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.
Saying this makes us feel a bit old but: What the hell is wrong with kids these days? It used to be that youthful acts of rebellion involved a piercing or running off for a day -- not hiring a hit man to murder your parents. 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Tim said 3:34AM on 1-24-2008
I hope they hang the little creep.
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Paula said 2:54PM on 2-06-2008
If it is true then it had gone way too far by the time it came to this. The first time this kid misbehaved he should have been corrected. I always told my kids that any time they wanted to skip school, I would take a leave of absence from my job and go to school with them every day. I would go to every class and raise my hand and answer the questions, hang around them at lunch, etc. and we wouldn't drive to school either, we would WALK--every single day. Needless to say they never took me up on that threat, but they knew I would do it. One of the biggest mistakes that parents make is not carrying out their threats.
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Frank said 4:12PM on 2-06-2008
IT IS THE PARENTS FAULT, for sure. The parents should be reprimanded.
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Hit Man, II said 8:36PM on 2-10-2008
Vote for and help elect Clinton or Obama. They will set him free. It's against to law to spank a child. Love live Coloumbine High School and Virgina Tech, just to name a couple.
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Charese Bender said 4:52PM on 2-06-2008
Marsha - the Bible does NOT say that.
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Etta said 4:54PM on 2-06-2008
Its the truth, since the Government stopped parents from disciplining their children , our world has gotten much much worse. They should learn the difference between disciplin and child abuse. Maybe then we could get our kids to respect the rules again.
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John Weston said 5:34PM on 2-06-2008
Chris, you apparently did not see that he was arrested at school and stole money from his sister. Parents can only do so much, and frankly, today's kids are a major pain in the butt. They are beating up teachers in schools and basically setting themselves up for a long history of court appearances.
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JUANA TORRES said 5:43PM on 2-06-2008
AS A PARENT MYSELF, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHEN TO DRAW THE LINE. YOU SHOULD SHOW YOUR KIDS YOU LOVE THEM BUT YOU CAN'T LET THEM WALK ALL OVER YOU AND YOU DEFINITELY CAN'T LET THEM DISRESPECT YOU. I HAVE A DAUGHTER WHO WAS VERY REBELLIOUS AND ALWAYS TALKED BACK TO ME AND DID AS SHE WISHED AND DIDN'T FOLLOW MY RULES, BUT THE DAY SHE STARTED BREAKING THINGS IN MY HOUSE AND TRIED TO HIT ME, THAT WAS IT. I CALLED THE COPS ON HER AND LOCKED HER OUT OF THE HOUSE. AND YOU KNOW, NOW WE HAVE A BETTER RELATIONSHIP AND SHE REALIZES SHE WAS WRONG. IT HURT ME TO DO THAT TO MY DAUGHTER BUT I HAD TO BECAUSE IF I DIDN'T, SHE WOULDN'T BEAT ME UP NEXT TIME AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE. SO LOVE YOUR CHILDREN BUT DISCIPLINE THEM WHEN THEY NEED IT, THEY MIGHT HATE AT THE MOMENT BUT IN THE LONG RUN THEY'LL APPRECIATE IT AND REALIZE YOU DID IT FOR THEIR OWN GOOD SO THEY KNOW WHO'S IN CHARGE. BEING A GOOD PARENT ISN'T EASY, NO BOOK CAN SHOW HOW TO DO IT RIGHT; IT'S TRIAL AND ERROR, BUT IF YOU DO IT WITH LOVE AND ASK FOR GOD'S GUIDANCE, IT DOES WORK.
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jennymac said 6:17PM on 2-06-2008
He's awaiting trial for attempted consipracy to commit murder? Maybe they should put him in time out so he can think about what he did wrong.
Ladies and gentlemen, please spank your children if they need it. They should not be afraid of you, but they should know that they have an a** whoopin waiting for them when they try to have you killed.
Jesus!
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scott said 6:47PM on 2-06-2008
yea, thats it, blame it on the video games....
stupid a$$ ! that kid obviously didnt get his a$$ whupped enough growing up...its not much different than the whiny little punks that cant take being picked on so they bring a gun to school...todays kids are nothing but spoiled lazy direspectful morons..
and before you ask, no, i dont have children...read the news, kids scare me dude !
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Roy said 10:44AM on 2-07-2008
It seems to me that a child who is 16 years old needs to be made to feel good about his choices. Otherwise, he will have low self-esteem. He should be told that we understand his anger, that wanting to kill his parents is a normal and nature emotion, but that taking the extra step of hiring a hitman is a 'no-no.' His Playstation should be restored to him immediately because it is right as an American to be happy. Making him unhappy is obvioulsy what led to his outburst. His parents should be punished for not complimenting the child when he did good things, while criticizing him and punishing him when he did bad. Those who say that spanking him when he was young would have helped are just wrong. Spanking can never do any good. It only promotes violence, and . . . oh wait. This child was violent even without spanking. Never mind that last comment, but trust me on the others.
