Continuing on with LaCie's unhelpful attitude, their tech support tells me my solution to their power supply breakdowns is to buy a new one for $35.
Since this is the second LaCie power supply to go bad on me (the first was bad out of the box), I think I'll decline purchasing the replacement.
I now realize that buying LeCie drives is a mistake, because of two crucial problems with their power supply:
- Many of their drives use a proprietary DIN-style 12v/5v connector, which means they cannot be easily or cheaply replaced using third-party products
- Their power supplies break down quickly, in my experience
This means that it is dangerous for me to employ LaCie drives, as they are unreliable due to the lack of reliable power. What good is it to use LaCie drives when I are faced with the power supplies breaking down and replacements not instantly available?
Worse, LaCie tech support is unable to tell me which power supply to use: "The exact specifications for the power adapters we ship with our drives have changed from time to time over the years. As such, I cannot definitively tell you what specific power output values you will find on the adapters that shipped with these devices, even with the serial numbers for the units."
Yet their Web site warns, "Using a power supply that was not intended for use with your drive could result in damage to the device and will void your warranty."
I'll be looking elsewhere to backup 600GB of data.
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