Verbatim 52x24x52 CDRW (Lite-On) $19.99 AR @ Best Buy

[BigSmooth]

In Sunday's sale flyer. $69.99 and then two MIRs, one for $30 and one for $20.

This is the same drive mentioned in this thread. That deal was a little hotter, but this is still not bad.

I'm fairly certain you can determine which boxes contain a Lite-On drive. The boxes that have a 12-digit numeric serial number will likely be Lite-Ons (something like 230045800657). The boxes that have an alphanumeric S/N (like 2CDM65460027) probably won't contain a Lite-On. Cendyne does this and Verbatim is part of the same company.

You can tell if the drive is a Lite-On once you open it up if the faceplate looks similar to the one pictured on the box. I think these drives come with Verbatim firmware but you can flash it to the latest Lite-On firmware if you're so inclined (although that may cause the bundled version of Nero not to work with the drive).

Also this week, CompUSA has a 52x24x52 drive for $9.99 AR, but it's made by "Mad Dog Multimedia" and the box says it uses JustLink, so it's probably a Ricoh/AOpen drive. Edit: the CompUSA drive may only be available if you buy a PC.

 

[Mallow]

nice deal indeed.

 

[TheBigCheese]

I curious, what is wrong with the Apoen drives compared with Lite On?

 

[pcmax]

Is this an instore only deal, I don't see it listed on the website?

 

[Slowpc]

I grabbed this deal this morning (with the 80gig hd at staples and the 100pack cdr's)
I did not get a Lite-on , but i got the Asus 5224a , and that is still a nice drive.
Was a good replacement for my LIteon 12x .

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: TheBigCheese
I curious, what is wrong with the Apoen drives compared with Lite On?

Some people say Lite-Ons are superior to other drives (burn faster & more reliably, fewer bad drives, less picky about media) but others say it's just hype. I certainly don't think it hurts to try and make sure you get a Lite-On, though.

 

[ton]

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
In Sunday's sale flyer. $69.99 and then two MIRs, one for $30 and one for $20.

This is the same drive mentioned in this thread. That deal was a little hotter, but this is still not bad.

Just curious, where the 2 rebates go to? I think one prabably go to Calais, ME. But the other one go to Cendyne ?

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: ton

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
In Sunday's sale flyer. $69.99 and then two MIRs, one for $30 and one for $20.

This is the same drive mentioned in this thread. That deal was a little hotter, but this is still not bad.

Just curious, where the 2 rebates go to? I think one prabably go to Calais, ME. But the other one go to Cendyne ?

The $20 rebate goes to "Verbatim Rebate Offer" in Santa Ana, CA. I have heard mixed things about Verbatim/Cendyne MIRs.

 

[Rphman]

I bought this yesterday (put a post in the Cendyne thread), the 12 digit all numbers are Lite-On drives, the one I got isn't even a rebadged unit!!! It's got the Lite-on sticker on it, and was made 2/2003. I didn't hook it up yet so I don't know what firmware it has but that's easily taken care of. I went in today for my price adjustment and rebate slips, the $30 rebate goes to Calais, ME and the $20 goes to Santa Ana, CA. For those of you that bought the Buslink 52X24X52 (these are Lite-Ons too if the box says "Smart Burn" on it NOT Justlink) they marked these down to $29.99 with NO rebate. This could be HOT as I think it's at Staples on sale this week.

 

[sharq]

Are the BusLink for 29.99 without rebates at BestBuy?

 

[Ranger X]

Came back from Best Buy. Mine is also a Lite-On not even re-badged.

 

[Rphman]

No there is no reabates for the Buslink for $29.99, I checked Staples and it is going for $69 plus a $20 rebate. How do you think they would price match it?? Reading their policy it looks like they would take the rebate off first because BB doesn't have a rebate so 69-20=49 with a price match of 22 making it $27 after rebate?? If they just matched the $29 price making it $9 after rebate that would be burning HOT. What's the experiences with Staples price match??

