Office Max Black Friday Thread

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: Albis
does anyone know when office max opens tomorrow?

7:00 am in Lexington, KY. My guess is that they will all open at 7 in their respective time zones. YMMV.

 

[Albis]

thank you!

 

[Byte]

omgwtfbbqcheese my officemax ad shows the 200GB for $69.99

 

[MojoKrunch]

Went to OM in Apex, near Raleigh.
Got there at 6:30 for 7:00 opening, was about 20th in line.
Was only there for WD200 and picked up second to last of the 5(!) on shelf.
In check-out noticed more WD200s behind CS desk checkout as well as sale 5 MP camera and 16xDVDRW(some of which seemed to be "hidden" behind other product).
CS was excellent, people were friendly but they only had 4 registers open and too much stock near the registers.
Picked up another 100 pack of KHypermedia CDRs and the black jewel cases FAR cause I'm on a budget, but man I wish I could have spent more.
The WD 250 for $120AR and the 16X DVDRW, not to mention that little 5MP camera looked sweet.
End result, in and out in 40 minutes.
Thanks to you guys I'm good to go for storage space.
Keep up the great work!

Mojo

 

[shagman]

I was one of the three people that got a 200GB WD drive at my local Office Max. That's just goofy, having a big sale item, and only having three of said item on the shelf... sheesh.

 

[tracerbullet]

I came away very happy this morning, arrived at about 6:50 and was maybe only 20th in line or so. Some girl came out and handed out coupons for photo finishing and some candy canes. Once doors opened, walked in and grabbed the hard drive, DVD burner, and wireless router all off the line of tables set up in the middle of the store. Was one of the first people into the checkout line. I made it back home by 7:30.

There were literally piles of everything, maybe two dozen each of everything I that grabbed, not sure about the rest. This was Midway in St. Paul, MN. I'm sure they are all gone now, but there were just no worries at all this morning about getting any of those three things.

 

[Oh02]

Got to OM before 6:00 parked, walked up....saw a line of at least 250 people, then left. We went back at 7:30 just to see what happened and the line had moved, but we still wouldn't have gotten in. At least my wife bought the WD 200 on Wed, will return/rebuy it later. Oh well, this year was a partial bust.

 

[Armitage]

Wasn't going to play the game this year, but woke up around 0400 and couldn't sleep so decided to try anyway.
Got there around 0550 ... the line for the Best Buy next door was about 300 yards longs ... Past the Pep Boys if anybody here is familiar with the Chapel Hills shopping center in Colorado Springs.

I was about 15th in line ... not to cold, interesting people to talk to. They brought out cookies, hot chocolate & coffee. Got the intel on where to find things. The line was maybe 100 yards long by the time the doors opened.

Got in and grabbed the DL DVD Burner, 200GB HD, 50 spindle of DVD media. They had about 20 of the burners and a whole stack of the drives ... funny ... the HD must be packed near sea level somewhere because the plastic packaging was blown up like a balloon due to the altitude here ... they were to round to stack, so they were in bins

Picked up a few of the freebies ... SD card reader, 64 MB SD card, 10-pack DVD media ... it started getting crazy & pushy around there so I didn't try to get the 64MB thumb drive or the phone I was considering.

Back in the car & on my way by about 0710.

BTW, OM's rebate site is FUBARED ... was just incredibly slow, now it returns an error when you try to search for stuff.

 

[Supermercado]

We got up at 5:15 this morning to go to Omax. We got to the store about 5:55 or so. They opened just before 7. I managed to get all the things I was after: the DVD burner, the 50-pack of discs, the 10-pack of DVD-RWs, the 100-pack of CD-Rs, the 64MB thumb drive, snagged the 3-pack of VHS tapes for my sister, the 64MB SD card, and the 4-port USB hub. Total purchase price was about $180 and I've got about $120-$130 in rebates on everything. Everything I got will be FAR except for the burner and the 50-pack of discs.

They were horribly disorganized this year compared to the last few years at that same store. In past years, they had cleared out all the aisle displays that are near the front of the store and set up folding tables with all of the FAR merchandise on it. This year, though, almost all the stuff was in its normal spot or behind the customer service counter. I got in line with everything but the SD card and the USB hub but the guys ahead of me got the SD card from the service desk so I went and got one of those and one of the floor workers was carrying around a box of the USB hubs so I got one of those from him, so I ended up with all of the things I'd gone to get. It took nearly 30 minutes to find everything and I'm surprised that I was able to get it all. Only reason I was able to was because the workers kept going back to the back of the store and bringing more out.

My brother and dad also ended up with everything they went for. My dad got everything I got and also got the WD 200GB hdd and the 2.4GHz phone for free. My brother got almost everything that I got minus the burner (but he got the media and the CD-Rs for me) and he got the $150 5 megapixel 3x optical zoom camera with the $30 battery charger and 4 AAs. That seems like a really good deal. He's been messing with the camera a little bit and it looks pretty nice. Certainly nicer than the Vivitar that I got last BF at Target. My uncle also got the cheaper camera that came with the Epson c86 printer and he got the SD card as well.

The worst part of the whole thing was checking out. They had the service desk and the copy center checking people out in addition to the two registers and it was so slow because of all the rebate forms (much better than those stupid rebate books Omax used to use, though) and it took 2 1/2 hours standing in line to get out of the store. We didn't walk out of the store and over to Target (where I grabbed the Star Wars DVDs for $40 and finally got my copy of HL2) until just after 10am. Talk about a headache, but for the prices I got on things I wanted/needed, it was worth the aggravation.

