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 2)
Drakkenfyre said 5:05PM on 8-29-2007
It's a sad fact that most people think that every single MP3 player is an iPod. Exactly the same way every single tissue is called a Kleenex. However unlike Kleenexes there are more differences than the name on the box. Not every single person loves Apple or the iPod, myself included. I would buy a Zune before I bought an iPod.
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clkabat80 said 5:39PM on 8-29-2007
Exactly. My mom bought me an ipod for Xmas and I traded it in for a Zune for that reason.
I love it. Its screen is larger, it holds more songs, it shows a large picture of the album art for whatever song I play. I can store photos on it and use them as wallpaper. I can download videos onto it. It has a wireless capability so I can share songs with other Zune users within range.
I recommend it to anyone who wants a great MP3 player without feeding the beast that is the Apple Corporation.
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christy23 said 6:17PM on 8-29-2007
I have an Archos (although it is getting older now) and won't get into the Apple phenom either. But where do you download music from these days? I haven't downloaded anything new in years now. Maybe I'll get a new Archos or a Zune. Never heard of it until now but I'm just glad it is not an Apple product! Can someone tell me what websites are compatable to download and use with a non-iPod, please?
Behind the times,
C
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Rebecca said 6:34PM on 8-29-2007
I wouldn't buy an IPOD. I looked into the features and bought a Creative Zen Micro Photo, which holds a whole lot more stuff for a lot less money.
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Kenneth said 9:13PM on 8-29-2007
OK the ipod but isn't perfect and I own two of them and one other non-ipod. The Zune is a joke buying music for it is crazy and what is a bigger beast than Microsoft?? Give me a break. Ease up on the haterade.
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Brian said 1:01AM on 8-30-2007
Christy23; Check out www.playsforsure.com; it's a Microsoft /Windows Media site but it helps you browse for non-iPod players and compatible download sites.
I personally use my LG cell phone with a microSD card (why carry 2 devices?)
Between Apple's incompatible format, sloooooow (on Windows) ITunes, and copy protection, I think I'll go back to 8-track before I ever buy an iPod.
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Chris George said 1:28AM on 8-30-2007
I bought a Sansa E260r a couple of months ago. It's NOT an IPod, and it does music, photos, voice recordings, all the good stuff.... It's smaller than a deck of cards but it has twice as much memory sa my first Internet computer.
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Brad said 3:45AM on 8-30-2007
My wife bought me a creative zen micro 6gb and I love it. it holds everything I want and the battery lasts twice as lost an IPOD. There is actually a lawsuit right now against apple for their awful product performance and battery life. Don't you guys remember the old apple computers from elementary school? once a piece of crap, always a piece of crap. Apple is just trendy, but not right and overpriced. They should be owned by wal-mart.
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LG said 5:29AM on 8-30-2007
Right, because, of course, Amazon is THE source for purchasing ALL things purchaseable.
Let's just ignore brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Circuit City, Sears, K-mart that sell many more units daily than Amazon does weekly overall. Oh, and forget eBay too.
If iPod is THE mp3 player, then why is it when working at Best Buy, I sold about five "non-iPods (you know the writer of an article is a pompous Apple fan when they use terms like this) for every THE iPod.
Because it's over-rated, over-priced, and over-hyped. Screw the iPod, I ain't payin' $350 for an iPod that I can spend $250 on an MP3 player, especially not when I have to spend an extra $50 for a voice recorder and another $50 for an FM transmitter on an iPod that comes free on an MP3 player.
I make a living selling electronics in retail. And from my professional, unbiased (I base things on VALUE and QUALITY, not flock-of-sheep mentality) opinion, I say the iPod is THE MP3 player of choice....for idiots who don't know how to spend their money very well.
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Eric said 9:39AM on 8-30-2007
Apple Corp., a beast?? When did Apple become bigger than Microsoft? So who is feeding the beast now?
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knightecom said 10:30AM on 8-30-2007
Bought a Keo 2 gig. Works great for $79.00 video, music and other stuff,
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David said 9:52AM on 8-30-2007
"I recommend it to anyone who wants a great MP3 player without feeding the beast that is the Apple Corporation."
