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 25)
rainbowmine said 12:20AM on 7-02-2009
I am very happy with BB in Bradenton, Fl. I visit the store on SR 64 weekly, and always receive great service . I enjoy the freedom of turning movies in and getting another right there. I find that this store sends the returned movies back in record time. I certainly hope they survive this economy.
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Chris said 7:13PM on 11-05-2007
Good bye Blockbuster. Their customer service is horrible. They promoted that you could rent online and then return them to the stores for an additional free movie. You had to setup an additional account at the store to return the movie. Then the fine print states the store can take up to 2-3 days to send in your movie. Helping the flow of their new releases. I can't movies so much faster on Netflix. Its not worth the hassel of BlockBuster.
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Rollando said 5:08PM on 11-05-2007
Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. Blockbuster today is like the Model T of the auto world. The industry must change with the times.
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joe said 5:58PM on 11-06-2007
HOLLYWOOD VIDEO is taking over! i didnt know people still went to cockbuster!?! when they started that no late fee thing, it was a joke! instead of late fees they made it so you would just buy the movie rather then just pay a small late fee!?! WTF?
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ROBERT MARULLO said 4:27AM on 11-06-2007
Blockbuster is like all "greedy corporate giants". When they cast out the movie plan to return your movies to your local stores and then rent out as many as you brought back, it was a great idea, until they decided to cut back the total you could rent a month. Changing the rules in the middle of the "stream" gets you in trouble with your members. I say good ridence to all those greedy losers. If I can't wait for the movie, I'll pay for it at pay-for-view, the hell with the rest of them.
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theresa said 5:59AM on 11-06-2007
they a bunch o' crooks. they took my $30 once. only once did i let them get by with it.
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Liz said 9:16PM on 11-06-2007
My experience with Blockbuster as a consumer as been nothing but negative. Their employees couldn't care less about the customer, so I think they would be having problems even without a changing market. I have been on a personal boycott of Blockbuster ever since they tried to charge me $43 for a movie I had returned that they forgot to check in. I LOVE Netflix and say good riddance to blockbuster.
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jack said 11:26AM on 11-06-2007
I had Netflix and almost never got 3 movies in a seek as per my agreement with them. They would send movies from Washington state and California to Florida and it would take too much time to arrive and return. With Blockbusters I have movies in a continuous flow. I cut down to 5 a month on return because i could not viesw all the movies i was getting if i limited myself to one movie a day.
J
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drip said 11:32AM on 11-06-2007
I found Blockbuster's customer service in their Florida district office nonexistent and the counter help at the Tampa Palms store rude and incompetent. I am more than happy to see them disappear into oblivion.
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Victoria Campanelli said 11:31AM on 11-06-2007
I agree with Robert Marullo, i had the same plan and it was great. I would have kept with it, but when they changed the contract rules after my second month with them, (funny it was right after my free trial and when i started paying the monthy fee), thats when they started limiting your rentals with the bring back protocol. Soon as they did that i cancelled and called to let them know i thought it was very cheesy for such a large organization to pull such a low down trick.
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Jim said 3:52PM on 11-06-2007
Whenever Blockbuster came to town, it drove the nice, friendly, local video stores out of business with cut-throat competition. I guess the tables have finally turned.
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czorhanz said 11:33AM on 11-06-2007
I think in todays age where new releases are so easy to get i.e. p.p.v. and other means the days of rentals are coming to an end. look at the cd industry, much easier to plunk down a few dollars from home and download the damn thing.
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Dana Rogers said 11:33AM on 11-06-2007
A few years back I returned 3 movies to blockbuster dropping it in the box..about 6 months later I received a letter from collections saying I owed blockbuster around $90 for movies never returned. When I called the store and told them the story I received attitude after attitude and had to pay the money..I stopped using them obviously..when I moved to DC about a year ago I went with them again..but now their stores are much smaller and customer service is even worse..I got called an idiotic moron bc I was renting the Descent. I tallied up what I spent at blockbuster renting movies every week..it was in the hundreds over a few months..and then I switched to Netflix and my god it's amazing..it's 50 times cheaper..reliable..if there is a problem..no big deal they fix it..you can watch movies online..blockbuster..you need to change your whole image if you plan on sticking around.
