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 1)
Jan said 5:24AM on 11-17-2008
Belgian banks have been using something similar for a couple of years now, except it isn't integrated on the card, we get a special box, which requires a challenge and response key after you insert the card. (it works with multiple card types, including visa).
My personal experience: it feels saver, but it is a lot of hastle typing over all the numbers.
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Matt said 10:37AM on 11-17-2008
In the UK bank, Barclays, this is called Chip N Pin. You have to carry a calculator sized card reader around that you put the card into, type in your pic and generate a random number to check your online account. This new type of card would be a much welcomed enhancement...
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Ryan said 3:55PM on 11-17-2008
If they used a variation of this, based on the RSA SecurID cards used in the IT world for passwords, it would be close to rock-solid. Nothing's perfect or ever will be, but using some sort of two-factor authentication like a SecurID card would be pretty close. Of course it would require you to carry a small key-fob, but I'd gladly do so if I thought it could help me keep my identity safe!
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Justin said 5:26PM on 11-17-2008
Similar technology has been used for computer security for many, many years, and determined hackers have, so far, been unable to break it. Look up "SecureID" and "DES cards".
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lyalc said 4:28PM on 11-21-2008
Euorpean banks using one time tokens are seeing numerous phishing ing attacks that break OTP by MITM methods, using the token value to conduct one or more transactions while showing the use various bogus screens.
OTP is broken, as always going to be trivially broken.
John said 8:23PM on 11-17-2008
I have, honest, 10 passwords at work. My home alarm, the code for my phone messages, a code for the cell, 5 or 6 on here, a code for the car radio if the battery dies, the atm code and I know I'm forgetting more.
I should write them down if I start to get forgetful, or hospitalized and need a friend to pay my bills, etc. I know they are necesary but there are so many. And on a closing note, everytime you turn around, a friends area code has changed.
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lyalc said 4:29PM on 11-21-2008
1. This is just a prototype from a small Australian start-up, not Visa
2. Visa is nothing mush to do with this.
3. This technology and concept has been prototyped and trialled over a decade ago. Nothing has made the economics justifiable.
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Brian said 8:51PM on 1-30-2009
This seems like a complicated expensive device to create one time passwords when non electronic methods like PassWindow do essentially the same thing.
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