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 4)
infideldestroyer said 4:35PM on 4-18-2008
wow.... they dont rot ur brain they barely bring down your gpa. who really gives a crap? "omg my son is playing video games" jesus christ get a life hes playing video games he will have better hand eye cordination then you by the time hes 10. leave good enough alone, the future is video games there is nothing you can do to change it. they will get bigger better and more complex, they will challenge your mind and put you in shock and awwwe. so leave this stupid argument alone.
actually for once put in a video game and play it to the end, a really good one not a "lets kill something" you would be suprised how much fun, enjoying and literate they really are.
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Ryan said 2:25AM on 5-04-2009
I'm a college student now and couldn't agree more with this. My roommate spends his life on his Xbox 360 and it drives me crazy. It not only affects his study time but mine as well. He plays his games until as late as 3 or 4 in the morning and sleeps through his classes, it's a joke. I see no value in majoring in Xbox and next year I'm giong to live in a single room, without a T.V!
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Andrea Spencer said 10:50AM on 9-19-2007
I've been telling my 9 year old son for the past several years that playing too much Gameboy or PS2 rots your brain--so now I can prove it's true! (My son is a straight A student though and reads a lot, too.)
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deneseb69 said 10:58AM on 9-19-2007
Wow, no sh*t. We really needed Tim to tell us this. Parents blame yourself you buy the crap. AOL really needed to fill some space today. This was just the news worthy article I was hoping to read today. Another great job AOL.
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Bozzy said 11:02AM on 9-19-2007
Its almost like a DUH-uh in regards to devotion to such as vid-games kinda interferes and ergo kinda rots the brain..Wonder when a "study' will be done to correalte the LOSS of civilized behavior due to overused interaction with gadgetry such as the incessant Cell/pda that has all connected 24/7 to OTHERS not in the immediate presence who are then further DISCONNECTED and less able TO inter relate to others ...(It was irritating when call waiting interrupted/ignorred in the midst 'conversations" while the other call was being "checked on/etc...These days its done right in all our faces and getting worse and worser !!!)Less civility all around, less ability all around of folks ABLE to relate to others, loss of empathy for others and so very much more as so many are now hostage to such accrutrements that forces them to be connected while disconnecting via the gadgetry !!!
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NeoWiccan said 11:09AM on 9-19-2007
Next week: pizza can make you fat LOL
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Bozzy said 11:09AM on 9-19-2007
LOL, at least it is NOT OJ blathering drivelings !! As well, sure tis "parents" that provide the purchase power, but difficult too to have them (our kids) sweim against the peer tide..Keep it OUT of YOUR home, you will find often they simply gravitate to where it IS available or become so OUT of touch with what their peers are "into" they get isolated due to the ignorance (and NO, NOT advocating just letting them swim with the "pack", but interject some reaity to it as well or are you planning on locking them in some basement closet for their entire life or forever going to huddle and NOT let them be informed/enabled to put "things" into some form of livable perspectivity? A lol too, other studies have stated it HELPED increase "aptitudes"...like so much, MODERATION is likely the key and the code to embrace just like in diets of any other ilking!!!
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Tom said 11:13AM on 9-19-2007
The title of the article made me think that it was about physical damage done to the brains of people who play video games. It actually means to say that time spent playing video games takes away time from more productive activities.
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secnd2none76 said 11:19AM on 9-19-2007
Well the future holds more links to videogames, than some regular acedimics that are taught, so a greater need to tone their computer skills are more important. A need for robot remote drivers will come to a new age, and people who can play games well will have a better advantage to those who dont. Most of the militarys new vehiles coming out require troops that are trained on PS3 and Xbox 360 games.
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Anthony said 11:22AM on 9-19-2007
I've been a gamer for many years, and while video games may take away from study time, it has not been significant enough to lower my college GPA. Granted I am a Senior and have better study habits than a Freshman would. Most first-year students will waste as much, if not more, time drinking and going to parties than they do playing video games. Maybe that has more to do with lower than average GPA's, than playing Video Games. Did they think to follow these students around? Attend these "Extracurricular" activities with them? Perhaps they should take all the other things into account, before blaming video games.
