Few of us are actually headed to New Orleans this year to watch Super Bowl XLVII on February 3. But the next best thing to being there is watching it on a big-screen HDTV. An if you're in the market for a new set, you'll need to make sure it can deliver all the excitement of the Big Game itself.

If you're hosting a Super Bowl XLVII party on February 3, you'll probably spend more time thinking about the food and drinks you'll serve than whether or not you're getting the best out of your television. Fortunately, you don't have to be a TV guru to get your set running like a champ in time for kickoff.

Did you buy or receive any electronics gifts that your recipient or you just can't use this holiday? It's the thought that counts—and you're thinking about how you can return them. We've already advised on returning gifts in general, but electronics are a special case. With that in mind, here are some tips to bear in mind if you're bringing back unwanted tech presents.

Want to keep your phone working as well as it can—and should? We'll bet at least one of these tips from our experts will surprise you.

Your kids are asking for them, and you've relented. Here are some tips that will help you make gadget gifts a hit for the children—and for you. Some of these tips can help for those grown-up kids you're buying gifts for, too.

A couple of weeks ago, editors and testers on Consumer Reports' electronics team shared their personal holiday wish lists with the world. It's great fun to dream about your ideal techie gift—but not all gadgets are equally wonderful, wished for, and wanted. Not to sound ungrateful or &Scrooge-like, but here's what our experts DON'T want this year!

Don't want to brave the lines, crowds, and general pandemonium of Black Friday? You could always stay home and shop online on Cyber Monday instead. Many online retailers will be offering substantial discounts, free shipping, and other attractive perqs to Web shoppers on the Monday after Black Friday—that's November 26 this year.

With little more than a day until the first post-turkey sales kick in, here are the most enticing specials on electronics items, culled from our recent posts on particular stores and product categories.

With the kick-off of Black Friday sales now just hours rather than days away, we thought it would be helpful to highlight those TV deals we think are especially noteworthy. These aren't the absolutely lowest prices we've seen on TVs in their respective screen-sizes categories—there are cheaper models from lesser-known brands, for example—but they're the sets we'd most like to own.

Although many electronics products get great sales prices on Black Friday, digital cameras tend not to be as discounted as other categories. Part of the reason is that many new cameras are introduced in late summer and early fall, so stores aren't ready to slash their prices just yet. The good news for Black Friday camera shoppers: Retailers may be looking to unload some older models.

In the late '90s, when most of us could only dream of having a thin, widescreen TV, several manufacturers were fixing prices on the LCD screens that were about to revolutionize the industry. More than a decade later, consumers who bought LCDs back then have a chance to get their money back.

With Thanksgiving now just days away, many of us are already thinking about turkey and football. But others—and you know who you are—are contemplating a different contact sport: Black Friday shopping. And this year the deals are starting earlier, with some retailers opening on Thanksgiving night itself (something not all employees are are happy about).

While it's true that many companies put their emphasis—and marketing dollars—on larger-sized TVs that can wow you with their big-screen images, you don't have to give up satisfying picture quality if you opt for a smaller-sized model.

As we get closer to Black Friday shopping, Amazon is rolling out some additional TV deals—and this time there are some specials on major-brand models, including Panasonic, Samsung, Toshiba, and Vizio.

In what is often seen as a bellwether for holiday sales pricing, Walmart has released its Black Friday ad, and TVs once again feature prominently. This year, Walmart will open its doors for Black Friday shopping at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving—2 hours earlier than last year—and it will roll out sales serially, with toys and video-game bargains kicking off in the 8 o'clock slot, and TV and other electronics going on sale at 10 p.m.