Weekly ads 3-4-07

[bill]

Best Buy- (no media).

LG GSA-E30L (extenal) $90.

Save 15% on all Western Digital hard drives and PNY video cards.

CompUSA (excluding some hard drives)

Memorex CD-R lightscribe, 20 for $10.
TDK CD-R, 100 for $15.
Memorex 16x DVD+or-R, 100 for $22.
Memorex DVD+R lightscribe, 10 for $6.
Sony 2.4x DVD+R DL, 25 for $30.

HP 18x lightscribe drive, $60 after $20 rebate.
HP external 18x lightscribe drive, $100 after $20 rebate.

Western Digital 320gb sata or pata, $100 after $20 rebate.
Samsung 60gb pata 2.5 inch hard drive, $60.

Acomdata 250gb ( USB or firewire) external hard drive, $80 after $25 rebate.
Lacie 300gb (USB) hard drive, $100 after $20 rebate.

PNY 1gb USB 2.0 flash drive, $15.

Staples

Memorex CD-R, 50 for $9.
Memorex 16x DVD+or-R, 50 for $15.
Memorex 16x DVD+or-R, 100 for $25.
Memorex clear slim jewel case, 50 for $9.

Memorex 18x internal writer, $50.
Memorex 18x external writer, $80.

Maxtor 300gb pata, $80.
Maxtor 500gb pata, $140.

Western Digital 60gb Passport (USB powered), $70.
Western Digital 120gb Passport (USB powered), $100.
Maxtor 80GB OTIII mini portable hard drive, $90.

Maxtor 300gb external (USB & firewire) $140.

Photo Shop Elements 5.0, $60. If you qaulify for the upgrade rebate take another $20 off. Rebate w/terms- http://www.staples.com/sbd/img/rebates/adobepse5.pdf

That's a two week ad for Staples..

Office Depot (excluding all hard drives)

Ativa 16x DVD+or-R, 50 for $13.
Ativa CD-R, 5 for $2.
Ativa CD-R w/slim jewel case, $20 for $6.
Imation CD-R, 50 for $8.
Office Depot label 16x DVD+or-R, 100 for $25.

Office Max

Memorex 52x CD-R, 50 for $8.
Memorex 52x CD-R, 100 for $13.
Memorex 48x Cool Colors CD-R, 20 for $10.
Memorex Audio CD-R, 30 for $10.
Memorex 4x CD-RW, 25 for $13.
Memorex 16x DVD+or=R, 50 for $15.
Memorex 16x DVD+or=R, 100 for $25.
HP 16x DVD+or-R, 25 for $7.

SimpleTech 60gb USB powered hard drive, $70.
SimpleTech 120gb USB powered hard drive, $100.

SimpleTech 250gb external (USB) hard drive, $100.
SimpleTech 500gb external (USB) hard drive, $190.

Toshiba 1gb flash drive, $15.

APC 900VA UPS, $100.

Photo Shop Elements 5.0, $80.

Circuit City (excluding all hard drives)

TDK CD-R w/case, 10 for $5.
Philips 52x CD-R, 100 for $12.
Philips 16x DVD +or-R, 50 for $12.

Creative Labs 30GB Zen Vision:M, $200. It's a fair price, could be a little cheaper at Dell..

[Ian]

No media at Best Buy? I think that's a first.

[dolphinius_rex]

media sales aren't bringing in the customers like it used to, and it's forcing the big box stores to re-evaluate their promotions somewhat. The market has begun shrinking significantly lately on the retail side of thing, and we'll probably see a slow upswing in pricing as time goes on, as the volume of sales begins to decrease more and more over the next couple years.

[Justin42]

I wonder how much of that is us hardcore users who no longer trust pretty much any media on store shelves to be anything other than crap. (after a few bad batches of Verbatim I don't even trust them) I used to stock up whenever they went on sale but now there's nothing I'd buy.

Plus for an 'average' user, a 50 pack of DVDs might last a year or two.

[bill]

media sales aren't bringing in the customers like it used to, and it's forcing the big box stores to re-evaluate their promotions somewhat. The market has begun shrinking significantly lately on the retail side of thing, and we'll probably see a slow upswing in pricing as time goes on, as the volume of sales begins to decrease more and more over the next couple years.

I think you're right. I wouldn't be surprised if Best Buy is counting store traffic this week. They're shrewd, most likely watching how the lack of advertised media impacts the sales of related product.

Though I haven't seen a study it appears that the general trend, since the new year, has been away from offering higher quality media at a discounted price in the B&M stores. Verbatim DL media is a good example..

[Wesociety]

Media sales used to drive me to the stores weekly or at least peak my interest. Not anymore nowadays though as I have quite a heaping stockpile to deal with.

Maybe once I sell some of this lower speed stuff I'll get back in the media purchase mambo.

[Dartman]

Yeah, I used to hit ALL the media sales too, but now I have a folding small bookshelf full and a few on my headboard and out in the living room with the av gear
I try to only buy better quality stuff now or the occasional unkown new brand to see if it's anything good, got enough crap prodisk and CMC.