I agree, if you are not fully incontinent as I am for example pad seems a great way to go. I have a friend, who is using pads because he is not entirely incontinent - just some leaks here and then and he is using pads - it's so much cheaper. You need to dribble a little bit between the brands until you find the one that suits you best, it takes some time to find the best product - everyone of us is different and our needs, feel of comfort etc is slightly different as well
It personally took me a long time before I have found the product, that I really love and have tried a lot of different brands along the way, but if I were in your shoes, I'd definitely settle for pads.