Prices for the latest hot digital gadgets have been falling, allowing consumers to trade up at lower prices, says the research firm NPD Group Canada.

“It’s just an excellent opportunity right now to get a high-quality product at a really good price,” said Mark Haar, the research firm’s director of consumer electronics.

For example, a 12-megapixel camera costs $330 down 59% from $806 last year.

“The cheaper cameras, they’re not selling the way they used to. The consumer is trading up in effect.”

But Haar said prices aren’t coming down on everything.

“Prices are falling in Canada but maybe not to the extent we may have thought,” he said. “They may be falling more in the U.S. It’s really going to be dependent on the category.”

He noted prices for GPS devices have fallen this year, but added they fell more last year.

The average price of laptop computers and the small netbook computers also have come down, he said.

“That’s really a function of consumers moving toward that netbook, but if you take the netbooks out of the equation the declines aren’t that dramatic.”

Netbooks can be found for $200 but usually average about $300.

Prices for TVs have come down about 15% on average in Canada versus as much as 30% in the U.S., Haar said.

“I think things have slowed down a little bit on the TV front,” he said of price chopping, noting there were deeper discounts a couple of years ago.

The weak economy hasn’t helped with overall consumer spending down about 10% this year, Haar said.