Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.
Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.
Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.
Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.
HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.
HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.
HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.
GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.
Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.
Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.
Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
whitey said 7:14PM on 4-18-2008
I hope that people who drive and talk on cell phones get some kind of incurable disease so MAYBE these idiots will just drive the freakin car and quit putting normal peoples lives in danger .
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Mike Grandinetti said 4:40PM on 5-01-2008
What about ankle monitors for home detention prision systems. I have been wearing on that is linked to GPS then a new that is linked to cell phone towers for over 8 months! I now feel pain in my ankle joints and knees. Could it be from the EMF? Could I get cancer through this system?
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Mike Grandinetti said 11:31AM on 4-23-2008
What about ankle monitors for home detention prision systems. I have been wearing one that is linked to GPS then a new that is linked to cell phone towers for over 8 months! I now feel pain in my ankle joints and knees. Could it be from the EMF? Could I get cancer through this system?
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Sean said 11:09AM on 3-12-2009
See, this is why we're all getting sick all the time. Not because of cellphones but because we're ALWAYS talking about bacteria. It seems that the people worried about bacteria more are the people who get sick more often. If you don't think about it, and you have a positive state of mind, and you say to yourself, "I'm not going to get sick", then you won't get sick.
Besides some bacteria is good for you. If you keep putting Purel on your hands, then you're not building up a resistance to bacteria, and when it DOES strike you'll stay sick longer. My girlfriend and I haven't gotten sick in YEARS because we just think don't about it.
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Sean said 11:12AM on 3-12-2009
See, this is why we're all getting sick all the time. Not because of
cellphones but because we're ALWAYS talking about bacteria. It seems that the people worried about getting sick more are the people who get sick more often. If you don't think about it, and you have a
positive state of mind, and you say to yourself, "I'm not going to
get sick", then you won't get sick.
Besides some bacteria is good for you. If you keep putting Purel on
your hands, then you're not building up a resistance to bacteria, and
when it DOES strike you'll stay sick longer. My girlfriend and I
haven't gotten sick in YEARS because we just don't think about it.
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Jamey said 12:10PM on 3-12-2009
More bacteria then your toilet seat yes, but not the same kind of bacteria so it is apples to oranges. This is another stupid comment like "A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's" which is idiotic wrong and not comparable in any way. Why don't we worry more about the bacteria in our foods, and medications in our drinking water.
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Susanna said 3:42PM on 4-12-2007
Not only are cell phones culprits. People should remember that phones, keyboards,even hand sanitizer dispensers meant to protect us carry potentially deadly bacteria. Due to mutation there are ever increasting numbers of bacteria that are drug resistant. Not only are common bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, E.coli and Psuedomonas resistant, we are seeing a resurgence of less common multi-drug resistant organisms such as TB and Acinetobactor, both of which have a high incidence of morbitity and mortality and can live on surfaces for weeks. Acne is the least of our worries!
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Peggy Parent said 10:54PM on 4-12-2007
Cell phones are not the only culprit of illnesses going unhearalded. WiFi is responsible for some real physical ailments, as is cordless phones, flourescent lights or ballast driven electronics like dimmers, and some clock radios. www.lessemf.com has meters that will measure your environment and alleviate some of your discomforts. There are other filters, such as the Stetzer filter that will take the high frequencies off your home wiring (not 60 htz, the kind that is non responsive many times.)Those of you who suspect you are sensitive to these emmissions, go to Esens, on Yahoo.com a health related group of people with hints to cope in this connected world.Some have found through nutrition and shielding, some if not complete relief.Also, www.antennasearch.com will show you how many cell towers/antennas are around your home address or work address. We need to join together for our own protection and laws that alleviate some of this electromagnetic pollution now here. In Europe it is called elektrosmog, and some places it is considered a disability, but here the commercial concerns take control of our legislative arena. Good luck.
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Nikki said 5:43PM on 4-12-2007
Earpiece instead? I don't want to know what's living on that. That seems more dangerous to me.
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Allie said 4:28PM on 4-12-2007
Yea i def try not to press my phone into the side of my face, that's just asking for a breakout. Also, I clean the surfaces of my cell with Windex every so often..... speaking of Windex, you could always just use that on any zits you get from using ur phone on the side of your face. Haha just kidding, but the dad from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" makes it sound like such a good idea.
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Carol said 4:30PM on 4-12-2007
I don't think germs are dangerous at all. Dogs lick their rearends. I don't think God would design a creature that would get sick doing what it was designed to do.
What MAKES these harmless germs so dangerous is the fact that manmade EMFs are messing with our immune sytems, making them virtually ineffective at fighting them off. Add to that the fact that manmade EMFs are causing these bugs to replicate at abnormally rapid rates, even mutate, then germs become a problem. But still, the problem is not the germs themselves, but rather manmade EMFs (manmade sources of radiation).
I'm ready to give up technology and go back to living off the earth - food, clothing shelter are my only real needs (as opposed to nice car, mansion, electronics, etc...)
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Matthew said 4:47PM on 4-12-2007
Dogs were designed to lick their rearends. They have a bacteria fighting saliva. I guess thats the best way to say that. Thats why you dont have to brush your dogs teeth. Oh, and Carol what would you do if your car broke down on the interstate? You have no phone to use so I guess you wait for a nice person to pull over and help you, right?? Sell your computer and give up on technology now while you still can.
