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.
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
LEE said 6:38AM on 9-13-2009
WE DEPEND TOO MUCH ON TECHNOLOGY, MARK MY WORDS, WE WILL REGRET IT!!!
Reply
lstrmiam said 7:07AM on 9-13-2009
Hmm...I'll bet you also built an underground bunker for "Y2K", didn't you. Uh-oh! Are you ready for 2012? I guess the world will end THAT day, too! Better start stockpiling your canned goods!
seeseweasy said 9:22AM on 9-13-2009
You are so RIGHT!!! We have lost our ability to converse face to face with others and when we do tempers flare. Now I hear that teaching our children the art of cursive writing is a thing of the past. Wake up people!!! Depending too much on technology we will all end up like the song....."In the Year 2525" by Drager and Evens. Aren't familiar with the song? Just Google it. You all know how and that's sad.
amyjohnmylo said 12:37PM on 9-13-2009
oh Lee, HOW RIGHT YOU ARE!
RRballet said 6:04PM on 9-13-2009
I agree, although it is good that we can help the enviroment in this way. But too much technology can be a problem.
MSUPchan said 1:12PM on 9-13-2009
I would usually say someone like you is crazy- but you may be right after all, they talk about protecting the environment- but what about the high amount of toxic plastic that goes into making those eReaders, and when someone's little eBook gets outdated...arent they just gonna trash it and get a new one?
The printed word will NEVER be outdated!
Barrettbooktrdr said 1:16PM on 9-13-2009
I WILL NEVER BUY a E-Reader
I like the feel a book in my hand the smell of the pages and the ink. If an author comes to my town and I go to a signing, what am I going to do? Have him sign the shell of a plastic case? Not bring them what has influinced me. made me feel somthing new or thought a new thought? If i go to meet them I want to bring a copy of their work that I treasure. The actual book! If i want to re-read my book in 2 years I can and they cant charge me twice for it. If I want to share my book I can pass it on to a friend and wait for them to return it so we can discuss the likes and dislikes of the the book.
E-readers dont allow you to keep a book in your shelves at home to look through and remember. Times, places, people, all of these imprint on your mind where you were and with whom when you read this story last the weight of the book the feel of the pages, the first lines of the book. ever go to a used book store and open an antique book and find a pressed a flower? You cant press a flower in a E-book of poetry, the memory of someone who read a poem and kept a flower perhaps from a boyfriend and that they read together.
No Give me My books On Paper, Ill Do as i always have and recycle the knowledge by passing it on to my friends or my nearest USED BOOK STORE!
elroynyc said 2:03PM on 9-13-2009
then why are you on the internet reading the news? Buy a paper...
DUDE said 10:11PM on 9-13-2009
WELL SAID RRballet
Roglo said 1:38PM on 10-11-2009
To Belroynyc who said in response to a book lover, " then why are you on the internet reading the news? Buy a paper... " (2:03PM 9-13-09)
and similar postsers:
For the same reason we read books in spite of television, for the same reason many of us collect recipes in spite of micro-wave meals, for the same reason we visit libraries in spite of the internet. Books are an alternative, an additional source of information and inspiration. Books provide, not just an escape that perhaps only book lovers probably can understand: but an emotional, aesthetic appeal that little else offers.
Too, consider this: Some estimates say, ipods, cell phones and ebook readers could take 50,000 years to decompose. Books and other paper items can be recycled and generally take 5-20 years to "return to earth". Technology is definitely grand, but let's not pretend it is the end-all of that so-called "carbon footprint". If we pursue that all tech or nothing attitude, we may just find that the "tech-all" is indeed the END-ALL.
ayyyjaye said 6:43AM on 9-13-2009
what the hell?! i dont want to cozy up with technology thank you.
im still going to buy paperbacks & stop trying to tell me (and everyone else) OTHERWISE.
Reply
raspberryberet07 said 11:04AM on 9-13-2009
YES!!! THANK YOU!!!! I agree 100%!!!
Lynn said 11:46AM on 9-13-2009
I agree with you. Good for you and keep reading paperbacks. Life is too short, really.
disagt said 6:55AM on 9-13-2009
It is vital to protect our environment but some of this go green B.S. is ridiculous. I realize this is just an attempt to sell more gadgets but some algore-type fruitcakes would have us stop printing ALL books and newspapers and stop building houses with lumber.
Reply
saint10042004 said 7:02AM on 9-13-2009
seriously, we need to reduce using trees, for so many worse reasons than books. books can be used for a long time, they are not going to remain in tact as well as that plastic case and the poison battery inside. by taking everything to technology, you are ruining the best things, reading is too precious to put into such a box. people need to work, we need less pollution, plastic and electronics are not the way. stick to the basics and stop wanting things to be easier, use the knowledge for other things, like medicine. i love my books!
Reply
Cjgribner said 9:05AM on 9-13-2009
Okay, out here we raise poplar trees that are grown just for pulp wood (in other words to be made into paper). It's a crop, like tomatoes or any other. So, if you want to stop cutting down trees, then you'll have to stop building houses.
jstthinkaboutitt said 7:09AM on 9-13-2009
Unreal, who the hell wants to read a boom or a newspaper on a small lil thing like that or even on a computer for that matter! I can rea d abook and a paper much faster flipping pages then having to click my way though the whole thing with advertisment pop ups and all kinds of other garbage showing up between pages! Everything comes around full circle and this technology age of immediacy will pass just as fast as it came. We soon will all find out that all these laptops and cellphones are giving us enough contact with radiation from these things that we will all wind up with some form of cancer. And then that will makrd the death of this electronic age and go back to sitting down with ay family and reading a book and a newspaper. We need to go back to our roots in America in order to survive as a country!
Reply
sundance sally said 7:10AM on 9-13-2009
You can't pass on an e-book when you are done reading it! Pffah! The e-readers
are just future landfill gizmos they way so many beta then vhs tape players were.
You can go to the libary and borrow a book for free! Will that be so with e-readers? Anyone remember when were content with 3 major TV networks
and UHF channel TV that was FREE ???? How will you housetrain that puppy?
Your old e-reader? Look, trees ARE RENEWABLE. Plastics and such are not.
I've been around the ecology movement since the early 1970's. I don't see e-readers as being very ecofriendly to make!
Reply
BILLY FERRARO said 7:10AM on 9-13-2009
Uh, no. I like holding a book in my hand. I hate, hate reading anthing on line, such as a book. At most I will read a news article here and there, alas here thus the typing...
Reply
daniel said 7:18AM on 9-13-2009
Unreal, who the hell wants to read a boom or a newspaper on a small lil thing like that or even on a computer for that matter! I can rea d abook and a paper much faster flipping pages then having to click my way though the whole thing with advertisment pop ups and all kinds of other garbage showing up between pages! Everything comes around full circle and this technology age of immediacy will pass just as fast as it came. We soon will all find out that all these laptops and cellphones are giving us enough contact with radiation from these things that we will all wind up with some form of cancer. And then that will makrd the death of this electronic age and go back to sitting down with ay family and reading a book and a newspaper. We need to go back to our roots in America in order to survive as a country!
Reply