I was not sure of what brand panniers I wanted, and budget was limited. So when I was in bi-mart one day (OP is in Oregon, bimart is a Oregon chain) they had the Schwinn panniers on sale for 21 bucks. I thought well Ill gamble. They have been on my bike since then (march) and I commute 100 miles +- a week. I have become addicted to having panniers now.

The Schwinn are ok bags. you do have to be gentle with the zippers so when mine are loaded I pinch the bags closed and then do the zipper...not using the zipper to close a tight bag. ( I messed up a zipper, first week, took it back and got an exchange set of panniers) During the first heavy rain, I learned I needed to dry em out and scotch gaurd them. Yet still during the rain, I put everything in plastic bags. they do hold a fair amount of stuff. I will someday up grade to a better bag, which brand I do not yet know. So if you really want to go cheap for a few months to see if you want to stick with panniers, go check em out.