We've Got Your Black Friday Deals Here

MORE THAN one in three U.S. adults - 89 million Americans in all - will buy at least one electronics product over the weekend between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, say researchers at the Consumer Electronics Association.

For the second year in a row, tablets are tops on shopping lists. But televisions are a close second, moving up from fourth place last year, as our collective appetite for bigger and better screens keeps growing, and sharper prices make all seem possible.

Laptop/notebook computers, smartphones and video-game consoles are high-priority items, too, says CEA. And we're thinking that wireless and streaming video and audio devices (Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast, Sonos) will be the sleeper hits of the season.

Of course, crazy Black Friday "loss leader" deals on tech stuff will drive lots of the business, as retailers slash profit margins and hope to survive from sales of other stuff.

And, while once the province of off-brands (remember Panashiba? Coby?), even the biggest names in tech - Apple, Sony, HP, Microsoft and Samsung - are serving up BF deals this year to maintain market share.

THE IRON'S ALREADY HOT: Truth is, more than 60 percent of the populace has already done some holiday shopping, CEA chief economist Shawn DuBravac said in a recent briefing.

No duh.

Retailers and product makers began the holiday hustle while the Halloween candy was still melting in trick-or-treaters' hands:

- Amazon immediately went into pre-Black Friday "flash" sales mode.

- Sony, Samsung and Panasonic website stores are previewing direct-to-you BF pricing and encouraging visitors to sign up for notification when deals go live.

- BHphotovideo.com also has posted Black Friday prices and is taking preorders for big-ticket items, like Samsung TVs, that will start shipping Sunday.

- H.H. Gregg wants you to know, "It's Black Friday now."

- Walmart kicks off its second-annual pre-Black Friday sale today in stores and online.

- Best Buy and Target have ratcheted up their online sales (and deals), too.

It's a must.

Twenty-four percent of CEA's surveyed consumers will Web shop on Black Friday (up 4 percent from 2013). And 19 percent (up two points) will be tangled in the 'Net the following Cyber Monday. Spanning the weekend, roughly 103 million Americans will be looking for bargains online, a bump up of 6.1 million over last year.

TABLET TREATS: While Apple demands that its retailers maintain everyday pricing on the latest iPads, merchants can wiggle around the rule by throwing in a store gift card.

Apple's newest, thinnest and fastest iPad Air 2 16GB Wi-Fi tablet, normally priced from $489 to $499, will come with a $100 gift card at Walmart and Best Buy for Black Friday weekend.

Staples will let you waltz off with last year's 16GB iPad Air for $319, cutting the price $80 with no gift card involved. The office superstore also will serve up respectable Amazon Fire HD 6 and 7 tablets for just $49 and $109.

For a full-fledged Android experience, BHphoto.com has last year's dandy Asus/Google Nexus 7-inch tablet in 32 GB version for $129.99. That's almost half-off.

TV TIME: Kmart "Shop Your Way" members can pick up a 50-inch RCA LED HDTV for $399.99 online this weekend, $200 off regular price, and also get $50 back in points.

But deal-crazy shoppers can do even better.

HH Gregg will have a LG 60-inch LCD TV for $488 as a Black Friday door-buster special.

Best Buy will commence the madness at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving - with buying chits dispersed two hours earlier to those lined up outside for a Panasonic 50-inch HDTV at $199 (really!) and a Samsung 55-inch 4K Ultra HDTV at $899. These are nutty prices unlikely to last 10 minutes.

(BF competitors will offer the same Samsung HU6950 model for $1,197 - still an $800 saving - "while supplies last.")

Anybody hovering in a Walmart store on Thanksgiving night at 6 p.m. can score a "One Hour Guarantee" deal on a 50-inch HDTV at $218 (brands will vary). At 8 p.m., purchase a Vizio 65-inch UHD-TV for $698.

How's this guarantee work? The store takes your money and (if inventory is depleted) vows to get the merch to you before Christmas. Assuming the Grinch doesn't steal it.

Online: ph.ly/Tech