Hardly anything for media this week. I didn't get ads from any of the office supply stores. There was nothing in the newspaper, nothing on their web sites (office max typically puts up the next weeks and on their site on sat morning), nothing in my email (on on all their email lists), and I couldn't find anything on slick deals or fat wallet. Anyway, if anyone has working links to any of the office supply ads (if there even are going to be any), let me have them and I can capture and add the images.

edit, almost forgot, what I posted was circuit city, bestbuy, wallgreens and frys sun ad. There was no media at sears, target or cvs.

See below for more on office depot.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/sales/

Office depot has a flyer looking deal about their red tag clearance where the next weeks ad normally would be on their site (so maybe thats it for their ad). The red tag clearance has of course been going on for months. Office depot used to have company wide clearance prices but now most markdowns are done by the store manager. The store manager can get in trouble if they don't get rid of the clearance stuff in time (they have months for it though). If its there too long, the store has to send it back. On the flip side, too many markdowns (specifically ones that take the product below margin), can hurt the store manager more. Maybe cooperate is doing some cooperate markdowns (prices end in .01, .02, .03, .04 for stage 1, 2, 3, and 4 clearance) for the ad (who knows). I get the impression that they are driving more for bigger stuff like laptops and desktop computers (and that might be it for electronics). After about a month on stage 4 clearance, the items are supposed to be pulled and sent back.

Here is a hint. Office depot coupons exclude technology. Office depot takes office max and staples coupons according to the terms on the coupon, not according to office depot policy, so if the coupon doesn't exclude clearance or technology, you can use it (might have to argue with a manager).
Personally, I have been making out like a bandit (a few thousand dollars worth of stuff for a few hundred dollars), but that is because the store doesn't have a store manager at the moment, so there is nobody to get in trouble for markdowns (the previous store manager wouldn't mark down anything and would even hide stuff that was supposed to be sent back and alter inventory so there was a lot of stuff for them to get rid of). Its a hardcore ymmv with office depot, but remember, you can use office max and staples coupons on clearance and or technology if the coupons terms allow it.

Fyi the reason I know so much is that I work next door to office depot (same building) so I'm there every other day (if nothing else, so I don't get pestered by customers on my break as our store is always severely understaffed anymore). I tend to chit chat with the managers and some of the other employees and kind of see whats going on (maybe too much, I kind of pissed off one of the managers buying some 60$ laser mice for 4$ because I had inside information).

Thanks Ripit

Thanks for the info...Ripit!

Thanks ripit!
That is good info!

thanks alot ripit!!!!

Thank you once again ripit!

thanks once again for the great info..nice.

Thanks ripit!

On a side note but along the lines of whats on sale (the purpose for this thread), has anyone noticed any good deals on nas enclosures (cheap ones that actually work). Unfortunately, I think those are incompatible terms (cheap and actually works). I got a network usb hub, but the transfer speeds are horrible (1-2MBps at best). I would like a hardware solution to transfer files from computer to computer (HUGE files), and am at the point that I am going to try a bluetooth file transfer???? I know about setting up a file server (and actually have parts for another computer or two), but the knowledge is beyond me so I'm looking for something that will work for an idiot (I'm not stupid but am stupid when it comes to networking).

Thank you, ripit!

Thanks ripit!

Thank you ripit,
budzos

Thanks ripit

You are experiencing a once in a lifetime situation. Enjoy it. There is no office supply store on the planet where those things would happen with a real manager in charge. No one else reading this thread should get it in their head that they are going to experience anything even remotely like you have.

Basically, Office Depot clearance is mostly dead. In the old days, we could track clearance items easily on a national level and get great deals, simply by being patient. Those days are over. You might luck upon something now and then, but for the most part, it's a waste of time.

Also, Office Depot regularly rejects the use of competitor coupons. They are much tougher on coupon usage than either OfficeMax or Staples. It is all purely at the manager's discretion, and it depends on the store. Office Depot has no corporate policy on this, so they don't have to accept anything. Once again, some might get lucky, but a whole lot won't. Don't waste too much on gas driving around trying to test it.

