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 20)
Grace said 7:40PM on 1-29-2008
What's the big deal? A number is what you make of it. I have a religious friend of mine who said that on the pope's crown is the phrase
VICARIVS FILII DEI in Latin. If you take the numeric value of the letters that have them (Roman numerals VICLD, etc. guess what they add up to? 666. Now I don't think anyone is going to call the Pope the antiChrist!
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Grace said 7:44PM on 1-29-2008
LikeItIs. You are telling it like it is. Look at Britney for example, her little sister is pregnant - from a guy she met at Church, and her mother was getting ready to publish a book with a Christian publisher of what it was like to be a Christian mother of famous kids. Hmmmmm. If you want to get technical, the Bible stories existed 6000-7000 years ago under the Sumerians, who were pre-Christian, pre-Jew, pre-almost any religion as far as I know. Adam and Eve? Big flood? One brother killing another? Creation of the world? It was all there in Sumeria. Jews and Christians just copied it and kept what they want. The Bible was compiled by Catholic Priests in Rome and Nice in the 4th century, so who knows what all they "edited."
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Grace said 7:51PM on 1-29-2008
So then harpersformalsga you're saying that 666 is the number of the AntiChrist? So then if that was on the pope's crown, he's the AntiChrist? In my neighborhood I think that would tick off a lot of people. It's interesting to see that even the pope has 666 on his crown, but it's only a number. It has no power over you if you can think, and are above superstition. If you put all of your faith in a book and not in God, then you are not going anywhere! A book is a book, God is above any book, or any number.
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Nuckmysuts magillicutty said 11:48PM on 12-31-2008
Fartingbaboon! You are a saggy butthole! *Tries to keep a straight face.* Bwahahahahahahaha! Bick My Lalls. I love the devil. Yay devil!
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Josh said 5:26PM on 4-10-2009
in today's society nobody has to worry about that #. all it is is a reference to a roman emperor its uses some hebrew numbering system that gives each letter in the alphabet a number. the emperor at the time being ceazor nero
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Sam said 3:45PM on 1-04-2008
Wow. That's freaking stupid. Sorry, but to go through all that trouble just for 3 little numbers is ridiculous. :/
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brucecta said 5:50PM on 1-04-2008
What superticious clap trap.
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ascatal said 5:32PM on 1-04-2008
kinda silly if you ask me, and ironicly there are likely a fair number of people who loud love to have 666 for their area code
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garlic3 said 6:05PM on 1-04-2008
The 666 prefix has been use for years here in SW Washington State with no issues.
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tellybug25 said 4:45AM on 1-10-2008
I would love to have the area code 666 I mean come on is it really associated with the devil I DONT THINK SO just something that someone said one day and it stuck
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Tony said 6:24AM on 1-08-2008
666 was not a valid area code in the 1960s. All area codes had 0 or 1 as the 2nd digit until the 90s. Still pretty funny. :-)
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Dexheimman21 said 6:56AM on 1-08-2008
garlic3 is a crack addick!Washington state used and use's 206 and never used 666 as an area code. Your a freaking moron, if you dont know what your talking about grab a phone book and look up the area codes. Morons like you should not speak!
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Joe said 6:32AM on 1-08-2008
THIS is what happens when you have people raised on superstition, ignorant of scientific fact, refusing to deal with logic, and actually thinking a NUMBER has any significance in this world. A number has absolutely no impact on one's life- how you live it is what counts. For many years I lived in TWO different apartments that had the number 13 on the door (No, I didn't choose them on purpose; the rents, room sizes and super locations were the deciding factors), and just to make a point, I also owned 2 wonderful male black cats. Guess what! The sky didn't fall on me, neither did the ceiling! And I had the GREATEST parties! There were no shortages for the guest lists, either. I guess living in L.A., and not LA (Louisiana) makes ALL the difference!
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LINDA S BLUNT said 6:50AM on 1-08-2008
THE CHINESE FIND THE NUMBER 666 AS A SIGN OF GOOD LUCK. THEY ALL ADD UP TO 18. AN EVEN NUMBER
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trish said 6:51AM on 1-08-2008
Maybe they could trade with Crawford, Texas
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Ann Tilden said 7:23AM on 1-08-2008
Dexheimman21, A prefix is NOT the same as an area code. The prefix is the 3 numbers that come AFTER the area code. Maybe you should think before you speak and not insult someonewith a comment that could be turned right back on you.
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sandra said 7:32AM on 1-08-2008
i dont blame them for not wanting that area code, i sure would not want it. some people just dont know what it stands for, but soon everyone will know what it stands for
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Kent said 7:40AM on 1-08-2008
When I was in college, my phone number ended in 666. Nothing bad ever happened to me. Besides, it was easy for friends to remember.
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Mari said 7:37AM on 1-08-2008
I'll bet most of the people who are calling this "silly" were furious when the Koran was flushed at Guantanamo. It seems that people are bending over backwards to defend the rights of any religion that isn't Christian, but the symbols of Christianity are considered "superstitious nonsense". You can't have it both ways.
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susan said 7:44AM on 1-08-2008
Linda Blunt - any time you add even numbers to even numbers the result is - even!
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