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.
Considering the way that the Wii flew off shelves last month, this next item probably won't come as a shock to anyone. According to the Wall Street Journal, both Nintendo's console and the Xbox 360 trounced the PlayStation 3 in holiday sales, with U.S. sales falling nine percent from this month last year. During this same period, sales doubled for the Wii and rose eight percent for the Xbox 360. Perhaps none of this should be a surprise, as Sony declined to cut prices on their system, while a lack of exclusive game titles and a number of inexpensive Blu-ray players went a long way towards making the PS3 the least attractive option in an already difficult retail climate. If anything, it looks like Sony won't be able to rely on the console to help prop up a flagging electronics division that just announced it will be cutting thousands of jobs in a bid to boost profitability going into 2009. Happy New Year, indeed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ken said 1:58AM on 12-30-2008
It will be a very cold day in a very uninviting place the day I purchase a (hardware designed by Microsoft, Firmware and OS written by MS, all games must be licensed by Microsoft and any internet connectivity requires you to purchase time on the "Live" network) game console. Seeing as I still have a Dreamcast, NES, N64, PS1 and PS2, I'll just keep my Wii and PS3 and play the games I already have or can get from the local Buy/Sell/Trade [Games, CDs, DVDs, LPs (yes, LPs)].
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maty said 8:47AM on 12-30-2008
What's any different to the other consoles?
Do you think the other consoles don't design their own hardware, OS, Firmware and license games? Even the old Genesis/Megadrive had a licensed screen. And with IBM's cell chip in the PS3 you need Sony's licensed architecture just to produce the games. I'm a games developer and these days, there's nothing that doesn't require a license fee. And why shouldn't they be allowed to develop and license their own software? Epic and Valve, the two biggest PC games developers are pushing 360 development, so just because its Microsoft, closed-source and license-funded, doesn't mean it is at all bad.
And Live isn't costly, infact it is a bargain for what you get. And actually connectivity is free and gives you access to to demos and bonus content, films, trailers, gamerpics and what-have-you. Its only the ability to play the games online that you pay for through "gold" membership. Everything else is covered under the free Silver membership.
Get off your high-horse. Xbox is now the cheapest console around, even with Gold XBL included (at least in the UK). Its got some fantastic games and judging from your collection of consoles you are no fanboy and so the fact its designed by Microsoft as you make a point of saying should be no issue to you.
jon said 10:20AM on 12-30-2008
i've had my ps3 for over a year, going online pretty often. if i had to monetize that (i.e. paying for xbox live gold) for a year the PS3 over the past year has been a better, cheaper value for my money.
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Brian said 12:12PM on 12-30-2008
xbox is just better, I have all 3 consoles, and unless you have both ps3 and xbox you should not comment on which is better. Simply put, the 360's seamless connectivity with friends, chat, messaging, game invites, background streaming music while in a game is just so much better and seamless than the ps3, you can't even really compare them, it makes the ps3 look last gen. I'll pay for live forever, like the previous poster said, it's cheap for what you get, they keep the cheaters off (for the most part) lots of updates that don't take an hour to apply like the ps3. BTW I hate microsoft, but they got it right with the 360, and I have to give them credit for it where credit is due.