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.
There are some disturbing trends making the rounds on the Internet these days. Some are humorous, such as baby names inspired by text messages. Some are frightening, such as online suicide waves in Wales. 
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
jeanie said 10:08AM on 4-21-2008
" Female Gangs "
SAD very SAD
Reply
stacy kiffe said 10:09AM on 4-21-2008
Not charged with any crime. How about assault. Throw their stupid
butts in jail for a few weeks and see if they ever do it again.
Reply
Carl Hoyle said 3:42AM on 4-22-2008
Thats not the answer,you cant throw every girl in jail for that sort of behavior,If the media wouldn't make such a big deal out of this stuff, it would just go away.What these type of teens need is an old fashion a** whipping by their parents if they have any. Thats the problem with todays children they have no morals or respect for anyone or any-body.
Robert said 5:47AM on 4-22-2008
Agree with Carl. I remember back in the day if you acted like a fool, you got your @$$ beat. Nowadays, parents are so afraid to lay a finger on their kids that the kids think they can do whatever they want.
Leonda said 10:22AM on 6-11-2008
Another bad case of "spare the rod" philosophy...corporal punishment should not be against the law, and just because you punish your child does not mean that you're abusing him (nor does one have the RIGHT to). Although not entirely unheard of, we had far less incidence of these kinds of things years ago. Kids also knew that they'd better not screw up, or they'd suffer consequences. Now, there are no consequences for behavior like this. These girls need to have serious attitude readjustments...
Miranda Kali said 10:20AM on 4-21-2008
These kids need to be punished, and harshly. If the law doesn't have provisions for mandating punishment, then we need to change the law.
As a society, we can not allow our children to grow up thinking that crap like this is tolerated.
Reply
Tori said 10:28PM on 4-24-2008
Seconded.
smokeyshark said 6:22AM on 4-22-2008
You can't punish your kids. I agree with Carol, a good old fashioned whipping never hurt me any and I sure learned how NOT to act. There is a fine line between punishment and abuse but sometimes zero tolerance doesn't work. These girls should all be punished and that means no cell phones, no mp 3 players, tv, stereo, video games and computer. I didn't have that stuff in my room when I got sent there. I had to study and read and have the brains today to prove it.
paint3a11r said 10:12PM on 5-11-2008
I disagree with smokey, you can punish your kids. True you should never abuse them, however when a punishment is justly deserved it needs to be carried out each and every time. NO EXCEPTIONS. It sounds harsh, and well it is, however the severity of the punishment needs to fit the crime, think about it, take away their cell phones and other things, big deal so they can only socialize at school for a while. WHO CARES? if they get beat like the beating they gave out i guarantee they will never try that heinous act again. And no I am in no way telling parents to hospitalize their kids but beat it into their thick skulls that these actions are not tolerated.
David said 11:21AM on 4-21-2008
Thanks Liberals. This is all on you and your kind. Building a destructive America. YOU are to blame
Reply
Debra said 12:04PM on 4-21-2008
F**k you David....I don't think the Political party of any of the girls had a damn thing to do with them beating a girl who was defenseless!
You stupid Republikans have been in power waaaaaay too long, and now you are blaming the Democrats for all the horrible decisions your party made that ruined this country. Your party has made such a mess of my country that it will takes YEARS to straighten out the REPULIKAN MESS that is left behind.
You Republikans should be ashamed that you have destroyed our economy, our military, our good name throughout the world. Everything that is wrong with the USA lays at the FEET of the REPUBLIKANS....
Freaking traitors!
Rollins said 12:24PM on 4-21-2008
@Debra
As soon as I saw your repeated misspelling of Republican, I realized that I should stop reading your useless drivel. Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I kept reading and confirmed my realization. You're not doing your liberal friends any favors by sounding like a complete moron, you know?
larcen007 said 2:26PM on 4-21-2008
David and Debra - you are both idiots - what the he!! does politics have to do with the the actions of isolated tweens? I don't think they were discussing politics right before the fight broke out. But you guys are - maybe you two should fight, have it taped and posted on you tube - then maybe you can blame politics for causing a fight.
Rollins - I can't tell if you are a bigger idiot or not. While it is true that Debra was spouting useless drivel - so was David, yet you were silent on that point. Do you have a selective reading disability?
Whatever happened to personal responsibility and accountability for one's own actions? If anything, that is what's the problem with both liberals and republicans - blame anyone but the personal who is respnsible for it. It is easy to take the mistakes of a small group of perople and (falsely) attribute to whatever group you don't like. For example, I could blame all those pro-lifers out there for these idiot teens because if abortion were easier to perform, there would be less idiot teens today beating up on innocent teens. Bottom line - these lines of argument are riduculous and take attention away from the bigger problem - tween violence.
Arthur said 10:03AM on 4-22-2008
Debra, I'm not a Republican but, I think you should try using a dictionary or at least spell check.
What the other person was saying is this: There is a serious lack of personal responsibility in this country. Behavior that was once frowned upon is now acceptable. Since this is still the United States of America we all have the right to express our opinions. You should respect other peoples views and not degrade yourself by cursing them.
jane said 8:45PM on 4-21-2008
amen you are so right. gald someone esle see this!!
sarah said 11:47PM on 4-21-2008
This wouldn't happen if the media wouldn't show the 16 year old beating, over and over again on every network!! Kids see this and think, cool I want to do that. It's terrible!!
Rose said 1:58AM on 4-22-2008
Being liberal has not to do with what these girls did. The problem that you have is labeling whether something is conservative or liberal. Wrong is wrong,regardless how you want to label it.
smokeyshark said 6:22AM on 4-22-2008
Debra, politics had nothing to do with it. It does come down to the parents. Where is the right and wrong. Parents try to so hard to be friends with there kids, that they forget who the parents are.
paint3a11r said 10:20PM on 5-11-2008
David, you sir are an idiot and a perfect example of why this country has gone so far downhill. No political party is to blame here, these girls are products of the environment they were raised in.
Clementine said 12:31PM on 4-21-2008
Those girls can be charged with assault whether they are on school property or not. If the adults that are in authority over these girls don't take action they are the ones that need to be punished. If the victim's father is a police officer he knows these girls can be charged either in adult criminal court, or, depending on their age, juvenile delinquency court. I worked in Juvenile Court for 25 years so I know these girls can be charged and punished.
Reply