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 1)
P Cost said 8:29AM on 11-10-2009
I recall Alton Brown in his Food Network Good Eats program saying rice is not a good desiccant. That is rice does not absorb excess water like a salt. The effect in salt shakers being an to break up clumps of salt not to absorb any water.
Reply
ksdconst said 9:23AM on 11-10-2009
Sorry guys, doesn't work. If the phone is on when it hits the drink, it's toast. Opening the back and pulling the battery without touching the keypad does not protect the boards from sending elec charges before removal. After three phones in the drink while on const sites, I just go bite the bullett for a new phone and switch out the sim card with all info saved.
Reply
Mikee said 11:08AM on 11-10-2009
Uh.. okay. I dropped my phone into a glass of wine, it was completely submerged. It wouldn't power up for days afterwards.
I pulled the battery and let the phone sit for months after I got a new upgrade. When the upgrade died after I dropped it into a vat of soup, I got the old wine phone out, and it works fine.
The particular model you use may not be able to be saved after getting wet, but that doesn't mean every phone has the same deficiency.
RV said 11:07AM on 11-10-2009
Although this hasn't happened to me yet, but what about (with) smart phones? (i.e. Blackberry, iPhone, Droid)?
Reply
manderlou2 said 12:53PM on 11-10-2009
This works! I have done this with two cell phones that fell into water and an IPOD that went through the whole washing machine cycle and it does work. It takes more like 2 to 3 days, and you can not use minute rice, it has be to a normal rice, but it DOES work!
Reply
m3cosmos said 12:45PM on 11-10-2009
I have been witness to this working two times, both with blackberries (one storm, one bold). I know it can't work in every case, but it certainly can't hurt.
Reply
srk_neeley said 7:58PM on 11-11-2009
I just came in the house from walking in hell/ rain and found my cell phone "ON" and a little wet so i dry it off but didn't open the back of it and put it near the heater,(my cell was working when i put it by the heater) well after i got undress i went back to check on my cell and notice that it wouldn't come back on :'( so i open the back to take a look to see what could be the issues -_o come to find out there was a LOT of water in it O_O well i recall hearing from a friend of mine who told me that all you need is "RICE" to save a wet cell so i took it a part and dry it off the best i could and than took all the pieces out of the cell and put them along with the cell phone in a bag of rice and let it sit for 20 min after that i check it again about 30 min later so to say ...who would and though it came back on so now as i write this to you my cell phone has been siting in a bag of rice for the past 1-2 hours just to be on the save side...now i'm not say that this well work for everyone that try's it but hell it did for me and this is the first time i was able to save my cell phone from a LOT OF WATER !
PS. luck has a lot to do with saving your cell phone XD so good luck and move fast.
Reply
Adam said 4:30PM on 11-24-2009
One IMPORTANT step was left out!
IF your phone was dropped in anything but clean pure water, you need to RINSE the phone off with clean pure or better yet, distilled water.
If the liquid was a drink, beer, wine, muddy water, SALT water. You phone is probably toast anyway. Salt water especially is very corrosive. I dropped my Nextel into some soapy water in a sink, and immediately proceeded to completely rinse it off with clean flowing water. Of course turning it off and removing the battery is very important.
The tricky items on the phone are the moving parts, keyboards, switches, contacts, and also the radio transmitter. The circuit boards and chips survive ok. However if the liquid is corrosive at all, it might dry out work for a while, but then die later. Hence the reason for a clean water rinse.
Reply