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)
Elmer Fudd said 9:54AM on 8-13-2008
ME was bad as an OS, but don't forget the jump Microsoft made with the dialer and TCP/IP stack. ME dialup performanace was much better that anything that came before it, and it led to the much more stable XP/2000/2003 connectivity.
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Furrynutz said 10:04AM on 8-13-2008
ME was never based on an older version of Windows 2000 NT, of course there was never such an OS called windows 2000 NT, Maybe Windows 2000 or Windows NT, not 2000 NT. ME was based on Windows 98 and not NT or 2000. I never had much problems with 98. But I graduated to NT then to 2000 so for users at the time 98 or ME for house hold use was probably fine. Seems like Vista is taking on similarities of ME though.
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Joseph OGERSHOK said 9:58AM on 8-13-2008
WRONG - VISTA is the worst ever.
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mper900 said 10:35AM on 8-13-2008
I will have to agree with Joseph OGERSHOK.
VISTA is by far the worst OS i've ever seen.
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easterniowaems said 9:45PM on 8-13-2008
Me was nothing compared to Vista.
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Gina said 11:43AM on 8-13-2008
I liked ME. Thought it worked great for a home computer. Now Vista that sucks.
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wildcattennis13 said 1:35PM on 8-13-2008
i remember we had that o_o i dnt rly remember it to well lol
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joseph said 1:38PM on 8-13-2008
VISTA is much worse.
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tyler said 3:23PM on 8-13-2008
1 vista is the worst
2 95 98 xp all such
3 me and 2000 are the best operating systems out there still
yes you may have to tweak them a little ( oh sorry i forget i am talking to lazy people who every thing done for them) but it is worth it.
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Phil Fry said 10:55AM on 8-14-2008
The ME stood for "Might Explode"
I had this OS installed briefly. I could never work for more than 1 hour without a system error or complete crash
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Lovetoast said 12:58PM on 8-14-2008
ME is lame, I replaced it with Ubuntu. The only problem I've had with Vista is that it won't play my Jedi Academy game. Other than that, after some tweaking it's the best windows OS I've used. I don't know why everyone hates it.
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Bill said 10:49PM on 8-14-2008
I remember windows ME well. Yes it crashed alot, but no more so than Win 98 that came before it. Looking back in hindsight ME introduced many of the features we take for granted today. Plug and play, A decent media player, decent web browsing and automatic updates.
These are to this day probably the most used and appreciated elements of any operating system. Cut ME some slack.
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jon rodgers said 6:55AM on 9-02-2008
I have had most of them and love XP, my other computer has Vista and I know it is great for everything I do...I am not sure why all the Vista haters?
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ladygadiva41 said 1:49PM on 9-02-2008
I HATE vista ever since I got new comp it won,t let me on club pogo
without alot of problems but I had windows me more
Jay said 6:47PM on 9-02-2008
Ive had 95-98-2000-ME-XP-and im currently using vista
95 and 98 were probly the best running operating systems when it came to operation
95 and 98 lacked protection and secruity though even with anti virus software
2000 I didnt really have for that long so I cant really comment on it that well besides most games worked smoothly on it and all.
XP was probly my fav though when it came to all around.
Good compatability
Ran smoothly
Medium Secruity
Vista I have now and it has its flaws
It has nice secruity features but they go kinda overboard alot of stuff i used to be able to run programs that I cant run now even as an admin and everything
It has compatability issues with alot of games :(
when you start fresh without having stuff on your computer it seems to run fine but then even having any videos or anything it lags like crazy :(
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hiliary said 9:42AM on 9-02-2008
Well...i went to XP by defauly after my compuer /Me was damaged beyond repair by a clutz who tripped over cables (mind you...cables behind the workstation btw the workstation and a wall it was against) and external connections on Mother Board were damaged.
I found no problems with Me....in fact only complaing was MS dropping support in order to make a market fo rthe new OS.
Vista....YUCK!! Give me Linex any day.
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Ralph said 10:42AM on 9-02-2008
I use Me and have little problems, I like how ME boots faster and I dont have to wait all day for a shut down..also use xp, and vista and like them both most of the time.......U just gotta watch what and how fast U click and dont talk on the cell at the same time......
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Doug said 8:01PM on 9-03-2008
I agree with some of the other posters.
Windows ME was (and is) still better than "Vista" (my son calls it "Virus").
I've used both ME and 2000 and had very few problems, but Vista is a nightmare.
I'm ready for a new computer, but I certainly don't want it pre-infected with Vista.
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Barbara Marksch said 1:50PM on 9-02-2008
I agree with this wholeheartedley.I had windows me,and it was the worst windows I have ever seen. It was always deterating,always bogging down.
I had to have it restored 4 times,but I do have to admit that I,m having alot of trouble with vista but it,s not as bad as windows me
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w_armer said 2:08PM on 9-02-2008
i still use windows 2000 professional & XP. Happy with these. ME Sucked.. Have not had time to study Vista.. Dreading upgrading to a new OS
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