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)
Kattie said 5:17PM on 8-25-2009
Years ago they used to print the lyrics of every song on the album in inserts they sold along with the CDs. Maybe they should just offer a text file with the lyrics whenever someone downloads a song legally. People are lazy, so they'd pay for the added convince over scanning Google for the lyrics of some obscure or new song.
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sepirioth said 10:55PM on 8-25-2009
I cant believe that they are actually doing this. Your right, they used to print them and lets face it, sometimes you just want to know what the heck they are singing. total joke they need to start signing quality artists instead of running after lawsuits. tsk tsk, and to think I wanted to work in the music industry, dodged that bullet
justlegalizeit09 said 1:02AM on 8-26-2009
you think this is bad? ive seen worse.... http://www.switched.com/2009/06/24/got-a-custom-ringtone-ascap-wants-you-to-pay-up/ check that out.... greed greed greed greed greed.... i will NEVER EVER pay for music EVER again.... as far as im concerned, once a song is played on the radio, it becomes public property..... there was never a big stink with cassettes.....
sykiks said 5:23PM on 8-25-2009
Sheeeeesh....what are they going to sue about next? Letting someone listen to a cd with us? "I'm sorry....your purchase only entitles you to listen unless you buy additional licences for each person that will be listening with you."
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oversight68 said 8:43PM on 8-25-2009
@sykiks
yes, they would probably qualify that as a public exhibition thus entitling them to additional licensing and royalty fees.
Perhaps it's time to put the final nail in the coffin and just stop buying music from entities that support groups like the RIAA, NMPA, their tactics, and their criminalization of the consumer.
The music industry is hemorrhaging money because the vast majority of the product they peddle is crap, and consumers just aren't willing to spend $20 for a CD that contains only one or two decent tracks. This, along with the pure unadulterated greed and failure to adapt to changing market and consumer demands.
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Brian said 9:07PM on 8-25-2009
Dear RIAA,
Until you stop being asshats, I will no longer support your terrorist organization. Please die.
The organization formed by your ashes will surely come to the logical conclusion, embracing digital distribution and accepting the fact that the majority of consumers will not buy an entire feces filled album for one track of gold. If even one in ten people believed your organization fought for the good of the artists, you wouldn't be in this pickle.
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ringflashphoto said 3:09PM on 8-26-2009
I buy CDs. I don't buy downloads. I want that media in my hands. I usually hear new (at least new to me) music on either FM radio or internet radio, and rarely (with the exception of AOL Radio) is the song title, artist, and album information available.
Thus, to find the song information, I listen to a portion of the lyrics and then do a web search on the portion of the lyrics I remember. If there are several versions of a song, I go out to a music site and listen to the free previews of 20 or 30 seconds of each version until I hear the version I recognize, and then I go buy the CD.
If the lyrics were to no longer be available, I'd be unable to identify the songs and wouldn't be buying the music, but I guess that is ultimately what the RIAA and other groups want, to not sell music but to gripe and complain about how music sales are falling.
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klip indir said 3:42PM on 10-03-2009
Thanks for the tip, tho
Müzik indir
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