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)
Carol said 8:50AM on 9-17-2008
Okay, the headline states, do you see faces or candlesticks, the answer tells a lot about you. Well what does it tell or did I miss that part?
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April said 10:14AM on 9-17-2008
I've noticed AOL's headlines do this sort of thing all the time. What a waste of time.
Sara said 8:01PM on 9-17-2008
I agree. I get frustrated when I can not find the info as stated. I also do not know why when I am reading something part of it has to be covered by a rectangle with other info on it.
Randy said 10:21PM on 9-17-2008
I thought I was the only idiot that couldn't find the stupid answers to the question of how many F's are there on this page, GET with it AOL. We don't like your run arounds, It's a waste of our time reading your stuff anymore.
StrayCat said 10:06AM on 9-17-2008
Really, what DOES it tell? Do I have to go through a million pics to find out? Any psychologists out there wanna tell me here what it means if I always see FACES first?
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Larry said 5:09PM on 9-19-2008
AOL webpage is really bad about doing that. Giving you a headliner with an interesting question or title then just leave you hanging with no clue as to what they were talking about. Almost as if they were senile or have dementia. Like what was I talking about oh well here is a totally different thing we will show you that you were not even interested in.
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StrayCat said 10:27AM on 9-17-2008
OK, Carol, I went through it. If you see faces first, you're a people person, if you see candlesticks, you are more a domestic logical type. That's what I got from it, at least.
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jamielow803 said 11:26AM on 9-17-2008
thats crap i wanted to know wha it said about if u see one or the other
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KSilva94551 said 11:13AM on 9-17-2008
I agree, I'm sick of opening up these headliners and having to search for the answer. If I want to know more information then I can choose to go on to the next page.
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KSilva94551 said 11:15AM on 9-17-2008
I agree, I'm sick of opening up these headliners and having to search
for the answer. If I want to know more information then I can choose
to go on to the next page.
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rhonda said 11:39AM on 9-17-2008
thanks for the heads up, I wont even bother to look :)
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A Roze said 12:49PM on 9-17-2008
Agreed. Waste of time; when you "click" it should give the ANSWER to the QUESTION for which you are "clicking." Come on AOL - surely you have a bit more savy than "trickery."
George Williams said 12:25PM on 9-17-2008
Col. Mustard porked Ms Scarlet with the candlestick in the bedroom hehe
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Patricia O'Malley said 10:33AM on 9-18-2008
Yeah, I almost never click on this kind of thing myself any more. Because it is so aggravating. They frequently do not give the answer to the question they showed in the Headline.
I imagine a LOT OF people just don't bother clicking onto this type of thing anymore, because AOL is playing games with them. It;s a dumb thing to do, because they want you to look at some advertising----which they need in order to fund the site.
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A Roze said 1:17PM on 9-17-2008
Agreed. Waste of time; when you "click," the link should send you to the ANSWER to the QUESTION for which you are "clicking." Come on AOL - surely you have a bit more savvy than "trickery" to get us to click on your adverstiser's sites. Pretty soon we won't believe you at all - and completely ignore any "message" you (or your advertisers) are trying to convey.
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A Roze said 1:18PM on 9-17-2008
Agreed. Waste of time; when you "click," the link should send you to the ANSWER to the QUESTION for which you are "clicking." Come on AOL - surely you have a bit more savvy than "trickery" to get us to click on your adverstiser's sites. Pretty soon we won't believe you at all - and completely ignore any "message" you (or your advertisers) are trying to convey.
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glynn kennedy said 1:27PM on 9-17-2008
This is one of the reasons I stopped paying AOL
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david said 1:32PM on 9-17-2008
This is simple. A persons mind will automatically want to see a pictorial image imbedded over a WHITE background. So most people will ''see'' the color image pop out in the fist millisecond thier eye catches the image. Once the first image is focused in out thought pattern, we can then retune our vision to catch the second or more subtle image. As for the image of the ''candlestick holder''....... i probably would have chosen a different term as its a very unconvincing looking candle holder.....how about a watergobblet, or vase, or if your really creative.....well who cares....but anyway that is why we see the faces first.
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Ali said 1:55PM on 9-17-2008
Faces? Candlesticks? I see a lady in a long dress smoking a cigarette....am I normal?
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reina said 8:49PM on 9-17-2008
yeah i totaly agree,it is aggravating to get interested and to find out that your not going to fill your need for info.
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