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)
smoke this said 1:32AM on 2-01-2008
So who tracks how much sweat my boss steals off my back weekly ?????? what a bunch of slaves. nothing wrong with a business owner paying sh*t and expecting top performance....that's just good business right ???? no thievery going on on that end, yeah sure. let's break it down .....i get paid X dollars per hour to make widgets for company Z. it takes me one hour to build one widget = 8 per day....they then charge 10 times X per widget.....and who's a thief ?
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doinky said 3:49PM on 2-13-2008
i'm a manager. i'm not paid hourly. i'm paid for the responsibility to make sure that the company shareholders get a just return on their investments. being the boss means i sometimes get to come every day of the week sometimes, come back at night after working a full day. so if sometimes i come in late or slack off at work, its all in a days work. if you don't like not being the worker down on the floor, get an education or work hard and get yourself promoted. in the meantime quit your complaining
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amandalala said 2:40AM on 2-22-2008
Hmmm, interesting how so many of the dilligent worker bees are wasting their revered employers' time posting on this site.
Assuming working hours to be between 8am-6pm and lunch from 12pm-1pm a full 50% of those carrying on about how important it is that employees WORK the hours they are paid for are posting on this site when they should be WORKING. Including those between 12-1 (since the average American apparently doesn't even take a lunch break anymore or only uses 20-30 minutes of it, we get 68% slackers.
Self righteousness is adorable, guys.
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Roy said 11:43AM on 9-04-2007
No doubt the goldbricks and cheats in society will enlist the support of the ACLU to fight this "injustice."
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It needs to be said said 12:21PM on 9-04-2007
Big brother is watching you.
It should be against the law for this to happen in ANY company. We are employees, not indentured servants and this is 2007 not 1707.
What gives anyone the right to monitor people especially when they haven't been informed that the company would be watching its employees through surveillence equipment?
This is another indication that our freedom is being eroded bit by bit. When will it stop?
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Pat said 3:19PM on 9-04-2007
If "Big Brother" is paying you to be somewhere working then "Big Brother" sure as hell has the right to make sure you're there. The guy was a malingering turd who deserved to be fired.
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raisinsmith said 12:42PM on 9-04-2007
This gentleman was monitored using a cellphone that was provided (and probably paid for) by his employer. GPS trackers on cellphones is not new technology, and anyone who doesn't want to be tracked should decline the cellphone and use their own. Just like if you use your computer that is provided at work, you know your employers can track what websites you go to. If you're spending company time and resources to do something that is not work-related, you should expect to pay the consequences. If you are doing what you're getting paid to do, then you have nothing to worry about. By accepting the cellphone from his employer, this gentleman essentially gave them permission to confirm his hours and his timesheets. I wonder if he read the fine print.
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dolfan said 12:44PM on 9-04-2007
No, we arenot indentured servents, but any company can monitor the whereabouts of their employees while on the clock. This guy was stealing from the company. If people didn't steal from their employers, they wouldn't have to worry about such things. He wasn't told so he shouldn't be fired. What a joke! The guy is a thief and should be lucky that he isn't sued for the money he stole. It's time to stop defending the criminals. The cost of EVERYTHING continues to rise, and a major part of that is shrink (theft) both by consumers and EMPLOYEES. He should be so lucky that he only loses his job. They were tracking him for 5 months; how many YEARS was this going on before they CAUGHT him?
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MEL said 12:48PM on 9-04-2007
"WWHHHOOO" SOUNDS LIKE HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A
"TEACHER" WITH HIS "HIGH MORAL STANDARDS" HE
WOULD FIT RIGHT IN WITH THE "SEXUAL DEVIANTS"
THAT ARE MOULDING YOUR KIDS MINDS. 1ST CLASS
WOULD BE "SEX IS GREAT AND HOW TO HATE AMERICA!"
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Jan Chnupa said 12:49PM on 9-04-2007
Employee dishonesty is never ok. The same goes for how employees are treated.
Great, profitable companies can't survive without great employees.
