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.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
pete said 10:39PM on 11-03-2008
WHAT AN IDIOT, AND THIS IS YOUR VP CHOICE ???????????
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Carlea said 8:35PM on 11-03-2008
Sara is not very smart and she knows absolutely nothing about foreign geography. You absolutely can not see Belgium from France. She is a giggly, uninformed idiot.
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Adam said 8:50PM on 11-03-2008
I think the real idiot is the so called "Adult" who thinks prank calls are still funny. Sarah was actually very gracious and rolled with the joke even when it was revealed. Something that shows what kind of human being she is (REAL). The fact that she even gets on the phone personally is something I don't think Obama would do. Instead he would have somebody else handle his business for him. Which his voting record would show.
Uninformed American said 2:43PM on 11-04-2008
Dear Carlea,
I am sorry to say its you that is the "uninformed idiot". France, shares a border with Belgium... and also Andorra which Sarkozy is the "co-prince" of. THough you cannot "see" Belgium from Paris, where I believe Sarkozy grew up, it is not inconcievable to believe there are parts of France where you can stand and have a clear line of sight to Belgium. As you may know, in the town of Four Corners in the United States you can stand in one state and look into 3 others. Insane I know... those crazy surveyors... what where they thinking defining boundary lines as to confuse the population? Would you like to disput the "absolute truth" of this as well?
Caleb said 4:44PM on 11-04-2008
Although I am sure that there are parts where you can see Belgium from France, what bothers me is the fact that Palin could be convinced that easily in the first place. And as for the matter of Palin actually answering the phone, I believe it would fall to the decision of another for which phone call Palin might receive. I am quite sure that if a secretary told Obama that Nicholas Sarkozy was on the phone, he would answer it too. I would also be more fond of a Vice President being Intelligent rather then REAL.
kathy murphy said 8:47PM on 11-03-2008
She should have caller ID.. She has absolutely no street smarts. What a ditz! Her secretary is equally stupid. Please dont put them in charge of homeland security..no wait .. hire them 2 idiots out to the CIA.Or.. go scrub floors for PETA.
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Baron said 10:49AM on 11-04-2008
I hate to say something as trivial as this, but I feel the situation warrants it since you are calling someone an idiot. So, with that said, before you call someone an idiot, work on your grammar. Ellipsis are three periods, new sentences begin with capital letters, them should be those, etc. I really don't have any problem with you calling someone you don't know an idiot, but you should at least make a coherent and well written statement.
soundbites said 8:51PM on 11-03-2008
Wow, and this is the woman who is just a step away from the white house?? Someone please tell me this nitwitt was just going along with the joke. No matter how you look at it, she still comes out looking like an idiot. Thanks pranksters for showing the world what most of us already knew!
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thedune said 9:43PM on 11-03-2008
If you review others that have been pranked you'll see that Tony Blair, Fidel Castro and other high ranking political figures have also been pranked. Her secretary should never have put the call through, but how was she to know it was a prank. And since I'm sure this was Sara Palin's first time speaking to him on the phone, she wouldn't recognize his voice. Stop being so critical!!!
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Carlea07 said 10:40PM on 11-03-2008
Tony Blair knew it was a prank immediately. So did many others....who have brains. If she would have listened to the clues rather than being so fake to appear engaged, she would have known. She is a joke and after tomorrow, she'll roll off into the abyst of has-beens where she rightfully belong. Good riddance!
Mel said 11:59PM on 11-03-2008
Amazing that the energy maverick does not know the names of the Canadian brass who are her country's major energy partner! Don't vote stupidly.
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oouser said 9:45PM on 11-03-2008
she should have known with the begin of the statement abou the hunting from the helicopter. It prooves again what a SLOW BIMBO she is.
