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)
H. Davis said 9:13AM on 9-13-2009
These units are not earth friendly. They are just another divice that will
add more dead batteries to land fills. Earth friendly books are used books
not millions of mostly worthless new books. The same is true of cars
even an existing gas hog uses fewer resoces then it takes to build a new car.
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garlogeo said 1:38PM on 9-13-2009
Have had a Kindle for 2 1/2 years and have read some 72 books all on one small battery. Which is better 72 books or one battery?
Elaine said 9:09AM on 9-13-2009
I am a senior citizen and an avid reader of books, magazines and newspapers. I live on a fixed income so spending $489 for the Amazon Kindle DX is rather prohibited for me. I usually buy used pocket books, I don't buy the newspapers everyday, but read the news online if I do not go out during the day. I subscribe to several magazines. I would love to have an e-Reader, but having to pay for one, then paying for the books is too expensive for me.
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fmboston2mil said 12:43PM on 9-13-2009
I agrre with Elaine. I am in the same situation,.Besides, buying used book is a kinda of recycling re-using, the smell, the touch, the notes, and an antique colletion too, if autographed. The important thing is to have people, ALL people, reading.
IRThere4U said 10:09AM on 9-13-2009
Don't think buyin a Kindle is the way to go, that's why we have a Public Library.
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somacas said 10:43AM on 9-13-2009
What a blatant attempt to convince gullible people to buy these devices. Earth friendly? Are these devices biodegradable? More electronic crapola.
You say the Amazon Kindle is the best option? OK, let's look at the Kindle; first off, you can only download books to the Kindle from Amazon. Secondly, Amazon has gone into Kindles and deleted books their customers had purchased and downloaded. Third, if somebody steals your Kindle, Amazon is quite willing to sell the thief downloads and if you complain they'll ask you to obtain a subpoena before they will take any action. Like you can obtain a subpoena for a 299 dollar loss.
I'll keep reading books, thank you. Amazon is a great book seller. Their attempt to foist Kindles on unsuspecting readers of this thinly disguised e-book commercial is a real turn off. I won't be turning on an e-book reader any time soon.
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Morelosa said 10:45AM on 9-13-2009
Eco friendly? Come on! What happen to this piece of material if it gets broken? direct to the land field, and never will get discomposed and will remain there for ever on the other hand newspapers can be recycle, and used again, paper books can be donated to libraries, or other friends and family.
One more thing, spending from $300 to $500 dlls for something that has nothing already inside, and you need to spend more money to get the material you want to read, and not only that most of the books are not yet formatted for this equipment, meaning you will have to buy the book any ways. It just does not make any sense at all. They compare this with the Ipod, the only difference is that with the Ipod you only buy music that you like, all the artist have the music formatted for this product, prices are accessible for both the music, movies, the Ipod, and many other applications that can be used with the product even audio books! So... as you can see the difference is huge.
If I ask myself you buy this kids of products? well... people who economically have more than others and do not have to worry on what should they pay first, food, insurance, rent or a gadget like this.
At the end we can say is something that people will think twice before getting it.
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Boof said 10:53AM on 9-13-2009
This is more of the same so-called environmentally friendly propaganda. Paperbacks can be recycled, sold or given away second-hand. They certainly last much longer than an electronic device which, given how fast technology changes, has to be recycled. All that plastic, electronic waste, batteries, power usage. Let's see a real environmental study before trying to get people to buy things by pushing on the "green" button.
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theogsters said 2:47PM on 9-13-2009
Books and newspapers, printed on paper, no longer make sense, they're obsolete. So, at least in theory, I agree with the kindle reader. However, I will have to make adjustments -- abandoning my shelves of friendly books and beloved Sunday edition of the paper. That will take a little time.
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Caterina Pryde said 11:10AM on 9-13-2009
I can buy e-books and read them on my computer, why would I want- or need- to buy another device on top of that? Many of the companies selling ebooks offer them in multiple forms, including free ebook readers. Don't fall for the hype.
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myrna said 12:24PM on 9-13-2009
i have a kindle and i love it. look at all those trees i am saving. i love to read and hardly ever watch t.v. anymore. i order a book and its on my kindle before i am through taking my shower. its the way to go. you can make the print any size you want and it keeps track of where you left off. can't say enough about it.
