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.
Customer support technicians at Samsung and AT&T have received a service advisory informing them of a faulty antenna design that's resulting in some BlackJack handsets dropping calls or just not getting any signal in the first place. However, it seems the companies haven't actually contacted the customers who paid for the things. Luckily, Engadget received a copy of the advisory and is making the details known for all to see. 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Ahmad Nadeem said 3:34AM on 11-28-2007
The other ATT phone with the problem that you loose the screen and it goes blank on you is the sony ericson. it happend to us twice with diferent phone and now ATT do not even replace it while still under warnty.
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Debbie said 6:13AM on 11-29-2007
I agree about the poor customer support and lack of techs who cannot speak fluent english. I bought my daughter a Toshiba and it had to be sent back 2 times in less than 6 months. It needed to go back a 3rd time but I was so disgusted with them I asked for my money back or an exchange for which they could not understand or comprehend. I asked for a United States phone number or address and didnt get that either. I gave up and took it to someone locally but have still had to take it in to the shop for repairs 2 more times.
Another bad customer support is for Norton! Yikes. I was on the phone with them at one point for almost SIX hours. LOL...one of them kept saying do you see the "aloe r O" I am like what? I don't understand what you are saying. I finally figured out she was saying YELLOW ARROW! roflmao! Geesh!
Just in case anyone needs to know quick ways to bypass the press 1 for so and so or press 2 for so and so, this link is very useful and I have used it many times. http://gethuman.com/us/
In ending, get rid of overseas customer service or either make sure they can speak fluent ENGLISH!
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tim said 7:41AM on 11-29-2007
nothing but junk......
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Alice said 8:01AM on 11-29-2007
I had six phones in the space of a year with "Cingular" - AT & T. Their service is horrendous. Send a complaint to the Office of Consumer Affairs. I have written to them and the Better Business Bureau and intend upon having a class action law suit in the near future to stop these companies from ripping us all off. I need your support. Anyone who has been mistreated by Cingular or AT & T should participate. Send your letters out!
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Laura said 8:17AM on 11-29-2007
Has anyone had any battery life problems with the new HTC Mogul by Sprint? I love this smart phone, but I'm on my second battery and it's still terrible -- 2-3 short calls drops the battery power from 100% to 70-80%. Seems to always be in the charger. Prior phone was the Razr, which went for 4 days before needing a charge. Thanks for any info out there.
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Ashley said 8:23AM on 11-29-2007
Alice, How do I contact the Office of Consumer Affairs? When we had Cingular our service was pretty good, but ever since AT&T bought it I have dropped calls and no service and I live in the Memphis, TN area. I think something should be done.
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Anne said 8:38AM on 11-29-2007
Ashley, Cingular bought AT&T and when they did, tech service went through the roof but customer service fell all to hell. I actually broke my contract with them and went to T-Mobile because I was just disgusted with the way they treated me. I loved AT&T, was with them for five years.
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Lara said 8:52AM on 11-29-2007
I had AT&T in the past and was not happy with the service there. Between the dropped calls and the prices I decided to go to T- Mobile. I haven't had any problems since and that was over 4 years ago
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rod said 8:51AM on 11-29-2007
Yes Debbie, sometimes gammer and speach imperfections are difficult, and speaking of grammer and imperfections, What is this you say?>> "I am like what"
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Tonia said 12:25PM on 11-29-2007
I worked for AT&T in the residential part, what they did was outsource the work to cheaper countries and then laid off a lot of people. Then if you still worked for them they made you try to sale stuff to the ones that just called in for billing adjustments or ask stupid questions like "Do you use AT&T for ALL your telephone needs?" Then if u say no, then u have to go into sales mode. Awful place to work. Money is pretty good but you would be surprised at how many people are depressed who work there.
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DAVE said 9:21AM on 11-29-2007
Cingular did buy AT&T and since there were thousands of areas where the two separate companies cell towers "overlapped" they shut down each one of the cell towers that were in that overlap area. This is why so many people who once had good service in a certain area suddenly have poor service. It's because the cell tower coverage shifted when the extra cell tower site was shut down.
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Jim Walker said 9:36AM on 11-29-2007
Folks, I hate to let this news get around, my old land line works just wonderful. No dropped calls or weak signals or outlandish bills.
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cbbageptchkid72 said 9:46AM on 11-29-2007
OMG!!! You talk about people who can not speak english when you call AT&T, you are dead wrong. Our call centers are all US based. I am an employee for the mobility side and reading your comments about overlapping cell towers, extreme dropped calls, poor customer service, really burns my tush. I love how customers think that they know everything about wireless service. If you would read your terms and conditions instead of signing on the dotted line and listen to everything a sales rep or CSR tells you, we would not have to repeat ourselves 100 times and customers still not able to work a simple device. Follow instructions, listen to what we have to tell you, be patient with issues, nothing is 100%, not even wireless service.