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Carol said 5:24PM on 4-12-2007
Matthew, humans have TONS of bacteria, fungus, viruses on their hands, in their mouths, etc... at any given time. Have your doctor do a culture to see what grows under your fingernails. You're wrong in assuming that dogs were designed essentially any differently from humans. If we were eating what we were supposed to, none of us would have to brush our teeth - human or animal. And I'd like to remind you that though dogs don't brush their teeth, most of them have tooth problems if they live into old age - just like humans who DO brush their teeth and DON'T lick their rearends - wanna explain that one?
Like I said, I do not own a cell phone. What would I do if my car broke down on the interstate? What did we do before cell phones? We waited for someone to help or we walked for help. And are you offering to buy my cancer-causing computer? When God says the word, I will be first in line to trade this Satanic piece of equipment in. Think I'm lying? - you don't know me.
If you think about it - if we would stop being so greedy and lazy and be happy to just grow food, build log cabins, and sew, we could all probably work 2 hours a day and spent the rest of the day just having fun with family and friends. In fact, we would probably do all of those things, too, WHILE enjoying our family and friends. And you want to be a slave to your job so that you can buy a nice car, mansion, CDs, cell phones, computers, computer games, etc...? NONE of these 'essential' to life.
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Charlex said 5:39AM on 4-22-2008
If everybody work like this, how to keep this world on going? Here arround me People are too busy not too lazy
Ashley said 5:13PM on 4-12-2007
Yeah this germ thingy is a given.
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Susanna said 5:29PM on 4-12-2007
The comments about germs not being dangerous defy rational and intelligent thinking. What about the plagues: bacteria, fungus and viruses that killed millions before we had EMF's? You've obviously never seen what a necrotizing/flesh eating bacteria can do in a matter of hours. I have. I've seen healthy people die from as little as a paper cut. Do your homework!
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Carol said 5:24PM on 4-12-2007
Matthew - read 'Cross Currents' or 'The Body Electric' by Robert Becker. You aren't going to believe me - but he's a scientist. Manmade EMFs are dangerous. Still don't believe me?
Consider Rife Machines. Every human cell, pathogen, etc... vibrates at a certain frequency unique to that pathogen - this is the reason certain Rife frequencies are used to kill the spirochete that causes Lyme Disease. This is also how radiographs are taken, etc...
Problem with Rife is - how do we know that the frequency that is killing the spirochete is not harming some other cell in our bodies?
Years ago we were told that formula was better than breast milk - today? - proven wrong!
Years ago we were told too many calories causes obesity - then it was too much fat in the diet that causes obesity - now it is too many carbs in the diet causes obesity. Does 'science' want to make up its mind here?!
The problem with science today is they report opinion as 'fact'. We honestly have no clue what damage manmade EMFs are doing to us, but like everything else in science, until we prove what they are or are not doing, we pronounce them as 'safe'. This is the wrong way to go if you ask me.
I guarantee manmade EMFs are somehow behind the increase in virtually every disease known to mankind - from diabetes, to cancer, to heart disease, to ADHD, to depression.
I hope I can post this link - but read this if you don't believe me:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/04/20/mobile_and_wireless_largest_biological_experiment.htm
The best part of the dangers of computer and cell phone use is the fact that the EMFs have apparently activated the addiction receptors in the brain - so everybody is convinced they could not live without these devices (to their own detriment).
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Susanna said 5:30PM on 4-12-2007
The comment that germs are not dangerous defies rational and intelligent thinking. What about the plagues: bacteria, fungus and viruses that killed millions before there were EMF's? You've obviously never seen what a necrotizing/flesh eating bacteria can do in a matter of hours. I've seen otherwise healthy people die from as little as a paper cut. The problem, without being too simplistic, lies in the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture/ and medicine that has been going on for decades, not in manmade EMF's. Although I agree they (EMF's) are a health concern with regard to immunity, they play a very small part in the overal picture.
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Carol said 6:46PM on 4-12-2007
Susanna - I've done my homework. I have been walking around with Lyme Disease and about died of it last year around this time. In fact, I can't even thank any doctor for diagnosing me - I saw 35 of them - each one told me all my tests were normal and I needed a shrink. I was the one who figured out I had a systemic infection.
So then they diagnosed me with Lyme - treatable with antibiotics, right? Not so simple. Like you said, antibiotics are definitely messing with the normal flora in our bodies. This practice, too, is part of the problem. But then if it were just a matter of killing off my spirochetes, I should be better by now. So why am I so sick still?
Because there are pathogens of all types in our blood at any given moment. If we kill one off with a synthetic drug, another one just grows in its place. Then you add another synthetic drug, and something else grows still. Right now I think I'm dealing with candida and EBV at the very least.
But I still think that germs were created by God for a purpose - perhaps to turn our waste into soil. The ONLY reason these germs can rot tissue off is because:
1) We live in a polluted world eating, breathing, bathing in pollution 24/7. Toxic immune systems do not function properly. And you are correct - antibiotics are included as toxins.
2) Manmade EMFs are altering the function of our immune systems. They are also causing germs, cancer cells, etc... to behave in unnatural ways.
As for the plagues that killed people prior to EMFs, people who followed the 'kosher' laws and other laws of God who survived the plagues - it was those who didn't follow these laws that perished. And no, I'm not Jewish - not sure where I fall. But I think the Bible is not just a book of fairytales anymore - that's for sure.
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Holly said 5:57PM on 4-12-2007
Carol- you live off the earth now a days and let me know how that works out for you. im pretty sure technology is a huge part of life today and its a little bit better. i dont understand how you can seriously sit there and say germs arent dangerous because they do cause sickness, we dont really need the huge speech. and im sure one day if your stuck in the middle of nowhere you will want a cell phone and just hope if some "nice person" comes to help, they arent a pyscho murderer.
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