The country be in GOOD hands with this disaster of a women.
god help us if something would happend to JOHN, shut the country down
or MOVE
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Megan said 11:29PM on 11-03-2008
I am fluent in French, Sarah Palin never claimed to be, and their fake accents were not intelligible to ANYONE, so it was, as most French or French descendants will attest, A CHEAP SHOT worthy of their envious nature. Palin was gracious & trying to vet the two freaks who were careful to hide the snide, including telling her an incorrect interpretation of one of their jokes. Had they said it, i.e. 'A Pig with Lipstick, instead of the Joe the plumber lie, she might of caught on, and even if she caught on, when being 'diplomatic' as a politician must be, it is not polite to point out to the moron talking to you that he has his facts wrong---you try to go along and get out of it as well as possible. Obama's people sure have a long, and limp reach to create such drivel, but hey...it's cool to trivialize the ecology, the 'sagging' economy, and the safety of the world, WRIGHT you talentless sycophants?
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jordao said 7:46PM on 11-04-2008
Good grief. You obviously have no idea about French cultures throughout the world. If you are a French person, you would immediately recognize the French Canadian caller's accent. It is not beneath Belgian, Swiss or France French, only different, Quebecois. Don't be so presumptuous.
Dan said 1:39AM on 11-04-2008
The only thing that's funny about this whole "Prank" is that people are trying to use this as an example of how dumb Sarah Palin is. I myself am really impressed that an ordinary "mom" from an ordinary family has achieved so much by just being a honest, good hearted person. I'll bet that almost all of the critical contributors to this column have not accomplished close to what Sarah Palin has. For those of you who consider Sarah Palin dumb, especially those of you who are voting for Obama, and those of you who agree with his plan of spreading the wealth, Have you considered what is going to happen when business's start paying higher taxes? Do you really think that successful Doctors, Lawyers and even Successful Plumbers are just going to absorb the loss? It's more likely that they're going to raise their fees on services, and products, or maybe just cut back on wages, and benefits. Now guess who gets to pay those higher fees and who loses benefits, you do, with the extra money Obama gives you by lowering your taxes. If he doesn't renig on his promise as usual. I'm pretty sure Ms. Palin wouldn't call you names, like bimbo, airheads, or dingbats, but I'm sure that you'll probably think that of yourselves if Obama does become your Commander in Chief.
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virginia said 2:27AM on 11-04-2008
Joe the plumber is a joke, doctors have been giving up their practice for a few years now, jobs have been moving out of the country for years, closing down. Only the rich got richer and the middle class and the poor got poorer. The real plumbers don't make 200.000 or near that. Vote Obama/Biden so the working class will be able to see the light of day. Only God is able to take care of us all, because we belong to him.
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Pete said 11:25AM on 11-04-2008
I think you could spot this bimbo the a & t and she still couldn't spell CAT.
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Barry said 4:08PM on 11-04-2008
"The Masked Avengers" come across like your typical dirt bags taking advantage of a nice person. Of course, Sarah Palin handled this ridicules stunt like the class act that she is.
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Sarah said 4:11PM on 11-04-2008
I am not a fan of Sarah Palin, I don't think she should be the next VP. But I do have to give her some credit for gracefully accepting the call. No one expects her to know French, nor the meaning of the words. The fact that she answered the phone and talked to the man says enough. Just because the man on the other end of the phone said something stupid does not mean she should have known it was a prank. Political leaders say stupid things all the time, part of who they are. This PRANK proves nothing more than the fact that these idiots who initaited the call weren't funny at all. It was a poor attempt at a prank, my two year old could have done better.
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meoozik said 6:50PM on 11-04-2008
She is an incredibly stupid, cold, heartless sociopath. When he tells her he enjoys killing animals, she giggles in agreement. He then tells her he wants to go hunting with her, and wants to shoot animals from a helicopter. Again, while giggling, she agrees - telling him that they'd have a GREAT time - LOTS of FUN!
The truth is, that this piece of crap brought back aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska.
You should google this, and witness this nightmare first hand. She says she's pro-life, but not all life apparently.
I hope after today - after they LOSE to Obama/Biden, that I never hear her horrible nails on a chalkboard voice again. She needs to GO AWAY.
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