Pauls Cycles in Dereham, Norfolk have XT V brakes at £15/pair at the moment, and loads of them at that. Dont know if they do mail order but if you need some of those old type brakes, maybe cus you read the bit on disk brake/drop out probs, or maybe you would like to upgrade to XT V's, give em a call.
No I dont work there, just suprised at the price when I went in to replace mine, was going to get XTR but feck that, £15 quids well worth the weight!
01362 696276

If you can put up with the squealing

If you can set them up proper then squealing doesnt exist!!

Although that does require effort...

I wish you luck.

I have this problem too, just been on to the suppliers about it, they are not willing to help, say it's not covered by warranty, etc. I have had the bike in for maintenance, and they can't get rid of it. Is there a solution, (apart from ditching them!)???

The only cure for squealing XT brakes is fitting other brakes. Sorry.

ear plugs?
I tried everything to silence my XT's and in the end the only thing that worked was Avid Mag Ti's in their place.

All you have to do is toe them out, ie the back of the pad touches first. I also degease the rims after every ride but not sure that that cures it as much as toeing them does.
When you setting your pads up, just slip a thin piece of card between the rim and the pad front then tighten the pad up. This should leave about a 2mm gap at the front of the pad when the rear of the pad is touching the rim.
Try it!