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.
Milan Karki, an 18-year-old Nepalese student who idolizes inventor Thomas Edison, has been experimenting with electricity since he was a child. His goal is to create low-cost, low-maintenance providers of energy in order to cheaply and efficiently bring power to remote, impoverished villages.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
blightvoet said 7:15PM on 9-09-2009
Ahhh...
I see what you did there.
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ThomasE said 3:36AM on 9-12-2009
Nepal, Singapore, Japan -- did you ever wonder why these students come up with reallly great inventions (and not our own young people)? You can probably bet your bippie that the schools in other countries are not teaching their students about non-traditional families, transgender surgeries, and how to put on a condom, as well as all kinds of political nonsense and other ridiculous non-school-related stuff. We're allowing our students to be corrupted by this garbage that does nothing to further their futures -- or ours. What passes for news now is an interviewer asking, "How do you feel about...?" Whatever happened to real journalism -- asking people who know, "Tell us what happened," "What did you do?" "What did you observe?" "What did your research turn up?" "What would you recommend?" Their feelings are not relevant, their thoughts are. Just think, if we stopped letting the history revisionists change this country's and the world's history in our textbooks and other books, our children could be saved having to repeat past mistakes. I don't remember who said, "Those who are not familiar with history are destined to repeat it." If we still insisted on giving our children a real education in reading and writing, math and science instead of all the feel-good talk about their feelings c--p, we could have another "Thomas Edison" from our own country. New inventions are very exciting!
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gr8gabbo said 5:22AM on 9-10-2009
BEWARE...the energy companies will stomp this kid into the dust. He is messing with their monry tree....
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Sanskrit said 9:12AM on 9-10-2009
No, because it's a kid, they're more likely to pat him on the back, maybe give him a scholarship and an honorarium, buy the rights from him and then bury it as deep as they can.
cqdeed said 6:55AM on 9-10-2009
I think something outside the box will begat advances in the field but this one will have to be able to be duplicated and tested many times before it becomes accepted. Many energy companies and professional energy researchers will look at this and say "BS" and never consider trying it out until they are hit over the head with success.
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gr8gabbo said 10:05AM on 9-10-2009
lol....watered down...politically correct. but same story.
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