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RabidWolf40 said 1:20PM on 9-13-2009
Kiss My rebel you know what. I will buy my paperbacks as I can afford them. More and more they want everything to go to the net or to ipods and anybody with even half a brain knows that there are GPS in all this. Somebody somehwere knows what you read. Some liberal potlicker will decide that this book or that book is considered subversive and get it banned. I'll read what I damn well please. Be it a action western or horror. If I really want to make waves I'll read the Holy Bible in public.
This being America we're all entitled to certain freedoms. That's at least the rumor according to all the books made from paper that I've read most of my life. If some of these people want to go that way with little eletronic gizmos fine let em. But I'll stick to my paperback novels.
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Silent Josh said 1:39PM on 9-13-2009
What does GPS have to do with anything? GPS tracks locations. As for "someone knowing what you read" they can just as easily figure that out by the book you buy at the store. Your argument makes absolutely no sense.
ajhai5 said 1:15PM on 9-13-2009
My son has high functioning autism and has struggled with reading the traditional books. As he reads left to right he seems to struggle with tracking. He is also derailed by the ability to crumble and curl the pages. He loves the sensory input and the noise the paper makes needless to say a bit hard to maintain focus. Don't know about saving the earth but...my son is reading much better on the kindle for a much longer period of time. For the first time ever he actually wants to read and I don't have to coach him the entire time to stop tearing and curling the pages. The ability to make the font larger has really helped him not skip lines as he is reading. As a mother of 3 kids it is also very helpful that the kindle goes back to exactly where your child stopped reading. It is also very helpful to be able to download a preview of the book to see if it is in his capability range before I purchase it. I really want our school to buy one for their special needs dept. it has been a lifesaver. Thank You
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Jeff K. said 2:18PM on 9-13-2009
This thing is amazing. I recently bought my wife (a non gadget person but a pretty avaid reader) a Kindle2 and in the last 3 months she has read 9 books saving about $80 over the regular price of the same books which continues to reduce the price of the Kindle itself. After she reads about 20 books, which she easily will, the Kindle is paid for and goes on saving money on books! She swears by it. She says the reads are easier and go so much faster. She takes it everywhere. The fonts are size adjustable and even a "War & Peace" is about the size of large dvd package. If you are travel you can take your whole book library with you and your nosey seat neighbor can't see it. Best part of buying it (for me), my 11 yr old daughter (not so much an avid reader) has been bitten by the Kindle bug and instead of sitting in the back seat txting her friends, she, (as she says) is "Kindle-ling" and on to her 4th book over the summer! You can have your, size of a paperback-portable novel, in an hour without leaving your chair on the beach, have periodicals at your fingertips anywhere and what would you pay to have your kid get into that type of mentality about reading? Worried about being "listed" by Big Brother? Better stop using cell phones, beepers, computers, credit cards, debit cards, etc. Oh and how many of you, no "i-pody" gadgets for me- or wouldn't dare have wasteful plastic items to cover land fills..etc, would give up your "Easy Pass" to help the planet? It also gives you access to the web so you don't have to rev up your computer every time, saving energy. Not that any of this"green crap" is gonna matter in the long haul. Why do you think the Govt is spending billions racing to get to Mars? As a vacation destination I can assure you..NOT! They could take the price of the space program and pay off the deficit.. send out free coupons for college and pay off everyone's mortgage but nooooo!...Those that know...know that we need a place to be able to run to before the eventual stray asteroid turns this spinning blue ball made up of mostly undrinkable water into TEXAS TOAST! Spare me with your SMART CARS...soon they will be able to be folded up so that we can get them onto the shuttle so that we can have something to get araound in..LOL .Folks.. If you are a reader but and or a person on a fixed income or just don't have the extra money to get a Kindle...tell those who love you to pool $200. together for xmas and buy you one. And no, I don't own stock in any of it or work for anyone connected to ...I am simply in the best position to give an educated "comment" on how good it is..How? because...we own the thing and its great Case closed.. Stop crying...Get to "Kindle-ing". It will make a believer out of you. ("Now what page was I on? I see it...the Kindle kept it for me and telling me I'm 67% done with this book I'm reading!"
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willow reed said 4:53PM on 9-25-2009
Books=Good. More electronic garbage..is bad. A book is portable and does not require any toxic components, nor batteries. I hate the word "consumer" because we all used to be "customers" before the world of advertising jumped into the fray.
Books are GOOD!
I buy them, and read them. I also buy used books at times. So...there.
luddite in the making,
Wils
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