(Dead) Khypermedia 48X CD-RW & Kingston 256 DDR ram "Make $25" AR & AC, + other FAR items & deals at OfficeMax

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: digs
52x CDRW = 7.8m/s
48x CDRW = 7.2m/2

Difference? 0.6m/s

you guys are saving a whopping 9 secs with your hack attempts.

now congratulate yourselves, u silly hackers

Heh, i feel the same way about peeps spending a lot more $ for a 52X drive too, but if it's FAR AND FREE upgrade. Maybe the faster drive's firmware will be supported/updated for a longer period of time.

On the other hand, I used to have a BenQ 24X drive that seemed (relatively) better than these, they can't burn very well on cheap media over 40X, at least not as well as my LiteOn 48x12, 52x24 drives.

 

[mudboy]

MysticMan1, I just wanted to say thanks for posting links to the rebate forms. Trying to find the forms on the OM site was frustrating...

Pete

 

[lungster]

My Malaysia drive has C.EZ firmware and could not be flashed with the latest Benq firmware; or so it told me. No biggie, it seems to be working ok. The speed isn't all that great but neither was the 32x LiteOn it replaced. It burned about 700 Mb in roughly 5 minutes.

My fastest and most reliable burner is an older 24X LiteOn. When burning, the red light stays on and never has to pause no matter which system I install it in. Total burn time is usually under 4 minutes for a relatively full disc. Both my ailing 32x LiteOn and this Khypemedia burns in spurts which slows it down (this happens on multiple mobos). On the plus side, the Khypermedia has a fast acting tray and seems very smooth.

 

[cremefilled]

digs, it's probably even less than 9 seconds. CD recorders only reach their maximum speed on the outer tracks of the CD. A "48X" recorder probably starts recording at maybe 22X, and for a 700 MB/80 min. CD, will be recording at 48X only for the last 100 MB or so. Good drives ramp up the speed linearly inbetween, although some have discrete "zones" of recording speeds.

The end result is that a 52X speed recorder is faster than a 48X recorder only when burning long/full CD's that take up near maximum capacity, and only when burning the final outer tracks.

Another potential problem is that CD-R's start showing substantially more errors as the record rate is driven upwards. When unrecoverable errors start appearing, increasing the speed further can increase the number of errors geometrically.

For everyday use -- when I'm not in a hurry, and when I'm using "normal" quality blanks, not Taiyo Yuden 48X level -- I record everything at 32X just to be safe. Because of the way that CD recorders start slower than their rated speed, a 52X recorder will burn a CD-R at 32X faster than a 32X recorder will burn at "32X."

mooteh, be sure you add that Registry edit to enable true 48X recording.

 

[Salvador]

The second $20 rebate link for the Kingston DDR RAM is dead. It looks like it's on the same rebate "P" multi item rebate form as the $45 Khypermedia 48x drive. Is this correct? It also looks like the $20 MIR for the Western Digital 80gb hard drive is on the same multi-page. Just want to be sure.

Officemax is a PITA about rebates lately. They don't provide very good links, the products are usually off the website within days, so you can't cross check the rebate. One of the biggest hassles is that with these multi item sheets, they don't confirm the UPC codes, so it's a shot in the dark that you have the correct rebate form for your rebate.

TIA,

Sal

 

[papaschtroumpf]

Has anyone that has upgraded their firmwarte to F.FZ (Made in Malaysia drive) tried to actually use the Mnt Rainier interface to make sure that it really works? (the firmware reports that it can do Mnt Rainer, but I don't know if the drive truly supports it).
How does one use Mnt Rainier?

 

[lungster]

Originally posted by: Salvador
The second $20 rebate link for the Kingston DDR RAM is dead. It looks like it's on the same rebate "P" multi item rebate form as the $45 Khypermedia 48x drive. Is this correct? It also looks like the $20 MIR for the Western Digital 80gb hard drive is on the same multi-page. Just want to be sure.