This man doesn't deserve to be with this employer. The sad thing is he'll probably not take any responsibility or have any remorse for his actions and will only do it with his next employer.
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Robert Williams said 1:00PM on 9-04-2007
John Halpin and Larry VanMeter are a lot alike.
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trish said 2:44PM on 9-07-2007
Did they offer him the phone? Did they tell him it had a GPS tracker in it? If so then it is on him. If they did not tell him I have mixed feelings. They were paying him to be in one place and he was in another. Now did he get his jobs finished and just go other places afterward. Was the work completed? There are questionable actions. I don't think they gave us all the details. I think it is a little creepy.Big brother is definitly watching.
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petiteprincess said 9:16PM on 9-04-2007
this would have been an invasion of privacy had it been on his own time. During work hours, you have made a commitment to be there, and your boss has the right to see where you don't show up for work.
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Larissa said 10:06PM on 9-04-2007
I think the company had every right to track where their employee was. I agree w/Jan when she says that the employee is lucky that all he got out of this episode was being fired. I really don't think the man learned his lesson and I agree that in his next position he is likely to do similiar things...a fine to make him think twice would have been nice rather than a slap on the wrist
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christina said 10:40PM on 9-04-2007
didn't anybody read the comment about him working for the NYC school district? What if you were paying this clowns salary via your tax dollars. If he finished early and wanted to go on home, fine. But, dont lie and say that you were working.
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Tina said 9:14AM on 9-05-2007
Fair is Fair... All employees should be advised in advance that they are being watched, gps'd, etc. Hopefully, by letting them know, they will be where they are SUPPOSE to be! and this can increase productivity and less loss. However, not advising the man, then axing him, this is all Negative! Where is the positive learning curve from this? The increased employee moral? The higher productivity? Hmmmm?
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Tina said 10:39PM on 9-05-2007
You know, I have been thinking....this guy is a 29 year veteran of this job. Lots of experience. Hmmm... Had this gps phone for 5 years...FIVE YEARS now... why did his superiors wait and waste the taxpayers money for so long??? I mean, any good supervisor would have said something a lot sooner to generate more productivity and get this person in line...unless of course, someone else in that office was covering for him and someone else got wind of it, which is when it came to light? Yes, this man did Wrong! He hurt everyone by doing this. But someone else did wrong too all along the way and they should probaly check their internal staff a little closer, I would think.
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Sean O'Leary said 12:01PM on 9-06-2007
It's funny to read the comments from all the unintelligent, sanctimonious and brainwashed little "worker bees" who pronounce leaving work a bit early a sin. Who hasn't done it in one's lifetime? The real life questions that should have been posed are 1) is he/was he doing his job? That is, whatever the job was that he was performing that particular day, did it get finished? 2) Who was harmed by his leaving early? That is, what did he really steal and who really suffered? Would it be better that this man came in and left every day at exactly the correct hour but slowed his pace to a crawl to extend and stretch his job out over a course of several days??? Isn't it better to keep morale high by letting a person work at their own pace so if they choose to leave a bit early to try to beat the rush-hour throngs it's no big deal? This concept may be foreign to morons who possess a brainwashed work ethic akin to what was expected of people in the 1800's, but in today's post-industrial revolution workplace, the employee's good should come first. That way the company ultimately benefits.
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JRS9000 said 1:25PM on 9-06-2007
This man was lucky he wasn't charged with theft by deception--accepting pay for work he wasn't doing.
What this ultimately boils down to is this: If you don't like your employer's policy on GPS tracking, you don't have to work there. You have a choice.
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momma knows said 12:05PM on 9-07-2007
Apparently sean isn't very intelligent either. first off the guy was caught doing this more than once.He was basically stealing from every tax payer in NY city(Had he been caught doing so on the street may have earned him a beating) And i don't know what world you live in but most americans punch into and out of work via time clock everyday. You have to work to EARN a pay check. I know if I leave work early I'm docked pay. And if I were to do it too many times I would get fired for poor attendance.Not everyone can come and go as they please.Glad he was fired.
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