i jus got word that my old company is maybe gonna do lump sum pay outs. i was there for 20 years before "retiring", what can i expect ? they said that everyone will get what they earned, i figured they do low ball for lump sum, but have to wait and see.

one question, with lump sum, i wonder if ill have option to put it in an IRA so im not dinged on taxes.

anyone have experience with pension buy outs ?

You can expect an actuarial equivalent to what the payout would have been.  That number is not what it would otherwise payout, they don't have all of that money, they depend on investment gains to pay that much.
A good way to evaluate the offer is to look at how much income you could generate from a SPIA (single payment instant annuity) if you took all of the offered money and bought an annuity.
You will have the ability to roll this to an IRA, and you should take that option - taxes would kill you otherwise.

I have seen plenty threads on bogleheads.org discussing various companies having pension buyouts, after the collective hive there evaluates the offers they usually come out pretty reasonable.  You may want to look around their forums to get an idea of what to expect.