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 1)
SuperSteph said 2:25PM on 2-01-2008
total pigs. it's sad these women have no self-respect. anyone who drinks to that level obviously has a problem with alcohol and needs mental help. do these women realize how dangerous this behavior is? passing out drunk in the street is nothing to be proud of and it leaves one open to all sorts of violation. how funny is it gonna be when they come to and realize they have some dirty strangers c*ck in them? very very sad.
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Hunter said 6:20PM on 2-01-2008
Let them go...it makes them such easy targets!
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tfcrow said 12:21PM on 4-12-2008
Women want to act like sluts and whores today.
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jackiej said 5:42AM on 11-10-2008
YES!!
Lux Magna said 1:46PM on 11-06-2007
This has got to be the Lindsey Lohan effect.
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tommy korn said 7:08PM on 11-06-2007
rachel lanter from texas tech is the facebook group creator of '30 Reasons Girls Should Call it a Night'... give a proper credit, bro
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Raejean French said 9:00PM on 11-06-2007
A logical offshoot of Girls Gone Wild and other reality drek. I think its really appalling they think so little of themselves.
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bemused27 said 3:31PM on 11-09-2007
Who cares? If they want to post these pics, let them - they are young and silly and look like they are having a pretty good time! I barely remember my 20's - I think alot of people probably did the same things back in the day. Why are they focusing on the girls?? The guys do the same things - why is that ok? Let them have fun without being sneered at and/or lectured. PS I loved that mud picture - that was hilarious!
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LORRAINE said 8:16PM on 11-16-2007
MAKE YOU FAMILY PROUD, YOU IDIOTS.
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Fire Island Sugar said 11:43AM on 11-18-2007
Unless society evolves in some substantial way in a short period of time, we will not see the day of a non abusive drinking, drugging and or experimental sexual community amongst our teenage and young twenties children. Are these pictures an epiphany to any parent out there? If the answer is yes, you need to remove your head from the sand immediately and start coping with an individual you have brought into this world. Try to give them as much emotional support as you are equipped to handle and then some. The creation of internet and picture phones just bring these issues into plain sight for the world to ogle at and sadly, yes, for these young people to wind up hurt in one way or another. Just one more added danger to this type of lifestyle by "going live" and providing real life documentation to back it up on the internet! The reality is that this age is a tumultuous time for many young people. All the pictures posted here tell similar stories. They are young people coping with changes in themselves and their sexuality, trying to be popular or needy for attention. They may be on their own for the first time in their lives plus dealing or not wanting to deal with heavy pressures at school. I was that girl in highschool. I probably would have appeared in some pretty compromising bad girl community pics if the internet was in full swing back then. Sadly enough,I probably would have been the star. So I am not talking out of ignorance but experience. These blog sites and communities provide the perfect and extremely dangerous vehicle for a young person to try and fulfill these needs through a "document and post" method. You need to know your children, talk to your children, and give them the emotional support they need to get through what should be some of the best years of their lives. If you thought changing diapers when they were young was difficult, look at that gallery again and imagine losing them to these extreme behaviors or losing them to the unsavory individuals on the outside connecting the dots of their documentation and photos to get to your kids in real life. We are not going to stop this type of posting or the predators and hurt that comes along with it. We can only start with knowing and supporting our own children one by one, each and every one of us who belong to the "Caring Parent" community. We'll start by not posting our pics!
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sabound said 1:27PM on 12-21-2007
pathetic. american women lack taste and charm. they are becoming men. this is the reason i left the usa in search of real culture. you guys have no idea of what joys lie in other societies and the beautiful, charming and feminine girls that exist outside your borders......
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Khaiaa said 10:40PM on 12-23-2007
Typical double-standards in the American "boys will be boys" culture.
I love how we focus on the drunken GIRLS. As if guys aren't doing the same thing, if not worse. When there's an article written about how males post their intoxicated photos on social networking sites, perhaps I could have more respect for the writer.Until then, this is just another piece of poor, biased journalism.
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larry pixx said 12:03PM on 12-21-2007
hell....i'm drunk @ this very moment..i think i'll jump into my auto & go to another bar.
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Blue Boy said 11:09AM on 12-22-2007
To Sabound:
My dear xenophobic friend, why shouldn't women have the freedom to make fools of themselves like men? I say let the girls have fun and you can keep the veiled women in those other "societies" to yourself. And since you don't seem to know, these not just girls from the US, but from all over the world with almost half of the posts from the UK. And finally for your knowledge, a great many of the so called charming and feminine girls "outside the borders" drink and party just like anyone, but don't have the honesty or access to the internet to post their exploits.
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JuJu said 1:39PM on 12-23-2007
The title should read, "30 reasons a girl should call it a life."
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Daniel Gaunt said 1:59PM on 12-23-2007
This is all because a certain paper published some facebook pictures, of course they breached copyright in doing so, just because a photo is posted on facebook doesn't mean anyone can take iyt and make money from it. I'd have sued... anyway these girls are trying to get 5 minutes of fame. it's a sad result of our celebrity driven culture.
this is what a lack of education leads to, it's just an other aspect of chav culture
http://lifeorsomethingnotquitelikeit.blogspot.com
http://freeextras.blogspot.com/
http://drrockisback.spaces.live.com/
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