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)
Robert said 7:09PM on 7-20-2009
Intresting that he'd say put away the xbox and not the ps3 or wii, especially since Microsoft's just another failing american company that actually needs american help.
This guy is bonkers, put away the crackberry
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Master Shake said 2:33AM on 7-21-2009
Actually the American-made Xbox is the only gaming system who's sales is increasing. Playstation fell 59% last month, and Wii fell 46%, while Xbox increased. The question here is who is Obama REALLY trying to serve? With the American economy these days have fewer and fewer bright spots, the videogame industry still takes in over $20 billion a year - a lot of it on American products (unlike just about any other industry you can think of).
Superman said 10:16PM on 8-20-2009
http://www.switched.com/2009/08/03/mother-of-autistic-u-k-hacker-calls-on-obama-for-help/14#c21030948
Ken said 11:29AM on 8-20-2009
"Its just a government coverup. What this is communicating is a simple hacker was able to hack into a supposedly secure government server. To me this means, the government IT people are not doing their jobs. So blame the hacker or blame the IT team for letting something like this happen. Reminds me of a movie a while back. oh yes WAR GAMES. Chances are this is all drama and he may just get a slap on the wrist."
NOT funny there "bill gates" aka "Ken", that you mention "War Games"...that's basically ALL the types of Games you have been selling for years from the "INNOCENT gaming companies" you have taken over by "FORCE" and made "Very EVIL"!!!!!! You bill gates "REALLY LIKE" to Cut people up in a game like 'gears of war' with a buzz-saw!!!! U SADISTIC "DEVIL"!!!!!!! Then, "you sell those 'EVIL-GAMES' to the children"!!! You are the biggest azzz hole that makes the kids get "BRAIN-WASHED" and go shoot others at campuses and middle schools, because "you, bill gates"; 'condone' that "EXTREME VIOLENCE"; "GORE; BLOOD and GUTS IS Very Cool" to the "Once INNOCENT" Children!!!!!! U debase bas-TERD!!!
Mr_Fizzlepop said 11:36PM on 7-20-2009
He probably owns all 3 systems and knows that the biggest slackers play the 360 :)
It's nice how you turned it from being the popular system, and thus the one the pres mentions into the system out of the 3 that represents the most lazy people among gamers.
Just a sec, I'm about to go turn on my PS3 and help the Folding@home people so I'm a more productive gamer that helps society :)
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hotshot10101 said 12:25AM on 7-21-2009
No one has mentioned that there are also educational games for xBox. I personally have written several for the Community (soon to be Indie) games. There are others as well.
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