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.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tay said 4:05PM on 5-02-2007
Youtube is new??
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Sandy said 8:43PM on 5-01-2007
What a load... "Internet and web are two different things"... Sort of like saying cars and traffic are two different things. Some real geek must have written that column. You are depreciating the coinage when you write that kind of technobabble. The web (and sorry, geek, the Internet) belongs to the people. Those who worry about such distinctions are the same kind that think hacking is OK because "experts" are entitled to atack amateurs and comercial users who have less right to use the web.
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bill said 8:58PM on 5-01-2007
i think the net got worst as the dirty pop ups that pop up i have grand children that uses the computer for there home work then they call me to show me what pop up i had aol for a long time i think they should stop them from doing it no matter how you block them they keep poping up
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Chuck said 9:23PM on 5-01-2007
Sandy, it would be more like saying Cars and the road on which they travel are two different things. That distinction is very much worth mentioning if most people thought that cars and roads were one in the same.
Internet = Road
Car = Web page on the "road"
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Vanessa said 9:42PM on 5-01-2007
I'm with Chuck. The distinction bewteen the Internet and the Web is important. I would hate for the emails I send over the internet to be available on the Web . . .
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Tim said 4:46PM on 5-05-2007
What you put on the internet, is on the internet forever, be careful what you say a lot of people may, can, and will see and read what you put on the internet now or 10 years from now.
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Sonney Dey said 8:59AM on 5-05-2007
i was at the door of suicide because of the lack of sexuality in my life. a drone like THX-1138 i'd became with no hopes or reason to exist...
... then i discovered The Net and my saviour PORN.
Life is good now. Thank-you, Web/Internet, God bless you!
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mike said 6:34AM on 5-03-2007
seriously web and internet are different! so flippin re-re must of put that up! there just wasting r time by making us read this stuff. i hate these kinda things! only thing i like about them is the comment thingys! i like to leave rly long comments ((lol))!
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Kelly Jad'on said 7:19AM on 5-03-2007
I understand the concept you're explaining here, in its simplified version. Whether accepted by others or not, the web/internet provides an essential usefulness like no other medium can. Recently, my father developed pancreatic cancer. I searched, found specialists and even researchers who treat and study the disease around the world. The web/internet allowed me to email each one directly, and they in turn responded--some while in meetings! This to me is absolutely incredible!
Kelly Jad'on
http://www.basilandspice.com
#1 Book Reviews and Author Interviews:
Diet, Weight Loss, Nutrition, Health, Fitness
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David said 8:14AM on 5-03-2007
Hold on now...If we have questions about the difference between the internet and the web, we should ask Al Gore. After all, he invented it.
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Bolt said 7:56AM on 5-03-2007
THE NEXT YOUTUBE............http://www.gofish.com/
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Jeff said 8:02AM on 5-03-2007
Um.. Whoever wrote this is pretty stupid if they honestly believe everything they listed was a unique innovation.
Google for one is an over-invested company that tries to please the investors by purchasing site left and right.
Youtube is just a video hosting site where fat and friendless people can gather to feel a sense of popularity.. Lesser video hosts have been around for a long time.
Myspace.. An improved copy of AOL hometown pages.. Nothing more..
..Is it my imagination or whoever wrote this was struggling to make a list of 25 things and didn't really know what the hell they were doing.
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Z said 8:09AM on 5-03-2007
Think of the internet as the road, and the web as a car. Other cars are email, Internet Telephone, file transfers, and all non-web computer traffic. Just because you don't know the difference doesn't mean there isn't one. They all use the Internet, but they all use different ways of moving their 'cars'!
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Bolt said 8:17AM on 5-03-2007
THIS YOU ALL HAVE TO SEE!!!Michael Downing - GoFish http://mefeedia.com/entry/2442110/
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Stranger said 8:22AM on 5-03-2007
@ Sandy - Think of it this way - the internet is the hardware, the "web" is the software.
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David said 8:32AM on 5-03-2007
Ok the elementry school metaphors are getting old.
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Jeff said 8:34AM on 5-03-2007
As well as elementary spelling David.
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David said 8:38AM on 5-03-2007
Jeff made a good point earlier when he commented about the origin of web and internet. None of this is new. In fact, the world wide web, before it was called that, was an invention of WWII sciencist who cerated an electronic mailing system so that the axis countries could not interept infromation.
To know the difference, go to the origin and study it.
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David said 8:39AM on 5-03-2007
Thanks for correcting my spelling, Not enought coffee yet.
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Tracy said 8:39AM on 5-03-2007
Bill, try going to your "safety" icon on the top of your tool bar; from there go to "Settings" then scroll down to "Pop-Up Control Settings"; from there you should be able to block out those pop ups. You also go to "Parental Controls" to set limits on what your grandchildren do while online. You can also set Google's search engine under their Safe Search Filtering: http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en.
The net/web has been a great way for me to meet people from all over the world; from Iceland to Norway, from the West Coast to the East. If it was not for the web/net I would have never know such interesting people. It has also been a great way for me to keep in touch with my children. From learning about history to finding out medical facts; there is a wealth of information that can be found everyday on the net/web.
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