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 $15.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
al said 12:16PM on 11-14-2007
oh my god let's run around like chickens with no heads, The sky is falling. It's nothing but marketing, it's wii's turn.Always in time for christmas, strange no.
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meeeeee said 12:26PM on 11-14-2007
I got mine...I need to go get another one and sell it the week before Christmas...at this rate the profit I make will pay for Christmas!!!
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COOL said 3:19PM on 11-14-2007
I got me wii too. its loads o fun. get it before they're all gone!!
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Lisa said 4:42PM on 11-14-2007
I don't feel sorry for anyone that waits until the last minute to purchase an item that has been considered hard to find. I purchased mine a month ago. Why wait until the last minute?
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Candy said 6:49PM on 11-14-2007
Some of us are not last minute shoppers. I for one have all my shopping done except for this stupid game that I can not find anywhere.
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Bee said 7:23PM on 11-14-2007
I JUST got a Wii less then 5 days ago!Its lots of fun,but the games are expensive!the my sims game costs 50$!!!!It's lots of fun even though it leaves you sore for 2 days after your 1st time playing!!!
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nelle grubsnig said 10:43PM on 11-14-2007
my son won his on behavior points 4 months ago, I spent 5 days scouring the city of Chicago and suburbs for one, making several phone calls in the process. I finally found one 10 minutes after a shipment of 3 came into a gamestoppers and saved my life! PLEASE note - this was NOT any time NEAR the holidays!
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Dyan said 11:50PM on 11-14-2007
I hate crowds and do most of my shopping online and try to shop throughout the year.
I love Best Buy and buy from them online. I recently discovered a site where you can shop at stores including Best Buy, the Gap, Dell, Champion, all sorts of travel places, major dept stores....and over 1000 stores and get back a percentage on what you buy...from about 5% to about 55%. You just shop at these sites like you regularly do and you get CASH back. I wait for sales on the sites and then I get my percentage back.. it is great. There is no cost to join and you don't have to buy anything.
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tkilljoyx202 said 11:52PM on 11-14-2007
I work for Best Buy in NH. Where I work we usually get them every three sundays. On those sundays that we have them we usually get about 45-60 of them and we open at 10 usually. By the time it is 1-2 in the afternoon they are all gone. It is kinda ridiculous I think because there is like 3 good games for the Wii. And I think that people are just buying it because parents see it as a cheaper things for their kids. I am 17 and if my parents bought me that i would just sell it on ebay. As for the best buy caught faking wii supplies i dont really care as i just work their for the money and dont plan to make a career out of Best Buy.
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ven said 10:12PM on 11-15-2007
不错，我喜欢
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Lee said 1:22PM on 11-15-2007
I bought stock in Nintendo a little over a year ago and it has taken off like wild fire. I also purchased one after Christmas last year. Nintendo keep up the good work! Cha Ching!!!!
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James said 2:26PM on 11-15-2007
Wow. Game Info(I think that was them, magazine rack at work I browse every now and then) did a study of Game Console Power and guess what? XBOX, PSP, XBOX 360, PS3, all have more power then the Wii! That's right, PSP and Xbox, a last gen and a hand held, beat the Wii! There is nothing next gen about it! Also...
33% of all 360's are busted. Microsoft had to extend warrentys because of this.
11% of all Wii's are busted. How you can tell when they are so horrible(Gaming only, on about 2 games that look good and only a few GC games work on it) IDK
.2%, that is LESS THEN 1% OF PS3s have problems. So far all my PS2 and PS1 games have worked on it, has the most features, the most power, and plays BluRay. For a Spidey fan this was a must!(Sand Man in HD is so frakking beautiful it makes you cry, well, tear up a little)
So, buy 2-3 Wii's until one doesn't break, plus a new TV(3.2million recall on Wiistraps because they kept breaking and the Wiimote smashed TVs, windows, noses) or 2-3 Xbox 360s, even more expensive if you buy the Pro with HDMI connection and HD DVD player, or 1 PS3. So, what is the cheaper console now?
Also, Wii and 360 have no way to transfer files from old games. PS3? A 7dollar piece of plastic I got from Sony website let me save hundreds of hours of stuff from my Madden, Final Fantasy, and other games.
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deb pembroke pines fl said 1:39PM on 11-15-2007
I bought one around May of this year. Within 2 weeks, my sister bought one, then her boss bought one, my daughters best friend begged her mother to buy one, I bought one for my daughter to take to college (she wasn't taking mine) and we bought another one for a christmas gift. Thats 6 that were purchased with in 2 to 4 weeks. And I agree is this game is both OLD and YOUNG. It so well worth waiting for it. I never thought I would enjoy playing video games. My 71 yr old mother loves it. She claims it is her exercise for the day.
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Krystal said 1:41PM on 11-15-2007
My Boyfriend got me a wii for valentines day. Then i got an xbox 360 and haven't touched the wii since. it's boring and has nothing but kiddy games. it's fun with groups of people, but they have no real games.
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Monica said 1:47PM on 11-15-2007
you should be the one selling this or in this case telling the customers No we do not have any and no we do not know when or if we will get any in!!!
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Bridget said 1:50PM on 11-15-2007
Best buy in Owings Mills, Maryland had 12 left last night about 20 minutes before store closed.
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Kate said 1:51PM on 11-15-2007
I would love for everyone to stop buying them until at least February.. imagine how overcrowded the stores would be and how cheap it would be.. now that would be a bargain!
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aajj1144 said 1:59PM on 11-15-2007
Man oh man, this is great. I'll do what i did last year wih the 360 and buy the wii now and then around Christmas I'll sell it for 100 or more over its market price. Last year I got the xbox 360, sold it on eBay for $650 and then bought another 360 and still had money left over to spend on games :)
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veronica said 3:39PM on 11-15-2007
My husband and I bought one in september for our
son's 14th birthday. We gave it to him toward the end of october when his birthday came. It is truly a great game system. It's like working out. I love it and I can't stand video games. One up for nintendo.
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Yadira021881 said 2:30PM on 11-15-2007
I've been calling everywhere like mad for a week solid and they were all sold out. A man at Sears laughed in my face when I asked him if they had one. I need to call back and laugh in his face. I got one at Wal-Mart yesterday. It's good to have connections at Wal-Mart. I got the last one.
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