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.
Enjoyed by (likely) billions of people worldwide, the Beatles are so popular, they've even had their songs rocketed off into space. Despite the group's global popularity, none of its albums have ever shown up on iTunes, due, unfortunately, to a bit of a legal tiff between Apple, the dudes behind iTunes, and Apple, the group's record label. 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jrod1611 said 11:13AM on 3-10-2008
Its about time! If we could only be so lucky and get AC/DC and others to cave everything would be good in the music universe.
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Shannon said 12:16PM on 3-10-2008
Can someone please do something to get the publishing rights back to the rightful owner? There is something wrong with this world if Michael Jackson can make literally millions of dollars using the song that he would never have the capacity to ever create or write.
Give Paul his and John's songs back! :[
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into228 said 12:35PM on 3-10-2008
Shannon uhm michael jackson created the greatest cd in "thriller" i think he has the capacity to eclipse paul and john and own them at the same time.lol the haters of mj are crazy like it is his fault he is getting paid off paul and john.lol they signed thee rights over and lost there publishing with a crappy deal they signed whose fault was that.?
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jaymen said 1:02PM on 3-10-2008
anyone who tries tro compare Jackson to the Beatles knows NOTHING about composing music. So what of Jackson wrote Thriller? The Beatles catalog is worth a 100 times that of Jackson's... which is why Jackson bought it in the first place.
200 yrs yrs from now, music historians will still be listenig to the Beatles... you won't be able to say that about Jackson, Madonna or any other of the MTV stars. The Beatles wrote music in era where you actually had to PLAY the instruments... and not rely on computers with automatic quantizers and pitch shifters.
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Carl Johnson said 1:20PM on 3-10-2008
Anyone with a good sound system knows that downloading Beatles MP3's from iTunes will be a waste of time on lousy sound quality. What Beatles fans are REALLY waiting for are all of their stereo and mono tracks beautifully remastered for high quality CD or DVD format from the Abbey Road studio master tapes. Downloading lousy MP3's of Beatles material from iTunes makes little sense to me.
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Carole Hamlett said 1:33PM on 3-10-2008
The Beatles (in my opinion) are one of the greatest bands ever although I enjoy Michael Jackson's music and dancing also. I do hope that with Jackson's financial troubles, Paul McCartney will be able to buy back the Beatle's music catalog (especially since Paul completed his divorce settlement). Although M.J. will probably sell the catalog to the highest Dubai bidder.
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Dave said 2:13PM on 3-10-2008
I want Bobby Goldsboro
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mark said 2:49PM on 3-10-2008
lets not waste anymore of our time discussing
THE BEATLES vs michael.........this is a insult
to anybodies intelligence. end this discussion
NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW
michael's name should never be mentioned alongside w/ THE BEATLES when it comes to music.
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vichammer said 2:49PM on 3-10-2008
Michael WAS a great artist... but even at his height, his music, although enjoyable was simple pop music, nothing complex, nothing thought provoking. Not that he didn't try. But reality is, the Beatles haven't been with us since, what 1969, and are STILL being appreciated and listened to by billions, as if they were STILL a group. How crazy is that? Michael IS STILL HERE and is still writing and performing "great" music. But his fan base has stopped growing, as has his growth as an "artist". Separately the Beatles had amazing solo careers in the Seventies and early Eighties. Michael Jackson WAS the EIGHTIES. But since time has passed, the Beatles music still holds true to many old and NEW fans and continues to last. Michael's star has and continues to fade. Michael was great for the Eighties. The Beatles are great FOUR-EVER.
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Kenneth Diaz said 5:15PM on 3-11-2008
with regard to the beatle catolog michael only owns half of it now since he owed almost a 100 million to sony records.so he had to put up half of the value at the time of the beatles.and to be fair paul had a chance to buy it before michael had a chance .he was too cheap to pay 10 million for them because he wanted yoko to go half with him.but since she was a widow of one of the songwriters she knew under us law that his half of the copyright would revert to his heirs at the renewal time.so michael jumped in and paid like 40 to 50 million for them and the rest is history
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cashflagg said 4:48PM on 3-10-2008
"Thriller" is the single most overated music collection in the history of the world. Aside from "Billie Jean", a borderline great song,and "PYT", a nice safe slice of pop, the album is prefab, vacuous crap. Have you listened to the lyrics of the title track? This is a classic? Stapling in an Eddie Van Halen solo on "Beat It" just to appeal 18-34 white males is far too cynical and calculated. It's not music - it's market research. "Off the Wall" was 10x better and that album was just decent.
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gail said 5:10PM on 3-10-2008
I will never waste my money on beatles music. There are so many new and better artist available. You can hear all the beatles music for free on the radio 24/7.
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David Scott said 5:24PM on 3-10-2008
Someone mentioned the Beatles and AC/DC in the same blog post? I hope there's a little puff of smoke somewhere and a blackened spot on the ground
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vic said 6:09PM on 3-10-2008
i agree, you cant compare MJ with the FAB FOUR...JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE, AND RINGO they are the BEST OF THE BEST period!!!!!!
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bamiller56 said 6:46PM on 3-10-2008
Dave, while I fear you jest, I really DO love Bobby Goldsboro!!! LOL
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Marc said 7:42PM on 3-10-2008
Carl Johnson, your ignorance is showing. iTunes doesn't use the mp3 format. They use AAC (mp4), and I have to presume that they will offer the 256kbps format without DRM. This may actually LEAD to having the songs remastered. The difference between 256 and lossless would be hard to measure with test equipment, let alone an average ear. I'm sure someone will argue with that - it's inherent in blogs, but I've actually seen output from test equipment. Good test equipment.
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AnthonyT said 12:17AM on 3-11-2008
I have all of the Beatles cds ripped on my iPod. All I want now is just the cover art! LOL
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joe said 5:13PM on 3-11-2008
“there are the Beatles... and then there’s everybody else”. their popularity and longevity are proof of their genius. innovative from the start, they were the template for every band that came after. there will probably never be another group like them again. what other band gets regular rotation on radio almost 40 years after they break-up?
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Jason said 1:25AM on 3-14-2008
Oh be quiet vichammer michael STILL is a great artists look at all the artists who pay tribute to him and emulate his moves and wrong vic also and whatever cashflagg and sorry mark but we WILL continue to put michael's name along side them and elvis it's only insulting to keep denouncing him of that and sorry jaymen but YOUR the one who doesn't know anything. into228 thanks for actually bringing some sense into this place and shannon no there is something wrong when you don't realize that michael is the one who 25 years later STILL has the highest selling album in music history and tell me do the beatles have that or did they get a record 8 grammies in a single night etc.? You guys can keep denouncing MJ all you like but he owns the rights to alot of the beatles songs so deal with it.
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togidubnus said 12:49PM on 10-11-2008
Calm down, kiddies. Poor old Jacko's a great act, but no great writing talent. Rod Temperton wrote most of Jackson's hits, let's not forget, whereas them Beatles wrote all of theirs (even Ringo). And lots of them. So beat it (just beat it. Ooh! etc.)
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