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.
Yes, Vista fixed many of the energy-gulping problems that plagued previous versions of Windows. But, it's been argued by a lot of folks that since many of Vista's features require newer, more-capable hardware, older computers will soon be populating landfills en masse. Sian Berry, the UK Green Party's Female Principal Speaker has said, "Future archaeologists will be able to identify a 'Vista Upgrade Layer' when they go through our landfill sites."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kokoro_x said 6:20AM on 4-19-2007
Indeed, I agree. I'm going pc scouting at the local landfill for the next few months. Just so I can fix them, put linux on them, and sell them cheap. Why waste a perfectly good computer?
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rbyowens said 7:29AM on 4-19-2007
Our local school system takes donated computers and repairs and updates them. Then they are donated to low income families and some of the schools that have a large low income student population.
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KAM said 8:18AM on 4-19-2007
Now there are some smart people, smart solutions!
One mans trash is another mans treasure - and a lot less in the extreme landfill issues!
Stop and think about the landfills just once... and you will think less of yourself for not trying to reuse and recycle what you can.
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Notyoubutme said 8:29AM on 4-19-2007
Wait, people are going under the ASSUMPTION that Windows Vista will cause people to buy new systems just for the operating system? What an inane load of rubbish. First off, a lot of manufacturers, both smaller and at least with their gaming based systems, even Dell are still using Windows XP, not Vista. Why? The drivers aren't mature for Vista! Until there's better drivers for each component, Vista is eye candy at best. Second, one could try to make this arguement with every operating system. How many people had systems not able to run Windows XP when it premired? Did any enviromental group scream, hollar and shout then? Finally, people upgrade when they upgrade. A new OS won't prompt them to do so. People who want the "Bleeding Edge", the fastest PC with the largest video card(s), vastly overclocked multi-core CPUs and so forth, will upgrade regardless of if a new OS or not (and somewhat ironically many if not most of these computer hobbiests, myself included are skipping Vista for now). People who use a system to play Minesweeper and read e-mail won't be upgrading soon, unless they just happen to see a sale at their local Best Buy or Wal-Mart or some such, or if the system just breaks down, and they don't know how to fix it (or the technician they take it to charges more then the system is worth). Anyway, forgive my rambling, but I just found this statement inane. Believe me, other then maybe the clueless, or people who had to buy a new system regardless, and it's just a coincedence that they did it now, people are not just buying more powerful systems just to run Vista.
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Zing said 11:43AM on 4-19-2007
Notyoubutme says:
"How many people had systems not able to run Windows XP when it premired? Did any enviromental group scream, hollar and shout then?"
Answer: Probably not, but that makes no difference. What's your point?
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