It was time to upgrade my backup capabilities by adding an external DVD burner to the computer hardware which I have.
Following the agonizing procedure of selecting a model to buy, I went to the usual price comparing Web site serving the Israeli consumer market and eventually chose a certain model of USB based DVD burner. I also read reviews and asked on the Linux-IL mailing list to make sure that it is Linux compatible and that no surprises are expected. Google was less useful than expected – when looking for technical information about models of USB based DVD burners, I was greeted by lists of price comparison Web sites from around the world.
The price range for that model was quoted as 388 to 688 NIS. I am relatively busy this time, so I decided to look for place to buy based upon geography and logistics (i.e. no need to go to the post office to pick it up) rather than upon price.
I work in northern part of Yavne, and one of the shops was listed as having a branch at southern part of Yavne. One evening I drove from work to the shop’s area. Driving around in a topological circle bent out of shape yielded no sighting of the shop.
Oh well.
I drove back home and on the way there was a branch of Office Depot. On impulse I decided to enter it and see what they have for external DVD burners.
Incredibly, Office Depot, which was not listed at all in the aforementioned price comparing Web site, had exactly the model which I wanted – for 389 NIS, including VAT! The time was about 20:30 in the evening when I paid and departed with the prize, after having been in the shop for about 15 minutes.
The whole experience causes me to doubt the utility of those price comparison Web sites.
P.S.: to operate the DVD burner with my Linux-powered computers (one with Debian Sarge and the other – with Debian Etch), I needed only to install the dvd+rw-tools package in one of the computers (the other one already had it installed) and read the package’s user’s manual. Otherwise, the burner worked out of the box.
