Question #1: Does anyone know of a super duper list of sites you can submit your site to for outbound linking where you do not have to provide a reciprocal link?

Question #2: An out bound link from a PR5 site is worth how many outbound links from a PR1 site? hypothetically speaking a PR5 site linking to you is worth 10 PR1 sites (something along these lines) - Concerning Google SEO and position

Question #3: how much is an outbound link worth if its off topic (not similar in topic to your site) vs. on topic, similar in some way to your site? Concerning Google SEO and position

Link are not a quantitative thing, they are based on quality. Thus all questions above dont apply.

can you define what makes a link truly and genuinely quality?

It depends on what your "goals" are..

If you are looking at that link helping you to rank higher for a chosen keyword it will come from an authoritative website such as, but certainly not limited to, a big name company (Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, etc) or a respected site like Wiki (no arguments) and it will contain good anchor text, surrounded by relevant content, and will not have the nofollow tag on it..

A less quality link might be a link stuffed in someone's guestbook or buried 27 pages deep in a link directory..

Of course there are thousands of levels in between those two things, a solid link from a respected blog talking about your website for instance..

The other "goal" may be just raw traffic.. Something getting on page one of Digg can provide to you.. Or some other viral nonsense that drive a massive numbers of people to your website that rarely convert in to sales.. Again, what is your goal??

A simple definition of a good quality link would be "website relaetd to your niche linking to you naturally", not neccessary a link, it could be a review as well.

can you define what makes a link truly and genuinely quality?
Just posted this in the other thread:

How would you define quality backlinks? For me:
1. If it brings in targeted traffic
2. If it help in boosting for SERP
Either way - keep them targeted and relevant to your niche...