Electronics are some of the hottest items for both men and women this holiday season. Clark's been looking at several Black Friday websites and has the scoop on deals you'll be seeing at retailers on the day after Thanksgiving. Let's get started with digital cameras. First off, Clark says this is one of the most difficult areas to comparison shop because it seems like every retailer sells about 25 types! Try going to CNET.com and reading customer reviews to get a handle on the model you want. That said, this is the first Christmas that SLR (single-lens reflex) digital cameras are coming in under $500. The advantage of SLRs is that they offer better picture quality even though they're a bit bulky. When it comes to GPS units, look for prices around $100-$149 on Black Friday. Best Buy is listing the popular TomTom One for $119. Staples will have some GPS deals for $124; Office Depot for $129; and Circuit City will be selling the discount Mio Walker GPS for $99. Meanwhile, portable DVD players won't be much cheaper ($79-89) than they were last year, but you'll find the average screen size has gotten larger. If you're in the market for a laptop computer, you'll find some deals in the $299-349 range at Circuit City and Staples, respectively. Finally, look for a variety of HDTV deals. Some retailers are offering 32-inch screens for around $399. If you want to check out a Black Friday website for yourself, try logging on to BlackFriday.info. Clark told you several weeks ago how Wal-Mart was trying to put the kibosh on such websites leaking its deals. So somebody leaked the sales info to CNN and Wal-Mart got way more exposure than they expected!

It's great to have the opportunity to see rip-offs that Clark has warned people about being pushed on you and have the chance to say no upfront. Christa recently was buying a computer at a retailer and was being given the hard sell on two things that Clark just spoke about a few weeks back. One item was the Windows recovery discs, which were being pushed for $40. You can make one yourself for practically free or a get lower price from the manufacturer. The other was the extended warranty pitch. On a related note, Clark recently got a call from a distant relative of his who was in a store buying a TV. When the relative said he listened to Clark Howard and knew all about the cons of extended warranties, the salesperson took a very creative and unethical approach: He told the relative that Clark bought four TVs at that store and got extended warranties on every one of them. Clark is now thinking about doing a hidden camera sting where he exposes known retailers who try this tactic to make a sale on an extended warranty or service plan. Once again, for the record, Clark wants to emphasize that he doesn't buy extended warranties. That may change in the future, of course. But for now just say no when they're pushed on you.

Best Buy and Circuit City have come up with a new way to rip off customers buying computers -- and it has nothing to do with extended warranties. According to PC World, these retailers are now trying to get customers to pay for Windows recovery discs. The backup discs are rarely needed, but the retailers have found a way to boost profits by tapping into the "what if" fear of consumers who may not know a lot about computers. It turns out that you can make these discs yourself or buy them from the manufacturer for half of what the stores charge you.

PC World got so fired up over the whole issue that they sent in secret shoppers to get the real scoop. The shoppers found that Circuit City pushed them hard to pay an extra $30 for the store-made recovery discs. But at Best Buy, three out of five stores outright told the shoppers that it's not possible to make the backup discs yourself. Meanwhile, several of the top computer manufacturers say that their notebook models come with instructions and software for creating the recovery discs. Best Buy tried to explain its way out of the situation by telling PC World that it was all just a miscommunication between the secret shoppers and the sales associates. But you have to understand that electronics retailers have really had their profit margins crushed, so they're desperate to push extra stuff on unwitting consumers. One last word on extended warranties on computers: Don't get them! Computers develop so quickly that there's no sense in insuring what may be obsolete in a year or two. When you're shopping for a laptop, just make sure you get one that has at least one gig of RAM for the memory. Clark also recommends Firefox for web browsing, rather than IE.

As you probably know, Clark hates to waste things. He had been using the same pair of headphones in the studio since the '90s. Even though they were old and ratty, he used them until the end of their life. Now he has a new pair, so don't be surprised if he's able to hear you callers a little bit better! Likewise, he holds onto clothes long after they should be thrown away or given to charity. In fact, his wife has to periodically purge their closet and make the old threads "disappear."

Clark read a TechWorld.com report about how manufacturers of the cartridges we all use in our printers give you a notice that your cartridge in empty when nearly 60 percent of the ink is still left. If you throw it out at that point, more than half the ink you pay for goes unused! So when your computer tells you replace to the cartridge, instead just pull it out and shake it. You'll probably get several weeks more use out of it. After all, manufacturers have a clear financial incentive to shortchange you and make you buy more of their product. What you pay to print per page skyrockets if you throw that cartridge out or recycle it too early. Multi-ink cartridges are the worst because they have individual ink banks for up to three or four colors. Any one of them can run out before the others do. Another way to save money on ink cartridges is to get them refilled. Manufacturers hate it when you do this. Studies haven't yet shown decisively if the refilled ink is good quality or not. So just shake it up, baby! Samsung is one of the few companies that makes printers with a toner saver button that can reduce the amount of ink you use per page by 40 percent. Over time, that becomes a great savings.

