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)
chefgon_ign said 8:02AM on 11-13-2008
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Simzee said 8:09AM on 11-13-2008
Bush should outlaw ALL forms of gambling. Period.
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Be smart said 1:09PM on 11-13-2008
Clearly Bush and others who seek to ban on-line gambling have, as usual, a view that extends no further than the end of their noses.
They obviously have failed to learn the lessons of history, which has REPEATDELY shown that banning the "consumption" of something which many (i.e., a high percentage of the population) favor/desire (whether YOU desire/favor it or not) does NOT stop that item from being made available.
Instead, it causes the consumption by those people who want it to take place underground (think speakeasies in Prohibition, going to "back-street butchers" for abortions, etc.), ultimately resulting in great harm to the populace without "solving the problem" and, in the end, generating MASSIVE profits for those who supply the (suddenly illegal) service or item (think Mafia, drug lords, etc.).
And, of course, when these hoodlums reap all the financial benefit, they become POWERFUL (think Al Capone, Columbian drug lords, etc.) and then have the resources and power to TRULY corrupt legal and political processes (think bribing of judges, police, politicians) to help them RULE the masses for their self-serving benefit (think gangs terrorizing communities in L.A., Chicago, NY, Salt Lake City, etc.).
Nope, like it or not, banning things is NOT the answer. It does NOT make them go away or stop and it DOES give power and money to all the BAD people who would otherwise NOT have access to such a vast resource.
You would think that anyone aware of and advocating the way free-market supply-and-demand works (think Bush, the Republican platform) would be smart enough to recognize that the same thing applies to things like alcohol consumption, gambling, prostitution, etc., and accept that those things ARE going to exist, banned or not, and at least make those things somehow BENEFIT the society/populace, by keeping them legal but making them pay (via taxes, etc.) to engage in such enterprises.
And NOT taxed in a way that is, once again, designed to push them underground but, rather, to a point where it's more economically beneficial for them to stay legal, even though it costs them (think legalized gambling in Atlantic City, legalized state lotteries, etc.).
Remember, every time you buy a lottery ticket, that until very recently, lotteries in the 20th century here were illegal, but people still bought lottery-type tickets ... only it was called "the numbers game" and it was run by the mob, who got all the money from it.
Now that it's legal most places, the STATES and the population get the money and benefit from it (think education, health and senior citizen program funding that is supplemented by revenues from lottery sales). etc.)
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DarkLight said 6:42PM on 11-13-2008
Exactly..
As much as I hate gambling and people who gamble, making it illegal only makes it worse (MUCH worse)
That's why they want to legalize drugs in Mexico.. That way drugs would stop being a business for criminals, and that would eliminate like 90% of all the crime in here