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)
Becca said 2:22PM on 7-25-2007
If you aren't paying attention to your children, someone else will! Know your children, know their friends Know their internet, and MySpace habits! Set up parental controls, make them share their passwords, check in on their pages periodically and remove objectionable material. YOU ARE THE PARENT, they are the child. With great freedoms, come great responsibilities.
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Chrissy said 3:33PM on 7-25-2007
ugh, I can't stand how everyone keeps blaming myspace for everything. A lot of it is the parents, and they need to make their kids aware but you can't put the blame on the parents either b/c you know what kids are capable of, they'll do whatever behind their parents' backs. They need to be taught personal responsibility. Have you seen what 12, 13 and 14 yr old girls look like these days?!!! ANYWAY - They can make their page private so only friends see, they have the option to accept or deny a strange 40 something yr old guy when he friend requests them, and they don't have to post photos of them in bikinis and boots I mean c'mon, you're how old?! It's only ASKING for a creepy old dude to try and talk to them. I'm glad myspace is trying to do something to monitor the sex offenders, b/c obviously the government isn't. They're the ones who repeatedly let them out of jail, while they repeatedly commit the same crimes!!!! So who is REALLY to blame???? Putting them on a "list" somewhere doesn't stop them, so why should banning then from creating a myspace profile stop them either? Where there's a will, there's a way -- that's all I have to say.
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Chrissy said 3:38PM on 7-25-2007
*them. . . . pretty much, parents should monitor their kids and the government should more closely monitor the activity of free, but known sex offenders (free, but known sex offenders. . . yeah, doesn't make sense to me either!!)
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CoolBeans said 2:26AM on 8-22-2007
This is like blaming McDonalds for getting your kids fat, or blaming an amusement park for your kid getting motion sickness... pointing fingers is easier than actually doing something about the problem...I know parents... it must be REAL hard to ban your child from a website. Facebook is just like myspace, there are TONS of websites like these... If people are that worried about the site, BLOCK IT, by allowing your children to use the site, you are allowing them to be exposed to all types of people, including the sex offenders. Don't blame the website.
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Mo said 3:05PM on 10-30-2007
I think that no matter how secure anyone thinks myspace is or is going to be it is an active website that needs the participation of everyone to keep it safe.
if you are a parent and you want your kids safe, block it.
if you have it and you want to keep yourself safe don't give out the wrong information. also don't fill out surveys that ask you what the first three numbers of your cell phone are. cause someone stalking you will have you whole phone number when later you fill one out that says what are the last four numbers of you cell phone number.
Myspace needs to keep getting rid of questionable or dangerous sites.
so no matter who you blame it on there will always be flaws with no point of blame. just be safe.
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