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 5 of 8)
jack said 1:42PM on 1-25-2008
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jessieluvsya3 says:
i say great job , i am sorry but i think porn is one of the things that hurts society the most , you expect men to respect women but yet you put all the crap everywhere and teach them from the youngest age possiblethat this is accepted and i think its just wrong
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That is the hypocrisy of three hundred and fifty years of living under the Puritan ethic in America. I should think we would be more accepting of the culture of cognitive dissonance since it is so prevalent in just about every facet of American society.
Everything that is true about pornography is true about prostitution as well. But those woman who do it of their own free will do it for the money and because they enjoy it. It is free enterprise isn't it?
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paul said 1:58PM on 1-25-2008
Mrs. Wong goes into labor pains and delivers a caucasion baby. Mr. Wong complains to divorce judge, "Two Wongs don't make a White"
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Carrie Villela said 1:58PM on 1-25-2008
It is a shame when men think that porn is a viable work option for women. It is a last ditch desperate action, NOT A CHOICE. A choice is: what dressing shall I have on my salad today? Going into porn is: how shall I begin a downward spiral for the rest of my short, effed-up life and commit a lengthy suicide via the very drugs that keep me able to perform?
Volunteer with some former sex workers sometime (porn 'actresses', strippers, hookers); you will hear a REAL side of pornography, not the fake drugged-up 'happy' side that your brainless penis is so fond of.
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Jerry Young said 2:03PM on 1-25-2008
They are not a FREE country as we are. Would you rather live there, or here? If your answer is here, then freedom is what we preach. Now I do not agree with underage children viewing porn sites, but they have parental blocks on computers and TVs, and its the parents responsibilty to control what their young children watch. To say someone of age cannot watch, or enjoy porno is communist. Not all people that use porn are sexual deviants, molestors ,or pedophiles. Many couples use it to spice up their sex lives which is healthy. And what about the lonley, unattractive person who needs self fullfillment? Sex is a natural need, and a natural thing. All of this censorship on porn, music, or whatever is wrong. People have the right to choose, and its the parents jobs to be parents and control their kids viewing or listening. So all these communist thinking, anitporn, procensorship, dillusional bible wielders, move over there if you dont like the FREE country you live in. Most are Bush backers, but I bet my life even Bush looks at porn. Its isnt a billion dollar business for a reason. U think only kids and pedophiles are watching it? Grow up and come into reality, and into this millinium. This isnt the puritan society of the 1600s anymore.
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G said 2:09PM on 1-25-2008
The issue is not porn. The issue is totalitarian government, like the US is becoming where the majority inflicts tyranny on any minority which is not politically or socially correct.....notable examples being the criminalization of transfats in private property restaurants and the criminalization of cigarette smoking in mom-and-pop beer joints.
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Ray said 2:05PM on 1-25-2008
and the stupid democrats want us to have communism here....."oh we love castro chavez" f-ing morons
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Craig said 2:13PM on 1-25-2008
I'm a counseling psychologist and have seen how the use of porn can can cause sexual addiction in kids, lead to sexual assault and hurt marriages. Free speech should not include assault on others ... you can't yell "fire" in a movie theatre. Congress needs to at least eliminate any possible access to porn by children. This would at least be a start.
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paul kelly said 2:09PM on 1-25-2008
Rub one while read Chairman Mao's little red boook? Ah, I don't think so. Man, why are these "Nanny Stater's" so afraid of sex? Maybe they got upset when they were told that porno can "Put Lead in Your Pencil"! What a bunch of "weenies"!
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Respectful Man said 2:13PM on 1-25-2008
I'm so sick of hearing people use the freedoms we've been blessed with to justify porn. It's disgusting and it's ruining our society.
No, it's NOT normal
No, it's NOT healthy
No, it shouldn't be a "right" we have in our country.
We should respect human beings (both women and men) and should not do disgusting things while looking at them.
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Kiki said 2:57PM on 1-25-2008
BEFORE:
"Fashion is in Europe, eating is in China, but living is in America."
NOW:
"Fashion is in Europe, sweat shop is in China, but the best porno is in America."
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nico said 2:39PM on 1-25-2008
I live in small town USA, almost weekly in my town or the surrounding areas, I read in the paper that Chinese "Massage" parlors are being shut down, and it isn't for massages!! They are so stinking perverted. Believe me I am no prude, but they know, men will hand over the almighty dollar for a Happy Ending.
