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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jim said 8:28PM on 11-22-2007
Great and I also like the Aldi's deal stick a quarter in and get the shopping cart and the parking lot is not cluttered with carts. If you haven't got time to take it back , some kid will do it for kicks or maybe fifty cents cuz it's really more manageable..
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noni said 8:42PM on 11-22-2007
Just cover the handlebar with a jacket if you are not interested. I will (this has weird lower case ls)
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Wendy said 8:52PM on 11-22-2007
From what I've learned, Heaven is a lot better!!!!
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DALE said 4:13PM on 11-23-2007
I REALLY HAVE NEVER GOTTEN A BAD SHOPPING CART AT ALDIS;NO FLOPPY,STICKY,OR STUCK WHEELS;NO HASSLES GETTING CARTS APART. I ENJOY GIVING THE NEXT PERSON MY CART FOR FREE AND TELL THEM TO PASS IT ON!
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Barry said 9:48PM on 11-22-2007
When this finally happens at my store, I'll be carrying a roll of duct tape to cover up the text screen. If any stores see this, I'm hoping everyone else gets this idea. I get enough ads shoved down my throat from every direction already...even my e-mail screen now has ads...it's gotten so nausiating that I do not deal with businesses that cram their ads onto my computer screen when I'm trying to write an e-mail. I'd like to figure out a way to reverse these ads and spam the ones sending out this crap, just to see how THEY like being bombarded with constant ads. Max Headroom was a program ahead of its time for when it aired, but today's advertising is starting to make it almost come to life...advertising everywhere you look.
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Forbes said 10:39PM on 11-22-2007
Get used to it. As people read less from newspapers and magazines, MP3's reduce radio listenership, cable, DVD's, internet... marketers will always be on the look out for new places that get your undivided attention. Like your cell phone.
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Lisa said 10:41PM on 11-22-2007
This is a horrible idea, and I don’t just mean the adverts they want to force (they already have them playing over the whole store…shudder), but the amount of money it’d take the store to repair those handles once they break. You don’t need to work at a grocery store ( though I already do) to know how bad those carts are roughed up while being round up and taken back inside. Someone could slash their hand on a fractured screen, raise a ruckus, sue, bla bla bla. This’d cause more hassles than benefits, and just wouldn’t be worth it.
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Mike said 11:11PM on 11-22-2007
No piece of advertising I've ever seen comes close to being as annoying as the Lavalife dating service abomination on Sympatico MSN. Now they've made it even longer and more insulting and annoying, and to make things worse it gets wedged and makes it impossible to view the Video I've put up with it to see. If they start putting that kind of garbare in my face as threatened on shopping carts, I'll do the duct tape gag and if anybody squawks I'm out of there.
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Mike said 11:21PM on 11-22-2007
In answer to Forbes's comment; has anyone ever considered the possibility that people read fewer newspapers and magazines and listen to less radio because they're fed up with mindless garbage advertising that goes on until the mystical moment of dullness. I completely stopped watching network TV years ago.
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noreenkerner said 11:31PM on 11-22-2007
How many times will they be out in the rain, snow, etc before they short out and I won't have to read them anymore? Carts get slammed around all the time in the parking lot, how durable will they be?
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ZenManDo said 11:58PM on 11-22-2007
I'd rather find cheaper apples. This would only annoy me enough to not even buy what they were pitching if that was the only thing that I came into the store to buy.
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Bradford L Rutter said 1:11AM on 11-23-2007
One time I had got some e-mail that said when you got spam, to send as many replies as you could to clog up teir web site. So not thinking I replied, and copyed that and replied a few times and then copyed that. Ect. And filled up to Copy window too. I sent it and was imeadiatly bumped from AOL. I had filled up the send window and copy window with a total of 527 E-Mails. I had to phone them to get reinstated. I explained things. And then I asked them why I could copy and paste that many in the e-mail send blocks if you weren't allowed to send that many????????
I was thinking that I did a bit against Spam.
But they never answered me on that.
Teeh, Who Needs Them??????????
Zardoz & Brad
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WTOLawyer said 1:56AM on 11-23-2007
The reason for AOL's action was easy to understand: you became the email of record of the spam! You should already know that most of the "return" addresses are hijacked accounts; that most of the senders listed were not the ones seing the mail. In effect, what you did was to spam those innocent folks whose emails were used in the first instance.
In response to an earlier comment about e-mail and advertising, that issue is easily resolved. Use a fee-paying account instead of a free, advertising-based account. Isn't that the best solution if you prefer not to see advertising in exchange for using a free service?
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