 

[John P]

Hit OMax at 7:30am, still 50 people lined up outside so I passed.

Hit OMax again at 9am, got a ticket for the WD 200gb but the checkout line went from the registers to the back of store, bent around 90 degrees to far corner of store and then bent around that corner halfway back to front of store. I took my ticket and left. I'll try again later this afternoon. I'm supposedly guaranteed a HD if I have a ticket...

 

[NoahFrenzy]

So has anyone found out what specific Lite-On model that the rebadged DVD burner is?

I bought it, but I'm wary to open it until I can look up a review.

 

[Armitage]

Just for kicks, I stopped in the OM on S. Academy (Colorado Springs) over lunch. They still had alot of FAR stuff including a few cases of the KHypermedia CDR, 64MB thumb drives, flash card readers, etc.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: NoahFrenzy
So has anyone found out what specific Lite-On model that the rebadged DVD burner is?

I bought it, but I'm wary to open it until I can look up a review.

The Digital Max one?
I have mine open. What should I look for?

 

[RaymondY]

u would need to look at the label on the burner itself. See if it says, Lite-On, NEC, etc. Another indications would be the way the serial number and or model number goes.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: RaymondY
u would need to look at the label on the burner itself. See if it says, Lite-On, NEC, etc. Another indications would be the way the serial number and or model number goes.

I'm looking at the sticker on the top of the drive. I don't see any mention of Lite-On or NEC.
Model: DRW-3S163
S/N: 405440004768 (manufactured Sept. 2004)

 

[John P]

I'm looking at the sticker on the top of the drive. I don't see any mention of Lite-On or NEC.

Dude, google is your friend, use it, be it....

It's a Lite On, Lite On model # DRW-3S163 to be exact.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: John P.

I'm looking at the sticker on the top of the drive. I don't see any mention of Lite-On or NEC.

I apologize for the sarcasm, but dude, 4320 posts and you don't know how to use google?

It's a Lite On, Lite On model # DRW-3S163 to be exact. (surprise!)

meh ... I haven't been following hardware that much, so wouldn't know how to tell one rebadged drive from another. That google might be able to tell me crossed my mind, but frankly, the other poster wanted the info ... I don't care. I was just providing it as a favor.

 

[BZeto]

We still had over 3 of the 200GB drives left when I left work today at 4pm.

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

lol yes that was interesting.. the truck we got in monday must have been packed with that stuff. I left about 4:30 and there was i think 5 left. Not too many people hunted after em, i saw a lot getting camera/printer combos. I'm still debating picking the drive up. i HATE MIR junk though. Especially since its $80 in MIR that takes at least 2 months to get back. I think i'll just wait for a 250GB online to go for <100$ and ill order it. Unfortunetly the city i live in has Wallmart, Sears, Kmart, RadioShack and OfficeMax.. THATS IT lol.. i haven't even stepped foot in a staples/office depot ;x. Luckily Newegg always has some of the best prices out there AND SUPER service. I mean 3 day wait for great products hard to beat. Specially for the lazy like me that don't want to drive 2+ hrs to TRY to buy random cool stuff. :*(

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

Stupid internet DOUBLE POST SORRY!!

 

[PsychoCrazy]

Well after being bitterly disappointed about OM not having thier stuff online this morning (well at least at the proper prices), I decided to give the local store a call this afternoon. The only thing I really cared about was the 200GB HD, and they said they still had a few left. Went down there about 3:30 and snagged one, and there were still close to a dozen left. Also had lots of the 100pk CDRs left. Grabbed the Belkin router while I was at it too. My $30 coupon got rejected because I didn't realize it was for online/phone orders only. But I did get to use a $10 in-store coupon. Over all, I'm very pleased. Now I can put my MST3K episode collection on one drive!

 

[Melectricus]

OK, I have to admit that I was impressed with the stock at office max this morning. I wandered in an hour after opening to look at the left-over freebies and sob, they still had a dozen 200gb, the 16x dual layer, and all the free media - I couldn't believe it. I talked to the csr and she said there were over 150 people waiting at opening. I was at a Minneapolis suburb Omax, still took 45min to check out, but well worth it.

 

[SKORPI0]

Originally posted by: PsychoCrazy
.. The only thing I really cared about was the 200GB HD,... But I did get to use a $10 in-store coupon. Over all, I'm very pleased.

Did the same thing, used a $10 in-store coupon. Paid $129.29 ($119.99+tax) - $80MIRs + $0.74 stamps = $50.03. That's about $0.25/GB. Beats the price of $85.81 for the Maxtor 200GB I got from Office Depot last Oct. They had 3 left when I walked in the store at 7:45 p.m, their inventory said 53.

 

[Melectricus]

Arrrrgh... skorpio, you reminded me, I forgot about the $10 off $30 card in my wallet....could have.....done..........better.......sniff.

 

[NoahFrenzy]

Thanks for looking, man. I checked for that model number, as far as I can tell, it's the same as a 1653S or 1633S. I heard one forum saying it was a 53, though my own research on the Lite-ON site leads me to believe that it's a 33S.

I'm not certain as to which it is though. The 33S was the one with 2.4x Dual Layer burning, which is what this one burns at; the 53S has 4x burning. If it is in fact the 33S though, Lite-On just issued a firmware upgrade for it that can bring dual layer burning up to 4x.