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.
When you're on the same list as Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini and Mercedes-Benz, you must be doing something right. Unfortunately for Audi, that list is the U.S. Department of Energy's round-up of the "Least Fuel Efficient Cars." Sure, the Lamborghini Murcielago clocks in at a shameful 9 mpg as compared to the Audi S4 Avant's 15 mpg -- but it's a Lamborghini! There's only a handful of Murcielago owners in the U.S., and who can afford one anyway? Back in the real world, the Avant makes our list for taking top fuel-inefficiency honors in the "Small Station Wagon" category. After all, station wagons meant to be sensible. In fact, that's the only reason people subject themselves to driving them.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jay said 7:08AM on 4-19-2007
I take issue with the statement that people only drive station wagons because they are sensible. I have loved wagons my whole life and there are plenty of others out there like me. I own three and I don't even have any kids. While two of them are fifty years old and one is twenty five, they still get better gas mileage than the Audi. And they have more style. That is pretty shameful for a new car to get gas mileage that bad. My daily driver is twenty nine years old and gets 25 mpg on the highway and it has over 300 horsepower.
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TLee said 7:24AM on 4-19-2007
With typical arrogance you have created another misinformation page. It should be labeled an editorial comment, or politically correct bovine excrement. When you have the forum to do some good why do you continue to put out this pap
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rbyowens said 7:31AM on 4-19-2007
Let me get this straight....it's ok for a Lamborghini to have poor fuel efficiency becuase of it's status.....how elitest can you get?
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Boots said 7:38AM on 4-19-2007
The supercilious comment by Phil actually shows what's wrong with him and other so-called automobile experts. My Ford Focus station wagon, which gets 30+ m/g is also fun to drive.
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BVG said 7:36AM on 4-19-2007
Don't get me wrong, I am German. But I ask myself, what exactly, if anything, have the Germans innovated since the blimp? Their cars have the highest carbon monoxide output of all cars, the Porche double that of others. Their automotive design is still in the cave age - look at Honda's Civic's double tier dashboard, or Toyota's Prius. Their quality is down, as the latest statistics show. And now you say the Audi has a 15/mpg fuel efficiency. I am deeply embarrassed. --- Actually this reminds me of the type of managers I met in Germany in the seventies, clueless if it comes to design, despite the University of Ulm's achievements. Oh well, I guess we have to look to Japan for progress.
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Annam said 7:50AM on 4-19-2007
That is all well and good , but where did our beloved HUMMER fall in the area of fuel efficiency? Seems to me to have been overlooked as the worlds worst mass distributed street car.
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Amy said 8:07AM on 4-19-2007
DOESN'T ANYONE REALIZE THAT EVEN IF THESE WERE RUINGING THE EARTH. MOST OF YOU ARE UNEDUCATED IN GEOLOGY, AND HAVE NO CLUE...THE OTHER HALF OF YOU ARE JUST SELFISH AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE 50 YRS FROM NOW HAVE TO LIVE LIKE!
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LostCause said 8:04AM on 4-19-2007
That vehicle should be taken off the market with 15 mpg...that's bullpoo!
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Jaime said 8:15AM on 4-19-2007
Your article gives new things to think abouot to be true. HOWEVER you have fogotten a few small area that need attention. You point out the waste of products that are discarded due to inovation. I did not see in the article the prooducts discarded because they often now are built so crappily that it is cheeper to replace them than it is to repair them, Motorola, Sony, Honda, Maytag, Sears, you know who you are. Remebering that these products athat used to be made here in the US to last 25 years or better. Now are made where factory workers make 25 cents an hour. what kind of longevity would you put into your work for 25 cents an hour. Go ahead throw it away they will make more. And walmart will exploit the piece work labor around the world draining our planet one frivolous sale and fresh piece of trash at a time
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Amy said 8:16AM on 4-19-2007
THE OZONE LAYER, LOCATED IN THE STRATOSPHERE, IS ACTUALLY BEING DESTROYED BY CHLOROFLOUROCARBON'S OR CFC'S.........INDUSTRIES AND CARS ARE PUTTING OUT CARBON DIOXIDE...NOT MONOXIDE....BUT STILL I FEEL YOUR PAIN, BVG....
