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)
mac said 5:45PM on 3-16-2009
This has been done before, but I still smile every time I see it :-)
Remember "Cash Is King !" utility company .
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Michelle said 6:43PM on 3-16-2009
There shouldn't be a "rule" saying what percentage of your bill can be paid in change. That is ludicrous. Maybe if they weren't charging up the arse for fuel surcharges even though the cost of a gallon has dropped to half of what they are charging, he wouldn't have felt disenfranchised enough to make such a statement. If you want the darn money, you will take it how the customer gives it to you or you don't f-ing get it in my opinion.
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Master Shake said 1:10AM on 3-17-2009
The fact is that there is ALREADY a federal law that says that coins do not have to be accepted as legal tender - only paper money does. You note that bills actually say on them that "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" but coins do not.
Jacob said 7:44PM on 3-16-2009
"collected $350 worth of coins, they unrolled all 26,000 of them"
This makes no sense at all. It would be 35,000 pennies, or 700 rolls (50 pennies per roll). Where the heck did you come up with 26,000?
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xbplaya1122 said 7:46PM on 3-16-2009
ummm they could only count $26 in 2 hours??? wow
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Gregory Dittmer said 11:15PM on 3-16-2009
xbplaya1122 @ Mar 16th 2009 7:46PM
ummm they could only count $26 in 2 hours??? wow
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When you have to count pennies, time goes VERY slow! It does seem they should have been able to count to more than 2,600 in two hours though. It actually works out to something like counting 22 pennies per minute.
In today's economy money spent by the government is counted in hundreds of billions with a national deficit of something like 10 trillion dollars. Just as a point of reference... if a person was to begin counting one dollar bills at the rate of two dollars per second, non stop, no sleeping, no eating and no bathroom breaks, 24/7/365... it would take MORE than 15,854 years just to get to one trillion dollars... but this nation is in debt of TEN trillion dollars.
So, if someone could actually count two dollars per second, non stop... it would take LONGER than homo sapiens have walked the earth just to count our national debt!
xbplaya1122 said 6:37AM on 3-17-2009
right which has nothing to do with them idiots only being able to count $26 in 2 hours.... thats 10 mins worth of work tops
Lin said 6:24AM on 3-22-2009
How funny! It served that electric company right! I think everyone should do this to their electric companies when the companies raise their rates. They don't raise them just a little bit either...they impart a huge raise and then won't work with people who are on a fixed income. As for taking two hours to count $26 of pennies, the people who work for that company must be really slow or not have the mental capacity to count fast. There is no way it should have taken that long...they were dragging out the counting so that they wouldn't have to count all of it.
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BrrinAK said 4:17AM on 3-17-2009
I paid my ex wifes Attorney with $276 in pennies in 1989. put them in a giant tub, and with a hand truck, and with help of new then girlfriend, poured them on the floor of the waiting room and demanded a receipt. LOL
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H said 4:53AM on 3-17-2009
Tuff titty on that electric company. I would do the same to mine because the only one company allowed to provide the general public with electricity on Long Island have been overcharging Long Island residents while all along they had a deal to buy electricity at a much cheaper rate from others.
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rick said 5:51AM on 3-17-2009
GOOD FOR HIM! The untility company should be happy that he paid his bill - if they don't want to count his payment it just shows how lazy the employees are!
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pete said 7:47PM on 4-29-2009
I can't find a penny machine to convert mine? where did you go
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