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 2)
Suco said 10:03PM on 8-02-2008
This is a crossover from turtle and dog...
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T said 9:29PM on 8-02-2008
Its none of the above. Its nothing but a decomposing turtle that's lost its shell. You can see the "beak" and the shell outline on the skin where it used to be. Why people make so much out of nothing is beyond me..
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molly said 12:12PM on 8-03-2008
i think your a poop!
Emma said 6:54PM on 8-03-2008
It isn't a turtle without a shell. It's impossible to remove a turtle from it's shell without destroying the spine. A turtle's shell is part of it's rib cage and spine. I think it's a dog or racoon of some type, as unfortunate as that is.
Dept of Homeland Insecurity said 6:14AM on 8-05-2008
Newsflash ... straight off the desk of the Paranoid Android in the Dept of Homeland Insecurity .... its another Serbian war criminal trying to escape justice and sneak into the USA (cunningly disguised as an exotic pet with a chronic orthodontic problem). From the body shape, posture and advanced state of decay, I'd say he went to Bjork's plastic surgeon before attempting to swim ashore !!!
Oh my said 9:48AM on 8-06-2008
lol @ a turtle that has lost its shell but good guess. Perhaps you have never butchered a turtle to consume it, sadly my husband does this as they are good eats. And that is NOT what a turtle without a shell looks like I have seen a couple in just the last few months. I dont know what it is and frankly I dont care maybe its a sea creature that is yet to be discovered its possible.. But the turtle thing thats a good theory
Special Report said 12:53PM on 8-03-2008
From the photos, http://www.specialreport.com have concluded that the montauk creature cannot be a raccoon because the legs appear to be too long in proportion to the body, a sea turtle because Sea turtles do not have teeth, a rodent because Rodents have two huge, curved incisor teeth in front of their mouths, a dog or other canine because the prominent eye ridge and the feet don’t match. Maybe it is a wild boar?
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JBaughb said 2:20PM on 8-03-2008
I'm fairly sure its ManBearPig.
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NoAndThen said 10:49PM on 8-03-2008
I was thinking the same thing!
nice one
Lisa said 5:55PM on 8-03-2008
I'm pretty sure that a turtle's spine and rib cage are part of the shell, that's why you can't remove a turtle from it's shell alive. It's back feet look like a dog, those feet are not designed for swimming.
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Joesesto said 3:53AM on 8-04-2008
Look closely at the shadows near the head...the light source (sunlight)would be coming from the viewer's left...but on the right side of the body (viewers left) the light appears to be coming straight down.
Might this be a Photoshop exercise?
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Todd said 8:34PM on 8-03-2008
It looks like a baby griffin to me. :)
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John said 11:21PM on 8-03-2008
This website has all the new pictures of the Montauk Monster along with some good reading! -- www.Montauk-Monster.com Enjoy!
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l said 11:39PM on 8-03-2008
look closer, it's giving you the finger !!!
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l said 11:41PM on 8-03-2008
look closer, it's giving you the finger !!!!
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Mike Perry said 12:07AM on 8-04-2008
Christina Pampalone has released new pictures to
http://www.montauk-monster.com
Weird stuff... check them out.
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Mike Perry said 12:09AM on 8-04-2008
Christina Pampalone has released new pictures to
http://www.montauk-monster.com
Weird stuff... check them out.
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I said 3:11AM on 8-04-2008
The new pictures look more like a boar.
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Flisk said 10:45AM on 8-04-2008
I’m almost convinced this is a hoax.
Look at the evidence:
Very few pictures. If this were real, wouldn’t there be hundreds of pictures taken? I mean, seriously, even with my crappy cell phone camera I take 5 of 6 pictures of the same thing; and if I ever ran across a dead animal that seemingly no-one else had ever seen… Yeah, I’d be snapping them left and right until the memory card was full.
Quality of the photos. These two major photos, one showing this “monsters” on it’s left side and on it’s right, are all pretty high quality. What are the chances someone is going to have a high quality camera that can take that kind of an exposure on a beach? However, with that said, I’m not made of money and would never take an $800.00 camera to the beach and expose it to sand and salt air..
The “thing” in the photo is dead. Where are the flies? Seriously, if this thing was decomposing and rotting with a horrible smell in the sun as the eye-witnesses have said, where are the flies or other carrion feasting bugs? I see a couple of flies, but surely there would be swarms of them right?
Maybe I could snap some photos of a dead human and pass it off as a real legitimate zombie?
Just my 2 cents,
-Brian Hardin II
http://www.ZombieMall.com
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Special Report said 11:11AM on 8-04-2008
How to Guy at http://www.SpecialReports.com says "It can’t be an exotic species washed ashore from the Asian Tsunami because Long Island is on the Atlantic Ocean, not the Pacific ocean. It definitely isn’t a turtle (or other amphibian) because it has hair. The lower teeth and ears, as well as the feet, remind me of the pigs we used to raise. The teeth appear to be too large for a typical domestic hog, so this is either a specialty breed, or a wild boar. In any case, it is a hog of some kind. I don’t really see the mystery here." Do you agree?
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