Apparently, not only is CompUSA rising from the dead like a horrific, zombified corpse, but now its guts are getting bought up and replaced by another retail behemoth. According to reports, Best Buy has just paid $13.5 million for 17 CompUSA store leases, ranging in time from three to 14 years and totaling 453,000 square feet. If the nightmare of CompUSA wasn't enough to haunt you in your sleep, the news that its now-defunct locations will be replaced with essentially more of the same should shake you to your very core. We imagine the Best Buy victory rap will be making the rounds again, you can jog your memory after the break.

[Thanks, Brian]

TG just announced that this unnamed all-in-one PC is heading for a Stateside retail launch courtesy of Best Buy. There's not a lot to go on here besides a few pics. Nevertheless, a DVD drive, 2x USB and what appears to be a slot for memory cards, mic and audio jacks, and dedicated multi-media buttons adorning the right-side edge. Around back we find Ethernet, a composite video input, and a few more unidentified jacks which might be Firewire and USB. The big mystery here is the price and availability. Then we'll know whether this pup can take the legs out from under Dell, Apple, and even Gateway in the US, all-in-one desktop game. Backside-front pictured after the break.

You know that Rebel XSi we saw pop up on Amazon? Well thanks to a tipster, we now know it's appearing in more than one location. That photo above shows one of these babies fresh out of a shipping crate at Best Buy -- so if you've been saving your pennies, they could find their way into the hands of a blue-shirted sales associate any day now.

As seen previously, the FCC isn't scared to put the financial smackdown on anyone it finds not playing up to the rules of the digital transition, and has dropped about $6 million in fines on 11 companies. Several of the companies fined were retailers it says did not properly mark TVs that had only analog tuners and won't get OTA TV after it's shut off next year. Wal-Mart got dinged for $992k, $1.1 million went against Sears, $712k for Circuit City, $296k against Target and $280k against Best Buy. Syntax-Brillian was one of two companies that caught a charge for importing TVs without a digital tuner after the deadline, two more were fined for V-chip violations, while Panasonic and Philips were among seven others that settled to avoid fines. That probably won't cover all those $40 coupons, but it can't hurt.

[Via Zatz Not Funny & Cable Digital News]

Sure, the picture on the purchase page shows the little guy running Xandros -- but read the fine print ya'll. That's right, the moment some of you have been waiting for has finally descended upon us like the enraged, ancient dragons of yore. The Windows XP equipped ASUS Eee PC is now available at Best Buy. For just $399.99, you can experience the totally okay performance that is this 7-inch master of destruction. Enjoy it now, but remember, those 9-inch models are just around the corner.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Best Buy is following Future Shop, Circuit City and others in reaching out to casualties of the format war. In this case, anyone who bought an HD DVD player from Best Buy before February 23, 2008 can request a complimentary $50 gift card for each player. For those too traumatized to even look at their discontinued hardware and software, Best Buy also announced it's adding HD DVD players and media to its Trade-In Center program, starting March 21. No word on how much a player can net you, but once it's updated, check BestBuyTradeIn.com to get an estimate and decide how much holding onto the past is worth.

[Thanks, Harmin C.]

Update: Best Buy just issued a press release with additional information about the more than $10 million in gift cards it plans to distribute, and details on how to make sure you get yours, check out the full PR after the break.

No, this isn't the first time we've heard of innocent consumers snagging some new kit only to find random bits of unwanted garbage in place of the actual product, and unfortunately, we've all ideas it's not the last. This go 'round, a couple waltzed into Best Buy, snagged a "brand new" $300 hard drive and zoomed home to start packin' those platters. Much to their dismay, no HDD was found inside the box -- rather, three bags of dried beans weighed it down enough to not seem suspicious. As expected, Best Buy wasn't about to refund any money for fear that the actual purchasers could be the culprits, and while that's certainly understandable, we're quite relieved to know that a little outside intervention netted the two a $300 gift card to the retailer. We bet they'll inspect that package a bit more closely before taking it home next time (sad though that may be).

[Image courtesy of DKImages, thanks Craig]

Our tip jar, it brings us so much joy -- and it brings you, dear reader, this printout of what's purported to be the Best Buy database listing for one of those heretofore-unknown MacBook model numbers. You'll note that whatever MB402LL/A turns out to be, it's said to be in stock on March 2nd, which is just a few days away -- but also note that current MacBook Pros have MA-series model numbers, while the regular MacBook has traditionally carried the MB designation. That's interesting, but we doubt a $1,999 MacBook is about to surface -- besides, the current MacBook box is 15 inches square, smaller than the 17 inches listed here. (Yes, we measured.) As always, we'll see when we see -- come on Tuesday, you're almost here.

