy shopping. All right, let's do one more call. We have one more call on the line. We are not taking live calls today because this a preshaped -- pretaped show but we were happy that Justin was willing to stick around and ask his question. Are you there, Justin? >> I'm here. >> Hi, what -- so it sounds to me like you might have the question of the year. A lot of people asking this. What do you got for us? >> Well, I was wondering if there was a big difference as far as quality of the picture between a 60-hertz LCD and a 120-hertz LCD and so on? >> Yeah, you hear a lot about this and the trick of it is there -- one of the first things is that 120 hertz was kind of pushed a lot. Now you're even seeing TVs that are 240-hertz refresh rates. The thing is that when you go up to these higher refresh rates, it introduces less blurring but the trick is that people's eyes can kind of interpret or see this differently. The main thing that you see is lot of times when you turn on -- go to the higher refresh rate, it offers this process called dejuddering and it kind of, what happens is the video quality ends up looking like really smooth. It won't look like film anymore. It will look like video that's shot from a video camera and sometimes people like that but sometimes people don't because you kind of lose that authentic film feel to the movie. I know I was watching like Transformers and they were moving so smoothly it almost looked fake. It almost looked fake with that. >> Yeah, people say that the 120-hertz rate is a little bit -- it can get kind of surreal and that it's almost like an uncanny valley thing, like when a robot looks too real and it gives you the creeps, that steams to be the general sense about 120 hertz for some people. And again, I mean it's something where you're -- I think you're gonna want to go and look at them side by side, if possible. And obviously that's gonna be artificial too because you're gonna see them tuned for, you know, show floors or if you're just looking for an LCD like monitor display, it might be a little harder to check it out. I mean if it's for a TV, you're gonna notice it if you watch a lot of sports, and if you watch a lot of high-def and a lot of blu-ray aficionados say and blu-ray people say that they feel like that's where you have to have it. So is that -- so it kind of depends on what do you want to do? What kind of you know -- >> Yeah, I want to use a blu-ray player with it. >> Like a $99 blu-ray player that might be available this black Friday season? >> I got a PS3. >> Oh, there you go. >> Oh, you already have it. 'Cause I was gonna say, you know if you're not -- if you don't have to spend a lot of money on your blu-ray player, then I guess you can spend a little more on the 120-hertz TV. >> So that's kind of, you know, again, kind of just check it out with your own eyes and see what your like and what you prefer or how you're gonna use it so. >> Yeah, that seems like the best way to go and then if you're willing to, if you're willing to spend the money, you know why not be future proof? >> All right, well thanks, guys. I'm a long time listener of CNET Buzz Out Loud and nice to talk to ya. >> Excellent, I'm glad you made it on the show today. Thank you. >> Thanks, Justin. >> Happy shopping. All right, we are going to go to one e-mail before we take a break actually and it's sort of a related display question. Lisa from the Bronx wrote in and said, My 19-inch monitor just died this morning so now I'm looking for good advice on getting a new computer monitor. I edit video and do graphics so screen real estate is key, but I'm also a college student so I'll need something below $200, preferably $150. If you can help it, I could greatly appreciate 'cause using my mom's old monitor is already killing me. Killing me. >> So what do you got for this person, you know? >> Well, it's funny that you should ask because -- >> Oh, how convenient. >> I know, how convenient. Really I swear, we did not plan this but a couple days ago when we had Rick Broida on the show, he was doing three huge black Friday deals that you wouldn't want to miss, and one of them was, I can even do you better man 19-inches, a 24-inch Syntax [assumed spelling] LCD monitor with a 1080p display. >> Oh, yeah. >> For $159.99 shipped. >> You know what I call that? >> Shipped. >> You know what I call that? >> Sweet deal. >> That is like ridiculous. In fact, I think Rick said it was almost an all-time low for a 24-inch monitor. So I'm thinking if that deal is still available by the time you hear this, you have got to get it. That is a $90-savings on that monitor. Yeah, it's not, you know the number-one brand, but it's gonna be a nice awesome 1080p monitor. I'm thinking that is totally the way to go. >> Okay, so I think we're gonna take a little break here, but we're gonna be back with our friend Michael from Newegg when we come back, right? >> Yup. >> Okay, cool. [ Music ] ^M00:12:28 >> if you think all batteries are the same, consider this, these Duracell batteries were given to the Mattel Children's Hospital, UCLA because when it comes to kids and healing, you're not just powering a toy, you're powering a smile. Duracell, trusted everywhere. [ Music ] >> Everywhere you look, new gadgets are popping up. To get the real story on them, there's really only one place to go, CNET.com. Discover something new at CNET. >> Pearl jam celebrate the launch of last FM on Xbox live. Enter for your chance to win two tickets and V.I.P. passes for a show on Pearl Jam's 2010 backspace European tour. Find out more at www.lastfm.com/pearljamcontest. [ Music ] ^M00:13:19 >> Welcome back, everyone. We are excited because we have our old friend, Michael Amkreutz from Newegg.com, VP of product development at Newegg.com. Welcome back to the show, Michael. Thanks for joining us. >> Hey, Michael. >> Hey, good afternoon, guys. How you doing? >> Doing good. >> We're doing well. We are rocking our holiday help desk marathon. >> Yeah, we're rocking it out. >> I think last year we talked to you it was probably like hour seven, we were exhausted. We have tons of pep and energy today. >> Oh, pep in the step. >> All right, wonderful. Same here. Excited to be here. >> Yeah, and we're excited to get, you know, your input as always. So, what are you, you know as usual, what are you expecting to be the hot sellers this holiday season? Obviously a very different climate than it was the last time we talked. >> Very different climate. We are seeing some of the similar trends in more popular categories, and I'll talk a little bit about those. You know notebook, netbook, some of the high-definition televisions, digital cameras, blu-ray, a little bit new this year. But what's really different is that, you know, with the struggling economy it's been really about customer acquisition so a lot of retailers being super, super aggressive on pricing. So if you're in the market, you know, for any of your usual suspects in [inaudible] electronics, this is the season to go some crazy shopping. Some of the key areas that we really see some new pick up and renewed energy is our softer category, most of that driven by Windows 7, a lot of people upgrading their computers and buying related parts to go with that. Navigation, this year, a couple of new models out. All the new generations from the Garmins and the Tom Toms and Magellans of this world. A lot of new functionality, larger screen sizes, pricing really aggressive. That's really popular this year. And then the pocket camcorder area, you know, led by guys like Flip camera are real exciting stuff especially for young ones just getting into photography give you kind of best of blends between digital still photography as well as high-definition camcorder. >> Yeah, and of course we're finally seeing those cameras start to take high-quality stills in addition to, you know, used to be that you'd say, well, just get a digital camera that can also take video. It's been a really interesting category to watch. So Michael, do you also have -- are there any sale surprises so far? Any sales trends that you're seeing above and beyond the specific products that you mentioned? Like maybe Kindles are going crazy. I guess you probably don't sell Kindles anyway. >> Unless we don't know something. >> Unless there's something you want to tell us. >> Well, I can tell you that eReaders are definitely one of the hot categories, of course. Kindle, of course, leads that pack, very good product but we carry all the key competitors to that products from Sony and a variety of other brands that I think is a category that we didn't really see emerge last year but it seems to be a clear migration in consumers' minds that, you know, you can get a lot of content online, download it at the flick of a finger and it gives you instant access of long flights and things of that nature. Also we see quite a bit of action in the home appliance categories. So maybe more people getting back to basics, you know, maybe their budgets are strapped. They're spending more time at home cooking and entertaining. So things like crock pots and coffee makers, high-end expresso makers seem to be doing really well this year for us. >> Oh, yeah, the Nespresso. >> The Nespresso. >> Yeah, that's a phenomenal product. >> So now at Newegg right now, are you seeing -- how are, what do you think about the whole thing, black Friday versus cyber Monday? Is there really a difference right now for you? Are you seeing people actually shopping even before black Friday or where do you think the traffic is really setting right now? >> Well, you know I'm sure that, you know, everyone takes notice that every year it seems that the key promotional periods come earlier and earlier and earlier. Pretty soon we'll be doing pre-black Friday right after 4th of