One-third of shoppers hoping to score a TV on Friday

Hoping to get a cheap TV on Black Friday?

Yeah, so is everybody else.

A Retrevo survey of 1,100 visitors to the online shopping comparison website found that nearly 1/3 of shoppers said they're hoping to purchase a new TV the day after Thanksgiving, spurred on by the promise of enormous discounts, many of which have been leaked to the public in advance. With prices at all-time lows, I suppose it's virtually impossible not to jump on the discount wagon despite the risk of out-of-stock situations and fisticuffs erupting over that last screen in the store.

After TVs, laptops are the next most popular wished-for item: 1/5 of shoppers are hoping to get a new notebook this week for someone on their shopping list (or, presumably, for themselves).

And despite the recession's lingering effects and the promise of low prices, shoppers seem to be ready to shell out some coin: 18 percent of offline shoppers said they planned to spend $1,000 or more on gadgetry on Black Friday; 26 percent said they'd spend up to $1,000, and 36 percent said they would spend up to $500 on consumer electronics.

But overall, crowds may not be as insane as you'd expect. Why? Only 18 percent of shoppers said they'd be venturing into the malls and big box stores at all this year, citing a variety of reasons why they're staying home: They plan to shop online only (22%), it's too much trouble getting in and out of crowded shops (18%), they can't afford to buy things right now (12%), and they fear stores won't have items they want (4%).

With less than one in five shoppers headed out into the urban wilderness this year, maybe your odds of tracking down that perfect, dirt-cheap television are even higher than you'd think.

Via TWICE.