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.
Say it ain't so (again) Pioneer, Japan's Nikkei is reporting that despite planning a return to profitability by sourcing Panasonic plasma panels, facing a consolidated loss of 100 billion yen ($1.08 billion U.S.) it will end TV development and production entirely. The DVD business will be spun off into a new venture with Sharp as part of a plan to shed several thousand employees over the next year, including a shutdown of its Shizuoka plant, along with already planned closings in the U.S. and Europe. Honestly, we should have seen things were going badly when it let LaserDisc die, but the worsening economy may have proved too tough for the idea that its Kuro and Elite line of products would not be subject to the ups and downs of the economy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tigre said 1:29AM on 2-09-2009
All they had to do was make some LCD's along with their Plasma's and they wouldn't be losing so much money in TV Production. People want cheap HD tv's and let's face it compared to a lot of LCD's plasma aren't cheap. It'll be sad to see them go though because those Kuros looked sweet.
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MadMike said 9:48AM on 2-09-2009
Damn, I'd miss the Kuro's. Pioneer was one of the ONLY companies to make TV's that weren't crap. Take a look at testing and you'd see most TV's don't deliver what they claim - even Samsung, Sharp, etc..
Out of all the TV's out on the market, the only 6 worth purchasing are the Sony XBR8 46' & 55', Pioneer Kuro 50' & 60', Mitsubishi LaserVue, Panasonic 65" Viera. The rest just plain suck. But that's mainly because LCD's are crap, unless they release tri-color, local-dimming LED backlit 240Hz LCD's in sizes over 50" for under $3,800.
OLED better come out soon!
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xbplaya1122 said 9:04AM on 3-22-2009
for the yahoo who said lcd is cheaper than plasma obviously has never shopped for a 50 " screen and if you say the smaller screens are cheaper in lcd well i would hafta agree with you because there are no small plasma tv's they both have thier pros and cons but just wait..... the super slim OLED will be out soon hopefully maybe... lets just hope georgey b didnt screw us over too much
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