July. >> Let me know when that happens, okay? >> There's two trends. One, we definitely see a migration from a lot of people that used to classically and traditionally only shop brick and mortar that are coming online even if it's just for informational purposes or price checks, but we are generating more sales off of that. And second is that we used to have a real big spike on just cyber Monday and that seems to be more spread out so we do very well starting today actually, we'll release some of our black Friday deals all the way through encore Tuesday which is really a clean up of all the promotional product after cyber Monday. >> I just heard something new here. >> I know there's a new one, encore Tuesday. >> Oh, my Gosh. >> But speaking of those black Friday deals, is there anything that you want to give us a heads up on now? Obviously we're pretaping the show before the weekend, so anything that people should really be on the look out before this weekend, this black Friday? >> Well, there's a couple of deals I can tell you about. In the high definition television space, we have a 46-inch product from a tier-one brand at a super aggressive price of $699. That's LCD-based 120 hertz frequency scan rate and that includes free shipping as well. >> Michael does -- I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> In addition to that, we have a $99-blu-ray player, a real phenomenal product and $189-netbook. There's a number of products that I think are gonna catch people's eye. >> Michael, you didn't mention the name of the brand of that tier-one product. Are you able to or is that still under wraps? Does it rhyme with lamb lung? >> It's one of the 3 S's. >> Oh, so it could rhyme with pony, lamb lung or blanyo. >> a blanyo? >> Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. All right anyway, Michael, thank you very much for that heads up. We will, of course, be talking to Michael again and again in the coming weeks and be giving away $500 Newegg gift cards in those coming weeks as well. So thanks so much, Michael. Always great to have you on. >> Thanks guys. Likewise, I look forward to our next call. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, great, happy holidays. >> All right, now we also want to talk about some of the deals, shopper.com does a lot of leg work for us and pointed out three deals that will be available on Thanksgiving day, I believe. >> Yeah, from Thanksgiving day through the weekend. So it's not one of those things where you've gotta, you know, be right there. You don't have to be at the web site at 4:00 a.m. You got the whole weekend and this is good stuff. So let's see, we've got a Samsung, a blamblung LED 46-inch. Now okay, these Samsung LED TVs -- >> Oh, they're great. >> Hot. >> They're excellent. >> They're so beautiful. This is one is a 46-inch 1080p LCD HD TV, $900 off. I know you got excited because you were like $900, that's not how much it costs. But it costs $1,599. That is ludicrous. How do you save $900 on a TV? I think, you know, I don't need one, but I think I need one. >> Okay, then you should go get that deal. >> Isn't it great? >> Yeah. Awesome. Also we have -- you'll be finding a lot of game console deals. So here we go the Microsoft Xbox 360 elite package regularly $299. There's gonna be a $30-savings there. Obviously you have the great online community with Xbox Live. You'll see a lot of different varieties of Xbox deals but this is one that we have from shopper.com so $30 off on that day. >> Not bad. And then also another 46-inch TV LCD 1080p LCD TV, Sony Bravia. It's regularly placed at $1,599. It's gonna be $989, $610 off. >> Yeah, so we're seeing a lot of discounts on the TVs. >> The TVs, I mean that's pretty crazy. >> That's more than last -- I mean that seems more aggressive than it even was last year. >> That's like tanking. >> Oh, yeah. >> Isn't it? I mean that's just crazy. >> Yeah. >> All right, we are going to now though we're gonna talk about games as long as you're get a fancy new TV and a new Xbox. >> You need that, right? >> You need the best advice you can get and that is coming from Ricardo Torres of GameSpot.com. >> They're at large at GameStop -- GameSpot, I'm sorry. I slipped. >> Oh, snap. >> That must happen a lot. Does that happen a lot? >> Yeah, it's also editor in chief. >> Oh. The body is over in the corner right now going like that's my fault. >> Okay, to be honest, I thought it was editor in chief, but when I saw the paper that said editor at large. >> Yeah. Well, here at CNET editor at large is where all the power really is. No, I'm kidding. Anyway, editor in chief, so even more important. Ricardo, what are your top recommendations for games you that you need to play on your new 46-inch Samsung LED? >> There is well -- >> Depends on what you're looking for, right? >> Yeah. I mean the bummer of it is the Wii probably isn't like your big showcase for that because