Just when you think Nokia doesn't have any more tricks up its sleeve -- wham! the WiMAX-equipped N830 internet tablet gets all up in your section (maybe). According to a sweet, sweet photo which appeared in Best Buy's February Mobile Buyer's Guide, the Finnish giant is preparing to unleash a new version of its popular N810 tablet, and it seems like this could be the rumored WiMAX device that we've heard whispers about. Of course, this could also just be a new paint job and refreshed number -- though something in our heart tells us that ain't the case. Word on the street is that we'll know what's up come CTIA. In the meantime, feel free to zoom, zoom, and zoom some more on this picture, and check out the full page of the brochure after the break.

[Via IntoMobile]

Read - WiMax N810 Leaked, To Be Announced At CTIA?
Read - N810 at Best Buy/New Color

Ugh, we were already sick of digital photo frames -- and now it looks those now-discontinued virus-ridden Insignia units from Best Buy and several other models produced in China were carrying a much nastier trojan that we'd originally heard. According to an analyst form Computer Associates, the trojan, called Mocmex, is able to block more than 100 types of security and anti-virus software from killing it, and bypasses the Windows firewall to download files from remote locations, spreading them randomly over your hard drive and any portable storage device you plug into your PC -- like, for example, a digital photo frame. The trojan is apparently set to only steal gaming passwords at present, but CA says it's capable of stealing nearly any information on your machine, and thinks it might be a test for a much worse virus yet to come. Infected frames have come from Sam's Club, Target and Costco, in addition to Best Buy, so we'd say to avoid picking one up until this mess gets sorted out -- or, you know, forever.

We've definitely heard some horror stories about Best Buy, but it looks like a DC woman named Raelyn Campbell has had enough: she's opening up a big can of America Sauce on the retailer in the form of a $54m lawsuit after it lost her laptop during warranty service. Campbell says she bought a laptop and $300 extended warranty from Best Buy in 2006, and took the machine in for service when the power switch broke last May. Told repairs would take two to six weeks, she set off on a business trip, only to find that her laptop had gone missing when she returned in August. Fast forward through several more weeks of run-around and delays, and the best the Buy would offer for losing a $1,100 machine with all her data on it was a $900 gift card. After being informed of the potential for identity theft, Campbell filed the multimillion-dollar suit, which prompted Best Buy to up its offer to a whopping $2,100 plus a $500 gift card. Campbell says she's not dropping the case until she finds out what happened to her machine -- and she wants ol' Blue to train its employees on privacy issues and revamp its warranty policy. Honestly? We'd say she has a better chance of getting the $54 million.

[Thanks, David]

Out of the many jobs in today's multi-billion dollar consumer electronics industry, the one we'd probably want least right now is writer of press releases for the HD DVD Promotional Group. After each major defection, these poor folks have to whip up a positive-sounding response to what everyone knows is very bad news -- but after yesterday's one-two punches by Netflix and Best Buy, even these paid cheerleaders are having trouble finding the right spin. Here's what they had to say, as reported by CNET:

"We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it's unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail."

Doesn't sound like there's too much fight left there, does it? If the best you can do to support your dying format is to rehash the same canned argument and celebrate your remaining shelf space, well, there would seem to be a bigger problem than you're willing to admit. At this point, we're just curious to see how it will all end: after investing so much time, energy, money, and vitriol on this bitter format war, how does Toshiba move forward in a world almost completely dominated by its rival in blue?

[Via High-Def Digest]

The HD DVD camp, still reeling after losing support from Netflix this morning, may feel flattened as Best Buy has announced it will officially promote Blu-ray as the HD format of the future. Starting in early March the store will showcase Blu hardware and software on its shelves and website, and switch from its current neutral stance, to recommending Blu-ray to any customers that ask. While "an assortment of HD DVD products" will remain, a vote of confidence from major retailers, following the majority of studio support, will make it impossible for red to recover.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Nothing much "official" at the moment, but Lenovo is prepping a laptop based on a low-voltage processor similar to that of the MacBook Air, which can only mean one thing: skinny laptop celebrity deathmatch. Lenovo's X300 will run on a SL7100 chip, which is apparently a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo that fits into the same form factor of the 1.6GHz / 1.8GHz chip options for the MacBook Air. However, Lenovo saw it fit to squeeze a DVD-RW drive inside this 13.3-inch laptop, along with 64GB of SSD, all for a "reasonable" price of $2,744 -- at least, if Best Buy's leaked spec sheet is to be believed. The screen is also WXGA+, which we're assuming means 1440 x 900 instead of the 1280 x 800 MacBook Air. No word on a release date, but we hope it's soon -- that kid in Starbucks with the MacBook Air is giving us dirty looks.

[Via Electronista]

Update: Looks like CDW is listing it "around" Tuesday, February 26th, if you want to take that into account. Thanks, Brendan.