Well, here we go. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has started the holiday shopping season in traditional headline fashion by offering a laptop PC for $398. The Windows XP-based computer features a 15.4" widescreen LCD, a 60GB hard drive and an AMD Sempron processor with a speed of 2.0 GHz. Last year's model didn't come close to these specifications of course, as PC specs for the price seems to almost double every year. No surprise here.

Although Wal-Mart has been touting that it wants to court higher-income shoppers to higher-margin products, the chain always goes back to its strengths when holiday shopping season comes around.

Bargains, bargains and even more bargains come into play around this time of year as the world's largest retailer stands to pack as many people into its stores for loss leaders and at-cost merchandise on the good chance that more profitable shopping will be had as well on the same trip. This is basic retailing psychology at work here.

But -- hold your horses. A Wal-Mart spokesperson hinted at this nice little statement -- "We're probably going to see a $199 notebook on Black Friday ... certainly, we are going to see aggressive prices." Holy smokes -- a laptop under $200?

I wonder if it will come with Windows XP already installed at that price. One thing is for sure -- be prepared to throw elbows and knees and maybe even arms if a $199 laptop comes to Wal-Mart circulars in a little over two weeks. Black Friday may be referring to eyes that day.