This is sort of a reverse smackdown; normally I post complaints in this category, and that’s what this started as, until it was happily resolved. I use a WiebeTech FireWire DriveDock, a little pod that snaps into the back of any IDE hard disk or optical drive and makes it visible with FireWire. This is a great way to speed up running VMware or Virtual PC on my ThinkPad, since its internal disk is pretty slow. I was running out of space on the 40GB drive I had plugged into the dock, so I bought a 120GB WD1200 and found that it wouldn’t start– the motor would start and give a little torque kick, but then it would shut down again. I thought the drive was bad, but it tested OK, so I emailed WiebeTech’s support alias asking them for suggestions on how to fix the problem. About two hours later, I got a response:
Hello Paul,
As you have witnessed first hand, Western Digital has changed the power requirements of their newer drives. To compensate for this, we have a device
that plugs in-between the DOCK and the drive, called a Power Filter. Send me
your WiebeTECH Invoice number and/or shipping information, and I will be
happy to send one out to you.
Problem identified and solved, politely and at no cost to me. If only every company were so responsive! I’ve been recommending Wiebe’s products for a while because they work well, but I’m really pleased by their attitude toward customer service.
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