Also at CompUSA

[huesmann]

Age of Empires II expansion, Conquerors is $18 (also $18 at Best Buy). Also The Sims expansion $18.

50-pack 12x CD-R media for $20 w/ $20 rebate (free).

Winmodem $30 w/ $30 rebate.

Gravis Destroyer joystick $10 w/ $10 rebate

10 oz air duster can $7 w/ $7 rebate.

Black mouse (serial or PS2) $10 w/ $10 rebate.

500VA UPS (PK Electronics) $120 -$20 instant savings w/ $50 rebate.

Vtech VT1970 900MHz Caller ID phone $80 w/ $10 instant and $20 rebate.

Vtech VT2910c 900MHz 2-line Caller ID phone $100 w/ $20 price break and $20 rebate.

 

[emanon]

Thanks...gotta love free media!

 

[cremefilled]

4-port USB hub $9.99 after mail-in and instant rebates.

 

[NeoSolo]

500VA UPS (PK Electronics) $120 -$20 instant savings w/ $50 rebate.

how are these UPS?

 

[perry]

I'm looking for reviews on it right now. Been looking for something in this price range for a while now.

http://www.webreviews.com/9801/blackout_buster.html
http://gamma.sil.org/computing/noc/182/182tec.htm

That's all that looked interesting on AltaVista. Nothing on CNet or ZDnet, unfortunately.

Seems like 5 minutes of protection for a fast computer and bigger monitor. That's more than enough for me. We usually only get power outtages for about 10 seconds or so. Enough to make the Linux machine very mad, and reset my alarmclock. I think I'll go pick one up and see how it does.

edit: Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'm on my way out the door now!

 

[Raybies]

I got the PK Electronics 500Va UPS the last time they had it for $50 after rebate, they are pretty good UPS's. It has 4 battery backed outlets and I think 3 surge suppressed only outlets, phone/network cable outlet, and serial monitor cable with software downloadable from their website for shutdown in case of power loss. I have it on my Linux machine, the powerd shutdown program can be configured to work with it. I plan to pick up one or two more depending on how much money I want to spend this weekend. Also, rebate arrived relatively quickly, about 8 weeks.

 

[AndrewR]

I used one of those PK Electronics units for awhile, and it worked quite well for me. It has shutdown software with a serial connection. It has a good number of outlets, 4 battery and 3 surge if I recall correctly, and it can accept two transformers without blocking any other outlets (possibly three). It's worth $50.

 

[wlj]

My local CompUSA (Fairfax, VA) was out of stock on the Blackout Buster (damn!), but did have the 50-pack 12x CD-R media. Unfortunately, they didn't have rebate forms for the CD-Rs.

Can someone scan and post the CD-R rebate form?

Thanks!

 

[RossMAN]

If anyone wants a link to the UPS I have posted it in this thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=225793

Would it be sufficient to protect a Dell Dimension 4100 (P3/800/128/30/DVD/CDRW/Floppy/Zip) and a 19" Dell P991 Trinitron monitor?

Only need 3-5 minutes in order to do a proper shut down.

Or I can get the APC Back-UPS 350 for $54 with free shipping.
I wonder if the APC 350 would be better if you look past the "name brand"?
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=429029

 

[T2T III]

<< 4-port USB hub $9.99 after mail-in and instant rebates. >>


I believe this is the &quot;compact&quot; hub. Also, I think the same one is &quot;free&quot; -- after a rebate if you purchase it at Circuit City.

 

[Otaking]

If anyone bought the duster, how the hell do you get the UPC symbol off for the rebate???

 

[sworshs]

can someone scan the rebate form? the store ran out of the rebate forms. Thx.

 

[dirkdaring]

Hey wlj!

Were you at the Fairfax store at opening there in Fair Lakes? I was. It was a mad rush to the cdroms. I grabbed the last one. Also got the 4-port USB hub, a can of compressed air and one of the scanners.

All of the above work great.

As for the rebate on the compressed air can, I just scanned the damn thing as you cant get one 'off the box' as it says - since there is no box. So I scanned/printed it.

Dirk

 

[T2T III]

<< Were you at the Fairfax store at opening there in Fair Lakes? I was. It was a mad rush to the cdroms. I grabbed the last one. >>


I was there @ 4:00. They must have restocked some more by that time because there were about 12 spindles of the Kodak discs back out on the shelf. Definately, a nice buy.

 

[optoman]

Question about the UPS, it says that the output is only 250 Watts. What if your powersupply to the comp is 300 Watts? Is this going to screw up your system?

 

[AndrewR]

The Blackout Buster is 500VA, and I used it well enough on an older system with a 17&quot; monitor. Should provide a few minutes of power on newer systems.

On the rebate for the duster -- you send in the blue pop tab on the top that you have to pull off to use it. I've already done two of these rebates in the past.

 

[mrVW]

On the VTECH 2-line cordless phone.... I picked mine up at Staples for $35... they have it for $79 regular price, use a $25 off $75 coupon... and the $20 rebate.

It is a decent phone. Has caller ID, speaker phone (works when headset isn't around), conferencing...

Allows you to do conference calls with both lines too.

 

[Wolverine88]

I owned 2 PK UPS (got them from CompUSA for $50 each). They are pretty good. One is used for about 2 years.

 

[wlj]

Dirk -

Nope...wasn't there when CompUSA opened, but I was there around 4pm (like wje) and had snagged one of the dozen or so remaining packages of CD-Rs that were on the shelf.

 

[huesmann]

wje- i believe dirk was referring to the (free) CD-ROM drives, not the blank CD-Rs when he said he got the last one. I was at the Rockville store at 11:15am and they were all out of the CD-ROMs. I don't really need one anyway so it's not a big deal for me. I did pick up a UPS and scanner, tho, along with some of the other freebies. Some of those freebies are really just junk, tho. I have enough junk I'll never use cluttering up my computer area

 

[AndrewR]

I picked up one of the CD-ROMs yesterday and went back today for something else and saw about five more sitting there. It's a Prime Peripherals branded Afreey drive, which is nice because at least I recognize the name (Afreey drives have VERY good DAE rates).

I'm setting up a junk system with cheapo parts since no one wanted to buy my Abit BP6 that I RMA'd. This drive will go nicely in that system.

 

[Conroy9]

the winmodem is $29.99 after $10 rebate (unless i'm missing something)
i checked on the website and the store

 

[Msatan666]

optoman,
2 things:

1. The wattage of your power supply is rated maximum output power, not actual usage of power.

2. A 300w power supply is capable of providing 300 continuous watts @ 12 volts dc. Assuming 100% draw on your PS (not likely) The actual wattage draw of your computer sans monitor, speakers...etc is around 30 watts. I'd be willing to bet that most computers hover closer to about 15 watts, or aproximately enough electricity to power two nightlights.

 

[jhassi]

is a 300w backup enough? I've been considering a backup awhile, power doesn't go out very often but when it does it's for a second or two usually several times during a thunderstorm, extremely annoying.

thing is i got a 21&quot; monitor and a 250 power supply with all kinds of crap (other than the normal stuff 120mm fans, cdroms, cd-rs, tape drives) so it's probably using a lot of that 250watts, will that 300watts last more than 5 minutes?

I've also considered getting a low power backup, say like 125watts off of flea-bay and seeing if that'll be good enough, i mean it'll keep the monitor and PC running 10 seconds I'll be very happy with it, like i said power's only out a second or two, just enough to flicker the lights and restart the PC

 

[Zero]

UPS
http://www.compusastores.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=277137

Zero