Lastly, as I mentioned in my thread on the Verbs at OfficeMax, that sale lasts until the 17th, and you can get them to PM the web site just by taking in a printout. That's the only thing to even bother with. Everything else is junk in the media category.

Thank you very much ripit!

Thanks ripit.

Burn On,
Russell

Thanks as always, ripit.
Happy Mom's Day to all the mommies in the Freak

Thanks ripit.

Wow what the hell is happening on all these office stores? They decide not to go on sale this week together or something?
Office Depot AD is up.
But as you might noticed, no deals at all.
Some digital cameras, no deals at all, and lots of printers which are no deals at all price-wise.

I guess I just go for Toshiba 320GB at BB with my 12% coupon to fullfil my shopaholic desires for this week then.

Yea it looks just like a mini ad for office depot and no ad for staples and office max. I guess they figure mothers day is not an office supply/electronics buying holiday or something?

Exactly.

I am not really sure about what you are looking for, but here I found one pretty cheap and company is not based in China
Here is the link http://www.staples.com/office/suppli...RANCE#desclink
And best thing is you can always return if you don't like it because it's Staples.
Hope it works for ya

By the way how many computers do you have?
Have you tried to connect all into router and netwroked all those computers and share files via ethernet? That is what I do at home wirelessly (using wireless N) with 4 notebooks I have and it is much faster and convenient(wire free) than using USB. Unless you want HD available thru internet outside your home or has many computers accessing files at the same time, it is better to network each other than using HD file server.

I just got this Toshiba 320GB Portable drive for $123.83 inc. tax with 12% coupon. Man this one is finger print and dust magnet. It is worse than WD Passport Glossy black one because this one is not just glossy on top, but all around. But it does look good and fancy.
Worst part is it is Made in China, not Thailand which WD do and they make good one.
I will try it since Toshiba and Samsung's notebook HDs are good, but who knows what will happen.
But damn it looks elegant, I love the look.

Yea, I didn't mean to imply that most would be able to get so lucky. In fact, I think that is why they had so much stuff they needed to clearance (the old manager was hard core stingy about marking stuff down).

As far as coupons, it claims on their website that they take competitor coupons according to the terms on the coupon

"Does Office Depot accept coupons from Competitors?

Yes. Coupons are accepted in-store only. Acceptance of coupons from the Competitors is subject to the terms and conditions listed on the coupon"

I have had to print that out and argue with them about the terms on the coupon before, so like you said, ymmv.

I already got one of those neatgear units (clearance at office depot for 50$) and returned it. It would have been perfect had it worked right but it has a serious bug. If the unit thinks the drive installed correct but it didn't, there is no way to recover. Further, it can loose the drive after time, and again, there is no way to recover. I spent days trying to get it to work (I really would have liked to have it). The main thing that made me return it though, is even if I had got it working, it can still loose the drive down the road, and as the format is proprietary, there is no way to recover your data. After days of reading on it, I gather it has serious drive compatibility problems. IF you get a drive it likes, it works great, if not, nightmares (and there is not drive compatibility list that I am aware of).
Newegg has these on clearance but the reviews seem bad too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833164201
Anything I have found that has good reviews and seems to work well seems to always be at least a few hundred dollars.

On a side note, I have 2 computers right now (4 if I ever get around to building them from existing parts) and they are wirelessly networked. I have got them setup where I can share files over the network (read only) but I need to be able to transfer files back and forth (basically move stuff like captured video from the bedroom to the htpc in the front room). I have yet to figure out how to actually move files.
The usb hub by the way is a network usb hub (plugs into the router and shares devices with all the computers on the network).
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ...T&cm_keycode=4
It works very well with one exception, the transfer speeds are very slow (about 1MBps). I have a 300gig usb drive attached to it but it takes forever just to move a few gig from the back computer, to the usb drive, and then to the front computer.
I wish I could figure out how to use software and just transfer files across the network but so far no luck (it won't let me write files on another computer).