Other World Computing - Aura 480GB drive issues

[JackIsBack]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to inform everyone on the issues I have been having with my recent purchase from Other World Computing.

I purchased as a Christmas gift for my son the 480GB Mercury Aura Envoy blade memory to upgrade his 2010 Macbook Air (which originally had 256GB). The memory last just over 1 week before the dreaded question mark folder appeared. My son erased his previous drive after Christmas – so he lost all his data. I tried everything to get it working again and finally returned it a little while later for a replacement unit. The problem is my son is going to school, so I don’t have access to his computer and it takes some time to retrieve it. I finally got the new unit installed in April and then, this time less than a week later, it failed again.

This time I called and asked for a refund since I had two units fail in exactly the same manner. The customer service representative told me that they analyzed the previous drive and found it be in a “panic state” and it was indeed not useable and was not our fault. He did however refuse to give me a refund and state my only option was to get yet another replacement (I paid over $45 to ship it back the first time – all at my expense). The first time…. they told me that the new drive would work, the odds of getting two bad ones is astronomical, he guarantees it will work. So again on cue, he (another customer service representative) said the same thing… there is no way a third drive would fail and he all but guaranteed it this time as well. My problem is that I lost faith in the quality of the product and would just like my money back… or even a store credit.

I will not buy another one and I recommend that no one else buys one. I don’t trust the product and I certainly don’t trust their guarantees – if they were good products, they would stand by their products and give me at the very least a store credit to buy something else. My son lost data on two occasions and since he’s going to school and saves his work on the Macbook, I don’t think its fair to ask him to risk losing his data a third time. So for the loss of a simple store credit in the amount of the drive (not too much to ask for)... they risk losing a good customer, I just don't see why they wouldn't be more flexible.

Has anyone else had similar problems with these drives? The original 256GB blade drive is back in and working fine now - I've never had a problem with them and I have purchased 3 Macbook Airs to date with those drives in them.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[flowrider]

Yes! My Review of the Transcend JetDrive:

My Review of the Transcend JetDrive 520 480GB SSD in a 2012 11" MBA.

My Review also includes a comparison of the JetDrive with the OWC Aura Pro Drive.

I ordered the OWC Aura Pro Drive the day before the Transcend Drives were announced. Before I received the drive, I called OWC to see if they would price match, and the answer was no. So, I thought Shame on Me. OWC's pricing was $449. for a bare drive and $475. for one that included tools and an enclosure for the old SSD. (OWC's pricing has since been reduced to $398. and $419. respectively) I opted for the bare drive. I installed the drive, and as others have noticed, the vertical dimension of the circuit board the components are mounted on is a millimeter or 2 larger than the stock SSD. Others have cut the board, I didn't, I applied a little pressure and it snapped into place. OWCs installation video is, IMO, far better than the Transcend video. Once set up, the SSD seemed to work fine, for awhile, but less than a day later, the drive started giving me problems. I tried repairing it with both Disk utility and Tech Tool Pro, both to no avail. Two days later it happened again. I called OWC and asked for an RMA. They agreed but said I would have to pay a restocking fee and pay for return shipment. I challenged that, saying this was not a capricious return, that the unit was defective and I expected OWC to pay for shipping and refund the full amount. They agreed, and sent me a UPS label.

When ordering the Transcend JetDrive I was quoted a delivery time of from 2 to 4 weeks. The unit was shipped 3 days after the order was placed and I received it one day later, that's 4 days after order placement! The price of the JetDrive 480 GB SSD from Amazon was $350. + Sales Tax (OWC charges no tax in Arizona). If I could have waited longer, I could have bought it from my memory Supplier, Data Memory Systems and not paid Sales Tax, but Transcend has not yet supplied it's distributers with this product.

Upon receipt of the JetDrive, yesterday, the first thing that jumped out at me was the packaging. The OWC SSD came packed in an anti-static bag enclosed in a thin gauge blister packed piece of cardboard with blue printing. It looked the packaging used by Ace Combs. The Transcend packaging on the other hand was impressive. A heavy gauge white slide out box with a full color picture of the SSD. The box was multi layered and contained the drive, the enclosure for the OEM drive, and the tools necessary for installation. Each layer was a plastic bed with depressions sized to fit the associated parts. It also contained an instruction booklet and warranty information. The instructions are, IMHO, inadequate, and only two pages apply, the other 26 pages being written for other languages.

The tools worked very well, and installation was a breeze. the form factor of the circuit board is the same as apple's so no undue pressure was needed for installation. My old SSD fit into the supplied enclosure with no issues.

I then cloned the JetDrive using Tech Tool Pro from the external Hybrid Drive I had been using as the main drive for my MBA. I foolishly ordered my MBA with only the 64GB SSD.

No issues. Everything is working as expected. In terms of speed. I have not measured the speed, but it feels very snappy. I believe the OWC and Transcend drives to be equal here. Transcend even supplies software to enable Apple's Trim support, OWC does not. There is however, third party software that enables Trim, Trim Enabler. I use that anyway for the SSD I use in my Mac Pro.

In ending, I would urge anyone installing the JetDrive in a MBA to watch the OWC installation video, again, it is superior to the Transcend video, and will make things more understandable to you.

The JetDrive is by far the superior product, and as of right now is $69. cheaper than the OWC Aura Pro. When I bought the OWC product, it would have cost $125 more than the corresponding Transcend product.

That IMHO is Value.

Currently, Apple charges $500. to go from a 128GB SSD to a 512GB SSD in the MBA. So, $350. for a 480GB SSD AND you get to keep your old drive, you can't beat that.

Edit - The Transcend drive seems to run color than true OWC drive. When feeling the bottom of my MBA where the SSD is mounted, the area while warm, is not as warm as it was with the OWC unit.

Lou

Lou

 

[JackIsBack]

Thanks Lou.... guess what I'm going to buy (hint: not from OWC).

Just a follow up on some things you said that got me thinking.

The Customer service rep on the the phone told me that the drive they supplied won't work in the Aura enclosure that came with the drive (weird I know).... but that it will only work properly with the Apple one once removed from the computer. This struck me as odd... but I really wasn't sure why until your post. The drive does run hotter then the one supplied, he did hint to that fact and did say that it would be ok in the enclosure for a short period but that I should only run the Apple drive in it for the long haul.

So... these drives run hotter and are different then the one supplied by Apple... and we all know that Apple uses the best... so now I really don't trust these drives. As I investigate this further .... I'm hearing from other that they are experiencing problems as well ... their computer is running hotter and the fan (which they rarely heard before - some didn't even know they had one) is running way more then normal. I suspect that the hotter operating temperatures are causing these drives to lock into a "panic state". I would suggest to everyone to purchase the other drives that Lou mentions. I searched for drives on the internet before I purchased the one from OWC - but there seemed to be no other option (it was expensive - I paid $500 before shipping and tax)... so I'm glad there is a better and cheaper option available to us all.

I wish that OWC would do the right thing and take this over $500 brick off my hands - but I fear I'm asking far too much from a company that clearly doesn't back what they sell and a company that needs to be pushed before they do the right thing like in Lou case - where they needed to be nudged by him to pay for the shipping... they never offered me such a courtesy on both occurrences (I spent over $45 shipping it back to them the first time).

So now I'm left with owing my son a Christmas present - Thanks OWC and Merry Christmas to you too

Jack

 

[JackIsBack]

Follow up:

Just for fun - I wrote the Transcend Sales Department asking if I could return my OWC drive to them instead for a discount... I will see what they say.

Thanks