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 1)
bachar samawi said 9:26AM on 5-11-2007
The ultimate success and wide acceptance of Credit Freeze / Credit Lock will also hinge on the requirement of processing temporary un-freeze / unlock requests in a quick manner. Currently, some states have been successful in requiring the bureaus to process such request in 15 minutes or less. State by state details are available at http://www.creditlock.com/creditlockdownpro.html We have actually been thinking about a credit pin since 2002. That's when we secured our web name, http://www.creditlock.com . When all is said and done, everyone should be able to simply lock and unlock access to their credit in a simple and time efficient manner.
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Larry Chambers said 11:13PM on 5-13-2007
Why are there 3 sites of reporting? Why does only bad get reported to all and a lot of good get reported to to a couple? What is a perfect score.
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S. Cox said 9:40AM on 8-02-2007
I think that's a grand idea, to pay for a freeze on your credit cards. $10. is cheap, compared to someone else finding a way to get into your bank, money etc.
I heard some banks are also taking fingerprints and if you go to the windows you have to do that in order to do business..
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S. Cox said 9:42AM on 8-02-2007
A pin is another good way to use your cards.
Esp if it's a bank card, however,it could also work on any card you have. It's another safety feature for everyone.
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roddysue said 11:32AM on 8-03-2007
Leave it to the federal gov't to screw things up....I won't use the freeze if I'm limited to only 2 unfreezes per year. You never know when some unexpected thing could happen causing you to want to unlock your credit. If that happens and you've already used up your 2 allocated unfreezes, then you're just up the creek without a paddle. It's ridiculous to have the federal gov't limit our access to our own credit!!!!
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Bill said 6:04PM on 8-06-2007
Wait a minute...hold on....all the pins in the world and "freezes" still don't erase the fact that somewhere...somehow....a human sees your data and processes it.
Bear with me....I'm still wondering how the 3 million customers who dealt with that careless company in Framingham Mass.(loss of data into crooks hands) T.J. Max et al...feel, right about now, with swiping credit/debit cards after they were violated and it took the media to force the company to reveal how it happened and how many were affected?
Not to mention that "fine neighborhood supermarket" Stop & Shop who allowed the nite crew to install their own swipe units in numerous supermarkets and rip-off countless numbers of their customers. Have you seen any warnings in these stores , or, have you received any notice of warnings in the mail from this German Company? Even the store managers knew nothing about these fraudulent actions 2 months after it was exposed !!! When the perpetrators lawyers told them they could spend up to 5 years incarcerated for their actions, their comments were "so what.....we've already been paid handsomely !!!" Lets get back to basics...start all over...and do it right this time !!! Geez....
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