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)
JosephZMAN63 said 12:35PM on 6-21-2009
Of course they text daily. Why do you think they are coming out of public school with no education? They aren't listening to their teachers, that's for sure.
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Michael said 2:38PM on 6-21-2009
R... Really? I could have told you this without a "study." Hell, in my school, I can think of maybe... 3 or 4 teachers who really care. It's easy for teachers to know when a student is texting but most don't care. I've had teachers tell us how they know, notice it, and just ignore it. Is a girl looking into her purse for an extended period of time without moving anything? Yup, texting. Is a guy looking over the side at his pocket with his arm all the way down? Yes, he is texting.
I'm going to be a senior in high school and I've never texted in school. I think the concept of anything more than short conversations is stupid, but still, if a teacher would just enforce the rules, there might be some hope. (Keep in mind I don't want to blame teachers entirely. It's a new problem, and a multitude of issues have led to it.
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bimotarich said 8:10PM on 6-21-2009
Most teachers DO care but are unsure how to deal with such a wide spread problem. Here in Japan it is a problem as well (in fact probably worse as cel phone prevalence and sophistication is generally greater here). It is complicated by the fact that there are legitimate uses for cel phones in class (they often contain dictionaries and students can access the web to get class related information, students often take pictures of board information and calendars etc to use as notes... etc). It seems to me that policing a class and teaching a class are also different skills and not all teachers (or even most) have both skills in equal doses. I love to teach, I hate to police. And cel phones are small and easily concealable... it takes real vigilance to catch every student using one. And to identify the purpose of use is not easy either. The other option is to make an example out of each student caught, but that hardly seems fair to that student... and indeed might not be what is best for that student. It is a difficult situation. I have suggesting banning the phones but their prevelance it too great in schools here and their legitimate uses are too important to ignore. It almost feels like prohibition times... there is too much penetration and not enough will amoungst the students to make any kind of ban realistic.
lhgraphics said 9:03AM on 6-22-2009
you can't text in school if you don't have a cell phone. My kids don't have cell phones. They're not missing anything.
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Kay Smith said 3:21PM on 6-27-2009
I am a middle school math teacher, and I catch students weekly texting during class. Sometimes it's answers to a test that their friend is going to be taking later in the day. The students I have are really good at avoiding responsibility and finding ways to circumvent the rules, but they are very low in common sense and work ethic. Our district rule is that students may have phones on campus (per the Supreme Court's rulilng), but phones must be off and put away out of sight. If students are caught with the phone on and out, the phone will be confiscated and a parent must retrieve it. The second offense means the student is not allowed to have the phone at school. I actually had a student text ME during class one day (I had called her mother on her phone once, so she had my number). The worst offender was the 8th grade student who received a call during the state Algebra 1 test, pulled out his phone, and proceeded to look at all the pornographic pictures a buddy had sent him. Nothing happened to him. He wasn't disciplined, he didn't get a lecture or a suspension. Mom, however, took the phone, looked at the pictures, and dropped it on the floor, stomping it into a broken mess. She vowed he would not get another cell phone from her. It's a problem that isn't going to go away. When you see elementary school children talking and texting on the way to and from school, you know we've lost the battle as educators.
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sabrina said 8:00PM on 6-28-2009
i text in class all the time but to cheat on tests is only obviously cheating myself i love passing regents at end of the year when a cellphone vibrate is a automatic zero where did that knowledge come from?
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