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 8)
Hope said 12:53PM on 12-18-2008
People seem to forget that durng a power outage, cell phones are not worth a damn. People have a short memory - remember the blackout in NY city when people were stranded and could not call their family members or friends ??????????????????? These are the same people who will moan and cry and whine when they can't make phone calls during a power outage and blame the govt. LMAO
Reply
Brian said 10:46PM on 12-19-2008
Landline phones upgraded to FIOS.(Fiber Optic) Will only work for a short time without power depending on your battery backup system.Cellphones work fine without power it's when cell towers fail that there are problems.
Aldida said 10:43AM on 12-21-2008
I bundled my house phone when i transfered from sprint to verizon. I put my husbands,mine and the house phone on a package. Im saving 90 a month.
The only reason i kept my landline for so long is just incase someone called who did not know my parents passed away. It was not worth the 60 a month after fees and taxes and if they sneezed.
hal edelson said 1:56PM on 12-20-2008
Hope: In a power outage, land lines do not work. Over the years I had more problems with land lines vs. cells. I ditched my home phone service nearly 2 years ago and haven't had a problem since. Give it time...land lines will go the way of the typewriter, VCRs and other outdated technologies,
laura said 3:15PM on 12-20-2008
Last time I checked, cell phones are not controlled by electricity. My cell phone works just fine when the lights go out.What kind of phone do you have?!
Kay said 4:10PM on 12-20-2008
After Hurricane Ivan we were without much of any service. BUT, the good old land line phone still worked, so we were able to communicate with the outside world. I will never give my land line up.
tlbates said 7:46PM on 12-22-2008
What does having a power failure have to do with losing the ability to use a cell phone?
Ellina said 1:38AM on 12-27-2008
Calling 911 from a land line ensures an emergency response, even if you can't complete the call and give details of the problem. This is because your address pops up on the local police departments dispatchers screen. Call 911 on a cell phone and good luck getting help fast. Not only does your call go to the highway patrol centralized dispatch and then has to be routed to the local authorities, but if you can't get out your location for some reason, they will never find you. I'm a cop and see it all the time. Keep a land line if you can afford it.
Damien said 1:13PM on 12-18-2008
@Hope: or in this year of 2008 there are back up batteries and even CAR CHARGERS... your worry is a black out and that you wont be able to make it to your car before your phone dies!! Come on, land lines are going to die off just like analog cable IS.
Reply
j said 9:04PM on 12-19-2008
well your phone may work in a power outage but how the heck does the tower work it runs off of ele
granted some have backup power but not all and those that do i far and few between
Dallas said 3:01AM on 12-20-2008
Analog didn't die. The Gov't killed it. I gave up my cell phone because it cost double what my land line cost and the phones become obsolete every 6 months. The only time I ever used it was to call radio stations and the one time I really needed it, the signal was blocked by buildings. Enjoy your cell phone.
Damien said 10:35AM on 12-20-2008
If you only use your phone to call put of town, then your phone is not obselete. The only time that happens is to those of us that actiually USE the phone for all of its functions. Yes it costs double what the land line costs, but you can take it anywhere and get long distance. Make some long distance calls on that landline and then compare bills. The government.... Haha, how about Sony and all the other tv manufacturers, they don't make analogs televisions anymore so why have the system in place. I guess for you Dallas and your landline
MiPrather said 5:38PM on 12-25-2008
Check the coverage map for any carrier. There's a lot of rural area (look at Alaska) without any coverage. That is why landlines cannot die. Unless everybody switches to satellite phones. And even those could probably get overloaded like cell towers do. It doesn't take a disaster to do that. Try to get through to someone on their cell phone at the big football game just as everyone is leaving.
Gregory said 4:41AM on 12-26-2008
Damien ~
While land lines will SOME day be obsolete, it will be a LONG time before that happens! Where I live, there is absolutely no cell service, no television and VERY few radio stations... heck, we don't even have cable, anolog, digital or otherwise! Until THAT type of situation is corrected, land lines will be hanging on.
I have noticed a LOT of people seem to think they will have cell service even during a major power failure. WRONG! While all your individual cell phones will power up because they have batteries, the cell phone TOWERS rely on continuous electric service. While there may be SOME towers with a battery backup or generator, they are few and far between.
Another problem with cell phones seems they jam up with heavy use much quicker than a land line. Since cell phones are just radio transceivers, they all operate on limited radio frequencies and you can only have just so many radios in one spot. With land lines, there can be thousands more connections since they are wired in and do not count on the limits of radio frequency.
There will still be a place for land lines for a very long time. The phone companies are investing millions in setting up fiber optics phone lines. Fiber optic service is just about THE fastest connection you can get for your computer, it is much more difficult to intercept a signal on fiber optics making it more secure and each single fiber can carry something like ten times more than any copper wire.
Peggy said 8:08PM on 12-19-2008
Hope...i hope your land line works---if it is a cordless phone....it won't work.
Reply
mitch said 8:16PM on 12-19-2008
When the bridge fell in Minneapolis and having relatives there the wife calls on the cell and cannot get through all lines busy. We call on the ground line and surprise we get right through. Our ground line is tied to our high speed internet, so we are not getting rid of it any time soon. Your crazy to go with cell only. I've never forgot to "plug in" the ground line.
Reply
old enough to remember said 6:25PM on 12-25-2008
Same thing happened when the Twin Towers went down. Hubby works in NYC and I could only reach him using our home land line. All of the cell sites were being reserved for emergency services.
Scotty said 8:16PM on 12-19-2008
Oh that would explain me not having a job anymore!! signed unemployed phone man.
Reply
frank said 8:26PM on 12-19-2008
I dropped my land line years ago. I live out in the country and it was very expensive to have a land line.Never have any problems and save lots of money.
Reply
LAINEE said 8:33PM on 12-19-2008
I was thinking about going totally wireless then we had an earthquake. My husband was running some errands and dropped my mom off at the hairdressers. I couldn't get to him on the cell phone and tried several times, finally I used our landline and bingo, it went right through.
Not gonna give up the old landline, too many earthquakes in good old California!
Reply