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.
Linux has long been lauded for its low hardware requirements and fast operation. It's even been crammed into cell phones, like those powered by Google's Android. Yet Linux creator Linus Torvalds seems to think the little operating system that could is getting a little soft around the middle. 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Millerson said 4:55AM on 9-24-2009
Try hiring programmers for $150K/year instead of a room full of freshly graduated monkeys that don't know what they are doing. Try writing your operating system in assembly code instead of a structured and interpreted language that is grossly inefficient and slow. The problem really come down to the way that the BUSINESS of software gets done.
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Mikee said 1:25PM on 9-24-2009
That's great advice, if you're working on Windows or Macs.
Since most Linux distro's are free, how the hell are they going to hire $150K/year programs?
Try thinking about things before you put your moronic thoughts on the internet, please.
mko said 5:03AM on 9-24-2009
I don't know about to the kernel but some distros are defiantly bloated.
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Houston said 5:23PM on 9-27-2009
Mko above makes the point I was going to make, it is mainly the distro's that get noticed as being WAY over-bloated though from Linus' point of view the kernel would look rather bloated compared to what he started with.
I think you need to look at it comparatively. Compared to Windows or Mac OS it is still VERY slim and streamlined. And when you look back to the early versions of Linux it was never the point that it was the MOST streamlined or efficient of all time, it was just that compared to the other major OS' of the time it was better.
Mainly I think that if you drew a line from where (for example) Windows and Linux were 10 years ago, the gap is definitely narrowing which sort of defeats the purpose that it was originally created for.
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Nirmal said 12:12AM on 9-25-2009
I agree with article.Linux may not be able to compete with other OS's on compatibility and user friendliness.Therefore it should take advantage of the fact that there is no legacy software and enterprise dependence.Considering that both snow leopard and windows 7 are faster and leaner than their predecessors users have understood that this is the only way forward.Ubuntu 8 has shorter battery life and responsiveness than my windows XP on my microPC (Wibrain).This is the wrong trend...
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