Amazon launches its first official Black Friday sale

Although the retailer has held unofficial sales in the past, Amazon today began its first sale targeted at buyers shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which sees a flood of holiday customers. The event is highlighted by significant discounts on HDTVs such as Sony's rear-projection 60-inch Bravia SXRD A3000, which drops from $2,200 to $1,700 as a result of the sale. Three Samsung sets also see major discounts, ranging from a 32-inch LNT3252H that drops 30 percent to $700, the 42-inch HPT4264 plasma at $1,000 (down 50 percent), and the higher-end LNT4665F 46-inch, 1080p-capable LCD that Samsung claims offers a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

A handful of portable devices are also seeing large price drops, Amazon says: SanDisk's outgoing 2GB Sansa e250 music player is now said to sell for just $50, while two rival GPS units, the TomTom ONE 3rd Edition and the Garmin nuvi 360 are selling for $150 and $330 respectively, representing drops of 40 and 66 percent each. The discounts are not expected to last beyond today.