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 3)
DAW said 2:14PM on 11-13-2008
Messing around with and reading someone else's e-mail is absolutely despicable !!
Also, nobody should read another's postal mail - except in the case where that task has been delegated, such as by a businessman to his seceretary, or by an invalid to his caretaker.
DAW
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JOANNE said 3:02PM on 11-13-2008
IF U R MARRIED THEN YOUR LIFE IS AN OPEN BOOK AND YOUR E MAIL IS ALSO
BUT IF YOU DONNOT LIVE IN SAME HOUSE..ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESSS. IF U LIVE TOGETHER THEN ITS STILL NO ONE BUSINESS HOPE YOUR NOT CHEATING!!!.
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Happy Married said 3:07PM on 11-13-2008
If you have no problem sharing your email with your spouse, than I think you have no problems with your marriage. My email and voice emails are open to my husband as well as my children. I think when you hide something than there is intent... If you are not married then you still have that luxury...
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DarkLight said 6:36PM on 11-13-2008
I agree, a wife is supposed to be your other half... If it can't be like that, then you made a bad choice.
If I had a wife, we'd share our mails (and everything else)
..on the other hand, it's really difficult to find a good woman :-(
Dennis mirchin said 3:09PM on 11-13-2008
It would be a non issue if in fact other credible information or evidence
suporting one concerns of foul play or other acts of concern to the person who wants peek into the e-mail of another person. caution once the act of opening ones e-mail takes place a discovery takes place where by a challange can take place thus justifing acts and actions. if in fact you come up blank,,, RUN!!!!!
This no way legal advise as I am not an attorney. However I am a private investigator...I have a litle expierance in matters like this>
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Josh said 3:13PM on 11-13-2008
My wife reads my e-mail and facebook all the time. Why would I care? I'm loyal to her and have nothing to hide.
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dolfinmum4 said 4:09PM on 11-13-2008
My husband has my passwords, I have his. I check his email, he is free to check mine, on all accounts that we have. We are open. When you feel that your spouse has no rights reading your emails or your social networking mail, and they get suspicious, who is to really blame? You are, because it looks like you are hiding something. I hide nothing from my husband, and he hides nothing from me.
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Holly said 4:57PM on 11-13-2008
Good for you dolphinmum4, everything you state is supported by the truth. Husbands, wives, significant others should have absolute trust in one another, this is the foundation of a healthiest of relationships. Fact of the matter is your stature of relationship is two far and few. I just wanted to say I congratulate you on your relationship of full faith and confidence with one another.
Secrets should exist, but only for national security and the safety of the public.
Brian said 4:07PM on 11-13-2008
I'm glad I checked my girlfriend's (now ex's) email. We had been dating for three years. I was on a two week vacation with her, in Florida. I was fixing her laptop when a "suggestive" title for an email from one of her friends. I clicked it... and read about how wonderful he felt waking up with her, etc. I didn't want to ruin my vacation, so I spent the rest of the vacation having a.. uh... great time, then told her what I read and left her as soon as we got back.
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De said 4:18PM on 11-13-2008
I sometimes have to check my husband's email because he tends to miss some important items. He has never asked for access to my email, but I would have no problem with him checking them as long as he didn't delete them completely before *I* got to read them. There's nothing to hide here. We're completely boring.
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Kimberly Lewis said 4:45PM on 11-13-2008
Email is private. Do you listen in on others' phone calls?
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dory said 10:52PM on 11-13-2008
Yeah we listen to each others phone calls if we happen to be in the same room. my husband and i share an e-mail address and could care less if we read each others' mail. Nothing to hide on either side. Could be why we have been married happily for 21 years! If you are that secretive then you probably don't have an honest and loving relationship.
Kimberly Lewis said 4:38AM on 11-14-2008
Well Dory... On Monday my husband and I will celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary! We are true to each other, always have been. We have four children together and are very blessed. We also have 3 or more different emails: Each!. We communicate in person, spend time with one another and copy each other with emails and articles we know the other will enjoy or we want them to be aware of. We are all entitled to privacy and if you do not care about your poor husbands', you may not be as happily married as you think you are!