Yes; the Kingston is with the Khypermedia (and Verbatim, Lexar, Franklin and a few others). Not remember the WD (don't have the form in front of me right now).

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: Salvador
The second $20 rebate link for the Kingston DDR RAM is dead. It looks like it's on the same rebate "P" multi item rebate form as the $45 Khypermedia 48x drive. Is this correct? It also looks like the $20 MIR for the Western Digital 80gb hard drive is on the same multi-page.

That Rebate link is working for me right now.
If it goes down again you can find it here -> PRebates1.pdf hosted.

 

[KennyH]

I hate to post this here but you guys seem to know what is going on as far as firmware is concerned. Please read about my problems Here TIA

 

[stockjock]

I'm starting to get a little worried that I won't be able to participate in the $25 rebate because my 48X CDRW is still on backorder. I'll guess I'll give it another day or 2 then cancel if nothing comes.

 

[lungster]

Originally posted by: stockjock
I'm starting to get a little worried that I won't be able to participate in the $25 rebate because my 48X CDRW is still on backorder. I'll guess I'll give it another day or 2 then cancel if nothing comes.

Did you call OM ? The status for my order online continues to say back-ordered but when I called they told me one item was canceled (the Lexar JumpDrive) and the other was shipped already (the Verbatim drive). They say their online status is poorly sync'ed (no kidding !) and updates very slowly (heck, if at all !).

 

[vfdfs2]

My lexar 64MB USB jumpdrive got cancel. Everyone, check your order and billing statement to see if the coupon got affected.

 

[Salvador]

7 days to submit a rebate after the purchase date really chafes my ass.

Sal

 

[stockjock]

7 days to submit a rebate after the purchase date really chafes my ass.

Agreed!!

 

[quincy2002]

Originally posted by: stockjock

7 days to submit a rebate after the purchase date really chafes my ass.

Agreed!!

Yeah, no shiite. That's a royal pain in the butt.

 

[wshtb000]

Originally posted by: Salvador
7 days to submit a rebate after the purchase date really chafes my ass.

Sal

Especially when they send me a dead stick of ram. Have to decide:

1. Return it? Then miss another 256 MB
2. Send in the rebate and ask OM for exchange? Will they do it? Or they might just run out of stock...

 

[calpha]

Just wanted to send a thanks to Mystic Man and TheDiggler.

I ordered all my stuff via phone and had the $50 off of $250 coupon applied. I asked the CSR if I was indeed getting the SE 80 Gig drive to which she replied "yes". My order was as follows:
WD HD : 109.99
48x CDRW: 70.00
DDR : 40.00
CD Cases: 8.00
CDRs: 13.00
CD Cleaner:
Belkin Surge for Notebooks: 5.00
Pens 3.00
Office Holder 2.49

When the order arrived, I had a 80Gig non SE (2 Megger) and was sorely disappointed. However, I called my local O&M, and they said I could exchange it for what they had in store, since they were subbing the SE for the one advertised in the rebate.

However, one important note is this:
When I went to the store, they initally had to refund my O&M.com receipt and then sellme the new HD separately. When they credited my account for the 80Gig drive I purchased online, even though the original receipt showed 109.99 as the price, the return credit was only $95.xx. As I was walking out, I caught the difference, since the exchanged HD (SE 8 Meg) rang up as 109.99. I called the manager over, and he asked if I used a coupon on my original order, to which I replied "Yes". He said that coupons are applied to the entire order based on percentages, so he'd have to correct my order to charge me only $95.99. The manager at my store was very nice and very friendly. He told me in the future to just order from his store, and he'd be glad to honor any coupons I had online or in-store.

All in All, provided my rebates go through, this is the result:

WD HD = 109.99 - 30.00 - 20.00 = $59.00
CDRW = FAR
DDR = FAR
CD Cases = FAR
CDRs = FAR
CD cleaner = FAR
Belkin = FAR
Pens = FAR
Office Holder = FAR but couldn't find the receipt

$50.00 cpn = HD for 19.00 b/f tax. All in all after tax and stamps I'll spend about $40.00 total.

