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)
Mags said 9:36AM on 8-18-2008
I had t-mobile for a couple years and never had a dropped call for them. I then signed up w. verizon and had amazing service. The problem was for my 1 phone alone I was paying around $170 a month. I cancelled my service w. them and ordered and iphone 3g. The phone is great, but I wish apple would have chosen another carrier to sign up w. I've several dropped calls. I hardly get signal anywhere, and it's not just me. All of my other friends who have been w. at&t since it was cingular complained that it seemed like when they turned into at&t their signals were lower and they were getting more dropped calls. Anyway, it still irked me I had not had dropped calls in a couple years, and then I get a few after joining at&t. But really, they need to change their advertising. They advertise exactly the opposite of how things really are. No bars, and many dropped calls.
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heather said 9:45AM on 8-18-2008
Completely agree. Sprint service for 12 years and few dropped calls. I phone AT&T for 3 weeks and more dropped calls that I can count, basically everyone. Now that I am traveling, I cannot get the phone to pick up a wireless signal.
Terrible service, AT&T is completely misrepresenting their service. I have no bars and no service in some of the largest cities in the US and the world.
Shelby said 9:41AM on 8-18-2008
Not only are their iPhones not working, iTunes has been down for weeks and they won't admit it's their fault. They keep pushing it off on the users even though we're all having the same problem.
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Kyaaron said 10:55AM on 8-18-2008
You ppl were stupid for running out & buying the first anything. You knew there would be glitches...
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Frank said 11:29AM on 8-18-2008
ur right! but they just had to have their status symbol... look at me, I can afford to throw away money on something that is overpriced and will have problems!
Tanworks said 11:56AM on 8-20-2008
HOW old are YOU???
Tricia said 12:56PM on 8-18-2008
This isn't the first of anything this is second generation of iphone. I have an iphone and I like it I havn't been having any problems.
Joe said 10:27AM on 8-18-2008
I do agree, I had cingular for years before I got my iphone. Never having calls dropped. I purchased my iphone back in November and subsequently switched to at&t. I have far less reception then I have ever had with any other phone company before. Some of my friends went out and bought the newer models, mine downloads much quicker and has better service. But other then that...I love my iphone.
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vee said 11:12AM on 8-18-2008
definately false advertising with AT&T.
NOT more bars in more places.....
never have bars and always get dropped calls.
i am not a happy customer!
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Jeff said 11:24AM on 8-18-2008
I had a palm centro with sprint and it worked beautifully. I could be up in the woods in New Hampshire and make phone calls while riding up the freaking chair lift! Sprints service was great! Now i got the 3g because it is a kick ass device, the mobile me is really nice and obviously all of the cool apps etc etc
...... The Reality is the service with AT&T is really bad...... I get dropped calls in the city when on the bus ( probably because of the signal handoff issue) i have 1 bar if I'm lucky in my office, and Im paying more for this???? I had the all you can eat deal for 100 bucks on sprint.... I personally think the Cingular/ AT&T merge totally jacked everything up and that the company is still having issues with merging the 2 networks....
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gary said 3:39PM on 8-18-2008
jeff you should have stayed with SPRINT the SAMSUNG INSTINCT RULES..... the phone works flawlessly and the service gets better every day...wanna text you will never beat this phone....web access super fast...that is once you figure out how too get the key board up...lol all you out there enjoy your microsoft junk we you ever learn?
Kennedy said 11:54AM on 8-18-2008
AT&T Wireless sux. Why Apple would go with them exclusively is bad business unless they just need a poor carrier to blame for issues like this one. If Apple doesn't make the iPhone available on Verizon's network, I will never own one. I rather have a reliable network than the iPhone and will never switch to AT&T
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Kayli said 12:02PM on 8-18-2008
I have had tmobile, verizon, and now at&t. I had no service with verizon, spotty service at best with tmobile and wonderful service with at&t. the trick? i have a 3G device that has been around, tested, and improved upon. MY roommate has the 3G iphone and my fiance has the LG Shine and both of their phones have unreliable service even where I have 5 bars. the issue espcsially occurs in areas where the phone have to make the switch from 3G to Edge because 3G service is not yet available everywhere. This is what happens when you have a new phone that hasnt been well tested and debugged on any network, not just with at&t. i have an HTC TYTN and the only issue i have is the occasional white screen that the phone was known to have before I bought it. yeah the shine and iphone are cool, but they are not the end all be all and its the phone not the network that is causing dropped calls
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kate said 1:51PM on 8-18-2008
SHELBY- I dont know what you are talking about, itunes has not been down! I havent had any problems accessing it throught my computer or my iphone! My boyfriend and I both have the new iphone, and we havent had any problems with our service, or itunes! I have never had any problems with ATT, i have been a customer since 98 or so. I can count on 2 hands how many dropped calls i have had in the 10 years i have had them for my cell phone service. I would never go anywhere else all my friends have had LOADS of problems with Verizon, Sprint and Tmobil, like double billing, service outages, horrible customer service!!
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jay said 12:19PM on 8-18-2008
The problem i seem to have with my iphone is sometimes when i access an app it shuts the phone down, than i have to wait for it to start back up. it's really a pain.
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Peter said 12:31PM on 8-18-2008
I love Apple, have many apple products.. I have also had several iPhones. Everyone of them, 3G included dropped calls left and right. The volume AGAIN is still not sufficient. Dropped calls and piss poor volume have been complained about IN DROVES by users and Apple refuses to do anything substantial about it. WTF??? When I heard that Apple originally went with AT&T, I thought, "someone is in bed with Steve" since it can't possibly be because of the network because AT&T sucks horribly. Noisy connections, dropped volume, dropped calls. It's truly amazing that they have both fooled this many people.
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P said 12:45PM on 8-18-2008
I have the same problem with my Motorola Q9h switching between 3G and EDGE at will. I think a software upgrade, other than Windows Mobile 6.1 is needed for this phone as well. How about it, Motorola?
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mcwald20@aol.com said 12:52PM on 8-18-2008
ATT many years ago. Could not call a friend 8 miles from where I stood. in NJ. Still crappy service.
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Dave said 2:16PM on 8-21-2008
It makes no difference how far away the person you are calling is from you.
They could be eight miles away, or across the Atlantic.
The key is how far away from the cellular networks nearest station you are.
The quality of cell phone calls on AT&T (or any other network for the matter) does not get worse the further away the two callers are.
Candie said 12:59PM on 8-18-2008
i'm not a happy A T & T customer. when i first bought my phone with Cingular i had great service and my plan included 500 messages for an extra $5. when A T & T merged they changed my plan to 200 messages only for an extra $5 without telling me, that month i had over 200 and i was charged and i didn't know why, my phone bill was to the roof, when i called A T & T they told me they changed it because they didn't have that plan, i think they should've honor the people who already had it and not accept new customers under that plan and on top of that i have more drop calls than ever. looking to change to another company.
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