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A sampling of grocery store deals in the Triad this week:

Food Lion: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: Food Lion extra jumbo raw shrimp, 4-pound bags of navel oranges, Nabisco crackers, Carolina fried turkey breast, Kraft cheese, Aunt Jemima pancakes and French toast, Post cereals.

Harris Teeter: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: Breyers ice cream, Sea Pak seafood, Mott's apple juice and Ocean Spray cranberry juice.

As mentioned in this week's Short Orders column, stop by any IHOP on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and get a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes by donating to the Children's Miracle Network.

Column in today's The Mercury News offers tips for cash-strapped guys on how to save some buckaroos without looking like a Valentine's Day tightwad (OK, that might be debatable):

"Last year: A dozen red roses delivered to her office. $80 to $100. This year: Deliver the flowers yourself. Park a half-mile from her office and pick them along the way. Don't forget the greenery! Then take her to lunch with some of the money you saved. Dining suggestion: Taco Bell."

Bon Appetit.

You'll probably want to get her some roses along with that burrito. Here's a random sampling of deals on roses in the Triad (note: if you're a retailer who can beat these prices, by all means share with the class):

* Harris Teeter has 18-count, 40 centimeter-stem roses with babies breath and greenery for $19.99 (regular $28).

* Food Lion has premium long-stem rose bouquet for $19.95.

* Lowes Foods has a dozen 50-centimeter roses for $14.99

* Kmart has a dozen roses for $17.99.

The good news: You can now get your hands on a Toshiba HD DVD player for as little as $120 smackaroos at places including hhgregg, which has a store in Greensboro. That's because that format is going the way of Betamax and Toshiba is slashing prices to keep from sinking faster.

But it may be too, little, too late: A few more big-name companies recently announced they're backing Sony's competing Blu-ray format.

The bad news? There's a casualty regarding the outcome of this format war, and it's your wallet.

Get all-you-can eat pancakes and sausage today until 8 p.m. in Winston-Salem.

The annual Twin City Kiwanis Club Pancake Jamboree is being held at the Benton Convention Center.

Adults pay $6; $2 for children under 12.

Get a 42-inch Olevia 1080 p HD LCD TV (model 242TFHD) at Target for $897 (regular $1,097).

Olevia isn't one of the more well-known brands out there, but I've been sold on the company since buying a 32-incher at Circuit City in August. Customer reviews about Olevia, although scarce regarding this particular model, have been generally favorable.

Not sure what you want or need? A handy-dandy guide News & Record's Tim Rickard created a few months ago sorts it all out.

Big Lots has a Panasonic Lumix 7.2 megapixel digital camera for $99 (regular $130). Features include 3X optical zoom and an image stablizer. Good price. Above average reviews.

Deal ends today.

I recently posted a deal on a 42-inch Olevia HDTV at Target for $897, which is pretty darn good. Then I did a double-take when I came across an Office Depot ad showing what appeared to be the exact same model at an even cheaper price: $799.

But there's a difference, although you wouldn't know it by looking at the Office Depot ad. Conspicuously absent is the TV's resolution: 720 or 1080? The resolution, is, you guessed it: 720.

That's still a good deal, but you might get more bang for your buck in the long run by spending about $100 more for the 1080P version.

Not that you couldn't see this coming from a mile away: Toshiba is pulling the plug on the HD DVD player.

So it's probably not a good idea to spend $130, the going rate for a Toshiba player (but I'm sure that price is falling as we speak). Just wait until the prices on Blu-ray players come down as more companies look to make 'em.

One thing that's pretty interesting: Toshiba Corp. President Atsutoshi Nishida "voluntarily brought up the possibility of class-action lawsuits in the U.S. as he fielded questions from reporters, acknowledging that the idea of disgruntled HD DVD owners had occurred to him," according to an AP article.

Not sure what is more puzzling: That he is actually worried such a thing would happen or there's really enough HD DVD owners out there who honestly had no idea their chosen format's future was in doubt to begin with.

A sampling of grocery store deals in the Triad this week:

Food Lion: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: 2.5-pound bags of Food Lion frozen boneless chicken breasts, Nabisco Chips Ahoy! cookies, Doritos, Keebler crackers, 1-pound bags of Food Lion raw, large shrimp.

Harris Teeter: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: Harris Teeter fresh, boneless chicken breast, London broil, cantaloupes or brunch brocoli, Progresso soup, New England Coffee, Harris teeter bacon, Sparkle paper towels, Purex detergent.

There's also some buy one, get two free deals on stuff including Dietz & Watson black forest ham or oven roasted turkey, EZ peel white shrimp, Harris Teeter ice cream, Green Giant vegetables.

Lowes Foods: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: Boneless center cut pork chops, bone-in split chicken breasts, Gwaltney big 8's franks, Idaho russet potatoes, 2-liter Pepsi, Lowes bath tissue, Dole salads.

Saw an ad in the News & Record today regarding Sports Authority having some sort of golf liquidation sale. "Save up to 85 percent."

OK. You've got my attention.

Then I read "While supplies last!" Ah-ha, the skeptic in me said, there's that oh-so subtle red flag. When I get there, all the good stuff will be picked clean and I'll be left with the scraps.

Maybe a discounted golf towel or a pair of hideous, lime green-golf slacks, something my dad would wear on the course in the 1970s/early 80s.

