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)
Eric said 8:43AM on 8-13-2008
This brought back some memories. I feel as though I do have to defend the Kodak disc camera, though; through the late 80's and into the early 90's it got me through college, as well as a number of memorable adventures. It was an inexpensive camera that was small enough to be carried in a shirt pocket. In truth, I don't really recall of the photos being blurry or sub-par compared to other pictures that I had taken..........then again, my standards were probably pretty low in my early 20's.
Anyway, I think the root of its demise is similar to those of other cameras: the advent of the digital camera. (At least that's why I replaced my Kodak disc.) :-)
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nickrapak said 11:24AM on 8-13-2008
No, It wasn't the digital camera that killed it off. The last disc CAMERAS were made in 1988, the last FILM was made in 1998. If you look hard enough, you will still find film for 110 cameras, which used a similar small negative, and for 126 Instamatic cameras. What really killed it off is that if one wanted a 5x7 or, god forbid, an 8x10 of their picture, the answer would simply be "no". It was too small for anything larger than a 4x6.
PennDragon said 8:48AM on 8-13-2008
Let's addd Vista to the pile...with all of the software issues I am still having...there should have been some serious industry planning...I undertand the need to protect secrets...but come on people vista still sucks for anyone who is working with graphic intensive, or video intesive software.
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1MPUR1TY said 10:25AM on 8-13-2008
dude, I'm running vista ultimate x64 (upgraded from XP) and the only problem I have is running media center. I can still play all my old games, run all my old applications, and make fun of dolts like you who don't realize that after SP1 you get free e-mail and IM support for any problem you could possibly have.
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&prid=11274
If anyone is supposed to have problems with vista, it's me. update all of your drivers and check for new versions of whatever software you run and huzaa! it'll work. if anything is an epic failure, it's apple's fanboys for not realizing that vista runs fine if you take care of it.
Mark Russell said 9:24AM on 8-13-2008
You forgot Polaroid's Polavision 8 mm "instant" movie system.
Polaroid forged ahead with this doomed project as everyone else saw video as the future of this kind of application.
It was proprietary, expensive, and produced movies that were dim and had to be played on their special polavision player.
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Scott said 10:10AM on 8-13-2008
They also for got the RCA Selectavision Video Capacitance Disk player. Not many people remember these but that were video players that pre-dated Beta and VCR players. They used a disk that lived in a hard plastic record sleeve in which a user would slide the entire sleeve into the player and deposit the disk then pull the empty disk out. It functioned like a video version of a record player where the disk had to be turned over half way thru to play the other side. For late 70s/earcl 80s tech it was pretty cool, you could even track forward and back to different chapters like today's DVD players. Check out: www.cedmagic.com
Oh and I actually bought the Sega 32x...and the Saga CD and the Sega "Blaster" rifle. I sold the entire system plus 40 someodd games to a coworker back in 2001 for 50 bucks for her kids to play. Now that I have kids I am kicking myself.
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Mistie Ann said 11:55AM on 8-13-2008
The first time I saw an ad for the 'fridge with a tv, I have to admit my first thought was of how cool that would be...About my third time to see the ad, all I could think was how STUPID it was!!! What am I going to do, stand or pull up a chair in front of the fridge? rofl
Mistie Ann
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Mr.Nitemare said 1:09PM on 8-13-2008
what, no virtual boy, r zone, game.com or mini disc? all epic failures
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Janna said 1:27PM on 8-13-2008
I always like the fridge, however they cost too much... I wish they would give me one..
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Ashram said 2:13PM on 8-13-2008
"They also for got the RCA Selectavision Video Capacitance Disk player. Not many people remember these but that were video players that pre-dated Beta and VCR players."
Uh, no.
CED came out in 1981.
Betamax came out in 1975 while VHS came out in 1977. LaserDisc came out in 1978.
CED was a late arrival, and that was one good reason out of a few other good reasons why it failed. By the time CED came out, video cassette was already well-established while LaserDisc survived because it satisfied a niche that CED could not; people who wanted better picture quality than what video cassette could offer.
In addition, one of the primary selling points for CED, cheaper discs compared to video cassettes, was rendered moot as people preferred to rent movies rather than buy them at that time.
And, CED's picture quality wasn't much better than VHS.
Plus, you couldn't record (although the same applies to LaserDisc).
If CED had been released in the late 1970s as originally intended, it might have been a success. But it did suffer from a technical problem concerning disc construction and from inept, revolving door leadership that didn't believe in and/or understand the format so the 1970s release was scrapped while the issues were sorted out.
Unfortunately for RCA, by the time CED came out, it offered what was already available from the competition.
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Chris said 7:19PM on 8-19-2008
Don't forget the Kodak Advantix Camera system......or the 4-track tape cartridge
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David said 1:27AM on 10-21-2008
Wow and to believe I wanted one of these.
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Ken said 5:44PM on 10-21-2008
Don't forget to add Proctor and Gambles latest disaster = The Pur Flavor Options Faucet mount. One flavor cartridge at a time to deliver flavor through a filtered water system.
Poorly designed and 100's of complaints online about how it breaks easily and strains the kitchen faucet.
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Kelso Horror said 12:38AM on 10-22-2008
What about the Atari 5200?
This thing deseves to be on this list.
Let The Angry Video Game Nerd tell you why!
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/17031.html?type=flv
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