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.
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Knuckles McGinty said 12:40PM on 5-05-2009
Don't like my smoke? Good. Feel free to leave. I think I'll try one of these e-cigarettes just to piss you ignorant people off. It'll be fun to "light up" in a restaurant and watch the fireworks. Hope you enjoyed your dinner, I know I did, now that I can "smoke" before, during and after the meal, once again. And there ain't a DAMN THING you can do about it.
If it's not burning, it's not emitting anything harmful into the air. You don't have to be smart to realize that, so I would think that even you assholes would be able to wrap your rather narrow heads around that fact. It's absolutely no different than if someone were chewing nicotine gum. Even the FDA says it's not a problem.
Have a great day!
Reply
Johnny Blaze said 1:29PM on 9-25-2009
"Even the FDA says it's not a problem."
Unfortunately, you couldn't be more wrong. The FDA is saying that electronic cigarettes area problem, and want to go so far as to ban them in the United States. They are already banned in Canada, China and Australia. I am a firm believer that the electronic cigarette holds the key to s safer smoking future for people, but a fact is a fact. Hopefully after further testing, the FDA will conclude that this is a viable option for smokers.
Johnny B
CEO, Halo Electronic Cigarette Company
Ricky Ammons said 1:15PM on 9-19-2007
I don't know this is gonna look pretty stupid watching someone puff on something that does not look like a cigarette. Further more what is the purpose of this if your not shure restaurants or any other public place is going to let you use this in public. I could half way see the benifits of this if it was more healthy than cigareets. This may prove to be more hazardous to your health than regular cigaretts! Does this come with a warning lable about the causes of cancere like cigarettes?
Reply
krystal owens said 4:19PM on 9-19-2007
This is just a prettier inhaler than the one that you can get from your Doctor with a prescription. It does put the nicotine in your lungs as you inhale. And I did smoke in the airport. Because there is no smoke to blow out.
K.O.
Reply
Paul said 4:46PM on 9-19-2007
Is this in any way safer for the smoker? Has it been proven that what it emits is totally safe for non-smokers and should be allowed in areas where smoking is prohibited?
Reply
Linda said 12:22PM on 9-20-2007
You're still exhaling elements from tobacco, so there is still a degree of second hand contamination, just not in smoke form. I worked for a research company that did a trial with a device like this from Phillip Morris. Nasty stuff.
Just put a clamp on your coronary arteries instead: same result
Reply
me said 12:28PM on 9-20-2007
These things have come a long way. The last one (prescription I think) looked like you were puffing on a tampon!
Reply
Sue Miller said 1:01PM on 9-20-2007
Smoking is smoking. I've tried to quite three times after 40 years of trashing my lungs. Some things are just harder than others. I will try again and again until I succeed, cigarettes stink, pollute the air, offend others, and on and on. A REAL cure would probably be easily found if some of the profit from the cigarette companies were used soley to kick the habit.
Reply
Jossy said 1:16PM on 9-20-2007
with massive amounts of coal still being burned to produce electricity, plus the cancer causing gunk that laser jet printers put out into the air, along with gas and diesel emmissions, i think the worry about tobacco smoke is actually rather moot. if people really knew the truth about this, they'd even start smoking themselves. the anti-smoking campaign is just hooey based on chicken little people that love to feel superior and squash all smokers and treat them like lepers. get the real facts on what buring coal does to the air we breathe, check on what worse lung cancer causing crap comes out of laser jet printers that are in all offices and in homes, check out the crud that diesel and gas emmissions have in them. ...and these few are just at the top of the barrel, there's more top barrel items. then there's the middle of the barrel. then the bottom of the barrel where tobacco smoke sits. learn how 16% of all smokers get lung cancer and also that 15% of all non smoker's get lung cancer too...and no, they don't get it from secondhand cigarette smoke. people bought into this about smoking without any real true facts and the movement grew on falsehoods. those of you that sit in traffic jams every day while on the road, don't you dare yell at me if i smoke a cigarette. you've breathed in much more toxic cancer causing crap as you sucked exhaust fumes into your lungs than i could ever pump out of my lungs for you to breathe. use your misguided ire on alcohol, this causes cancer more than tobacco smoke does plus it kills innocent people when a drunk gets behind the wheel. by the way, i took a test listing when i started smoking, how many cigarettes i smoked a day, and it turned out that i will (might) lose one year of life due to it. yes, i've been smoking for a long, long, long time too. get any person stone drunk on alcohol, let them drive an auto, and lets see how quickly they can kill others on the road and also kill themselves. leave smoker's alone and get on the back's of alcohol drinkers!!