it only does [inaudible]. They got some good games, you know. They got [inaudible] for Mario Bros, which is really cool. And they have Wii Fit Plus so you can kind of pretend to stay in shape over the holidays. >> I saw, I did see a study recently, they said that they think maybe the Wii Fit could be real exercise. I didn't buy a word of it, but that's what they said. >> Actually EA's got one called EA Sports Active, that's totally got bands. Like it feels more official. >> Like it's actually a semi-legit workout. >> You will sweat. >> And it's not like totally mean to you like the Wii. >> No, but they're still, they're not always positive. >> Now, Ricardo, there's obviously a difference kind of between the hard-core gamer and like the family-geared gamer. Maybe for our listeners you can kind of break up some of the titles for both of those groups. You mentioned Mario Bros which is a great family game and the Wii Fit for your mom, you know, that wants to get all tone and everything. >> Oh, yeah. >> I will warn you though, new Mario Bros, the big thing about it is it's co-op. >> Yeah. >> It's totally possible to grief each other through the whole game, like throw each other off cliffs, on accident, sometimes, on purpose on others. >> So he's the on-accident guy. He's the on-accident guy. >> Oh, yeah. >> This is destroying families, I just want to say. >> Okay, all right, so we're destroying families, which is awesome. Could we get them back together with Zelda? >> You could, kind of. It's a single-player game so they'll just leave somebody alone off in a corner. >> Yeah. Once they're off pouting. >> It's gonna be for the DS it's coming out early December so there's still time to get under the Christmas tree. But some other really good uniters for the family are the music games so you know we've got Beatles Rock Band. You've got Guitar Hero. You've got Lego Rock Band which is -- >> I heard about that. >> Which is Rock Band plus legos which is kind of cool. >> How could you, you know I mean I don't know who thought of that but it seems so right, so wrong that it's right. >> I mean a crazier one is buzz for the Playstation 3. It's like it's a quiz game and the funny thing about it is you can actually go online and create your own quizes and upload them into the game. >> Yeah, that's killer. That's a really fun -- it has a really big community aspect to it. >> And if you're kind of an overachieving mom, you can actually do quizzes based on homework like certain members of my family have done for their kids. >> Really? >> Wow. That sounds so fun. >> Which is a horrible thing to just pop up in the middle of like a quiz, but you can do it. So those are great for the family. >> Okay so say you're not into quizzes and other things, what are some games to avoid? Do you have any like do not buys? >> Oh, man, this is gonna be rough. >> I know but, you know, we always -- >> You gotta keep it real, right? >> We gotta keep it real. >> Editor in chief doesn't shy away from this kind of stuff. >> I'm sorry but Beatles Rock Band is too expensive. Like I'm sorry. >> Well, the thing is that's one of the neat things about this season is you have your Rock Band hardware so there's a lot of stuff that people are doing this season to kind of extend the life of what they've got. So if you've got Rock Band, you just get the disk so it's not that bad. >> Okay, good point. >> So that's my justification. >> All right. >> But the stuff to avoid. You know there's this thing called Tony hawk Ride which is maybe not so awesome because it costs $129, right? Now the thing is Activision went crazy this fall 'cause they have a bunch of games that have peripherals. They have DJ Hero, it's got the turntable. They've got you know Guitar Hero, it's got -- >> 'Cause they were like that's where the money is. >> Tony Hawk and it's got a skateboard. Now see the thing is a lot of people -- >> Go outside. >> A lot of people like to play games because they can't do this in real life, and you actually have to kind of hop around on this thing and you have to bend and stretch and do all this weird stuff and it's not super responsive in a lot of ways. So when -- it requires you to do very precise movements and it doesn't always register them. So you're gonna pay $120 to have a game that's not so awesome and you have a peripheral that you can't use with anything else. Like I can completely justify like a Guitar Hero game because you have a guitar, it does other stuff. >> Yeah. >> You have a board. >> So Ricardo, do you remember the rating you guys actually gave, the game score you guys gave it? >> I believe we gave it a 3.5. >> Oh, no. >> Ooh. Ow. >> That's on a scale of ten. >> Wow. >> And then I have a crazy thing to avoid and this is more for the folks at home like this is nuts but I'm not sure how closely you guys follow games. You all know about the Nintendo DSi, big deal, right? >> Yeah, of