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)
Another Black Season said 4:26PM on 6-26-2007
I run an indie label Inner Dream Records. When I started the label a few years ago I said it will be a digital label only because of costs and I also saw the trend to digital coming on and replacing the CD. I say yes, the CD is going the way of vinyl.
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river Wolfi said 5:38PM on 6-26-2007
As a consumer, I'll always want a great "hard copy" of my music. Thus, I'll want a CD. I still
have my favorite vinyl albums, including some childhood 78's ! While I love advances in technology.....I really detest having my playing
mediums become obsolete so quickly. Making for a
big $$ outlay. How long will it be before "digital" is dead? Or we absolutely HAVE to pay to get decent music much like we have to
now with TV ? (Cable or Dish) As for the music industry? I like music or I don't like it. I'm not label loyal, radio station loyal, only loyal to a few artists and celebrate that technology has allowed for the evolution of music of many kinds even as the record companies played it too safe.
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Heather said 12:06AM on 7-07-2007
I only own 5 legit CDs. People don't want to spend all their money buying CDs when it's much easier to download hundreds of songs in minutes. It's sad but it's true.
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G-BenzStudio said 7:44AM on 7-08-2007
I remember years ago when the CD format first hit the streets (and cassette tapes were deemed "going the way of the dinosaurs"), only 5 or so plants were capable of producing the new format, thus justifying its high $16.99 cost per CD. Record companies assured the public that the cost would drop dramatically as the technology matured and more plants retooled to accomodate CD production.
The price drop never evolved, and the price remained fixed at $16.99 (and in fact, increased), confirming consumers' worst fears that record companies were just plain greedy.
I welcome the new digital format (despite its slightly degraded audio quality compared CD), and more so if it hurts the pockets of those same record companies that gouged us for years, forcing us to purchase bland album efforts in order to obtain one or two listenable recordings.
I also enjoy being able to pad my archives with older recordings that never made the transition from vinyl to CD, or were just unobtainable in any format until now.
Change is good. It forces companies to stay on their toes...the gravy train is over guys!
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Eric said 1:41PM on 7-16-2007
Blame the RIAA, they were suing people based on the IP adress and if you know that AOL asighns the the same IP adress to mutiple users, there are going to be probems. There is a HUGE backlash aganist them because they keep all the money won in cases to them selfs and not the artist
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