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)
GhostDoggy said 7:42AM on 11-24-2008
I have talked to a handful of parents about the continued old form of public education. This form is one in which students are physically congregated into a centralized locations where a teacher teaches and students try to learn.
Well, this was fine before the advent of computers and the Internet, but we now live in the age of information, which include the transport and accessibility of information. And information available by computer and Internet isn't limited to documents, but also broadcast style information.
When presented with this new form of decentralized virtual congregation style of education the parents usually fall back on the inability for social development. To put not too fine of a point on it, they claim their child will not and can not develop socially without traditional congregated form of student interaction.
While I consider this a cop out, many parents feel this way and are emotionally charged in defending their position. In fact, most parents of children I have spoken with see no wrong in the existing system, and only see individual incidents worth critical analysis.
Yet, my reply to this is always that as a human I developed socially much more from within my family and then again within my neighborhood. I learned to observe and interact at the cinema with friends, at the malls and parks, etc.
The point is that whether or not the public school system is there to teach students how to interact with other students or if it is there to learn something they cannot or will not get from social interaction. My premise for asking this query is one in which parents want this seemingly free daycare, and as long as a piece of paper says they are doing 'ok' then why change the free daycare?
And with this age of technology the notions endured over the centuries should think outside the [school] box and consider that their child isn't so much being sold short in using a decentralized virtual congregated form of education and that maybe, just maybe, their child can learn develop socially on the computer instead of the classroom.
And when taken into a complete context, parents need to realize that their responsibility in their child's social development should not be mainly in the classroom, but from within their home and their local community at large.
Reply
GhostDoggy said 7:42AM on 11-24-2008
I have talked to a handful of parents about the continued old form of public education. This form is one in which students are physically congregated into a centralized locations where a teacher teaches and students try to learn.
Well, this was fine before the advent of computers and the Internet, but we now live in the age of information, which include the transport and accessibility of information. And information available by computer and Internet isn't limited to documents, but also broadcast style information.
When presented with this new form of decentralized virtual congregation style of education the parents usually fall back on the inability for social development. To put not too fine of a point on it, they claim their child will not and can not develop socially without traditional congregated form of student interaction.
While I consider this a cop out, many parents feel this way and are emotionally charged in defending their position. In fact, most parents of children I have spoken with see no wrong in the existing system, and only see individual incidents worth critical analysis.
Yet, my reply to this is always that as a human I developed socially much more from within my family and then again within my neighborhood. I learned to observe and interact at the cinema with friends, at the malls and parks, etc.
The point is that whether or not the public school system is there to teach students how to interact with other students or if it is there to learn something they cannot or will not get from social interaction. My premise for asking this query is one in which parents want this seemingly free daycare, and as long as a piece of paper says they are doing 'ok' then why change the free daycare?
And with this age of technology the notions endured over the centuries should think outside the [school] box and consider that their child isn't so much being sold short in using a decentralized virtual congregated form of education and that maybe, just maybe, their child can learn develop socially on the computer instead of the classroom.
And when taken into a complete context, parents need to realize that their responsibility in their child's social development should not be mainly in the classroom, but from within their home and their local community at large.
Reply