 

[sharq]

In my opinion the price of the buslink 29.99 (without rebates) is hot as it is. Gonna go to best buy tomorrow and try to get my hands on one of those. Hope it's not YMMV, cause I can't find the drive on their site.
On another note, anyone have any experience with the company's that the rebates for the verbatim go to?
Thanks.

 

[Pinan]

Picked up one today. Yup, it's a Lite-On. Excellent.

 

[TheBigCheese]

Originally posted by: bigsmooth
Also this week, CompUSA has a 52x24x52 drive for $9.99 AR, but it's made by "Mad Dog Multimedia" and the box says it uses JustLink, so it's probably a Ricoh/AOpen drive.

I can't find that drive in their ad. Is it unadvertised or is there an ad for it on line? R U sure it's ChumpUSA?

Oh, now I found it ... it is part of the "only with purchase of a computer" bundle!!

 

[Slowpc]

yea , i must have been the only Asus drive so far. Was hoping for a lite-on , but so far. Been very happy with this drive so far.

 

[alphatarget1]

got one, thanks!

how do i update the firmware to a lite-on firmware and most importantly, how do i make sure that it's a lite-on?

 

[quincy2002]

Originally posted by: kenleung
got one, thanks!

how do i update the firmware to a lite-on firmware and most importantly, how do i make sure that it's a lite-on?

For firmware questions start reading at:
Freaks or more Freaks
If the box says SmartBurn on it, then the drive is a Lite-on. Lite-on drives also have model numbers starting with "LTR-". See also: Text

 

[Richardito]

The Verbatim drive I just got is actually a Cendyne. It burns at 52x perfectly, much better than my Polariod BurnMaxCrap48 that has a 60% chance to burn at 40x and 0% chance to burn at 48x. The Polaroid fails on burns because of the abnormal vibrations and shutters at 40x and above speeds. I'll sell the Polaroid or just give it away to someone...

 

[OddTSi]

My brother just bought this drive from Best Buy. It has the numeric serial number and the faceplate looks exactly like that on the box and the picture in the ad (Someone said that the Lite-Ons look like that). Is there a sure fire way to tell if this is a Lite-On?

Also, I tried installing Nero 5 and 5.5 but neither would detect the burner. When you go to Choose Recorder the only option is "Image Recorder". It does work however with the bundled Nero Express software. Does anyone know why it does this, or if there is a workaround to this?

 

[pinoy]

That's it!!! I'm moving to a bigger city. I can't get in on these B&M deals, whether BB, CC or CrapUSA, they're at least 80 miles away from me.:|

 

[AAjax]

Originally posted by: Slowpc
yea , i must have been the only Asus drive so far. Was hoping for a lite-on , but so far. Been very happy with this drive so far.

I have both the Lite-on and Asus drive running and to be honest I like the Asus drive better. It seems more solid and I like the "feel" of it a bit more. Nothing against the Lite-on its great too but givin the choice I would get another Asus (it might just be the tri-colored all in one led it has)

 

[nippyjun]

Are any of these drives black, or just beige?

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: OddTSi
My brother just bought this drive from Best Buy. It has the numeric serial number and the faceplate looks exactly like that on the box and the picture in the ad (Someone said that the Lite-Ons look like that). Is there a sure fire way to tell if this is a Lite-On?

Also, I tried installing Nero 5 and 5.5 but neither would detect the burner. When you go to Choose Recorder the only option is "Image Recorder". It does work however with the bundled Nero Express software. Does anyone know why it does this, or if there is a workaround to this?

AFAIK, the only sure-fire 100% way to know it's a Lite-On (if there are no Lite-On or SmartBurn stickers anywhere) is to see if it can be updated with Lite-On firmware. However, the faceplate should be a pretty good giveaway, each OEM manufacturer has their own style.

As for the second part of your question, maybe you need to d/l the latest Nero updates? EZCD Creator 5 wouldn't see the drive either until I d/l'ed the latest update.

Are any of these drives black, or just beige?

Beige only. Looks a little weird in my Dell 8250, but oh well.

 

[adavidw]

Beige only. Looks a little weird in my Dell 8250, but oh well.

It sure isn't hard to pop the faceplate off and spray paint it...

-Aaron