Weekly ad 3-11-07

[bill]

It looks like the best deal for media is at Best Buy, Verbatim 16x..
Does anyone have updated information for the Memorex & Ativa writers? I think Memorex is shipping LG drives???, Ativa I havent heard.

CompUSA (includes all hard drives, media & writers)

TDK 16x DVD+or-R, 100 for $23.
Memorex 4x DVD+RW, 25 for $10.
Memorex 2.4x DVD+R DL, 25 for $30.

Acomdata 320gb ( USB or firewire) external hard drive, $100 after $35 rebate.
Western Digital 250gb external (USB & firewire) $120 after $25 rebate.

Circuit City (excluding all hard drives)

Philips 52x CD-R, 100 for $12.
Philips 16x DVD +or-R, 50 for $12.

Staples (same as last week)

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.

Office Depot (excluding all hard drives)

Ativa CD-R Gold, 100 for $13.
Maxell 16x DVD+or-R, 50 for $13.

Ativa 18x writer w/lightscribe, $60. The external version cost $90. Any idea what writer is (currently) in the box?

Best Buy (includes all hard drives, media & writers)

Memorex 52x CD-R, 50 for $8.
Memorex 52x CD-R lightscribe, 20 for $10.
Verbatim 16x DVD+or-R, 50 for $13.
Memorex 2.4x DVD+R DL, 25 for $30.
Sony mini DVD-R, 3 for $8.

LG GSA-42LI, $50.
LG GSA-E30L, $80.
Sony DRU830-A, $70. The external model, DRU830-OU, cost $100.

Seagate 160gb sata or pata, $70.

Lacie 80gb (USB powered) external hard drive, $80.
Lacie 250gb (USB) external, $100.
Maxtor 160gb (USB) external, $90.

Easy Media Creator 9, $60.

Office Max
No ad.

[Ian]

Yeah, the new Memorex drives are based on the LG GSA-H22N. It's a pretty good drive but I don't know if I'd spend $50 when you can get an LG GSA-H42LI for the same price.

[Dartman]

Not sure that the 42 is a better quality writer then the 22 yet so it's hard to say if the 42 is more worth it except for the LS part, which can be had in the LS version of the 22.

[Wesociety]

I've never seen or heard of the "Ativa" brand, but I don't have any local Office Depot's stores in the Phoenix area.

Maybe it's one of their in house brand or exclusive to OD.

[Justin42]

Being as the Renesas-based LG burners tend to be better than the Panasonic units, I'd definitely think the LG H42 is better than the H22 or E30s that are floating around BB.

[bill]

Thanks for the update regarding the Memorex drives.

FWIW, I went to Office Depot to take a look at the Ativa drive. I was distracted by a important phone call (translation, I might have screwed up the whole model number) but the drive appears to be a LiteOn LH-18A1H. The first four digits on the drive label are definitely LH-18.. I haven't seen a great deal of info about the drive in the forums... Forgetting for a moment that it cost $60, is it safe to assume stay away?