I was pleasantly surprised by what I found during a stop at its Greensboro store during my lunch break today.

I bought a Ram Laser titanium driver (10 degrees) for $9.99 and a 24-pack of Wilson Deep Red golf balls for $9.99.

Plenty of putters on sale from $4.99 to $9.99. Ram wedges also on sale for $4.99-$9.99.

Iron sets for $99, junior 8-piece set for $34.99.

One thing I would have liked to have seen: Better deals on golf bags and golf shoes. Didn't see much regarding golf bags. I only spotted one pair of golf shoes that were significantly marked down ($39.99, regular $59.99).

A deal mentioned at Bargan Jack caught my eye: A refurbished Sandisk Sansa e260 4GB MP3 player for $57.

Reviews have been solid: Scores 4.5 stars after 78 reviews, according to Bargain Jack.

Good reviews at Amazon.com, too.

A sampling of some of the best deals on laptops regarding retailers with locations in the Triad:

Best Buy has a Gateway (1 GB DDR2 memory, 160 GB hard drive) for $499.

Circuit City has an Acer (1 GB DDR2 memory, 160 GB hard drive) for $479.

Office Depot has a Compaq Presario (1 GB DDR2 memory, 120GB hard drive) for $449 (after $165 mail-in rebate).

Dunkin' Donuts, which will be opening three stores in Greensboro this year, will be selling small espresso drinks, lattes and cappuccinos today from 1 to 10 p.m. for 99 cents.

The deal's timing is interesting. That's because rival Starbucks will be closed for three hours today.

Nearly all of Starbucks' 7,100 stores will be closed for remedial espresso training for its baristas from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Coincidence?

Dunkin' Donuts representatives insist it's really a celebration of last week's announcement the business had taken first place in the coffee category of Brand Keys' Annual Customer Loyalty Engagement Index.

I find that a little hard to swallow.

A sampling of grocery store deals in the Triad this week:

Food Lion: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: 1-pound bags of Food Lion raw, large shrimp (limit two), cataloupes, Canadian maple ham (per pound), Kellog's cereal, Birds Eye Voila!.

Also, you can get 10 Michelina's frozen dinners for $10.

Harris Teeter: Two-for-one deals on stuff including: Strawberries, blueberries, Palmolive dish liquid, Eight O'Clock Coffee.

Also some 10 for $10 deals on stuff including Peter Pan penaut butter, cans of Valley Fresh white chicken, Starkist solid white tuna, Wish bone salad dressing.

If you live in Greensboro, you'll have to drive to High Point, at least for now, if you're hankering for a fresh cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee. If you don't need it on the go, a more convenient and cheaper route might be your local Rite Aid.

Rite Aid?

Yes, kids, Rite Aid.

The drug store and pharmacy chain, as a matter of fact, has the best deal in town on Dunkin' Donuts brand ground coffee: $6.49 a pound for its original blend.

But if Starbucks is your cup of tea, I mean coffee, you can get the French roast blend for the same price.

Cheers.

This didn't take long following recent news the HD DVD format is going bye-bye: You can now get your hands on a HD DVD player for the Xbox 360 for $49.99 at places including Best Buy.

A gamer blog pointed out a few things you might also want to consider: There are more than 400 HD DVD titles available. It plays standard DVDs. You also get the HD version of King Kong, plus five free movies if you buy it by tomorrow.

You can now buy a 1 GB MP3 player for $19.97 at hhgregg.

Man, that's cheap. And to think I spent $100 on a 512 MB iPod Shuffle just a few years ago. Then Apple dropped the price on it. And I'm like, if only I waited a few more months.

So when I heard people were angry Apple slashed iPhone's price by one-third, to $399, just 10 weeks after its release, I'm like, fool me once, shame on me.

No way was I ever going to rush out and buy an Apple product again. I'm on to you, Jobs.

CompUSA, which was bought by a restructuring firm in December, is closing its Greenbsoro store Sunday.

That means you can save some decent dough in the meantime.

Today, merchandise has been marked down 50 to 70 percent. On Friday, it's 60-80 percent marked down. Saturday: 70-90 percent. Sunday: 80-90 percent.

Major bummer: Mark downs aren't good toward desktop computers, laptops, iPods and Apple computers.

Have not ventured out to the store lately, but plan to before it's too late. Anything good left? Good question.

Tech blogger Lucas Mearian argues "Toshiba and other manufactures of HD DVD players should put reputation over profit, do the right thing and offer refunds to those who purchased their products. Whether they do or don't, there's going to be a backlash against them, how much of one is their choice."

But what about buyer beware?

As you probably know by now, Toshiba recently decided to stop making the HD DVD player, throwing in the towel to Sony's Blu-Ray player.

But giving consumers rebates begs this question: when is ignorance regarding buying a product with an uncertain future an excuse? You had no idea?

Many others, however, weren't buying it.

News & Record biz writer and Savvy Shopper columnist Lanita Withers will begin offering tips on finding deals as a contributor to Bargain Blog.

She's one of the best at finding 'em, that's for sure. Just ask her colleagues in the newsroom.

High-fives all around.

Retailers are rolling out special sales to mark a day that only comes around every four years.

Walgreens is offering 29 percent off any online photo order and an assortment of 29 cent coupons for Leap Day.

Know of others? Feel free to mention them in the comments section.