Oh that's too funny. And Microsoft isn't a beast of a corporation? The Zune is a joke... brown is a perfect color for it! It will blend right in floating in the bowl where it belongs. The iPod is the number one media player for a reason. Apple makes better products than MS, who do nothing but copy Apple. Windoze included!
"Don't you guys remember the old apple computers from elementary school?" And what else was there? Nothing! That was the first personal computer, before the IBM PC. The Apple II was the best selling computer in history, right along with the Commodore 64. You people are dimwits. You can run OS X, Windows and Linux on a new Mac. Can you do that on a new PC? Nope. And Mac OS X is far more advanced than Vista... and cheaper too. $300 for Vista Pro? What are you crazy? You want the home edition, and they leave out features. And the suckers buy it. OS X comes in one version with everything for $129.
Fact is more people have issues with PCs and Windoze than Macs. If Apple stuff is so bad why do they have the number 1 selling media player, and one of the top 4 laptop
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shawn said 10:06AM on 8-30-2007
I get my music through Napster. I have Napster to go, so I download all the music I want for a small monthly fee. I can't understand people who pay hundreds of dollars to purchase individual tracks for the ipod, not to mention all the accessories needed to make it as functional as my mp3 player. Apple has just done a better job of marketing than the other manufacturers.
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Davin Peterson said 11:10AM on 8-30-2007
Creative Zens are better than iPods as they have more features for less money. Everyone is too obsessed with the iPods.
Apple is a computer company whereas Creative is the leading multimedia company. They invented the mp3 player, not Apple. Apple simply stole the GUI for their iPod, unfairly dominating the market and causing Creative to lose money
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SKA said 3:20PM on 8-30-2007
I own an ipod, it was a gift. I would never have spent the money for one. I own a Zen nano too. it is a great little MP3 player. My ipod is ok, but I don't like the fact that Apple makes them incompatible with sites other that Itunes that sell music. It is like a car dealer selling you a car and then telling you you can only purchase gas from Chevron. I don't purchase from Itunes simply because of that. I will never own an iphone for the same reason.
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Drakkenfyre said 2:35PM on 9-02-2007
"If Apple stuff is so bad why do they have the number 1 selling media player, and one of the top 4 laptop"
Because most people are more interested in looks than performance. Plus "iPod" is a buzzword now, you "need" an iPod to be "cool."
The average consumer doesn't know the difference between the two. Oh, look! This iMac is shiny and colorful! It must be better than those boring beige boxes! Oh, pretty sleek curves! They totally match my furniture! What, performance? Value for money? What's that? My $3000 barely-upgradeable iMac is better than your infinately-expandable, half-priced pc!
Hence the joke, what does an iMac user do when they want to upgrade their iMac? Buy a new iMac.
Have fun when your non-replaceable iPod battery wears out, and you have to ship it back to Apple, where they charge you $100 and send you someone else's REFURBISHED iPod back.
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AmishElectric Co said 2:35PM on 9-02-2007
Actually, Toshiba manufacters the Zune for Microsoft
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Reginald E Johnson said 7:52PM on 9-03-2007
I wouldn't be caught with a Microsoft any thing! All they do is copy off the Apple products. The customer service for Apple is second to none. My stuff works and works well. When my Apple Macbook had a bad DVD player, Apple picked it up from my home on Monday, two days later, I had it back on Wednesday.Let's see you Microsoft people top that! Oh, I forgot, Microsoft doesn't build computers, Just copies Apple stuff and sell it to you people. Don't buy a copy, Just get the original, Apple
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Reginald E Johnson said 11:01PM on 9-03-2007
P.S! Comparing the Zune to the iPod is like comparing a Yugo to a Porche. It just works and works well. I brought my Kids Microsoft computers (brand new) and now I have to chase them off my iMac. One thing more; True story, One of my friends borrowed my Macbook Pro for a day, He said he was sick of his laptop. When he brought it back, he stopped by the Apple store and bought himself one. Most of these people on here who are complaining about the price of the iPod to the other Mp3 players are just being cheap! Don't sell yourself cheap folks! Buy the best and leave the rest! You'll feel better.
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jess said 8:36AM on 9-04-2007
since the days of napster are long gone,I now download from Limewire.. pretty good program. easy to run, fast searches and downloads... go to limewire.com and check it out
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