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 1)
Deb said 3:25PM on 3-11-2008
The photos are not current. Actually its really old because I just went to check out my husbands restaurant on it and they have a picture of the restaurant that was there before it. Mind you my husband opened up over a year ago. So dont get to excited. What you are seeing may be old photos.
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laura said 4:05PM on 3-11-2008
they are definitely old pics where I live. There has been a huge land and shopping developments near my house and they dont dhow up on google. Its nearly three years old!
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chris said 4:50PM on 3-11-2008
Aren't all these photos taken at the wrong angle to be taken from a satellite? There all taken from head on not from above. I think someone just wanted to claim that they were there.
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Dub said 5:29PM on 3-11-2008
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE...
"If super close zooms of camels and a well in Chad weren't disturbing enough, the people spending hours on Google StreetView tracking down disturbing images and deeply personal glances into people's lives and living rooms."
Please complete the sentence. Moron.
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Kathie said 8:42PM on 3-11-2008
Those pictures aren't updated very often. Our driveway showed a car that's been gone for seven years up until last fall.
I've never seen any close-up pictures on Google Earth. No recognizeable people.
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Pat said 12:08PM on 3-13-2008
of course its all digital editing, amusing..yes but i can clearly see the circle where somebody copied and pasted a section of dirt over the guys head in the "fresh grave" one which judging from the construction worker is probably work on a pipe
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Ray said 5:46PM on 3-13-2008
STUPID ARTICLE BY TERRENCE O'BRIEN
"1O SCARY SHOTS"????
How is a picture of McDonald's, a driver sitting on rear bumper, two dogs playing scary?
Robot Attack?? Come on, smoke by a building.
Alien Invasion?? Purple splotch (photo abberation)in the picture.
YOU GOT PAID TO "CREATE A CRAPPY" ARTICLE
PATHETIC PATHETIC PATHETIC PATHETIC PATHETIC
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liszajohnson said 6:09PM on 3-13-2008
Actually, the pics of my house showed our cars in the driveway. We only had one of the cars for less than a year now. My sister's house showed her car in the driveway which is fairly new. It all depends on when the "satellite" updates its' information.
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Preston said 9:31AM on 3-14-2008
We all must know that Google Earth doesn't pretend to show us the buttons on a blouse, for Pete's sake! The satellite view of my neighborhood is at least 3 years old and that's fine because its value is to give a great overview of the area. As to the scary street views, they may be from security cams or hand held cameras, and cannot be from satellites. How ridiculous.
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