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Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
joemikeb #40432 05/12/16 09:06 PM
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The outcome of my episode in frustration won't make anybody else's purchasing experience a whole lot easier, but I hope it has cleared the air a bit.

OWC often changes the "guts" in its enclosures...market conditions, I imagine, so they don't post specific specs about some items, this disc drive, I suspect, being one of them, and I can't imagine that it doesn't negatively impact their sales to at least some degree.

It also screws up their rating system, because, by way of example, an enclosure that comes either empty or with multiple different "guts" gets rated as multiple different devices.

I don't know if it's feasible for OWC to do the extensive testing that would be required to make them a more credible seller, but it would certainly help if tech support could answer questions knowledgeably.

Last edited by artie505; 05/13/16 12:19 AM. Reason: Better

The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
artie505 #40438 05/13/16 03:13 PM
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FWIW I always buy the enclosure and drive separately. That way I know and control the mechanism that goes into the enclosure. Installation is dead simple and I often end up saving a few bucks although that is not my primary intention.

That option is not available with most of the current generation of inexpensive optical drives. The drive and enclosure are one in the same or at least that is the case with my wife's drive.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
joemikeb #40441 05/13/16 03:35 PM
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With HDD/SSDs I do the same as you in order to get the "best" of all worlds.

Your wife's and my optical drives (Mine has been upgraded from a tray-loader to a slot-loader, and I imagine hers will follow suit.) are confusing, because their listed weight is without an internal mechanism, giving the impression that they're available as enclosures, but that's apparently not the case.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
artie505 #40450 05/13/16 04:26 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
(Mine has been upgraded from a tray-loader to a slot-loader, and I imagine hers will follow suit.)
I for one fair to be convinced slot loaders are an upgrade having had more than one disc get stuck inside a slot loader, but obviously mine is a minority opinion. 😩


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
joemikeb #40451 05/13/16 04:52 PM
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Originally Posted By: joemikeb
I for one fail to be convinced slot loaders are an upgrade having had more than one disc get stuck inside a slot loader, but obviously mine is a minority opinion. 😩

Yup. Too bad the days are gone when the drive had the tiny hole to physically push the disk out by using the end of a paperclip.

Last edited by ryck; 05/13/16 04:52 PM.

ryck

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Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
ryck #40511 05/17/16 05:33 AM
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Originally Posted By: ryck
Originally Posted By: joemikeb
I for one fail to be convinced slot loaders are an upgrade having had more than one disc get stuck inside a slot loader, but obviously mine is a minority opinion. 😩

Yup. Too bad the days are gone when the drive had the tiny hole to physically push the disk out by using the end of a paperclip.

Responding to joemike first, I've never had to deal with a stuck disc in either a slot or tray-loader, but it just seems "logical" that the drive with fewer moving parts will be the less likely of the two to suffer mechanical failure.

And as for your ejection pinhole, ryck, my drive has got one! Unfortunately, though, it's a non-functional leftover from a previous incarnation, and I had to contact OWC Customer Service to find out why I had my antique, straightened paperclip stuck into it up to my wrist and it still wouldn't eject a disc. frown (The drive also has an eject button, but its functionality matches that of the eject button on a Mac and does NOT provide any emergency relief.)

It's an indication of something that all three OWC products I've owned have incorporated design elements from previous incarnations that a fastidious manufacturer would have designed out.

And that, combined with the wealth of erroneous information on my drive's product page and the almost complete lack of necessary backup information by the tech to whom I spoke really leaves me scratching my head and wondering "is this any way to run an airline"? confused


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
artie505 #40513 05/17/16 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted By: artie505
Responding to joemike first, I've never had to deal with a stuck disc in either a slot or tray-loader, but it just seems "logical" that the drive with fewer moving parts will be the less likely of the two to suffer mechanical failure.

Tray loaders do not have fewer moving parts it is just that the moving parts are all inside the drive and not visible to the user. I have seen too many slot loaders with jammed discs inside to be completely comfortable with them. (I once saw a slot loader that somehow managed to load a disc even though there was another disc already in the drive. Not unsurprisingly the second disc jammed the drive completely and ended up destroying both discs.

Admittedly the new slot loaders are better than they used to be jams still occur. On the other hand although I have both slot and tray loading optical drives attached to my Mac mini, I honestly do not remember the last time I used either one, so any argument over slot loaders vs. tray loaders seems moot.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: OWC Slim 6X Portable USB 2.0 Blu-ray Reader
joemikeb #40562 05/19/16 08:33 AM
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Actually, a tray-loader with a pin hole is probably preferable to slot-loader without an emergency eject mechanism except for the space - critical for me - factor.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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