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)
I crack me up! said 12:39PM on 11-22-2008
Did he call his cousin BIN LADIN?
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dessy said 3:35PM on 11-23-2008
I feel that whomever you are...whether president or a person in no-where town...you should have the right of privacy whether it be what your doctor appts, your medications you take, the schools you send your children to or even your cell phone payments, contacts and appts...whatever...it should be kept private unless you give permission to the press to publicize it.
kperdue said 1:01PM on 11-22-2008
On leave? Fired? I say prosecute. Enough is enough. I say there has to be many FEDERAL LAWS violated here. This isn't a joke.
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Benjmain Wright said 2:18PM on 11-22-2008
It is astonishing how common these stories (so-called "secrets" of powerful people compromised) are becoming! They point up a larger, philosophical observation: In this age of information, the rich, the powerful and the authoritative surprisingly find that they can keep no secrets. Therefore putative secrets become liabilities. People with something to lose should operate on the assumption that they can keep no secrets. --Ben http://hack-igations.blogspot.com/2007/12/people-in-authority-sometimes-abuse.html
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Cheese said 2:48PM on 11-22-2008
Stop with the anti-Obama jokes. Whether you like it (which I do) or not he's president now.
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Kurt said 9:20PM on 11-22-2008
Just go here, www.verizonpathetic.com ,and learn how great VW isnt.
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sam krajacic said 1:32AM on 11-23-2008
This is a drop in the bucket compared to the oboma squad and the not so most trusted name in news did to the american public during this campane. I am regestered independent though after this election I would likre to regester insaine. OBOMA WILL FIT RIGHT IN WITH THE PORK BELLY SPENDING AND PALOSIES IN DC. He has enough courption in his background to be a 20 year veteran of DC. If your going to hang yhe verizon employies you need not stop there what about the gov employee who searched joe the plumers background, the dem congress women who wouldn't give up the list of new regestered voters enlisted by acorn because she had better things to do, or the judge who through out obomas birth certificate case. Or the fact that oboma was the secound largest recipiant of money from fany mae before they went under. Thats right you have to do research to find the truth out because your not going to get it from your trusted news sorce. Yea my grammer and spelling may suck to the land of sodom and gamorith(calafornia) but this gun loven bible huggen bitter Penn. will be eating tenderloin and wild turkey in though times while you west coast coolaid drinkers will be dining on gravey train and meow mix. This is not about raceisam, it is about the truth. The truth is NEVER POPULAR BUT IT IS ALLWAYS RIGHT.
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tara said 9:04AM on 11-23-2008
Face it people your President is BLACK!!!!
What does race have to do with someone's phone being hacked or account looked at without permission?? The same thing would of happened if Mccain was elected. Just peple being nosy!!!
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Stoop Dogg said 4:28PM on 11-23-2008
I didn't vote for either McCain or I'llBomba, I voted for Cynthia McKinney, who is one of the best Representatives this country has ever seen and it's really too bad she didn't get more votes.
If you all recall, Barack I'llBomba voted for the FISA bill which exonerated AT&T for it's massive phone tapping operation. I don't know how you all feel about having the government having access not only to whom you called without a warrant, but access to your actual conversations.
This is exactly what all our troops have supposedly been fighting against since WWII. And now our government is condoning it.
I also don't like the fact that he's pledged to send cruise missles into a country without their permission in order to "kill terrorists". How many weddings have to be crushed by a cruise missle before this madness stops? And what ever happened to due process of law? Aren't we supposed to put these people on trial?
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ANN HOWELL said 6:34PM on 11-23-2008
I worked at vzw for five yrs,before becoming sickand had to resign. Verizon is a very good company,and by far the best celluar company in all America.But believe me, Verizon doesn't tolerate foolish from their employees,they have a business code and ethics to live by while you are employed their.While i was their i had the honor of speaking with some of Verizons top customers,when their call to me ended,that was it. I would never snooped into these peoples accounts,because i wasn't interested in whom they called,all i had to do was listen to their calls, give feedback and hangup. Verizon train their people to be responsible and take ownership of their calls,not to hunt down who they are talking to.Shame on you who ever you are for not following the business ethics VERIZON HAS IN PLACE FOR ALL THEIR EMPLOYEES TO FOLLOW.PRESIDENT -ELECT OBAMA,ON BEHALF OF VERIZON WIRELESS AND IT'S EMPLOYEES AND MR. LOWELL ADAMS,PRESIDENT,We are very sorry about this incident and believe me it will never happen again. Besides my son is now employed with Verizon,and I made sure to enlighten him on a lot of things at VERIZON.STILL THE BEST NETWORK IN THE WORLD . Mr. Obama,don't give up on us , the company will make sure this willl never happen again,you and other subscribers can take this to the bank.this is a done deal.Stay with the best network in the country,MR. OBAMA AND WE WILL MAKE SURE MRS. OBAMA FEELS SAFE WITH HER CALING PLANS AND WE WILL HAVE NO ONE MONITORING HER CALLS EITHER. Good luck Verizon and keep the faith.
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GhostDoggy said 7:23AM on 11-24-2008
We are talking about one company engaging in snooping of one person's electronic conversations. Whoopie! How about the other companies conducting communications-snooping on thousands of people? I would tend to care more about Big Brother snooping on my calls than someone else's calls.
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