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.
Just as it seemed as though the record industry was starting to figure this whole thing out, here it goes and does something that makes us at the Switched offices shake our heads. The RIAA has filed a brief in an Arizona U.S. District Court against Jeffrey and Pamela Howell, an average Joe and Jane couple who have ripped their CD collection to MP3s for easy sharing throughout their home and -- presumably -- iPods. The brief claims that ripping CDs to MP3s is a violation of copyright laws and the fair use doctrine. 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
royalef said 2:47PM on 2-08-2008
They tried this with recordable cassette tapes too, saying it was illegal for you to make cassette tapes of music you bought. They even tried to charge a royalty fee for every blank cassette tape under the assumption that their copyrighted music would be on it at some point.
Any ISP or virus scanner that joined with the RIAA would be committing financial suicide, and they know it.
The recording industry is getting desperate as they leave making good music with talented people behind for money grubbing and "celebrity" singers with less and less genuine talent.
As sad as it is, at least American Idol opened doors a little for people into a business that ignores you if you don't fit into the cookie cutter. They still play the same games, but a lot of those contestants would have gotten ZERO exposure if they had auditioned at any record company.
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Marcia Lynn Neil said 8:30PM on 2-16-2008
The RIAA rips original music from audiotapes that come into its factories, filters out extraneous noise and mind-bending frequencies (the Dolby process), then records the music onto other tapes, discs, and computer files. The music is also distributed to writers who score and separate it into sheet music format suitable for mechanical instruments. None of this assures that a copyright will be legal; it only ensures that a copyright form will be "filled out" and performers put on stage.
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Marcia Lynn Neil said 5:26PM on 2-19-2008
If you sing through the telephone into a recording device the RIAA will/can seize it and market it.
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RALF said 9:43PM on 4-13-2008
LAST WORD PEOPLE COPYING THEIR PERSONAL MUSIC OR CDs OR WHAT EVER IS THEIRS SHOULD NOT BE ILLEAGLE IF THE MUSIC COMPANYS WANT TO SUE ANY THEY SHOULD SUE THE MANUFACTURES THAT MAKE THE EQUIPMENT THAT MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR ONE TO MAKE COPIES FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL USE, WONDER HOW FAR THEY WILL GET WITH THAT ONE????
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m2dcha said 10:33AM on 12-11-2007
money money money money --- big industry ---- that is what its all about ---- buy some of my drinking water----
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The Truth said 11:10AM on 12-11-2007
F*ck the RIAA. Rip 'em to digital!!
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Bridey said 11:22AM on 12-11-2007
The suit seems to say they were "no longer the authorized copies" once they were ripped to MP3 AND were in a shared folder.
Is that really the same as "ripping is illegal"?
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Ryan said 12:57PM on 12-11-2007
And how do these Nazi's know who does or does not have personal CDs ripped?
Thats the multi million dollar question. COUNTER SUE!
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Lindsey said 1:28PM on 12-11-2007
There were issues when people were making copies of their tapes. When you buy it, it's yours. You can make copies. When you have bought the cd, you can do whatever you want with it for personal use, the point of copyright is so people don't make copies and give them to other people or make money of them. Stupid RIAA.
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Russ Horton said 1:02PM on 12-11-2007
Its your CD you can copy it, play it backwards upside down play it loud for your friends, take you favorite songs and put together a compilation CD. That is the freedom of being in America. The limp wrists who want to take that away from you want more money, as usual, ignore them and teach your children their names so they can hate them too
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RALF said 12:20AM on 4-13-2008
LET US NOT HATE ANY ONE THAT SAID , IF TOU PURCHASE AN COW SHOULD YOU HAVE TO CONTINUE TO PAY FOR THE MILK ? ARE YOU FREE TO MAKE CHEESE OR BUTTER ? OR DO YOU HAVE TO CONTINUALLY PAY FOR WHAT IS YOURS TO USE FOR YOUR OWN USE????
clmoore12 said 1:05PM on 12-11-2007
if I buy it I will do what ever i want with it. that is legal. so go f@#k off RIAA. All you people from the RIAA find some better to do then waste tax payers dollars feed the homeless do something in life that means something!
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Mary said 1:10PM on 12-11-2007
If u went out to the store paid for it then u can do what u want.. i think that this whole thing is bs
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Jay said 5:09PM on 12-11-2007
If RIAA took a 100% contradictory position before, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) for sanctions against it and its attorneys would be warranted - little procedural step involved. ALSO, maybe a Class Action expansion/separate suit could get going against RIAA.
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Rebecca said 1:12PM on 12-11-2007
hell maybe all of us ought to just go a damn music strike and quit buying ANY CDS tapes dvds etc until they figure out this is not f&*$ing cuba or Russia. This is America well it used to be anyways no more freedom of speech assembly right to bear arms... there is a ban on everything pretty soon we will have to have a law against breathing eating etc.
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Just me said 1:12PM on 12-11-2007
So now that I spent years re-buying my old records and cassettes on CD, I have to buy them again as MP3 files? How many times to they expect us to buy the same thing? And I'm not talking about artists who constantly put out greatest hits CDs. At least those might have different songs on them. I'm talking about purchasing something you already own in a different format. This seems like it is OBVIOUSLY covered under fair use. I think we should go the opposite direction and REPEAL THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM ACT! Their greed is turning everyone away and will ultimately spell their death. RIP RIIA!
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Bush said 1:12PM on 12-11-2007
Screw the rich.... It is sick how Greedy some people are.
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Ed said 1:14PM on 12-11-2007
What the hell is this all about?? I don't remember the industry throwing such a fit when back in the days we would record our favorite songs to a cassette when it came on the radio..or when we would dubb from cassette to cassette..hellooo jackasses this is the same thing..the cd has already been purchased now we're just moving it to our more advanced technology.. JACKASSES!!
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MartyC said 1:14PM on 12-11-2007
This is going too far. I mean, I rip my CDs, pick my favorite songs, pick my favorite songs and either burn mix CDs or put them in the mp3 player. How is that different than in the 80's-90's when I use to put them into mix tapes. This is going way too far.
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commenter said 1:19PM on 12-11-2007
This article is misleading. I was confused and angered until I actually read the brief. Ripping CD's for your own use, such as to listen on your computer or in your Ipod is completly legal. What the people did here was make mp3 files from their CDs and them place them on Kazaa, a file sharing network, with the intent of distributing the music to anyone else on the file sharing network. That, as shown by the whole Napster incident, is where the problem lies.
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