Sears plays "what's my model number?" with Black Friday TVs

Taking a further stroll through the TV offerings in the leaked Sears Black Friday circular, we note some interesting "special purchase" TVs with model numbers you don't see in too many other spots. One that caught our eye is a 40-inch Sony KDL-40S504. We couldn't recall seeing that model for sale anywhere else, let alone reviewed. So, what have we here? A little bit of digging around yielded an answer: It's Sony's business-channel version of the budget priced KDL-40S5100 normally sold to consumers. With that info in mind, here's our take:

The TV: Sony KDL-40S504 (KDL-40S5100)

The Deal: $664.99 after 5 percent instant savings, 4 a.m. to noon on Black Friday, while quantities last, minimum 2 per store, no rainchecks

The Reality: A modest performer at modest savings

As the specifications are line by line identical, there's little doubt that the Sony KDL-40S504 and the KDL-40S5100 are the exact same set. The KDL-S5100 series is Sony's least expensive with full 1080p resolution, but you'll find few other features. There's no increased refresh rate to reduce motion blur. That could be an issue, as one review we saw on the KDL-40S5100 notes that motion blur is higher than average in this TV. Other features found on more upscale TVs but missing here include a special signal processing mode to smooth out how films look on the screen and web interactivity. On the plus side, experts say picture quality is good, with deep blacks for an LCD in this price range and decent color. User reviews don't paint the happiest picture, though some of the complaints can be traced to a defect that's since been fixed. While it is a little smaller, we think that the 37-inch LG 37LH30 is a little better option for those looking for a good performing budget LCD TV at around the same screen size.

As far as what we think about the deal itself -- hit the snooze button and sleep in. Though most retailers sell the KDL-40S5100 for a bit more than the Black Friday doorbuster price, we also spotted many that sell it for about the same or just a tad more. Could that be the reason why Sears has opted to offer the KDL-40S504 rather than the more common -- and more easily compared -- KDL-40S5100?