Here's another one of Clark's rip-off alerts! For years, AOL has made it difficult for people to get out of their contracts. To add financial insult to that injury, the internet service provider charges a whopping $24-$25 dollars for dialup. Who in the world would pay that when there is basic DSL available in many markets for $10-$15 dollars? Unfortunately, some 12 million people still do fork over their cash for dialup! Maybe it's because when you call up and try to drop AOL, the customer service representatives transfer you repeatedly and are argumentative. Then finally when you think you've gotten out of the contract, you're billed again next month. In fact, there was an internal conspiracy going on where financial incentives were given to employees to cheat the American people.

Now AOL has entered into a settlement where they've agreed to reform their business practices -- even though they didn't admit to any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, they're only paying a minimal fine and not one of their executives has been jailed for allowing the conspiracy to steal. If you're one of the people who has had money stolen by AOL after you cancelled the service, the settlement also allows you to get restitution from the company. Look for a link to the customer restitution form on Clarkhoward.com when AOL makes it available! Why is it that a big company can steal without any meaningful consequences? As Clark says, individuals who practice the kind of trickery AOL has for years would find themselves with some new jewelry -- handcuffs. Updating a related story, Sprint has recently been firing their customers for making too many customer service calls. Now New York State is trying to make Sprint waive the cancellation fee for those customers the carrier wants to drop. Clark fully believes the cancellation penalty should work both ways.

Here on the show we always give out free advice to you, the consumer. But did you know that we also get it back from our dedicated listeners? After receiving a tip from one such person, we've put up a list of FREE software that you can download from the internet. It's divided into dozens of areas of interest, so you can surf around easily to get software, books, games, free conference calling and so much more. While the quality of stuff that's free is all over the board, you can rest assured that none of it will cost you one thin dime. Bookmark the page...it just may come in handy.

Clark likes to keep you up to date about deals and offers out there to save you money. He wants to you be cautious when using them, but it’s his job to let you know. The latest invention is called Jellyfish.com. It’s a comparison shopping site like the others, but Jellyfish also gives you a direct discount off your purchase. Usually it’s about two percent. But what you need to remember is that no site will always have the best deal. You always want to shop around. It’s just one more tool Clark wants you to know about.

---

In more retail news, how do you like filing rebates? No one does. But some companies are making it easier for you. Costco and Staples are two of the leaders in the rebate industry because they make it so easy to do. Best Buy has also started giving instant rebates instead of making people fill out paperwork after the sale. Well, now Office Max is going to do the same. So, it’s a step in the right direction and Clark hopes more companies follow suit.

Clark has been thinking of changing his high-speed Internet service because it’s getting so expensive. For most people it’s a two horse race, and Clark is one of those folks. Right now, it’s either the local monopoly phone company or the local monopoly cable company. Recently, the phone company cut the rates and he was about to switch, but he decided to call his current company first to see if they would offer him a better deal. He’s currently paying about $43 a month, which is outrageous. When he told the “customer retention specialist” that he was about to cancel, she offered him three months for $9.99 a month. She told him to call back again in 90 days to see if he could get the same deal. He was so excited about saving $100 in a four minute phone call that he told everyone. Then his Smart Money magazine arrived and knocked him down a notch. The issue, which is about saving on cable and Internet service, says not to take any three-month offers and to keep fighting for more. The reporter was able to get a discount on service for an entire year! Phone companies are also reducing costs, so you may want to consider switching companies all together, as Clark was about to do. Also, if you can, cut your home phone line to the minimum line cost. You don’t use it much anyway, thanks to cell phones, and you can usually get it down to between $17 and $20 a month total. Also, consider scaling back your cable or satellite service. Get just the broadcast channels. You may also be paying way too much for your cell phone service. Now that you can take your number with you, consider switching to Metro PCS or Cricket. They offer unlimited calling in your local area for one low price.

Clark was shopping recently for a new computer and he came across one that cost $339 with several rebates. He found one that was $30 more with the same features and only one rebate. That was at Staples. He ended up buying the more expensive one, he confesses, but that’s because rebates are much easier in some stores than others. Staples is one of those stores; Costco is another. But for the most part rebates re a huge hassle. Buy where you know you will get your rebate money or don’t buy there at all.

In a couple of years, laptop computers could cost as low as $100-200. This will create a tremendous market for students everywhere. Countries, poor and not poor, will be buying laptops that will cost the same as an expensive dinner for two. Right now, desktops with monitors are selling for as low as $259, and laptops are going for as low as $499. And in the next few years, these cheap laptops will contain great features like wireless Internet, and will be much smaller then traditional laptops. If you have thought that computers are out of reach because of their outrageous prices, then you will soon be able to afford quality computers for almost no money.

Clark was shopping recently for a new computer and he came across one that cost $339 with several rebates. He found one that was $30 more with the same features and only one rebate. That was at Staples. He ended up buying the more expensive one, he confesses, but that’s because rebates are much easier in some stores than others. Staples is one of those stores; Costco is another. But for the most part rebates re a huge hassle. Buy where you know you will get your rebate money or don’t buy there at all.