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 10)
Beneficial Association said 11:43AM on 1-23-2008
The best way to save your cell phone is not to water it 'cause it won't grow anyways. Listen to m y advice and all will be good.
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Renee said 9:23PM on 6-26-2008
I had mine in a purse pocket, and my water bottle leaked all through the bottom of my purse. I picked up my cell phone to use it and it worked on a call fine, but the person on the line said I sounded far away then it shut off. For the next half hour I took off the battery and tried to let it dry out. I tried it a bunch of times and it would turn on, for a few minutes, then shut off. Then after a few hours with the battery off, I put it back on and it told me to "Immediately Remove Battery" due to over overheating! I then searched online to research what I could do, and did the rice thing. Then put silica packets with it too, in a paper bag. I am going to try to revive it tonight after about 5 days of it sitting in the rice. Unfortunately, it sounds like I shorted it out by attempting to turn it on soo much. Boo. We will see.
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stephanie said 6:15PM on 6-26-2008
Obviously, noone else works for a cellphone company here!!! I've worked with cellphones for the last 10 years and rice does not fix water damage. Liquid and electronics don't mix, nor do rice on wet electronics. Think about the starch that creates on the board. Don't believe everything you read. I can only tell you how many times our techs have pulled rice out of charging ports :-)
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ellie said 12:12PM on 8-03-2008
hi i was wondering if you can help me ive just retrieved my mobile phone from the washer and i was wondering if it was saveable or should i just buy a new one it was in there for about an hour please help as it as sentimental pictures on it
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Dave said 5:23PM on 8-16-2008
One day I needed to make a phone call and I asked my friend to toss me his phone. Well you know how small cell phones are nowdays, when he threw it my mouth was open and I swallowed the phone! I couldn't believe it but sure enough it was down in my belly! I figured that I would grunt and push on my stomach to poop it out and sure enough...plop, plop, plop out comes the brown cell phone! After swirling it around in the used toilet water for 22 times around the bowl, I pee'd on it and I guess the salty water did the trick! I wasn't about to rinse it off with water! So I just use it like it is and saved myself 2-3 hundred dollars! :-)
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Barbara said 3:29PM on 11-13-2008
The rice thing works. My daughter dropped her cell phone in a creek. She came home, crying hysterically. We went to the AT&T store, they tried to sell us a new phone $399.00 because we already had a plan and weren't eligible for a discount. Then they said they had an old phone for only $129.00. We declined. I got a Glad ziplock bag, filled it with rice, dropped in the phone and battery. Next day the phone worked perfectly. Yea!
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Barbara said 3:33PM on 11-13-2008
Hi, Ellie. If the rice thing doesn't work, there are places that sell used cell phones and if the SIM card is usable, you can buy those phones for around $30 and use your old SIM card.
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fmdayguy said 6:25PM on 11-30-2008
i was on a cruise and my cell phone fell overboard. two years later i was cutting apart a large fish i had bought at the local fish market and struck something hard. it was my thumb.
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chris w said 2:01AM on 12-12-2008
I manufacture components for cell phones. I also once stepped off the side of my boat with my cell phone in the leather holster.
Most cell phone components are certified to handle a minimum of 85oC or 200oF.
To resolve my "wet" cell phone, I immediately took the battery out, then when I returned home I put the phone in the oven set at the lowest temp (140oF) and left it there for 2 hrs.
Put the battery back in and it has continued working for the last 18 months.
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sarah said 12:32PM on 12-12-2008
i dropped my phone in the toilet TWO TIMES.
the first time i did, i took it apart and let it dry..
then it worked.
the SECOND time, i did the same thing..
and it worked but i couldnt hear anything but the ringing..
then i took it apart again and blow dried it and it didnt work for a couple hours..
then i tried it out and it worked :)
so basically take it apart and dry it .. and it'll be fine !