We'll see how it goes.....even if I get 60% of rebates back, it's still a great deal.

 

[MysticMan1]

Originally posted by: wshtb000

Originally posted by: Salvador
7 days to submit a rebate after the purchase date really chafes my ass.

Sal

Especially when they send me a dead stick of ram. Have to decide:

1. Return it? Then miss another 256 MB
2. Send in the rebate and ask OM for exchange? Will they do it? Or they might just run out of stock...

If the store is OOS on the Kingston 256 DDR ram ask them to substitute it with another brand like the K-Byte DDR 256 ram.

 

[Cherub]

What bothers me is the question of whether the CDRW and memory rebates will really be honored with copies of the invoice/packing slip.

I spoke to three OM customer service reps yesterday (none of whom were even remotely friendly or knowledgeable), and each said that the rebates would be honored. I asked why then, if the manufacturer's deals are specifically linked to OM, do they request things inconsistent with OM's receipt procedures for online orders. I got nothing but circular arguments that made no sense.

What I did learn, if one of them may be believed, is that if a rebate is not honored by a manufacturer OM will not stand behind it and pay the amount rejected like CompUSA does. Now I'm even more worried.

 

[mindless1]

FWIW, I just got off the phone with a Parago rep, who said a copy of the receipt CAN be sent even though the rebate specifies the original receipt.

 

[quincy2002]

Originally posted by: mindless1
FWIW, I just got off the phone with a Parago rep, who said a copy of the receipt CAN be sent even though the rebate specifies the original receipt.

Yeah, I talked to Parago too and they said the same thing. I still don't trust them though. All it takes would be an uninformed rebate processor to come across your rebate with a receipt copy and reject it, then you gotta clean up the mess and get it straigtened out. Total PITA.

Also, referring to the post 2 before this one, my OM said the same thing - that copies would be OK. I questioned that since these are manufacturer's rebates, not OM rebates, so how can the OM manager say with such certainty that the manufacturer will accept copies? OM responded that these manufacturers contract with OM regarding these deals/rebates so the manufacturers are aware of the rebate receipt/copy of real receipt question. I then argued that if the manufacturers know that there are multiple rebates and that they know rebate receipts are issued, or that the items may be ordered online, why does the rebate form not specify that copies or rebate receipts or packing slips are acceptable. OM did not have a answer.

 

[lungster]

Originally posted by: vfdfs2
My lexar 64MB USB jumpdrive got cancel. Everyone, check your order and billing statement to see if the coupon got affected.

When the Lexar JumpDrive in my order was cancelled, it took my total under $250. Instead of nuking the coupon, they pro-rated it. So my old order was DVD+R / Lexar = $279.98 - $50 coupon. After the Lexar cancellation the order is $239.99 (just the DVD+R) - $42.86 pro-rated coupon. Not bad all things considered. This is all from my phone conversation with the CSR (actually called a second time to confirm). I've yet to see the actual order which due next week so I'm hoping it's right !

 

[stockjock]

I was getting worried about not receiving my CDRW so I called OMax and they said ...we don't have anymore so we can't ship it!! So my order was cancelled:frown: The CSR said I should've received an email letting me know it was no longer available...I never did. She also said they are subbing anything for it. Man...and I ordered this thing bright and early on Sunday morning!! I'm a little disappointed in OMAX on this one!!!

 

[Salvador]

For the Khypermedia 48x burner are you guys sending in just the peel off sticker that has the serial and the UPC or are you sending in the entire sticker plus the UPC that is printed on the box? I don't see why we can't just send in the label because it has both the UPC and serial on it. What do they need two UPC's for?

Sal

 

[lungster]

Mine only had the UPC on the box; there was nothing to peel off so that's what I sent in. There's mention on Khypermedia's web site about a 24 digit barcode that may not exist on some boxes. I assume this is the peel-off sticker you have ? See their web site FAQ