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)
TruthBringer said 10:04AM on 6-10-2009
Nope, Tom and his stupid Myspace are out the door for good. Thats what happens when you are owned by Fox. People begin to hate you and leave.
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are here to stay.
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Chad said 10:34AM on 6-10-2009
It should read Everyone has created a twitter account. Of all the twitter accounts I'd bet about 70% are dormant. I know mine is.
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Grammar freak said 11:07AM on 6-10-2009
Was it ever cool?
Myspace was terribly designed and executed from day one, and became even more terribly designed as it copied everything it could from facebook.
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Heimbachae said 12:36PM on 6-10-2009
i got what the next big thing will be. first myspace was just for kids and people wanting a quick date. then everyone joined up. facebook started out as just college kids. once they let high school kids it went downhill, but it's like floodgates. the next big site will cater to a group of people and then EVERYONE will want to join and bam we are in the future!!! it'll be called FTW
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Galley said 12:57PM on 6-10-2009
It's been proven in clinical studies that viewing a MySpace page makes you dumber.
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Apricot Sakuraba said 4:35PM on 6-10-2009
I'm positive MySpace will once again reign supreme...once all the bad press on Facebook (anti-Semitists! too late to vanity URLs! Job terminations! Porn!) collects, Facebook will be no more than the college fad it began as...I am a MySpace user, and comparing the interfaces, MySpace is much friendlier than Facebook...it doesn't put up shitjob terms for simple actions (I prefer the words "Delete from Friends" to "De-Friend" any day!) or put up spam in your news that's annoying as all hell, and the 2.0 Profiles are very pleasant to look at in their Full View mode (because the user makes the page look their good).
MySpace is the one to beat, and I use it as MY social network...
Although for Astra-related reasons, I'm also considering Twitter.
But face it, the gold medal was handed to MySpace on a platter fit for a god.
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Isis Lotus said 7:43PM on 6-12-2009
I use myspace way more often than facebook. Honestly, I can't see why people like it so much more. Myspace allows for way more profile customization and it allows you to actually view other peoples' profiles without having to be in their network or whatever.
When I get on facebook, my whole homepage is littered with updates on this friend newsfeed thing that is just useless information about every little thing my friends have been doing lately. Myspace has a much smaller and compact version that just tells me what I want to know. I don't care what results my friends are getting on "what pokemon are you?" quizzes. Grow up.
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Marie said 5:27PM on 10-12-2009
Thanks finally someone intelligent.
Myspace will be the best again I will make sure of it.
And when it does I'm going to laugh at all the immature haters.
Who were obsessed with Mspace in the begin now you hate it?
People have bad ADD can't stick with anything. It's funny and Pathetic.
But I respect Everyone opinion.
biggestjesusfan said 1:20PM on 7-18-2009
I completely agree. I love Myspace. It is a lot more user friendly, facebook is just kinda confusing.
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