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)
Rick39 said 7:49AM on 6-18-2009
Number 1 rule. NEVER..NEVER ..open a spam e mail. Pop ups? DELETE as soon as they pop up.
Dont' know the person or recognize the e mail name? DELETE
I open my spam folder and DELETE all of them.
"REMEMBER NOTHING IS FREE"
I'm 70 years old and have never received anything free. Their will alway be a gimmick or something to have to order or buy.
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Norma said 11:33AM on 6-18-2009
U are right, everything I have gotten I had to pay for, Nothing is free.
Russ said 9:54AM on 6-18-2009
Looks good to me
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PERRY said 10:30AM on 6-18-2009
spam would be alot less if ISP's like Hotmail and Yahoo would stop personnal emails with CHEVRONOIL and the like not to be used as a name. Only allow it so to brag how many emails are sent from their service. These are personnal addresses and this type should not be allowed.
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WILLNAX said 10:54AM on 6-18-2009
hello ARI HERE I'm cossack cuting diamond for 27 years back at hey ben back at it i see nothing i have to come plane about hey guy's back on the horse you rode in on HA ha that bad
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Elizabeth said 11:24AM on 6-18-2009
DO NOT CALL LIST does help with the phone calls. You must dial this number
from the phone you want the calls to stop. 1-888-382-1222
This is a government service to stop calls.
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usa_mufan said 11:04AM on 6-18-2009
While the article preaches common sense; I am just wondering why AOL would choose to use a picture of Nazi soldiers in a German tank to headline the story??
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Justin Kase 2 said 11:23AM on 6-18-2009
AOL is the worst offender ---No popups of ANY kind should be allowed period---If a peson WANTS popups he should be obliged to ask/subscribe to/for them. AOL interferes CONSTANTLY even when one is playing games, thereby stopping messages from being sent, blocking them and ruining continuity and timing of notes---AOHELL is the worst offender period.
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Valerie said 12:15PM on 6-18-2009
As far as I am concerned, the worst kind of 'spam' is the type of articles AOL inflicts on us on a daily basis :)
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mike said 12:54PM on 6-18-2009
aol is the worst e-mail provider hit with spam 80 + of my mail junk. i have a yahoo free account for e-mail and it may contain only 1-2 spam e-mail in 2 weeks time. GO TO YAHOO AND SIGN UP ! IT'S FREE buy none of aol spam i promise you thanks, mike
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HELENE said 1:00PM on 6-18-2009
MOST OF THE SPAM DOES GO INTO MY SPAM BOX (INCLUDING SOME IMPORTANT MAIL AS WELL) THE PROBLEM NOW IS ABOUT ALL THESE FRAUD LETTERS. SOME USING FBI HEADINGS AND OTHER USING I'M A VET BACK FROM IRAN OR YOUR BANK SAYING YOUR ACCOUNT IS IN TROUBLE ETC . WHEN I SEE IT I JUST FORWARD IT TO "SPAM.GOV" WITHOUT EVEN OPENING IT. THE PROBLEM IS THE AMOUNT OF THESE LETTERS SEEM TO INCREASE DAILY. AS FOR SOME OF THE TELEMARKETING PLACES THEY GET BY THE DO NOT CALL LIST BY CHANGING NAMES BUT USING THE SAME NUMBER. OH, ONE OTHER THING IF YOUR BANK FRAUD LETTER SAYS FOLLOW THIS LINK RIGHT TO YOUR BANK. DO NOT...... IT IS SENT TO THE PHONY SENDERS SITE. SAD BUT TRUE.
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HELGLOVIN said 1:03PM on 6-18-2009
THE COMMENT POSTED BY HELENE WAS ME I PUT IN MY NAME INSTEAD OF EMAIL HELP!
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HELGLOVIN said 1:20PM on 6-18-2009
MOST OF MY SPAM GOES INTO MY SPAM FOLDER (ALONG WITH A BUNCH OF IMPORTANT MAIL SOMETIMES) THE ONES THAT ARE UNFAMILIAR LIKE I'M JUST BACK FROM IRAN, YOUR BANK ACCOUNT IS IN TROUBLE OR THE LATEST I'M THE DIRECTOR FOR THE FBI I JUST SEND THEM RIGHT TO "SPAM.GOV" WITHOUT EVEN OPENING THEM. CAUTION WHEN SEEING THE ONE FROM THE BANK SHOULD YOU OPEN IT DO NOT FOLLOW THE LINK OR PHONE NUMBER THAT SAYS IT GOES DIRECTLY TO YOUR BANK. IT DOES NOT IT IS A LINK THAT'S SWITCHED AND GOES TO THE PHONY SITE. CALL YOUR BANK FROM THE NUMBER YOU HAVE AT HOME AND QUESTION ALL EMAILS. AS FOR THE DO NOT CALL LIST THE WAY THEY GET AROUND IT IS BY CHANGING THE NAMES BUT USING THE SAME PHONE NUMBER. SCARY BUT UNFORTUNATELY THAT'S THE SAD REALITY.
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gary5658 said 1:25PM on 6-18-2009
So, exactly where is this company located? Do they have security? Body guards? It would be terrible if something very bad happened to them.
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W4ZJM said 3:32PM on 6-18-2009
Thought you might want to read this briefly. AOL ( as you well know ) has several ways to reduce the number of spam mail you get. You can even block them emailing you back, but they just change the coding after the @ part of their email. After I block them, and send them off to the spam reports link provided by AOL........
In any event, they probably are finding ways to spam us, not only on your Cell Phones, but your Facebook, my space.com, Twitter, and Classmates.com, and other blog's as well. ( Nice run on )...... :o)
On comcast phone service, they have some easy ways to block callers but a limited list of 6 callers only (same as the old phone companies). However, it doesn't work for toll free caller numbers. I found out, that you can call comcast ( digital phone service ), and they will bypass, that limit to where they will block a particular pestering toll free number ( i.e. 800 and 888 area codes ) for you. Of course, comcast digital phone has a two digit # entry you can utilized to report harassing callers as well. I consider persistent marketing callers as harassing calls personally. Comcast should use a directory where you have no limit on the amount of caller numbers you want to block.
The "Do Not Call list" (provided by the Gov't) doesn't seem to work that well, and some marketing companies us it to get your phone numbers while working around the rules. Long story, which I don't have the energy to explain or work further in wasting my time.........
My philosophy, is they have no business bugging us when we pay for the phone service, and they don't contribute towards those monthly payments we make, etc.
So, I was able to block a 888 marketing number that was getting on my nerves. I don't like to be waking up from needed sleep by some marketing "A-holes" trying to get my money in their pockets.
Just sharing my thoughts
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ihatechicken said 11:37AM on 6-25-2009
nephew
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ksgraywolf said 5:57PM on 10-05-2009
what r u stupid?
lkyspgot57 said 12:56PM on 6-28-2009
I think as the Greatest Country in this world it is a disgrace that the computer software companies the computer manufactuers that as Americans we as personal computer users have to put up with spam and any viruises what so ever as America with the Technology that we have that viruises and spam should come to an end for good for the line of Freedom of Speech Online for Every American that owns a Personal Computer whether it be a PC or a MAC!!!!! Lets use Our God Given Talents to Use in Technology and Computer and Internet use!!!! Very Proud American.
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Mich? said 5:01PM on 6-28-2009
I'm curious to know if Rick39 is single!. By the way I totally agree with you.
Michele
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