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.
Vanishing staplers aren't the only employee-related phenomena bleeding the corporate world dry. According to a new study by U.K.-based employment law firm Peninsula, roughly £130 million (or about $264 million U.S.) is lost per day by British corporations due to office workers dillydallying on Facebook. That's the equivalent of 233 million employee hours per month. And British companies aren't the only ones suffering: Australian security firm, SurfControl, conducted a similar study of its own and found that Facebook was swallowing $5 billion (Australian) a year, or the rough equivalent of $4 billion U.S. 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Susie said 5:22PM on 9-12-2007
I wholly agree that any business should be blocking these websites and any personal email sites. This would cut down on the problem immensely without the loss of respect, trust, work productivity and other issues. It would make the day so much easier for the employees, not having it available prevents the sometimes overriding desire to peak at their page. I would love it if they did this at 2 of my kids' work places, as I see that is what they do all the time and know one day it will be discovered, and it will negatively affect their job in one way or another.
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Susie said 10:30PM on 9-12-2007
YOU AND YOUR KIDS ARE DUMB.
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Lia said 4:07AM on 9-13-2007
Boo hoo for those businesses. Their workers are bored, tired and schlepping around a pitiful office all day while the upper management enjoys far more perks than the lowly office worker ever spends on looking at Facebook.
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Steve said 8:17AM on 9-13-2007
I'm a network admin, and we block all those type of sites. Yes, I get a lot of pissed off fellow co-workers saying thats it all my fault even when the order comes from the CEO of the computer.
Guess they don't realize their job is to accounting/marketing and mine is to keep our networks running smoothly.
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Esteban said 7:42PM on 10-26-2007
One thing for certain is that there are two differences in our lives. One is personal and private and the other is work and paycheck. The two do not coincide ever! The young group thinks they can do whatever they want both personally and professionally (yeah right!) anytime. Businesses should block certain websites from those lazy asses who already have too much time on their hands and also cut their hours back because it seems they aren't productive getting the job done. Everyone knows you have to earn it getting paid and it isn't something that includes "goofing off" and milking the clock. I got time to do what I want before or after work. I don't mix my private affairs with my work affair. I don't want Big Brother watching over my shoulder or accessing my personal affair online from work. So for those of you get a life and prioritize your responsibility or work for yourselves.
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qtrapchic8 said 9:17AM on 12-28-2007
I AM (was) Facebook!
When Facebook was introduced in its early stages, it was only for college students. Even more, it was only given to a few select schools. My University was one of the first, and I was a Junior at the time. So yes, I was one of those early adopters.
BUT - and its a big but - I am SO GLAD my company blocks facebook. It's a nice little website for keeping in touch, looking at/sharing picture, etc. But there's no place for it in the workplace.
I had the unfortunate experience a year ago of being left in charge of an office and the intern in it. He was my own age, we went to the same school and I just happened to graduate a year earlier. He spent those entire days, 8 hour stretches, on facebook. It seriously made me ill; made me lose sleep.
It has since been blocked and I'm thankful. There is ZERO reason a company should allow it. I fully believe that if a worker isn't paid for a lunch break and he or she doesn't leave for lunch, then he or she should be able to browse the internet at lunch. News, weather, whatever. But social net needs not to be allowed. Its just stupid.
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