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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bao said 8:44AM on 4-12-2008
Arnaud - did they ever say any different?? They did say "follow the instructions".
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David Boreham said 11:36AM on 6-23-2008
When the iPhone 2.0 firmware is released, you'll be able to use its 'Exchange Sync' feature to achieve two-way over-the-air calendar and contact sync with Google using Nuevasync : http://www.nuevasync.com. This works because the Nuevasync server emulates an Exchange server as far as the iPhone is concerned. No software to install on the device, just configure its Exchange sync client with the correct host name, username and password.
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monoomni said 3:26PM on 10-28-2008
it'd be nice if neuvasync handled multiple calendars...
stacyo said 12:59AM on 7-23-2008
Thanks. This is great.
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andrea said 10:49AM on 7-28-2008
So: why can't I subscribe to my Google Calendar from within my MobileMe account?
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elrj said 12:33PM on 7-31-2008
This all seems simple enough, but when I'm in iCal and I click subscribe, it thinks for a bit and pops up a second window with calendar name and options. When I try to click OK on this window, nothing happens: I can neither OK it or cancel it and I have to quit the program (although technically it is fine and still responding).
I've checked for updates, but it should be good to go. Should I uninstall and reinstall iCal? Why is it doing this to me?
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Ben said 11:00AM on 8-06-2008
You can use www.nuevasync.com to use the new Microsoft exchange Push functionality of the iPhone to sync wirelessly all contacts via Plaxo. Also, if you use Plaxo to sync your multiple calenders to your google calendar then nuevasync can pull the google calendar to your iPhone too. This was great for me since I couldn't find any solution to migrating my Outlook 2003/Windows 2000 stuff to my iPhone. Now I wirelessly receive my contacts and calendar on my iPhone! No great solution yet for putting songs onto the iPhone 2.0 yet though.
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Sync My Calendar said 7:00PM on 9-05-2008
I definitely would recommend Spanning Sync for 2-way synchronization, and with the new Spanning Sync Beta 2.0 you get contact synchronization. You can read more about my thoughts on Spanning Sync on my site at: http://www.sync-my-calendar.com/spanning-sync.html
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Google Tutor said 9:16AM on 10-26-2008
the new spanning sync 2 really does a great job with syncing. check out Christine's review of why she thinks it rocks for more info :
http://www.googletutor.com/2008/10/21/spanning-sync-rocks/
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Darran Edmundson said 8:36PM on 11-02-2008
@SyncMyCalendar, perhaps a disclaimer is in order? You are apparently getting paid to promote this product.
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sadatk37 said 1:26PM on 12-19-2008
I like to register to google.I want use google beta and google calender.
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ggjaxson said 12:15PM on 3-16-2009
Wow this was a really informative write-up, a little bit outdated though since it was from 2007. I found a more recent write-up concerning this over from the guys at groovypost. Here's the link http://www.groovypost.com/howto/apple/sync-iphone-or-ipod-touch-calendar-and-contacts-with-google/
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Charlie Wood said 6:50PM on 7-05-2007
Note that this only gets events moving one-way: from Google Calendar to your iPhone. If you change or create events on your iPhone, they won't show up in Google Calendar. For that, you'll need something that does bidirectional synchronization, like Spanning Sync (spanningsync.com).
Cheers,
Charlie
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toss002 said 2:38AM on 7-07-2007
How about with Google Calender for WINDOWS?
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bb said 4:56PM on 11-29-2008
There is a beta "perfect" solution!
This is called NuevaSync
www.nuevasync.com
You register an account, and follows instructions given there, it's still beta but calendar sync works perfectly, and since I only sync calendar with it, there is no mess at all! You should do the same, I recommend it rightfully...
josef said 2:00PM on 7-09-2007
WINDOWS USERS -
Grab the html instead of the iCal link when following the the instructions above. Email the link to an account you've registered with your iPhone. Once your phone picks up that email, click on the link and add it to your favorites. You'll need to be able to access the web to view your Google calendar, but that hasn't been a problem for me.
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numanuma said 3:00PM on 7-09-2007
Anyone try this with Outlook having Google cal subscriptions and the synch capability (on Windows)?
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steve said 3:28PM on 7-10-2007
Is it possible to sync aol adress book contacts with the new apple iphone?
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Andy said 3:53PM on 9-18-2007
@josef: That's nice until you want to add or change an appointment.
@numanuma: Just adding a Google Calendar subscription to Outlook 2007 won't work, unfortunately. The image on your outlook calendar is only one-way.
In the past, I've used a third party product called Companionlink. It is the only application I know of that will sync *any* Google calendar with *most* desktop applications. Here's the process: setup Companionlink to sync your Gcal and Outlook a few times each day. Whenever your iPhone is plugged in, it syncs with Outlook, thereby keeping everything all lined up. It works really well, and you never even have to open a microsoft product if you don't want to, although it does have to be installed.
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David said 8:32PM on 9-21-2007
I think with http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20060818_how_to_sync_google_calendar_with_outlook_and_smartphones_automatically.html you can sync both ways from iPhone to gCal
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