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.
We stared slack-jawed at our monitors when we first read about 15-year-old Paige Horne's 15,000 texts per month. We screwed our faces up in astonishment when we heard about 13-year-old Reina Hardesty's 440-page long texting bill. We pulled at our hair in disbelief upon learning of two grown men who sent 217,000 text messages in a month. But now we've had enough. There is no way. There is no way in the world that somebody could thumb away 300,000 text messages in a single month.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rose said 10:50AM on 5-07-2009
I've seen so many teens who are allowed to walk around with their thumbs glued to their phone that the number doesn't surprise. What I don't believe is that she's a 4.0 student. "In a recent month" means this had to have been during the school year and there's no way any schoolwork got done while they texted 7 times per minute around the clock. No matter what their grades, the facts are that they aren't performing to their potential, whatever that may be.
Instead of bragging to the newspapers, any concerned parent would be taking away the phone. The kid probably can't form a full sentence or spell without using the typical texting shortcuts.
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dirtythursday said 12:07PM on 5-07-2009
amen to that. it's obscene how much kids are on their phones. so much for developing human interaction skills
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TJ said 1:00PM on 5-07-2009
Crystal Wiski? Really? That is SUCH a stripper name. I'm calling fake on the whole thing.
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NoAndThen said 1:22PM on 5-07-2009
I'm sorry, but that is just BAD PARENTING.
I agree with Rose, the damn kid isn't going to be able to speak comprehensibly in 5 years time. I'm glad I went through High School just before txt ing became a big thing.
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Chelsie said 3:33PM on 5-07-2009
Well, I can't verify how right this is, but I know that I have texted 45,000 a month. And that was in the summer....
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Kimbers said 3:58PM on 5-07-2009
Whoa, just because a person texts doesn't mean they can't form a full sentence. I text quite frequently and it hasn't made my communicating skills any worse. While in my last year of school, I text people a lot and still got straight A's.
Not that I'm saying that I believe that this girl really text this much in one month, at least not by herself, BUT how is it bad parenting if she really is a straight A student? If she's preforming the duties that her parents have told her to, then what is the harm in it? It keeps her away from drugs (because obviously she doesn't have time for that), and it also keeps her out away from many other things that kids are getting into these days.
A text nut myself, I know that text messages are not always lengthy replies, but they can also be "Yes" "No" "Okay". Also, text messages only allow 160 characters including spaces, periods, and such, which is not as much as some people seem to think.
Again, I'm not saying that I believe she did this by herself, if she even really did it. I am saying though, that just because you text doesn't mean you have to have poor grammar, and it doesn't make a parent a bad parent necessarily.
By the way -- NoAndThen, you miss typed texting, and you're also using shortcuts with you're typing (like you're complaining about this student doing..)
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Kimbers said 9:26PM on 5-20-2009
Oh and by the way -- Rose, teens are NOT the only ones walking around with their thumbs glued to their phones. If you properly read the article there are also two adult men who have achieved sending 217,000 text messages. Just because they are the only ones mentioned in the article doesn't mean they are the only two adults in the world sending a large amount of text messages.
Oh and you're a GREAT parent for punishing your child for getting good grades and staying away from dangers which are prevolent in the world today, and easily accessible by teens. Give yourself a pat on the back.
Also, maybe the student isn't to blame for not reaching her full potential and still keeping a 4.0, possibly you should be looking at the teachers a little more seriously.
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Dave said 4:25PM on 5-07-2009
Kimbers has a really good point, if she was sending seven texts a minute, and it was during school, then shouldn't we be asking how she got away with that? I mean, you can't exactly hide what you're doing if you are sending text messages like that, and still getting straight A's.
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nascarqueen22 said 2:43PM on 5-11-2009
the parents need to locked up, and the keys throw away, for the kids they really do to lose the phones and get some serious help....
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Quadia said 9:40AM on 5-25-2009
Ummm.... when I was in school (long before cell phones) notes were passed back and forth, some of them with answers to quizzes or homework on them. As a result, some kids got much higher grades than they would have on their own. I wonder if all of this texting is the modern-day passing of answers and that COULD be why her grades are so high? Just a thought
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DarkMVampress said 2:58PM on 5-25-2009
I don,t see the big deal. I am a 20-yr-old college student with my 15-yr-old brother and 21-yr-old best friend on a cell phone plan, and we mostly only communicate per text. In fact, I'm quite sure that one of us has sent more than 300,000 messagages in a month. It's more convienient. Unless of course the person you're texting feels like ignoring you by not texting back.
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Patrick said 8:29PM on 5-25-2009
Uh, will cut ya' some slack Kimers...typo/mispel "prevalent"...but hey, just a thought, do't be in such a rush to chatize another for a typo or opther etc's !!
The nonsense of ANY being that glued to a cel to have the time or inclination to uber text or even chat....Feel rather sorry for those who feel MUST be "connected/wired" 24/7 and find it irratating when WITH another their attention is rudely divided to a point where it makes for a major "why bother" on sdo very many levels !!! These days of mass communication /access /etc are way over hyped and so full of daily tripe...LUXURY is NOT being so wired and many are relearning the charm of such !!
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Sam said 6:02PM on 8-26-2009
I am 13 years old, I am a straight A student. I have all my homework done before the due date. I am in Volleyball, Cheerleading, Horse Back riding, Choir, Marching Band, Youth group, Track, and taking 2 extra classes at a private school for Music. Since I want to major in music when I'm in college. I am not allowed to text at the dinner table and my texting gets cut off at 10pm every night I have unlimited texting and yet despite all the other things I do I still can manage to do 260,000 text messages a month. And yes, thats during the school year too. I know it's crazy but I do. My phone contains over 250 contacts and I know every person, but all of them don't have texting. I don't even feel like I text that much, but I think at also depends on how you text. I mean, if it's a 1 word text message like "okay" then that still counts as 1. And it depends how fast a person can text to determine how much of their time they use texting.
It's really sad though, because I have unlimited minutes too, because my parents don't have a house phone. And yet I only use about 75 minutes a month! So it just goes to show, that the average teenager can text more than you will expect, But I think how much they text does go down as they grow up and they stop texting as much once they become older like in their 20's.
My parents really don't care that I do 260,000 text messages a month, as long as I keep my grades up. I do good at all my sports and keep learning and don't forget how to write and speak english. My school starts at 8:45 and ends at 3:40 so I am not texting for at least 7 hours. Plus, volleyball practice in the morning or games after school and horse back riding at night. And I go to bed at 10pm and wake up at 6:30 for volleyball. So I am a busy person and still manage to do that many text messages. I don't know how its possible especially with all that I do. I just think that it's getting out of hand with teenagers and how much they really do text, So I have told my parents that next month they can take texting off my plan, and I will no longer text until I can control how much I do a month. I think that it will be good for me and maybe teach some other teenagers like me a lesson.
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