Best Buy has confirmed its HTC Thunderbolt pre-orders along with its exclusive access to the phone. The phone can be reserved in advance for a $50 deposit. Since Best Buy has a “national retail exclusive” on the Thunderbolt, it won’t have to compete with other third-party stores.

We still don’t have a ship date and the price still hasn’t been set by the carrier, but a February 14 ship date and a $250 contract price have both been leaked.

Sony Japan has updated their C series of laptops with a strange new design. One that we think will catch on just because it’s different. Crocodile skin laptops. Crikey! Sony wants to cater to those who like the skinning of cranky stabby-toothed dinosaurs and want their laptop to reflect that. The new CS series are available now for pre-order and this exclusive Vaio Owner Made edition will be available in brown, red, and pink.

Don’t worry, no Crocs were dipped in pigment and flayed alive. Sony reproduced the crocodile effect by creating real bumps and irregularities of textured patterns on plastic. The official model numbers are VGN-CS92DS, VGN-CS92JS, and VGN-CS92XS and this should be available on April 18th only in Japan for about $1,024.

[Sonyinsider]

According to WebOS Arena, the Palm Pre will be exclusive to Best Buy Mobile and Sprint stores for it’s first 60 days, citing a “credible source”. That isn’t a stretch as Sprint has previously given Best Buy such privileges, like in the case of the Samsung Instinct.

There was also a short time where Best Buy was also the only place outside of an Apple Store where you could purchase an iPhone. So, whether they have a “credible” source or not, it’s a good bet. Not a stretch at all. Still, it isn’t confirmed, so take it with the usual grain of salt.

This has got to be the coolest Star Wars Lego creation ever. This my friends is a $400 Death Star, comprised of nearly 4,000 pieces and yes, it is available to order. Go change your nerd pants. I’ll wait.

It shows off 14 classic scenes from the Death Star from the original trilogy. Comes with 25 mini-figs and droids that seem more awesome then usual. You know what you must do geeks. Go without a few comics, pull an extra shift, see if mom will let you slide on this month’s basement rent.