Big retailers announce Black Friday electronics deals

And they're off! Some stores are now giving consumers an official sneak peek (if a sneak peek can be considered official) at their Black Friday deals, days ahead of the newspaper ads and circulars that will showcase their holiday specials.

Walmart, for example, e-mailed a list of specials to past customers, and its Web site lets you browse through the upcoming circular. You can even access a map of your local Walmart store so you can make a beeline to the items on your shopping list.

Best Buy, too, has already posted its official Black Friday circular online. You can leaf through it, virtually at least, though you can't get these deals in stores until the doors open Friday at 5 a.m.. But you can hit BestBuy.com on Turkey Day, when Best Buy will start offering its Black Friday deals online.

If you're revving up for a store run, it pays to be an early bird. In a move to control the expected crowds, Best Buy employees will hand out tickets to customers queued up outside stores starting at 3 a.m. Tickets grant the customer the ability to buy select front cover and other limited quantity items before a specified deadline. According to Best Buy, "Ticketing will help to ensure the safety of both Best Buy customers and employees when the stores open. Tickets also help to ensure that those customers who arrive first can purchase the products they want."

Meanwhile, Amazon.com is running Black Friday deals all week long, adding new items throughout each day. Also check out circulars from Kmart (enter your ZIP code) and Sixth Avenue Electronics.

Some of the specials you'll see from various retailers won't be a surprise, because insiders have been leaking reports of Black Friday deals for weeks, as we've been reporting.

We'll blog later in the week on the best deals identified by our editors in each of the major product categories. —Eileen McCooey & Jeff Fox