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BOB said 7:04PM on 2-06-2008
wii would like to play,cory
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Zee said 9:34PM on 2-06-2008
Kids today are out of control. My son(23) works in a school as a cleaner. For three days in a row in one of the kids bathrooms, someone was deficating on the floor and smearing some of it on the walls. Everyday, my son would have to clean it up. On the fourth day they caught the 12 year old who was doing it.(It turned out it was a dare between him and his friends) His mother didn't believe he did it even after being shown proof (they caught him in the act and took a picture). I asked my son if they made him clean it up and he said they weren't allowed to. There are no consequences for their actions and then when they do something really bad they don't understand why they have to pay for the crime then. There is way too much coddling of children these days.
When I was growing up, there was no explaining why we broke a rule to my parents. If you broke the rules, you got spanked/punished. We were taught to be respectful and god help us if were ever were disrespectful to an adult.
I am not a friend to my kids. As long as they live with me, I am their parent and they better respect me, no matter how old they are. They know the line and they don't step over it. If they do, there are consequences to pay.
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Carolyn Bond said 8:42PM on 2-07-2008
The article did say, he offered the "hitman his father's truck, right? Parents, while he is locked up, sell the house, move away, far away. Don't tell him where you are moving. This kid is dangerous and no, he wasn't entrapped. So far there are at least 3 cases where the son, killed the family. These little criminals are not to be trusted.
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Kaye said 12:22AM on 2-07-2008
Proven fact .. if you don't get control of your kids by the time they're 5 years old you've already lost the battle!
Most people nowadays let their kids get away with anything and everything .. and then wonder why they can't seem to control them when they're in high school.
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Sara said 12:30AM on 2-07-2008
Gothixrayne .. I don't think anyone here is advocating child abuse!
There is a difference between child abuse and dicipline. Children need dicipline!
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stnsmok said 5:58AM on 2-07-2008
Could be that the parents were working so hard in this economy that they didn't have time to be as good as they should at being a good example. Something sure went wrong, and the cops are quick to put another one away. Without facts there is no easy answer.
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vypervick said 7:38PM on 2-07-2008
WOW!! I'm Sixteen, I got spanked as a younger child...and i am to this day grateful...i got grounded from every sort of toy...because i was bad...and i am not out to kill my parents...so saying "kids these days" isnt correct because not all "kids these days" are little spoiled brats who were never taught right from wrong...so everyone saying that is wrong...i know plenty of "good" kids...Thats all i have to say
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vypervick said 7:45PM on 2-07-2008
And Another thing I play video games, he11 i enjoy Grand Theft Auto but you dont hear stories about me tryin to run people over in my car...NNOOOO!!!VIDEO GAMES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ANGER AND MURDER...like it was said before...People were killing people way before the first video game...and once again not all "kids these days" are little violent maniacs trying to kill their parents
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JOSEPH HUERTA said 10:53AM on 2-08-2008
SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD.
MY PARENTS DID NOT SPARE THE ROD ON ALL US BOYS (4) AND WE LEARNED THE WORD RESPECT. I RECALL MY TOOK ME DOWN TO MCROYS FIVE AND DIME, W.T. GRANT FIVE AND DIME, F.W. WOOLWORTH FIVE AND DIME, KRESGE FIVE AND DIME AND MURPHYSI FIVE AND DIME STORE WHEN SHE LEARNED FROM A NUN AT THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL I ATTENDED THAT I WAS GIVING LEAD SOLDIERS, KEY FLASHLIGHTS, SMALL PENCIL SHARPENERS TO STUDENTS. ASKED HOW MUCH OF AN ALLOWENCE I RECEIVED. MY MOTHER'S REPLAY WAS 25 CENTS. TEN CENTS FOR THE MOVIES, TEN CENTS FOR THE CHURCH ENVELOP TIDINGS AND FIVE CENTS FOR WHATEVER.SAW ME STEAL A TUBE OF TESTORS AIRPLANE GLUE (WAS MKAING A MODEL AIRPLANE OF BOLSA WOOD). TOOK ALL THE ITEMS HIDDEN IN SHOE BOXES AND RIGHT TO THE MANGER OF EACH FIVE AND DIME STORE. I WORKED EVERY DAY AFTER SCHOOL AT EACH DIME STORE WITHOUT PAY TO MAKE RESTITUION FOR THE ITEMS THEY SAWAND WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SELL. ALL SUMMER WITHOUT PAY AS WELL. THE LAST FIVE AND DIME STORE (MURPHYS) THE MANAGER ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO WORK FOR 25 CENTS AN HOUR. MY RESPONSE WAS I HAD TO ASK MY PARENTS. WENT HOME AND TOLD MY FATHER AND HE TOOK ME INTO THE LIVING ROOM (USUALLY RESERVED FOR VISTING GUESTS) AND SAID...MR. WILKIE WANTS YOU TO WORK AFTER SCHOOL AND YOUR PAY WOULD BE 25 CENTS AN HOUR. YOU BEST BUST YOUR BUTT WORKING AND BEST NOT TO STEAL ANYTHING. ON LEARNING WHAT I DID, MY DAD DID TAKE THE BELT TO MY BUTT...I LEARNED. WE ALL LEARNED RESPECT FOR ELDERS AND PEOPLE'S PROPERTY. ONE WORKS FOR A LIVING.
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