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skdokla said 11:38AM on 11-06-2007
Well, I sure hope they don't go away...we love the online rental and returning it at the store for movies. Plus we get 2 coupons/month for in-store use for either games or movies, and don't see any delay from the in-store returning movies. We get much more value from BBuster on line membership than from Netflix (which we had before changing to BBuster on line) and who wants to have to sit at a computer to watch movies you download? Would much rather watch on at least a TV-sized screen than on computer! So here's hoping they hang in!!
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ada said 11:43AM on 11-06-2007
i have blockbuster on line and i think it rocks. i get two free coupons a month for movies or games(which my kids love) and when i return an online movie to the store i pick one out right then and there with no hassles. i love it...
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whitehudson said 11:57AM on 11-06-2007
Well, in the past, when I didn't have a auto for some time and it used to be a real gore up my rear for me in having to ride my bicycle up the steep big hill some one mile to Blockbuster, just to return their movies and look for some movies that would interest me. But what they got up there being available are bunch of whoopie movies and little else. I had problems with them at some times when I found out about very interesting "special" movies from somewhere else and I wanted to rent them, and when I asked them about them and they often don't have it being available beside just only "whoopie" movies.
After when I hooked up with the Netflix and it was an SAVIOR and MIRACLE to my problems mentioned above... They had wide variety of right "special" movies that I can get from them without any problem, and get it all be delivered right to my home and I only need to walk around the corner to drop it off at a mailbox five minutes from my home! No more 1 mile gore up my rear bicycle ride on that uphill to that Blockbuster anymore! I had quit on Blockbuster by around Jan 2006 and switched to Netflix and it had served me be so well ever since and I never have any problem with them. That was before Blockbuster tried to do online movie order copycat thing that I didn't want to fall for, because they don't have right "special" movies that I wanted to look for, anyway!
Yes, I think Blockbuster is going to flush itself into the toilet for good real soon! Who care? Their problem, not our!
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cfernos said 11:51AM on 11-06-2007
My problem with Blockbustere is that 1) they never had the movie I was interested in viewing in stock;
2) I have no time (or energy) after work to stop and get a movie
3) I have no idea as to when I'll be watching the movie nevermind and much less when to return it. ;and
4) Too expensive (specially w/ late fees)
5) I once had to pay for a movie that was not recorded when I returned it.
If these problems can be addressed maybe I'll ruturn as a customer, until then it's Netflix for me.
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lh said 11:52AM on 11-06-2007
Hollywood Video just filed Chapter 11.......
joe says:
HOLLYWOOD VIDEO is taking over! i didnt know people still went to cockbuster!?! when they started that no late fee thing, it was a joke! instead of late fees they made it so you would just buy the movie rather then just pay a small late fee!?! WTF?
11/06/07 12:51 AM
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Lyndee said 10:12AM on 11-08-2007
The last time I rented a DVD from Blockbuster it didn't work. I took it back and they gave me my a refund because they didn't have another copy.
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Shoeprincess said 11:53AM on 11-06-2007
Well, I am surprised people still go to Blockbuster and pay over $5.00 to rent a movie when not only can you rent the movie online but in your local grocery stores (where i live) they have video rental machines and it is really great! Go shopping and before you leave rent the latest releases for .99! Yes, just like blockbuster you might have to wait a week to get the last weeks release because of it's popularity but I don't mind waiting because I am not charged extra to rent the newest title like ole greedbuster. Also, there is a new technology coming out soon that you can purchase that looks like a DVD player and it will carry all of the latest and oldest movies out there and with the click of your remote you can either rent or purchase the movies for fraction of the cost of going out to purchase or a rental from Blockbuster. Blockbuster days are numbered unless they come up with some hip new idea to save it's horrible image.
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