Reply
Mizbiz said 1:19PM on 9-20-2007
smoking stinks.
Reply
Jet said 1:22PM on 9-20-2007
It'll look like you're sucking on a ball point pen! LOL
Reply
haha3 said 1:47PM on 9-20-2007
LMAO @ jossey trying to defend smoking. Chicken little people that love to feel superior? Hahahah, funny stuff. I bet you smoke with the windows rolled up don't you stinky. Do not try to justify your bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior, that doesn't work. Please smoke yourself to death asap. Ty.
Reply
Mike said 1:47PM on 9-20-2007
I quit a 2 1/2 pack a day habit cold turkey,19 years ago, just like that no gum, no patches no electroshock, none of that other bullshit that just comes from people who want to make money. They make more money because the fixes don't work, they're just a substitute addiction. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find that the tobacco companies are behind all this bogus crap. Just quit. If you haven't got the guts to do that, well, personally I haven't the slightest bit of sympathy for you. Don't expect anybody to help you past the results of your gutlessness and stupidity. All they'll do is make more money off you. SUCKERS!
Reply
Lita said 1:50PM on 9-20-2007
The ignorance of Jossy's statements astounds me. To equate the deliberate inhalation of a burning substance laced with hundreds of chemicals and laced with things to make it more addictive and laser jet printers or automobiles speaks volumes about her stupidity. When was the last time you saw someone suck on the exhaust pipe of a car or run over the a laser printer every twenty minutes to get a hit?
Continue in your stupid addiction--one you were a fool to start--but don't compare apples to oranges.
Reply
sheila said 2:08PM on 9-20-2007
If the patches and gum were to be sold in single use packettes or 5 stick gum packs, perhaps the smokers, I am one, would be willing to dish out the daily cost. But coming up with 55.00 to 65.00 bucks every two weeks for 7-10 weeks is hard on the budget, Its just easier to shell out the 3.50 or so ofr the pack of cigs.
Reply
StillSmokin said 2:20PM on 9-20-2007
Jossy....
Great comment! I always knew their was a cigarette nazi conspiracy going on out there.
Heed Joosy words poeple and do some research!
Still Smokin'
Reply
Kathy said 2:38PM on 9-20-2007
Jossy is soooo right!! My grandfather and great uncles smoked all their lives - and they lived into their 90's!! But they lived in the country, farmed, grew their own food - barely drived and never in traffic. Never heard of a printer. Cigarettes are being used as a "smoke screen" for what is really going on out there.
And nothing makes some people feel better than acting superior to others - "smokers are stupid, etc." Read Jossy's remarks again - and try to understand it. When no one in the land smokes your taxes will go up and I can't wait to see what the next thing will be that all these superior people go after. Hope it's something they do and like.
Reply
Wow said 4:02PM on 9-20-2007
Lita has the right idea, just because you may believe it is better than drinking, you are still poisoning yourself with harmful chemicals and endagering others around you with that nasty stuff. There are other people out there other than yourselves that are allergic to smoke and you putting it in the air causes major health problems. I am glad to see they are banning it from most public places, it will make my day out a lot more pleasant. Finally, Kathy just imagine how much longer they would have lived if they had not smoked all that time.
Reply
tbird said 11:14AM on 9-22-2007
WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NEED TO STAND UP AND SAY NO TO SMOKING! CIGARETTES ARE MORE ADDICTING THAN CRACK, COKE, OR MARIJUANA. ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES NEED TO BE ILLEGAL!
Reply
Bob said 11:34AM on 9-22-2007
To all concerned.
You better wise up to whats going on out in our buisness community. Does smoking cause cancer? According to our friend Jossy and every thing I have read no. Does it cause Emphysema ? Yes. This is the risk when smoking. The smoker has made a choice. It's theres to live with.
As far as cancer causing agents being pumped into our atmosphere, it's happening every day at an alarming rate. I'm sure very few people are aware of just how dangerous oil refineries are. Coal burning power houses? you bet there bad to, how about chemical refineries ( these would be the guys making your house old cleaners, cassete tapes,LASER INK, etc..) I wouldn't live within 30 miles of them. I know this for fact. I help build and maintain these places. I know first hand how many men have died from contact with these agents. And every one goes along blissfully unaware of the danger there in. blaming cigarrette smoke. how convienient.
Reply