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 1)
Emily said 3:00AM on 4-23-2009
Many people who I know, especially those in their teens and twenties, download music. When they find a song (or artist) that they like, they are often more than willing to buy an album or go to a concert to see that artist. I will admit that I've bought my fair share of CDs based on one song on the radio or TV (back when I listened to more bands played on US airwaves, that is), only to be greatly disappointed when that song was the only decent one on the entire album. This is probably the biggest reason for a lot of the illegal downloading that goes on.
I occasionally do download music, because much of what I listen to is simply not available in the U.S., and is difficult to obtain through online stores either due to language differences or to horrendous trans-oceanic shipping charges. Much of the time, I do end up buying the CD and/or some piece of merchandise to support the band, and have gone to quite a few concerts when these bands end up touring here.
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A.C.E.R. said 6:44AM on 4-23-2009
I'm at the 2 largest private music trackers and I've bought music / discovered artists that I never would have before. tbh I haven't bought anything from the large labels, but I've discovered all sorts of great music on smaller labels.
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bastion78 said 10:17AM on 4-23-2009
I have been saying this same thing since Napster's heyday--back when I was in college. We all downloaded music be we also purchased a lot of the stuff that we downloaded because it was worth buying. I also know a lot of pirates are people who wouldn't have bought what they were pirating in the first place. The entertainment industry is losing sales because it has a lot of new contenders on the scene to divide people's time, but piracy is just an easy target to blame. If a video game does not sell well--then let's just blame the pirates. If piracy were wiped out, sales would be in the same realm they exist now. I agree that piracy has some effect on sales, but it is negligible compared to what the Industry claims it is. Wolverine Origins has been downloaded over 1 million times already, if it opens between 50-80 million then that will just prove my point.
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undrgrndgirl said 2:08PM on 4-23-2009
duh!
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