Sylvia said 4:50PM on 11-13-2008
I just broke up with a guy because he insisted on reading my email and wanted to check my phone all the time - I told him it was none of his business - we were only dating a short time, a few months - somethings should not be shared until there is a true commitment involved - trust should be there until one of them breaks that trust - and I never did anything to have him mistrust me - I never asked to see his phone or emails - never even questioned who he spoke to on the phone. I feel if your in a relationship, and your partner is saying your cheating, chances are that they are cheating on you and are feeling guilty and insecure.
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BAP said 9:13PM on 11-18-2008
I agree with you 100% I've always been accuse not sayin Im perfect and that it never cross my mine, but Im 4ever accused. I always told her thats its her making sure that Im not doin the same thats she's doin...
teej said 1:47PM on 1-29-2009
i, respectfully, disagree. i'm a 24 year old male, and i've never cheated on anyone. unfortunately, i'm ashamed to say i checked one ex's email/phone/FG and another ex's phone.
i had trust in them but it was the little things that made me paranoid. i never directly asked to check their email, phone log, etc. on one instance, i would ask to borrow my girl's phone because i forgot mine (borrow it to make a call in front of her), and she'd delete all logs and it just seemed suspicious to me, considering we dated for a year. well, i checked her mail/FB without her knowing, and i only proved my suspicions.
i checked the 2nd girl's phone ONLY because she started to get a lot of texts during the night (and she didn't usually; dated for 2 years). she went to party with some mutual friends at another school and "passed out naked on frat guy's couch." i think this would make any guy pissed/paranoid. situations like that make you paranoid and lead to FB/email checking.
if someone's actually cheating on you and still dating you, they're not going to tell you straight up (especially pathological liars), so you have to do your own detective work sometimes. it's kind of a protection method. i believe a majority of situations like this stem from insecurity but also from your partner acting inconspicuously and defensively.
these girls weren't exactly skanks by any means, but i've definitely refined my girlfriend evaluation process. my most recent relationship never had any trust issues. we shared laptops and whatever, and i had nothing to hide, so i could care less what she sees.
i guess the moral of my story is: 75% of the time someone is defensive or protective over this shit, it's because they have something to hide. the trust lies in the willingness of your significant other to do it even if you don't ask. the cheater partners usually say, "what? do you not trust me?" ... i hate that line.
jinto555 said 10:52AM on 3-25-2009
I agree with you that their should be a true and significant commitment before anyone should even ask for sharing somethings. I also agree with you about the partner accusing you of cheating( when you aren't, or even acting suspicious in any way). My ex wife use to get angry because she said some one was flirting with me, she once was angry with me for a week or more because my brothers girlfriend came outside and talked to me while I was having a cigarette. As it turned out I found out she was cheating on me, I guess I missed the signs, but I loved her and trusted her completely. Even after all that i feel significant others should be able to check each others e-mail & such only with their knowledge( no sneaking around). I believe married couples should be as open and honest as possible. Everybody has the right to some privacy, its up to each couple to decide whats right for them. ( sorry for rambling on)
drk2001 said 4:53PM on 11-13-2008
Personally, i would consider somebody reading my email, postal mail, listening to voicemail etc totally intrusive. I would feel the same way if it were my wife (OK i am not married, but IF i had one LOL). The problem is that there IS somebody suspicious enough to spy on you, they are also suspicious enough to create scenarios which appear to be insulting (women love to say a racy email is "cheating").
The "why would she say THAT unless you are DOING IT WITH HER" is a question we men cannot answer. You can agree that you ARE guilty (so of course you have lost) or you can say you are not doing what you accused of doing - which means that you are a liar AND a cheater.
The people who say they have nothing to hide so it is OK probably voted for Bush and are happy to give up their right to privacy.
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annee said 4:59PM on 11-13-2008
My husband and I have the same password. We could check each others emails, but we don't, at least I know I don't. I think the fact that we can shows the level of trust that we have. We've been married for 39 years, and I think we can look forward to another 30 years or more.
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Caterina Pryde said 6:10PM on 11-13-2008
After I saw some suspicious info, I check my fiance's account. The account I paid for while we lived together. I had given him access to my account, and he told me I could access his, but had changed the password. It and the other material were on my computer. And he was cheating, and he was kicked out. I wouldn't do it without cause, but I'm no longer as trusting.
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