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Cheryl said 9:58AM on 11-29-2007
Nothing is worse than Nextel/Sprint. I live with dropped calls,no reception, and horrible customer service. My husband and I have the same exact phones and when we are driving somewhere, he can have 2 bars of reception and I can show NO SERVICE on mine! It doesn't make any sence
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julian said 9:59AM on 11-29-2007
i agree when AT&T bought CINGULAR the customer service and the amount of drop call r REALLY BAD. I was charged $1,000 for 5 days of internet service which i didn't make..i call and complaint and their respond was well if u say u didn't make those call then y don't we split the bill 50%...how would anyone want to pay $500 for something they didnt' do??? so i refuse to pay such amount and they would do investigating on that incident... by the way my bill monthly has been $200 + for the past 7 years... and also unlimited internet would only cost $50 per month... if i want internet y wouldn't i call in and tell them i want internet????y would i want to be charged such amount???? so we were in the process of fighting over that claim then 2 months has passed they cut me off w/o telling me at that time i have been paying for the monthly service ...so i called them up and even agree to pay for the 50% deal that they offer me cuz it's such a hassle... then their reply was too late now u have to pay the whole $1,000 so i told them to go to HELL and i switch over to T-MOBILE where they actually care about their clientelles...AT &T is so rich that they don't give a damn about their clients... people we don't need a bully like AT &T ... go to VERIZON, T-MOBILE, SPRINT or whoever that care about their clients instead of giving AT &T ur hard earn money... 7 YEARS of cingular and never once i have a dispute about my bills or complaint about any of the call and never once have i been late on the bill...until AT & T bought CINGULAR...
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Terri said 10:19AM on 11-29-2007
who cares if it burn you butt cbbageptchkid72 What ATT did to there customer was DEAD WRONG ALSO. SO shut you face up witch. Take the W off put the B on. That is what you're and for Laura there is your problem in the first place you with Sprint OMG they other stupid cell phone company that treat there buyers like crap, I guess you didn't here what they did to there customers. I be a T-mobile or Verizon customer for life from this point on. Never had probelem with either one of them....
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bd bojh said 10:13AM on 11-29-2007
MMMMMMMM---I have Cingular/ATT and it is awful..I mean Awful....your call centers may be US based...but you sure have lots of folks answering the phone that "no speak" English...just call 'em up...dropped calls is the norm in lieu of the exception and the CSR kids are just simply rude....I give up....have a great day and check all bases before contracting with Cingular/ATT....bd
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Brenda said 10:16AM on 11-29-2007
You all talk about poor customer service; I was a victim of it with Sprint! Their customer service reps are from other countries and it is hard for me to understand their accent because they speak somehow broken English. I finally gave up with them and went to a Sprint store to handle my business. My advice is to not try to call the customer service centers of these wireless phone companies; there should be an AT&T store in your area you can go to handle your cell phone and wireless info business. Otherwise your brains get whacked trying to listen to these people who never learned to properly speak English explain stuff to you.
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Helen said 10:18AM on 11-29-2007
First of all, Cingular was a joint venture between the former Bell South and the former SBC. Cingular bought the former AT&T Wireless, which was a spinoff of the former AT&T. AT&T was bought out about two years ago by SBC, who decided to keep the AT&T name. SBC (the new AT&T) bought out Bell South about a year ago and decided to change Cingular's name to AT&T/AT&T mobility. I have had wireless service with the former AT&T Wireless/Cingular/the new AT&T since 1999 and have had very few issues with them. I have lived and travelled with my cell phone in various states and other countries with very few service issues. I have also worked in customer support representing them through an outsourcer. Most people do not educate themselves on how a wireless device works, the service, the features, etc. A wireless device is essentially like a radio. For all of you who have radios you know that sometimes a station will get staticy, and the quality of the signal can go from good to mediocre to poor. You're going to experience that with ANY wireless provider. Like Cabbage says, READ the terms and conditions, and LISTEN to what the employees are trying to tell you, but most important DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST AND EDUCATE YOURSELF on how billing, service, etc works in the first place.
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monica said 10:26AM on 11-29-2007
hey cbbageptchkid72: you said that " Our call centers are all US based." as you are an employee... well, hate to burst your bubble on that one - but my husband recently called on his cell phone service and he asked the customer service guy... who, by the way, sounded EXACTLY like Debbie described - with the broken English.. and we found out that he was in INDIA!!!! SO.... if you are an employee, maybe you should cut and paste all these comments and send them to your company's CEO!! maybe that might help! i sure HE doesnt have any problems with his cellphone service.. of course not!
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