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.
Just few short days after we asked you if it was time to 'downgrade' from the Windows Vista operating system back to Windows XP, Microsoft has announced that it will extend XP's run for those of us uninterested in the seemingly guaranteed headaches Vista has to offer. In response to a variety of problems reported by customers and lackluster Vista PC sales cited by manufacturers, Microsoft will continue to sell XP five months past its original end-of-life date, now through to the end of June 2008.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike said 12:04AM on 2-23-2008
I am running Vista Ultimate on 3 machines and Vista Business on 1. The only issue I have had is strictly with Dreamscene having an error and resetting to default occasionally. AOL 9.1 has some issues with IE7. I keep one machine with an xp pro version drive for use with one piece of software, but other then that I wouldnt go back. By the way they are all Dell's. I think Dell must work hand in hand with Microsoft to have software that just installs, no drivers really were needed for anything.
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Mike said 12:09AM on 2-23-2008
J.Hestand, I have a friend that got an HP with and had the same problem with the printer, it was an HP as well. We found updated driver software for the printer that fixed that problem specifically. They lock up sometimes on their system too. I am a Systems Engineer and I couldnt figure it out, Maybe a bios update yet to come?
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Mitch said 3:27AM on 1-09-2009
Stay with W P it is the best since windows 98
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Pamiss45 said 12:13PM on 9-28-2007
I have tried Vista on 3 computers and it is nothing but a headache. I've even had a computer technician look at it.His words "hate it".
MicroSoft should listen to "if it isn't broke - don't fix it"
Windows XP is the best oprating system ever!
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Anne W said 12:57PM on 9-28-2007
I purchased a Dell laptop with the Windows Vista operating system. I have not had one single problem with this laptop. It has been a dream! It's fast, and all of my applications have run flawlessly . . .
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Celina said 12:58PM on 9-28-2007
Linux is the best operating system ever!
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Robert said 2:28PM on 9-28-2007
Earlier this year, I purchased a new HP Pavilion dv9000 series laptop and it had Vista installed. I had nothing but problems out of it. The internet would not stay connected and an online game I play would not work with it at all. I took it back to Circuit City and asked them to put XP on it because my HP Media Center PC has XP and I had no problems at all with the internet or the game. They asked if they could try and see what was happening...they tried for a week to get Vista to work and it would not. Finally, I asked them to do what I initially asked, switch it to XP, and they made me buy the XP software and pay for the installation. However, I paid for Vista the first time...and when they did the switch, I did not get Vista on any discs should I want to try and install it later...not that I would have but it is the principle. I did not want to pay for the XP or installation. Now I want my $$ back for both even more so, after reading these last two articles about this Vista crap.
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Kyllein MacKellerann said 10:11PM on 9-28-2007
After a few years, the bugs will be out of Vista, and it'll be a usable system. Problem is, just about when MS has Vista working right, they'll bring out something New and buggy as hell. I tried Vista-and I'm glad my OS is Win xp. It works...period.
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Vahn said 7:46PM on 9-29-2007
I purchased a Dell laptop last month with vista and it has been nothing but a headache.It took 2 weeks and 6 people in India to get me connected to highspeed.I hate it.
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Greg said 10:09PM on 9-29-2007
The problem with the changing operating systems, is that the other hardware and software manufactures can't keep up with the patches and upgrades. It makes my software useless and the cost is astronomical compared to just having to buy the new operating system. That really ticks me off. Vista might be better in its own little world but does not fit the big picture.
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G said 4:17PM on 9-30-2007
I have also tried Vista on 3 computers and it has been a total nightmare even with all the patches and fixes. If Microsoft does away with XP then I'm doing away with Microsoft and Windows for good. As one other person said, Just as soon as they get the bugs worked out and get everything working right they come out with something that is full of bugs and downright crappy. It never fails! Hell Microsoft couldn't even get a game console right! The X-box is a even bigger nightmare. Bill Gates is too money hungry and in too big of a hurry to have the next latest and greatest thing to ever make sure it actually works before putting it on the market. And we fools just keep falling for it.
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eA said 9:54AM on 10-01-2007
I was trained at a call center to do vista tech support, about 2 weeks before vista dropped. My class was canceled due to being overfilled about 3 days after vista came out, but I still learned quite alot about the OS. I like it alot - the whole issue is hardware and software compatibility, with a leaning towards software. The whole issue is that alot of programs and drivers were written for XP or older, and thus not compliant with Vista. This will change with the longer that vista is out. This means that a good majority of what you may want to plug in, especially if it is relatively old, will not work. Personally, I'm planning on upgrading to vista, but that's because i'm a gamer and i want to play halo 2 on my PC. The only reason why I still have windows XP professional is due to me needing it specifically for a couple of courses at school, and i'm about to set up a dual boot configuration today. Those people who have upgraded from XP - did you run the vista upgrade advisor first? Was your entire system compatible with the change? Did you download new drivers for your hardware first? Alot of people who had trouble connecting to the internet, especially those on broadband, probably did not update their nic's drivers. Unfortuneatly, alot of technicians were either not trained at all, or at least unexperienced with Vista, and this can have alot of things to do with you guys having issues with taking your systems in. All I have to say...give it some time. Vista is the next best thing, and it's just how computers work. You upgrade, and adapt. Even if you stick with windows XP now, eventually you'll have to upgrade - if you want to buy new software, or new hardware, 9 times out of 10 it'll be Vista compliant. The other 1 time it'll be for a mac. :D enjoy yourselves.
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Bob said 4:19PM on 10-02-2007
VISTA SUCKS PERIOD!
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edman60 said 11:52AM on 10-04-2007
I got dual boot with xp and vista. so far i had no problems with vista, in fact vista is working way better than xp. i can play games on vista that i could not play in xp!
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leslie said 8:32AM on 10-05-2007
The vista/xp debate has been a topic in my server class all semester. Everyone has bashed on vista with the exception of my teacher and I. The biggest problem I had with it was that my trancender program would not run with it. It was easily fixed. I haven't really had many problems with it. I had to upgrade my memory from 512 to 1gb. That isnt a huge deal, as it was going to have to be upgraded anyway so I could play my game.
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Matthew said 1:40PM on 10-26-2007
Has anyone had the slightest thought that their problems with Vista might possibly be an ID10T error.
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J.Hestand said 11:07PM on 11-21-2007
We bought a new computer 2 months ago with Vista HP on it. We have had a lot of problems getting Vista to recognize the printer. Every so often when you try to print something, nothing happens. It also likes to re-installs the driver for no apparent reason. My daughter's computer has trouble recognizing her printer as well. We have uninstalled and re-installed the printer software several times, but nothing seems to fix this problem. Has anyone initiated a lawsuit against Microsoft for this? It seems to be a very common problem.
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Bill said 9:58PM on 12-10-2007
Bought a HP mini desktop with VISTA Home Prem.
No problems. Like it........
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Pete Morris said 6:31AM on 12-11-2007
I understand that MS, like those leaders in the fashion world, need to have a new product (new fashion) to keep their business growing. I have an MBA and I still don't agree with this "phenomenon". Why ca,'t the free interprise system stay still with a product that works? (A fashion that looks great!) I just don't agree with change for the sake of change. I know it is reality.... but it sucks. Windows XP is a product that works.
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