For what it's worth, I have a 3.65 GPA and play Video Games for around 2 hours a day after class.
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Chiabone said 11:25AM on 9-19-2007
Just to edit my previous statements, it says that they did, in fact follow their other activities. I still believe that other activities have a bigger impact than just playing video games.
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Chiabone said 11:27AM on 9-19-2007
One last time, for clarification I am Anthony. The other comments are mine.
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josh said 11:55AM on 9-19-2007
Isn't the title of this article slanderous. No evidence was provided that video games cause any physical or biological detriment to the human brain. Anything that takes away from study time could cause a drop in test scores. Good thing the kids aren't in to origami these days, took me a week to make all of those cranes, God knows what that would have done to my GPA had I done it in while I was in school. Hey, I have an idea, let's fan political flames, YEA!! The only way this could have been better is if they said, "Predominantly in black students from low income liberal families who oppose the War in Iraq." Then everyone would pay attention and you would have a real story on your hands. Oh and include something about a former or fringe celebrity and that gaming led to all of their problems, that's it. Now I know why Britney's performance was so bad, stayed up all night playing HALO 2 and salivating over the release of HALO 3
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rachelle said 9:13PM on 9-19-2007
This study clearly states "video-game systems in dorm rooms equate to less study time and lower grade-point averages." With the key being LESS STUDY TIME. It does not prove that video games rot your brain, just that kids with game systems tend not to be as responsible about studying. This is another futile attempt to point out the "evils of gaming." My brother and I have played (and still play) video games our whole lives and we are both very successful adults who were honor students in both high school and college.
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Linda said 11:31AM on 9-19-2007
I have a 12 yr. old son that has been playing video games since he was about 3! He learned to read all on his own from playing Mario, Legend of the Seven Stars.......sure he asked us, what does that say?", a million times, but......he's been reading at college level for the past 3 years...since he was about 9! He still vigilantly plays video games at 12 and received a special plaque at school for having the highest GPA in his grade! He's a straight A student and playing these games has had ZERO effect on him.......if any. Any effect it may have had on him has been positive. I do believe though, that parents should explain occasionally that these games are a fantasy and that the things that can happen in these games are not what may really happen in real life if a certain situation occurred. I guess it all depends on the maturity of the child.
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Keith said 11:49AM on 9-19-2007
I disagree with the title of this story. I played video games every day after coming home from school in high school, and I ended up as valedictorian of my class. Two good friends of mine, who were #3 and #8 in the class rankings, played video games with me frequently. The time spent on playing games obviously cuts down on study time, but it does not make you any less intelligent.
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hotboipnoiva said 11:48AM on 9-19-2007
Uh, for one thing, this is a study at one of millions of universities in North America. The other thing is college has so much more going for itself, for example binge drinking and excessive partying, to have video games ruin the fun.
If you're going to base your overall outlook on video games on an article ran by AOL, then that's plain silly. There's so many more respected colleges that have done research for both the negative and positive aspects of the genre, much more trusted than the crap AOL brings out.
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Len said 12:39PM on 9-19-2007
Ironically video games are more realistic than grades and probably more useful.
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Bob said 12:46PM on 9-19-2007
Anthony
You will find someday that the 2 hours/day on your video games has cost you most of your upward mobility in your profession. You can't network with a game. You need to get out and learn how to make friends with lots of different kinds of people. That is probably more important than your GPA. College is an important time for social development, and it only makes sense that if you focus on video games you are missing half of your education.
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Amy said 1:12PM on 9-19-2007
NO KIDDING?!??
Of course, video games can lead to lower grades (they can also lead to a messier home and the litter box not meeting your cat's standards for the simple reason that if you are playing a video game, you are not getting much else accomplished.
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