Black Friday deals are a lot like a unicorn sighting. Sure, you hear about them, but do they really exist?

A good deal is certainly hard to find. A lot of times you get fixated on something that you think is a good bargain, only to find it for $10 less online—in April. If you’re going to wake up at the crack of dawn and bother to put on pants, you’d better make sure that the bargains are, well… actually bargains.

We’ve seen pages and pages of “sale” prices, starbursts and endless exclamation points. Instead of buying into everything we’ve seen, we’ve scoured the ads and done a bit of homework. Our comparison shopping narrowed down 13 of the best Black Friday tech deals. We’ve tried to get a decent sampling from a variety of retailers. Of course, there are many other sales, as well as online deals. Amazon even announced plans to extend Black Friday to a week-long shopping event!

Whatever you have your eye on, make sure to do a bit of research before you blindly start grabbing at retail shelves. As always, electronics will be a hot item for the holidays. Expect hoards of shoppers to have the elbows out in full force, in search of cheap prices. Before you make your list, check ours twice—it could actually save you a few bumps and a lot of frustration. Happy hunting!

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.