--- In FinalCutPro-L@yahoogroups.com, Tod Hopkins <hoplist@...> wrote:
>
> On Jun 23, 2009, at 8:11 PM, Jeff Cook wrote:
>
> > They acknowledge the
> > disconnect problem on 2006 "Legacy" drives only, as follows.
>
> I chuckle because it instructs you to return for service, yet when I
> called about my legacy G-Raid that is having problems, they said they
> don't service drives out of warranty, which a legacy drive pretty much
> has to be. I may try again.

Just to put an end to my story here, I sent my refurbished external case back to
OWC and just got it back with a report:

Test results: failed bridge card.
Items replaced: bridge.

I popped a drive in this morning and hammered it with heavy-duty
reading/writing. Works fine now; no spontaneous disconnect.

A couple of comments:

1) I often buy refurbished stuff not only to save money, but because I assume a
refurbished item has been thoroughly checked out and will be less likely to have
a problem than a brand new item. My experience with the OWC case is just one
data point, but it makes me question the theory that refurbished stuff will
always work right out of the box.

2) It doesn't say much for G-Tech that they won't fix a defective FW bridge. As
others have pointed out, all external drives, no matter what the brand, are put
together with OEM parts from a few manufacturers. The only added value a
name-brand drive gives you is customer support. (And sometimes style -- although
the styling can often get in the way of performance, given the fact that keeping
internal temps down should be the main design goal of any drive case.)

Take care -- Mark