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)
Lisa said 1:11PM on 8-06-2007
Please let NATURE or GOD do the creating, before you totally goof up.
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jigglybytejones said 1:20PM on 8-06-2007
And exactly HOW much money did they waste on this experiment? Good money that they could be using to find a cure for cancer?
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Caecilia said 12:12AM on 8-07-2007
Precisely HOW much money did they waste on this lttle expriment? This is millions of dollars that could very well have gone to finding a cure for AIDS or cancer or something else that actually MATTERS and here we are creating mutant jellyfish. Wow.
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Jeffrey said 4:28PM on 8-06-2007
Oh, good. I've been wanting one.
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amy ingram said 6:32PM on 8-09-2007
LOL
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Paulie said 7:31PM on 8-06-2007
someone wants to know why they're using money on this instead of cures for cancer. Scientists are funded by the government, which houses the FDA, the pharmacuiticals pay good money to the FDA, and the major pharmacuitical companies would rather have treatments instead of cures.
So, considering most scientists are government funded don't expect a cute for cancer, aids, diabetes, obesity, or anything else that doesn't kill off the people before they can fork over money for long term care.
I'd rather scientists not play god but when they're paid to not come up with anything I give them credit for finding a good way to waste time. Even the surgeon generals in the past have come out against how politically influenced thier findings were, and how censored which again confirms the ambitions of the pharmacuiticals.
At this rate hopefully scientists will end up creating something that can one day kill us all, and then; then, when there's a chance people can die and not pay for long term treatment, we will have a cure for 8 headed jellyfish in the works.
Take two plankton and call me in the morning.
Dr. Paul
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dar197680 said 9:56PM on 8-06-2007
what a good way to spend money!are you kidding me??!!
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Mary K. N. said 11:04PM on 8-06-2007
"Messing around with a few genes" means this was a cloning experiment gone awry. Scientists don't "mess around with genes." And they're just itching to get your tax dollars to do this with people.
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Jack said 1:09AM on 8-07-2007
Man, 12-headed jellyfish--that's awesome! You guys need to chill. A scientist's job is to discover new frontiers. Also, they were discovering how polyp colonies originated on earth, so it wasn't a waste at all, was it?
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Bren29 said 7:53PM on 8-08-2007
Just what I need living at the beach! Getting stung by a ONE HEADED one is bad enough, what are they tryin to do? Give us all heart attacks??? Ye Gods do something more useful with your time man!!!!!!
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penguinbum said 8:37AM on 8-08-2007
wow that was really worth the money they spent on it, COME ON!!! twelve heads, it's only more mouths to feed
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preppycbj5486 said 9:15PM on 8-07-2007
The funniest thing about reading all these comments is that nobody ever knows what the hell there talking about. Wasting money for finding a cure for a disease? There is what we call different braches of science that work on different things. The only way to find a cure is to do the things that dont make sense to you. To understand anything in life you must find out why life began. You cant just find a cure out of nowhere. If they belive "messing with a few genes" is going to help them in some way then let them expermient. With everything we do it could spark an idea somewhere. You need to understand that any person has the capability to solve they just need the oppurtunity to open there minds and let free thoughts flow. If you want to get real about all this because all of you people are in fantasy land. Anatomy and most science was done through unorthodox practices. The body and the details of it where found through scientist that literally dug up bodys from graves and ripped apart to learn what it is. It wasnt in a controlled enviorment where scientist slowly cut open the body. through scientest that had a passion. All you people that limit these scientist minds are only hurting the people that will find the cure. As a people we worry so much about the day and not enough of our future. As i say again let science be science and let them find it in there own ways. We are at a hault in cures because of people that control every aspect of everything. Let scientist work to the capacity they can and they will find the cure you all looking for. and if you are so perturbed about where money goes why dont you actually go donate money to the fund of your cause since your soooooo worried about where your "money" goes
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kai said 9:29AM on 8-07-2007
I think all of you are right. It is our tax dollars that they are spending to do this with & don't forget it. Also, if they didn't do something like this then they would all be out spending our money on something else just so we can't live a normal, happy, long life with our loved ones, etc. Don't forget they also get a raise alot more often than John Q. Public does!!
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No-Man said 10:51AM on 8-07-2007
Is that where jelly comes from(Jellyfish)? lol
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kelly said 11:42AM on 8-07-2007
Here's a newsflash,people of America: NO ONE in Washington D.C. or in any of their science labs cares about the taxpayers. They don't care about your problems, your health (as long as you are able to keep working), your happiness, your kids, grandkids, your parents, grandparents, your suffering,(financial OR physical). THEY DON'T CARE, AS LONG AS YOU KEEP FEEDING THEM THEIR MONEY. THAT IS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT!!!!!!!!!
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kelly said 11:41AM on 8-07-2007
They would not post my comment. It was about just how much congress cares about the american taxpayers- NOT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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JANICE L. O'KEEFE said 12:08PM on 8-07-2007
Man these guys got too wrapped up in Pirates of the Caribbean Are they trying to create the Kraken???
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Nick said 12:57PM on 8-07-2007
Must be the same people that studied cow farts on the taxpayers dime.
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sara said 1:32PM on 8-07-2007
the cow farts study was actually very beneficial in learning the effects of methane on the environment; try reading about it. educate yourself before you complain about stuff you don't understand, nick.
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ethan said 1:53PM on 8-07-2007
man, i love reading all these complaints. first off, chill. i can do these experiments in my high scool labs. lab fees are 40 bucks. these scientists arent wasting millions of dollars that could go to AIDS research or a cure for cancer. i hate when science plays God, but i think this is fascinating.
also, if you have such a problem with it, please dont spend your time posting a complaint on a message board when you see 10 comments identical to the one your about to write right above it.
God bless
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