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.
Everyone knows what Facebook and MySpace are, right? Facebook just hit 100-million users, and MySpace hit that mark more than two years ago. Mix in all the other various social networks out there and you surely have billions of people, right? How is it that only 42-percent of people know what a social network is?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sweetchuckd said 5:37PM on 9-06-2008
Have you seen this? A website predicts it will surpass Google's traffic within six months!
http://detentionslip.org/2008/09/detentionsliporg-reaches-milestone.html
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Hope said 1:17AM on 9-08-2008
Facebook and MySpace started off with good intentions. But then
these sites themselves turned into garbage sites - hackers stealing
ID, spammers sending out spam, bullies threatening kids, pedophiles
lurking in the shadows, etc., etc. People do know about these sites
but anyone with a computer already deals with spams so who has the
time to deal with the same old garbage of spams on these networking
sites ??????? Of course, the younger generation doesn't think with
their brains - they think it is ok to post detailed personal
information even after repeated warnings from law enforcements,
experts, etc., etc. Yet these same idiots when they are hurt, lose
money or someone bullies them in cyberspace act hurt and can't
believe this is happening to do them. Nothing is safe or secure in
cyberspace - once something is posted it will live on in cyberspace
for eternity. So why in the world would people with common sense
like to be involved with these so called networking sites that are
nothing but spam/junk sites in disguise ?????
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