Notable CD-R King Items

Everyone has their own CD-R King horror stories: the long lines, the unfriendly attendants, and crappy items that go boom after a week. But with so many items in their catalog, there’s got to be some hidden gems in there.

So to round out my series on the ZyXEL router hidden among the hundreds of CD-R King merchandise, I’ll be pointing out other items that I consider to be notable in their catalog.

High Quality Blank Media

Even with a name like CD-R King, you might not expect this store to sell high quality media. But they really do sell high quality media. It’s going to take a bit of trial and error to find the best brands, though.

DigitalFAQ has a Blank DVD Quality Guide which provides a way to determine the quality of the media you bought. First you have to download a tool like DVD Identifier to determine the media ID of the DVD. Then you compare the media ID with their list of DVD media.

Above is a screenshot I made of a Verbatim 16x DVD-R disc I bought from CD-R King. Apparently, they do sell first class media sometimes.

Don’t be fooled by logos or brands, however, as in my experience, some fake “branded” DVD media are also sold in CD-R King. Trial and error is still the only way to make sure that you’re getting decent media.

Computer Coolers

One of my pet peeves in the local PC market is that PC stores almost never carry decent cooling devices even though we live in the tropics. CD-R King, on the other hand, has an entire category dedicated to Fans/Coolers.

Unfortunately, it is still a somewhat mediocre list. The only items that catch my eye are:

Cheap thermal compounds. I dare you to find thermal compounds for sale in normal PC stores. Heck, even PCO doesn’t carry thermal compounds (IIRC). This is weird considering that you need to reapply thermal compound every time you reseat a processor’s heatsink.

VGA Coolers. When video card’s fan gets borked and your card is out of warranty, you’re going to have to buy a new one. Unless of course you could find a compatible heatsink/fan combo for your card. Enter CD-R King…

RAM heatsinks. They void your warranty but they lengthen the life of your RAM. And they look cool to boot.

And finally, these guys. They aren’t really useful for PCs, but there’s one thing about them that makes them interesting:

• Thermal Tape Included

They come with 8 strips of 3M™ Thermally Conductive Adhesive Transfer Tapes, double sided tapes that conduct heat (which makes them great for heatsinks). Unless you’re some hotshot Electrical, Electronics or Materials Engineer you won’t be able to get your hands on these types of tapes anywhere else.

With thermal tape and some old motherboard heatsinks, you could mod your electronic devices to run cooler. Just stick the tape + heatsink on top of the hottest IC you could find in the board and you’re good to go!

(Note that the blue version of these heatsinks already have the tape on them i.e. you can’t salvage the thermal tape for other uses.)

USB KVM Switch

I already mentioned this in my older post on computer stores. Simply put, there is no store in Metro Manila selling USB KVM switches. Most stores that actually carry KVM switches only carry the Aten PS/2 KVM switches. Now if your keyboard and mouse has funky features not supported by PS/2, that type of switch nerfs your P3k+ worth of peripherals.

A USB KVM switch is heaven sent for us enthusiasts with better peripherals and running 2 computers at the same time. Now if only Encore could sell USB + DVI-D KVM switches…

Network Stuff

I’m not talking about the routers or the expensive UTP patch cables, I’m talking about the cable testers and crimping tools. Some years ago stores sold expensive cable testers and crimping tools, but the prices dropped when CD-R king entered the scene. Well… that’s how I remember it. :P

The WTF!?!

And finally we have the freakiest item sold in CD-R King:

A freaking windmill. It’s also worth a hundred grand, an amount you probably won’t entrust to unfriendly attendants. :P