course. >> So Nintendo typically does the horrible surprise to consumers at the beginning of the year with like hey, you want a new model of the thing you just bought? But this year they actually announce a new DSi for early next year. >> What? >> It's bigger. >> The larger screen one. >> Oh, I did hear about that one. >> So it just came out in Japan. It's got a bigger screen. It's called the DSLL because apparently it's got a huge like senior fan base in Japan and tiny screen they have some issues, so they're bringing it out here so. >> And you know your kid knows about that so if you try to get away with putting the DSi under the tree they're gone be like, you suck. >> They have some bundles, right, they have -- to entice you they have like new bundles. I think it's like a white and a blue one with like preloaded games so it's kind of a value but like bigger screen. >> Yeah. >> It's a bigger, bulkier product. I mean there's a lot of great black Friday deals where you can get start getting DSis with a bundles game for around 155 bucks instead of this bigger model. The screen isn't -- and it's not like the graphics are improved. It's just a bigger screen. >> Yeah, the bigger screen which is kind of better for some of the games, but still. Try and explain that to your kids. Like if this was an adult gift, you're fine. >> Because you know how they are. They're like 13 and they're just like you're the worst parent ever. >> Just off the top of your head, any few quick like action games, hard-core action games that people might want to check out? >> That people such as Brian Tong might want to check out. >> Well, I mean I love games. >> Well, I call the commercial for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 actually the other day and it was like the most anticipated game in the history of mankind pretty much. It's the most awesome ever. I was like wow, really? >> It made a billion dollars in like two days. >> Yeah, biggest entertainment opening weekend. Entertainment like across movies, everything. >> That's just nuts. I mean that's a good one. I like Assassin's Creed 2, Uncharted 2. >> Yeah, there's some great stuff out there. >> But one of the really cool ones that will appeal even to hard-core gamers, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. >> That's a PS3 game. >> You don't find platformers like that anymore. Nintendo is usually the only one that makes them but this is like super fun. >> Really? >> Yeah, and everybody can play it. >> Is that PS3 slim, is one of our recommendations now for this year now that it's finally cheaper. >> It was on my wish list even though I have a PS3. >> Like and the only tip I'll give people about the slim is make sure you buy the right one because they did slip out the 250 there that's $399. >> Right, totally. >> And I was at a store and somebody actually picked up the gray box. Don't get the gray box. You want the white box because it's 120 gigs. >> And don't mistaken it for a George Foreman grill. It looks like a George Foreman grill, but it's all right. >> How about PC games actually because I just, okay, so I just got a new like ridiculously tricked-out desktop replacement laptop and then I was like, I feel like I'm only using 5% of its capacity like it's a human brain. Maybe I should start playing -- I won't play Wow 'cause I lost my brother to Wow. But I hear that that dragon one is pretty cool. >> Dragon Age. >> Dragon Age. >> Yeah, it's probably the best on the PC 'cause it's out on everything, but you know, the developer like primarily started their work on the PC so it looks amazing. It's really cool. >> I have the whole, the HD 15, I'm ready. I'm ready. >> There's a long list there so you know if you forgot what he said -- >> I'm gonna become a drumroll player, here I go. >> Yeah, if you forgot what he said, you can come by my office. I'll help you out. >> Okay, thanks. I appreciate that. >> All right, that's -- >> Thanks Ricardo. >> Thank you very much. Editor in chief at GameSpot.com. >> He's the big cheese. >> The big cheese, exactly. We're just gonna call him the big cheese for now on. That's a wrap for our special Thanksgiving edition of the holiday help desk show. Don't forget of course though to enter the daily holiday giveaway prize at crave.cnet.com. It's a weekend long giveaway this time. And then don't forget, of course, come Monday, come December. >> This is the 2-hour blow out. >> Cyber Monday. Oh, yes it's November 30th, not yet December. The 2-hour live holiday help desk special features, of course, the old gang from CNET Live, Brian Cooley and Tom Merritt doing it up CNET Live style. That's all coming up at 1:00 p.m. pacific, 4:00 p.m. eastern. >> That's right. Remember get all your calls in when you can, 1-888-900-CNET, that's 2638. Or you can e-mail us at the holidayhelpdesk@cnet.com. >> Sweet deals. >> All right, see you guys. >> Bye. ^M00:29:25 [ Music ]