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i_save_phones_from_water said 3:06PM on 12-12-2008
the best way to save your phone is to put it in the microwave on low!.... people will tell you that you should not but I have tried this and it did work.... if you do not put on low you will get a few sparks from the metal... don't be alarmed that is the water baking off leaving you a perfect new phone!.... i clean my phone monthly by dipping in vodka and then microwaving... it also disinfects it
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Barack YOBAMA said 3:26PM on 12-12-2008
I shot my cell phone out of a cannon and it skipped along Lake Michigan. When it stopped skipping, it sank into the lake. 2 months later I was fishing on the lake and caught this beautiful large mouth bass. It took me 10 minutes to catch. Once I got the fish home, I cut it open to fry. My cell phone fell out. I checked the screen and I had 42 messages. The only problem I had with the phone after that was the fish smell. TRUE STORY
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fINELY TUNED AND POLISHED said 3:32PM on 12-12-2008
My GOD if they should drop it in water, misplace it, or another, then what? Maybe face reality? Maybe no text messages, No constant calls to others, to let them know where they are? No Pics? My My now you can no longer hide behind the phone, now you need to face reality. Yes the real world, you know, now time into present and new relationships, Time for family and feelings, Time for real responsibilities, And mostly time not to worry every minute what some one else is doing. OMG how scary. Don't worry the computer is still there for you.
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Gerard said 6:56PM on 12-12-2008
I had a Razr v3i I dropped it right smack into my cats water bowl.. sucked!! The phone was brain dead after that but of course I did break some of the rules these guys spoke of. For example, I started pressing buttons right away and that showed me for sure that the brain was damaged because when I hit, say, the 4 button this is what I got 44444555666 I was like (time to spend money) dang it! (I have never said Jimmety Christmas or dang it really)... So I ended up searching for a cellphone on ebay same type razr and in doing so this guy who was selling razr's also fixed them and he said he could fix mine so I sent the phone away and he put a new number strip which by the way the razr phone is a serious alien technology phone.. the number pad is a thing piece of some material I mean you can actually tare this if it was out of the phone.. So anyway after the repair all was well and now I keep my cats water and food under a bench :) ding ding.. I was back online!
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Gerard said 6:56PM on 12-12-2008
My cellphone fell down the Niagra Falls, we fished out the phone later the next week when we got some people to actually deep sea dive... Once we got the phone up and onto dry land I immediately jammed in into my muffler and duct taped the hole in my muffler.. we all almost died of carbon monoxide.. but the phone Walla!! Worked like a charm.. despite some black carbon deposits.. Still working I just called a friend who is on the space station way out in space and it sounded like he was right next door. The phone is a pre-paid $20 flip phone. True Story!
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Pastor Rick said 6:40AM on 12-16-2008
I dropped mine in the deep fryer at KFC.
I reached in to retrieve it only to find it had melted. When I pulled my arm out of the frying grease I looked down and my hand was missing! So much for finger licking good!
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greg said 6:49AM on 12-16-2008
Using rice is a little impractical sometimes....I play keyboards in a band and we got rained out (over a 1/2 inch of rain in 20 minutes). I own Roland keyboards, players will know what a VK-88 and a 300SX are. They are very expensive to replace not to mention a Motion Sound amp for the VK. All in all, about $8,000 to replace.
All got absolutely soaked. I took them home, dumped the water out, stood the boards on end, turned the house AC down to "meat locker" cool and put a fan on the boards over night......The next day everything worked perfectly. The combination of the cooling (drying the air out) and the fan circulation did the trick.
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wvu*fanz said 8:49AM on 12-16-2008
This trick worked for me twice....once on a phone that ended up in the potty and once on a phone that went through the washer. Worked like a charm!
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Ebony Rose said 7:44AM on 12-16-2008
my phone was set to vibe behind the toilet. it went off and fell in. so i fished it out took the battery out, set it on a towel and used a hair dryer to air it out. it worked perfectly fine after four hours of holding a hair dyer up to it! and it still works perfectly fine
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Flo said 8:23AM on 12-16-2008
I TRIED THE RICE, AND MY CELL STILL DOES NOT WORK. DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER SOLUTION?
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