seeking advice on CD-RW purchase

[bebrewer1]

I'm looking at the sale papers for tomorrow and there are a few
CD-RW's that are below $20 after rebates and I wanted to see if anyone
knew which one might be the best overall quality (realizing of course
that these aren't Yamaha drives..haha). I have searched this forum and haven't really been able to find a definitive comparison.

Best Buy - Norcent 48x12x48
$9.99 after $50 rebate

Circuit City - I/O Magic 48x16x48
$19.99 after $60 rebate

Office Max - Verbatim 48x12x48
$19.99 after $30 rebate

Thanks!

[aviationwiz]

I also want some info on the Verbatim, I made a different thread about it.

[jase]

Verbatim = LiteOn, doesn't it?

[coolestnitish]

Apparently some of the Verbatims are turning out to be made by other manufacturers other than LiteOn. I think the best way to know would be to actually buy the drive and then hope that it is a LiteON. If it isn't then you can always return it back. Unless someone knows how to figure out whats in the box from outside that looks like the only way.

[bebrewer1]

thanks for all the tips. when i got to officemax this morning, they also had the hi-val 48x16x48 and cendyne 48x12x48 drives on sale for $29.99 after rebate. are either of those better than the i/o magic drive at $19.99 after rebate?

thanks!

[jase]

I haven't seen any of the drives you mention but I'm fairly sure they're all LiteOn clones from what has been said on here. If that is the case, cheapest rulez

You're a lucky bunch in the States, I wish we had bargains like that! If it were up to me I'd go around and collect ALL the drives lol... certainly the $9.99 one is worth nabbing no matter how crap it is... tell you what, buy me one and I'll pay you $20 hehe.

[focus]

You can read my earlier Verbatim posts for more details, but in a nutshell.

If you buy the drive and get an Aopen, procede immediately to cendyne.com and DL the OEM Aopen firmware v1.04 and flash it. Mine shipped with v1.01 and was very problematic, since the flash so far so good.

Prior to the flash, a tech at the toll-free Verbatim support # told me I could send it back for the Lite-on. Assuming he was being truthful, you can't go wrong if you don't like the Aopen other than the hassle of shipping and waiting. But......

The price is right ($20.00!!!), and I even paid $10.00 more than the current Officemax price. (do they refund the difference there if their price goes down within a certain time like some other stores do?) Good luck on whatever you decide.