I've been keeping an eye on some mainstream hardware products for the past couple of months now, and I was a bit surprised to see a sharp raise in the price of most items - its the holiday season, and everyone wants a piece of the fun (namely retailers...). My advice would be, if you're shopping for yourlsefs (i.e its not a gift that you must buy someone) hang on to your $$$ they'll get you much more bang in a bout a month or so HO HO HO!