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Amy said 8:18AM on 4-19-2007
CARBON DIOXIDE IS BLAMED FOR GLOBAL WARMING
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Nan said 8:20AM on 4-19-2007
I'm wondering why the Toyota Prius isn't included here. Toyota Prius has become the flagship car for those in our society so environmentally conscious that they are willing to spend a premium to show the world how much they care. Unfortunately for them, their ultimate 'green car' is the source of some of the worst pollution in North America; it takes more combined energy per Prius to produce than a Hummer.
You gotta check out this article and you'll be amazed:
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/print_item.asp?NewsID=188
One last fun fact for you: it takes five years to offset the premium price of a Prius. Meaning, you have to wait 60 months to save any money over a non-hybrid car because of lower gas expenses.
We take what we hear and assume it to be true because it sounds right. Don't ever judge until you have thought past the original idea!
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KAM said 8:31AM on 4-19-2007
Jamie made an awesome point. It starts at the source - but we can only blame so much on them when it is the greedy American who has been brainwashed and allowed to become such a CONSUMER. At any cost to our future.
We (society) are harming our kids first and foremost by teaching them to be such great consumers, and lousy producers.
Anyone who knows a teenager knows what I mean! An all powerful sense of entitlement and no clue how or why to give or produce anything at all!!
A good economy? But at what expense?
All because we grow more each day at not wanting to hear or say the word "no". Like a spoiled toddler.
There will be plenty of 'green' jobs created by this for todays youth. I just hope they 1) don't hate us for allowing and ignoring the downfall, and 2) have a clue how to work HARD like our forefathers to create a livable, prosperous world.
We can start slowly and painlessly to turn our economy in the right direction for the future, or keep arguing and allow it to crash on our childrens heads.
EVERYTHING has a tipping point. The earth and this greedy economy is no exception, like it or not.
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Paul said 8:47AM on 4-19-2007
Good call. No excuse for such low gas mileage.
Buy a Subaru Outback instead with the standard engine and get 29MPG hiway mileage, and its a better car than the Audi too, for less money
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Wilson said 8:49AM on 4-19-2007
Thanks. I needed to know what you anti-industrial, man-hating eco-liberals at aol thought about cars so I know what to buy.
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Gerry said 8:58AM on 4-19-2007
"After all, station wagons meant to be sensible. In fact, that's the only reason people subject themselves to driving them"
Don't feel bad. The above quote from Crandall shows that he doesn't get it either. Crandall probably drives station (cross over) wagon too.
Station wagons are sensible. Fuel efficiency is another story. What do you think a "cross over" vehicle or a "small SUV" is? Hello.....They are station wagons. Car makers figured out a way to make the suckers buy station wagons, they renamed the station wagon a cross over and a small SUV. They are station wagons plain and simple, no matter what you call them. I think it's funny that people who would not be caught in dead in a station wagon, are driving a cross over vehicles and small SUV's thinking that they have something special, something innovative. The latest and the greatest! :) Guess what folks..... Here's the inconvenient truth.....You're driving a station wagon. You don't have to admit it, or agree. However, you still own and drive a station wagon. The car makers only changed the mold and the name, to hook you.
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Zing said 11:11AM on 4-19-2007
Yeah, yeah, yeah, wagons are a cool way to carry all your stuff. But they should do better then 9 mpg. That means that fuel alone costs more than $.30 per mile.
I think THAT is the point of the article, not whether wagons are practical or... sexy. Talk about missing the forest for the trees.
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Paul Wentz said 12:37PM on 4-19-2007
The person who wrote this is clueless to single out the S4 Avant. It's not just about mileage. It's also about performance: the ability to merge quickly and safely. The ability to avoid potential accidents because the car handles well. The abiltity to stop faster because the vehicle is equipped with superior brakes. The Avant is practical for a small family, because of the performance facts and the practicality of a small wagon.
If you want to single out useless impractical cars how about some of the gigantic Mercedes AMG models? The GL RL and ML sre perfect examples of this.
I bet the guy who wrote this nonsense probably merges onto the parkway and immediatley cuts across three lanes then parks himself in the left lane driving at,or just under, the speed limit while everyone behind him has to negotiate a way around him.
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Dave said 12:39PM on 4-19-2007
I have a 2006 Audi A4 (as opposed to the S4)and routinely get 32 mpg which is better than some hybrids...the S4 is a specialty wagon, very few made and you almost never see them on the highway. I don't see Audi getting any credit for that...it's a great car!
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