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Steve said 3:48PM on 1-25-2008
Why is pornography considered denigrating to women, and not to men? If you look at those poor guys, for not very much money, and the degrading, disgusting things they are required to do . . . I don't see how you can say it's only denigrating to the women performers.
As far as shutting down 44,000 sites in China . . . I'll bet they didn't shut down the sites that high Communist party members own. Ahhh, corruption. Ya gotta love it.
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Doke said 3:07PM on 1-25-2008
I am a proponent of free speech no matter how gross. However, praise God for the crackdown on porn. It is a God sent. It does so much harm to the family and to the clueless person who takes part in this degrading act.
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Rich said 3:25PM on 1-25-2008
Respectful Man says:
I'm so sick of hearing people use the freedoms we've been blessed with to justify porn. It's disgusting and it's ruining our society.
No, it's NOT normal
No, it's NOT healthy
No, it shouldn't be a "right" we have in our country.
okkkkkk heres my thought i would like to know just where you get off thinking you have a right to stand there on your pedastal living in your glass house saying my rights dont matter and i shouldnt have a right to watch porn , if you dont like porn thats fine i respect your oppinion on that but in the same respect you should respect my opinion that i have a right to watch it thats the beauty of this country is we do have rights even when our opinions of these rights conflict with others opinions , so opinion would be to you would move to china an take the other hipicrits with you where you will be happy being told what you can or cant do because you sure as hell cant be happy living here knowing people have rights you dont agree with my father left his blood on the battle feilds of vietnam my friend eddie left his blood in afganistan an also left the body parts of 3 of his good friends there to ensure that all americans have the right to our opinions without taking rights away from them because of their opinion
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VIC POWERS said 3:37PM on 1-25-2008
i wish all pornographic sites had to have website names ending in .xxx like i've heard is in the works, so we would not end up in them when we look for thw white house for example... censoring? i'm not comfortable with that... people will look whereever they have to to find it... i wonder why in a godless society they care what the people are looking at... i guess there IS a morality to things after all...maybe, just maybe, there really IS a GOD?!!hmmmmmm...
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KingLouie said 4:07PM on 1-25-2008
....They poop on each other. lol For God's Sake! That's just gross. What the hell kind of sick porn is that, and who would want to see someone crap all over someone else. Shut it all down.
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Wolfster said 4:49PM on 1-25-2008
Wow, change "China" to "USA" and "internet porn" to "drugs" and you still have a pretty accurate story.
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Thom said 4:38PM on 1-25-2008
Porn should feature adults be viewed by adults.
Adult content I enjoy is 21 an up. There are some women 18 an older who seem "mature" for there age. That's adult.
Some adult content I've seen of younger adults is "questionable",
risky, unfavorable to them an the industry.
Do teens think of themselves as adults starting at 16 or 18?
We know the answer? don't we?
Nr 17 , particaly nude content is suggestive enough for teens, isn't it?
It was for me.
is it possibable because kids an teens look for a exsample of "love"
among adults an people. not sex.
i don't know what was on the sites that where shut down in china.
In america I hope we manage the adult content as some thing to enjoy as adults. if it's banned an shut down, what's next sexual oppression of citizens? not good.
I think even adults who view content may want to see more "love"
expressed, not only in the movies, down loads. I would.
There no shortage of hard core.
in my experince with relationship with single mothers keep our "adult" content viewing, an sexual encounters separate from the kids an teens was the easy part.
The porn industry is a multi billion dollar industry.
A internet ID code on ID card, licenses would be an effective against bans on content access.
When I view adult content a don't enjoy i click on something else.
If I buy a movie I don't enjoy, It's made unviewable an throw it away.
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Thom said 5:17PM on 1-25-2008
There's healthly sexy content available. If you search.
I avoid the weird stuff, haven't even seem most of it.
read & hear about it once an awhile.
I thought it might not even be the porn Industry that makes that weird
stuff.
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Don said 5:34PM on 1-25-2008
I think that free use of the internet MAY keep all those cheating politicians from cheating so much. Porn is porn. It has been around in increasing quantity since the printing press was invented. It was around before them but you had to go to it. I watched a lot of porn when it became so accessable on the web, but I soon got a bit tired of it. How many different ways can you show a sex act...."normal" or perverted....and who makes the distinction for us, anyway. We would have to modify the 1st ammendment of the constitution...and everyone keeps telling me how wise the Founding Fathers were when they wrote the constitution. Freedom of speech or not???
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