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.
For cable subscribers, it's often only a few bucks a month extra to get the company's standard DVR, giving access to a "digital" tier of channels and the ability to record them on a rented, Tivo-like device at a fraction of the cost. That the device is being rented is an important point to remember, a point that was driven home to Ann Beam, a Wheatland, Wisconsin woman who received a bill for $2,025.45 when she failed to return five cable boxes and their remotes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
E said 2:35PM on 2-01-2008
Maybe Arlen Specter should investigate or is TWX money more important?
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tim said 5:43PM on 2-01-2008
Typical AHOLE Company.
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Robert said 6:26AM on 2-04-2008
Just another way to steal from our ins. co.
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grace ~ said 6:57AM on 2-04-2008
how am i not surprised? all they care about is the almighty buck when the woman has lost everything. damn, give the lady a break!
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Mary said 7:04AM on 2-04-2008
However, she will claim that on her insurance and she doesn't own them. They were not asking her to pay for it, they sent her a bill to claim it with the rest of her stuff on her insurance. It makes sense. Everyone wants something for nothing.
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Aanna1123 said 7:07AM on 2-04-2008
Heck, I thought that was Comcast. They are known for their unability to help even disabled customers!!! We need to put these cable companies down a peg or two. They are starting to remind me of the oil companies, just charging what they want. Unfortunately, my tv only gets two channels without cable, so some of us are screwed.
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Penny said 7:11AM on 2-04-2008
Doesn't surprise me. Time Warner tried to charge me for equipment that I had turned back into them. They waited almost 1 1/2 years to send me a bill. Good thing I kept the receipt.
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ruhrohpookie said 9:41AM on 2-06-2008
Doesnt surprise me...they did the same thing to the people in California that lost everything in the big fire. You would think once they learned what happened they would write it off but it take the media stepping in for that to happen!
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MZZTLOVE said 7:30AM on 2-04-2008
the cable isnt the only company robbing people.. I have a over 9,000 UTILITY bill owed to the Electric & GAS company.. After complaining over the billing and when they finally came and checked the meter the worker said the meter was linking! HA thought I would get out of that but not!! They came back with some cock a mamme story about it was not leaking bad enough to charge that much over.. YET I was paying them MINUMUM 300.00 a month... LOL THE whole system we live in is a JOKE.. free country QQn now where I sit it's not... and to top it off I worked for AT&T or at&t or SBC or Michigan Bell or Ameritech or any other name you can think of that they have changed too oh yea now! They change name more then some folk change clothes, and was INJURED by a manager, and second by a DEFECTIVE Chair on the job.. And was fired.. CAN you believe this.. and yes it is true dont believe me call em.... SMH.. There are crooks in everything other then in JAIL.. so a 2,000 bill from any service provider does not surprise me AT ALL... smh NEXT question??? QQn
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Gerry said 7:57AM on 2-04-2008
If you learse your car and a tornado hits you are responsible to fix ther car (that's why you have car insurance). Your car leasing agent will accept no excuses, the same happens if you rent an appliance or furniture. In this lady's case, the homeowner's insurance would be responsible to pay for the damage to the house AND the contents. This includes the boxes AND the TV sets, etc...
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jj said 8:07AM on 2-04-2008
im not shocked by this at all!! this is whats wrong with the world!!! this poor woman has lost everything, and cable boxes and a couple of remotes, was id say the last thing on her mind!! until she got the bill....now not only does she have to worry about where she is gonna sleep, but now she has to worry about paying $2,000.00 for crap.....get over it already...she had no control over the tornado..when a tornado comes my way im sure the first thing im gonna take to the basement with me will be my cable boxes and remotes!!! GOD FORBID!!!
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Sweetheart said 8:14AM on 2-04-2008
oh my goodness! this is crazy it seem even when the worst happen some people company's etc. seem to want to take you down even more after a disater strikes.
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Ken said 8:16AM on 2-04-2008
So the BIG STORY is that a woman who lost her home to a tornado is being fined $2000 by her evil heartless cable company.
Except she isn't.
Wow, that's just earth shattering news.
Do you really get paid to write this? I mean, in real money?
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jimimadison said 8:26AM on 2-04-2008
I say get out those knee pads and start singin' into the mike....
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betty said 8:26AM on 2-04-2008
They might forgive her the bill... BUT now she files a claim with her INSURANCE and I bet she keeps the MONEY..
WHATS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE..ANYONE WITH THEIR OWN HOME AND "RENTS" 5 CABLE BOXES SURELY HAS HOME OWNERS INSURANCE..
CAN YOU SPELL G-R-E-E-D-Y ??
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ldyrebellion said 8:26AM on 2-04-2008
wow nasty, at least I have a good company, they may not be the greatest, but when my house was destroyed by hurricane katrina, I lost two receivers, remotes and a dish..they never once even hinted I had to pay for them. they just sent us brand new ones. no questions asked, also to the person saying oh someone wants something for nothing,. most insurance companies(I speak from hard experiance) even if you have great insurance will only cover about 2 to 4 grand of personal items that were lost to something like that. now would you rather claim your fridge, stove, and tv? or a couch a chair and what ever, I dont know anyone that would want to spend that 2grand on a cable set that shouldnt have been billed to them in the first place
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tom said 8:29AM on 2-04-2008
Why shouldnt the company get thier money? Why does everyone feel the company should take the loss and that they are big mean corporations? This is why people have homeowners insurance. What if you owned a car dealership and a customers car that you leased to them was blown away,,,wouldnt you still want your money?
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deb said 8:29AM on 2-04-2008
OH BOY!!!!!
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ldyrebellion said 8:30AM on 2-04-2008
oh to the person talking about the gas company, goodness was it blossman? cause before the hurricane we used gas. had a big tank in our yard. after the hurricane, it was knocked over and left to the side of my yard. never touched never used. too the company two years to get here and move it. and take it. the new place we are in isnt even gas..we never used it again after the hurricane not once..and THEY left it sitting there for 2 years, it was full of gas when the storm it..and 80 percent of the gas leaked out over ther 2 year period, they tried to charge us for it!! after a lengthy phone call. and some exchanged words on both parts, they ended up owing us 200 dollars give or take a few dollars
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EB said 9:12AM on 2-06-2008
I too, was surprised by the cable company (Comcast) when my house was burglarized and everything that could be stole and resoled was stolen and reported to the Police dept. and that was not accepted so I went into bankruptcy in order to pay the outageous charges for cable boxes stolen.
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