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.
Parents know that if you want t to get an unruly kid's full and undivided attention (and make them tremble either out fear or anger), all you need to do is hide the TV remote, disconnect the WiFi, and take away the video game controllers.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
wayne8734 said 5:39PM on 11-05-2009
way to go judge,if he's anything like my son it'll kill him and it just may work.
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cindyjunedavis said 1:07PM on 11-06-2009
Last year I was having a lot of problems with my son in school. He is high functioning autisic so behavior problems exist quite a bit. His teachers, principal, and others we all had a meeting. The rule is he has red days, (not good) yellow,(borderline)green which (a good day). Red he gets nothing but books to read, yellow a few other things, board games, green, his computer, Wii, and his other favorite things. He had only a few red days. He comes home in the green everyday. Take a mans toys away, he will straighten his act up!
darkwolf122490 said 6:51PM on 11-05-2009
HA! that'll teach that kid to violate the law. and if he tries to moan and groan about his trial, he'll be laughed out of the room when he says what his punishment was.
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jesswheel06 said 10:35AM on 11-06-2009
Way to go! I am a gamer and a parent and I don't tolerate bad children. That's just a good idea compared to what I would've done.
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KATHIE said 9:31AM on 11-06-2009
Are you kidding me?! His parents are the ones who should have had the brains enough to take the Wii away long before the little brat made his way to the court system?! Why is it so hard to parents to actually "parent" their childrend today?
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Cates1222 said 11:35AM on 11-06-2009
Kathie - AGREE TOTALLY! The judge should have ordered the parents attend parenting class, too - ridiculous that a JUDGE had to parent.
Lii said 12:18PM on 11-06-2009
So true.
auntieben said 1:04PM on 11-06-2009
If you have kids, you know how difficult it is to take stuff away. I was a perfect parent to my sister's kids... when I had my own, I didn't want to make them cry... I regret it now.
Thao said 3:35PM on 11-06-2009
I completely agree. What a waste of judicial time. His parents should do their job and the court should do theirs. If its bad enough for him to even see a judge, I think it takes a bit more than taking away video games. How can anyone agree that this is a good idea? Is he THAT dependent on those games that he'll actually shape up. This disappoints me on so many levels.
asha said 10:50AM on 11-06-2009
What ever happened to a good old fashioned spanking? Why do we have to let our kids go to court and have their wiis took away? All this is going to do is desensitize these children to the huge cosequence of going to court. Courts should be a place that is feared to go ,a place that if you go to you know you royaly screwed up. But no lets give out crap sentences so that when he grows up you take away his iphone? SPANK the kid don't depend on someone else to raise your kid. It's the parents responsibility. I have 2 boys and i'm not planning on letting someone else teach them the differece in right and wrong. It's NO one elses responsibility!!
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aasstor1018 said 1:17PM on 11-06-2009
There is nothing wrong with a spanking. When my son acted up he got a good smack or two on the ass and was required to say thank you. Now, thirty years later, he's a fireman,we are good friends and he still says thank you. Sometimes we laugh about it when we hang out.
bettyjunedavis said 1:20PM on 11-06-2009
Hon, you can get your hiney thrown in jail, or kids takien away. We live in a different world. So go ahead a beat them, takes a bigger person to discipline a child, without hitting. Try taking what they hold dear to them. A spanking goes away after it stops hurting. Take their stuff! I did and my boy is an angel now, well in comparison, to what he was like. Some people calling it bribs and threats, it is called responibility for your actions.
ANNETTE said 1:47PM on 11-06-2009
I hope your children will be able to put together a sentence with the correct spellings after you hit them.
tracis3rugrats said 12:48AM on 11-07-2009
I think it's funny the judge confiscated his Wii. Poor kid now he'll have nothing to do. Ha Ha Cry Me A River. That's what more judges need to do to straighten these little punk a$$ kids up. I hope he doesn't get it back. Kids get too much given to them these days anyway. It'll be interesting to know if he receives anything for Christmas.
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TCS said 10:04AM on 11-06-2009
I agree, the parents should have done this instead of wasting a judges time. When my kids were younger, I did this exact same thing. Their grades were suffering so I took their Nintendo away. They were to get it back when and ONLY when their grades went up. This nearly killed them. However, they never made anything below a B again, and after 2 semisters of GOOD grades they got it back.
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isisaquaria said 1:43PM on 11-06-2009
They never below a "B" again. When did a B become a good thing?
TCS said 2:44PM on 11-06-2009
isisaquaria -Someone who isn't able to make a complete sentence should be the last person to ask when a "B" became a good thing. I didn't say that ALL they got were "B's" however, when they brought their grades UP from C's & D's to A's & B's I was so much happier. Especially since BOTH my sons graduated valendictorian from high school and my oldest just graduated from Tulane University Law School, this past summer, at the TOP of his class. Now, when you can ask a more intellegent question, we'll talk again.
kerry wenrich said 10:15AM on 11-06-2009
that was dumb this was not a situation for a judge this was an issue for the parents to tackle
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Cindy Stauffer said 12:58PM on 11-06-2009
Kerry, obviously the parents did not do this or were unwilling to, the kid ended up in court for a reason, and if the parents can't control the did then the courts are left with coming up with a solution. It would indeed be a wonderful world if every parent assumed responsibility for their children
Cindy Stauffer said 1:03PM on 11-06-2009
Sorry that should read "can't control the kid"