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)
Anne said 5:03PM on 8-01-2009
Where are your work ethics? If you want to "play" on your bosses PC, I say not!!! They are not paying you to email, purchase things or surf the net. Most companies have internet policies. Not for personal use. The idea is your boss is paying you to do a job for them, not to play. Like I said, where are your work ethics.?????
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Emily said 5:16PM on 8-01-2009
A couple years ago, in my first retail job, I was nearly fired for checking an e-mail while at work. I had been on the job for a couple months, but nobody had ever told me that e-mail was absolutely off-limits during work hours. So of course, my boss saw me over the hidden camera system, and immediately came out and started chewing me out. He told me "You don't know how close I am to firing you," even though I was otherwise an excellent and reliable employee. I explained to him that everyone else at the company not only checked their e-mail, but watched YouTube, updated Myspace, etc., and that I honestly had not been aware that it was a termination-worthy offense.
So...I kept my job, but I was required to place phone calls to all of the other employees and tell them of my transgression, and to tell them that if they were caught doing it that they would be fired on the spot. I NEVER again tended to personal business while at work, as once was enough to learn my lesson. I did stay with the company for nearly a year, and when I finally did leave due to a severe illness, my boss kept my position open for nearly two weeks in hopes that I would be well enough to return, even if only part time.
Lesson to be learned is: don't assume that personal computer time is allowed, even if you've never been warned against it and everyone else does it. Just keep the personal business at home, and don't put yourself in the position of being warned, chewed out, and possibly even fired.
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Hope said 7:05PM on 8-01-2009
It seems as if employees just don't have any common sense, they are down right stupid. How many times people need to be told that they are being paid to do their job - not to surf the internet, send text messages or watch YouTube or check their facebook or myspace pages ???????? Today's employees don't have any ethics because they think they are entitled to everything in their lives having being raised by stupid parents who want to be their friends instead of their parents.
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Shannon said 8:32PM on 8-01-2009
The title phrase " How not to get fired at work " caught my attention, so I was anxious to see some good tips, but after reading the little bit of info. on here, I'm still looking for the how not to get fired, never did see anything like that, not even close. Nothing more than saying you could get fired if you get caught, Well Da!!!
I could have told that one myself. Total waste of time.
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Johnny said 4:12AM on 8-02-2009
Two things--actual company policies vary widely, and while you shouldn't assume anything, companies -should- inform employees of their policies. One of the largest issues in many companies is the horrible lack of training and information. Second, Hope, in a lot of companies, employees may have considerable downtime and not be kept busy or have anything to do. At one job I had, I went for two weeks without any assignment or being able to get any kind of task and then I had three crunch weeks working 60+ hours a week. When were you born? 1865? By the way, the worst cheaters I ever had as employees were usually the ones that had been abused by their parents with beatings and had learned to cheat to get around their parents "discipline"--the ones who had kind, loving parents were quite alright and didn't try to get away with anything, they were secure in themselves.
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dllig54 said 9:38AM on 8-02-2009
I know of an employee who was always talking on his cell phone.
When confronted by his supervisor he stated "Dude they are my minutes I am not using the office Phone" and thought that was an accepatble excuse he no longer works here
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deryk said 2:25PM on 8-02-2009
Stupid, the title of this article was misleading. Now welcome to the 21st century everyone. Just like people used the phone to make a personal call, ppl working in front of a pc will use it too. I do tech support and when the person on the other end of the line puts me on hold what am I suposed to be doing just stare at the screen for 5 minutes? Sorry I meet my call quota everyday and and am surfing all day long. Its called time management. Studies have shown companies that take away their internet have alot more unhappy coworkers, moral drops. I am still doing my job while Im surfing so , sorry its not hurting business. If my boss doesn't like it then we can talk about why we havent had a raise in 2 years lol.
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