Why does anyone like OWC?

[Cubytus]

Macs can be PCs, but not all PCs can be Macs without some really serious un-official hacks and even then you don't get 100% support on 100% of all things. I know, I had a hackintosh, though it was fun, before even reach 1 year using it for work, i ran into serious inconveniences that without a backup I would have been screwed. That was no way to run a business on top of. As a hobby maybe, but I need to depend on it, so I just went and out a Mac Pro.

You pointed the exact reason why I say that Macs are actually more compatible than PCs.

Everyone here is free to choose what brand you are confidence in, and once you find a good brand that consistently provided you what you need, its too much inconvenience to switch unless you run into a serious of issues with it that forces you to switch.

A brand can still be chosen out of lack of choice. For my spinner I went back to WD's Scorpio Black because they are the fastest 2.5" fit for laptops, although I had all of the previous ones fail within two years (all bought from other, bigger retailers. The number of duds I got through them is worrying). I didn't want to go Hitachi because they exclusively rely upon the worst carrier ever, UPS, for warranty service. And Seagate was quite slow.

For DIY external enclosures, I actually prefer OWC brand. Yes they do sell empty enclosures without drives inside. In fact I got a couple of them that has given no no issues for years, where a few DIY enclosures I got from Amazon had started giving me issues after about a little over a year... pass the warranty where I can not get an RMA. This is one reason why I prefer OWC enclosures for bare drives I have lying around that I need to re-comission. From personal experience OWC enclosures had work for years and years past warranty without giving me any issues.

As an added benefit you get separate drive and enclosure warranties. Although I find that OWC enclosures really aren't cheap, at least they're tested good with Mac. when I bought non-OWC enclosure, I experienced inability to spin the drive up after a prolonged sleep period.

And I do buy Samsung SSDs. BUT I also like OWC SSD as a boot drive for Mac OS X since MacOS as far as my last recent research does not support TRIM, OWC white papers advertises that their drives sustain write performance over time without TRIM. This made a huge factor in my decision for OWD SSDs when I need to run Mac OS X on top of it.

Isn't there a TRIM-enabler for Mac OS X? I thought it was a well-supported hack.

Why they are the only trusted source AND the only source so far that sells Thunderbolt drive enclosures. Yes I have gone to google and amazon to see if there are others I can get, and sadly, no.

Where? It still states "Coming soon" here.

 

[andiwm2003]

I bought at least ten times stuff from OWC (RAM, Drives, enclosures) and was always happy with them. Prices were competitive, shipping fast, never a problem aside of one damaged enclosure (probably during shipping) and that got replaced without a hitch.

The main reason why I shop with them is that I can go on their website, check what fit's my laptop, order it and be sure it will work. That alone saves me hours of checking websites for compatibility. There are so many versions of hardware out there that it is not trivial to find out if stuff fits and works in your 5 year old macbook pro. At least not when you don't want to spend more than 10 min for the entire search and order process. Time and reliability are more important than a theoretical saving on some cheap hardware that might or might not work.

 

[wtzouris]

---Quote (Originally by spyguy10709)---
The exact same - down to the model number - internal 1TB Drive Newegg sells for 59 dollars.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145584
OWC sells for 75. And you need to pay for shipping.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/HGST/0J22413/

Not when I checked the links above! -- Newegg is $99 and OWC is $75.
So prices are variable, and there are deals to be found. But you have to look at OWC's custom enclosures as something better that the generic enclosures out there. The On-the -Go Pro is pretty nice looking, and It's far superior to the generic enclosures. Besides, you have to compare apples to apples, OWC makes a very inexpensive plastic OSB 3.0 enclosure (no power switch) but with a super fast chipset. It's called the OWC Express. You can always save a few bucks here and there, but shopping with OWC is a good experience. They stand behind their products, and they actually take constructive criticism about their designs and try to improve them! The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Enclosure is a beauty and is far superior engineering-wise to the (not-equivalent) Rosewill case on Amazon.

 

[vpndev]

good

I've had good support from OWC.

A few years ago I bought some expensive memory for a Mac Pro (all memory for Mac Pro is expensive). It had the cooling fins etc just like Apple-original but was considerably expensive.

A year or so later, while checking system info, I noticed that one of the pair had a low-but-non-zero corrected-error rate -- parity errors that were discovered and fixed. I called OWC and they replaced the memory.

For me their service has always been good.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Why does anyone like OWC?

I like the site layout and the videos. However many parts they sell have substandard quality like SSDs with the Sandforce controller or the not very robust optibay parts.

 

[rasputin666]

Here's why I like OWC. In 2008 i bought 2x4GB memory modules for my 'then' new 3,1 mac pro. Well, after running non-stop since 2008, 1 of the 2 modules started throwing the red light error indicator on my top memory riser in the 3,1. 5 minute phone call and replacement 2x4GB modules are on the way. no questions, no hassles. not even a are you sure it's not your riser? did you move the sticks around to verify? nada. OK, in 2008 they were $350 for the pair [now $220, i asked], but lifetime warranty is why i'll buy memory form a company that backs them for life.

 

[Cubytus]

(…)Besides, you have to compare apples to apples, OWC makes a very inexpensive plastic OSB 3.0 enclosure (no power switch) but with a super fast chipset. It's called the OWC Express. You can always save a few bucks here and there, but shopping with OWC is a good experience. They stand behind their products, and they actually take constructive criticism about their designs and try to improve them! The OWC Mercury Elite Pro Enclosure is a beauty and is far superior engineering-wise to the (not-equivalent) Rosewill case on Amazon.

Still, fast or not, USB 3.0 is still USB, with the ****** performance that comes with it.

What I do really like about OWC's description is that they do list what kind of chip is used inside. Most other big-name retailers don't.

I like the site layout and the videos. However many parts they sell have substandard quality like SSDs with the Sandforce controller or the not very robust optibay parts.

From what I read a few months ago, even imperfect, the Sandforce controller was the best for Mac usage, and only a few users with very precise configurations had continuous problems.

Here's why I like OWC. In 2008 i bought 2x4GB memory modules for my 'then' new 3,1 mac pro. Well, after running non-stop since 2008, 1 of the 2 modules started throwing the red light error indicator on my top memory riser in the 3,1. 5 minute phone call and replacement 2x4GB modules are on the way. no questions, no hassles. not even a are you sure it's not your riser? did you move the sticks around to verify? nada. OK, in 2008 they were $350 for the pair [now $220, i asked], but lifetime warranty is why i'll buy memory form a company that backs them for life.

This has less to do with the retailer than the actual RAM manufacturer. I have ordered Mushkin RAM for many Macs just because they come at a reasonable price (unlike Kingston) with lifetime warranty.

 

[rex450se]

Isn't this very similar to people explaining why they go with Mac's rather than PC's? You pay a little more, but usually get a better product with much better customer service.

Victor

 

[gnasher729]

Just some personal experience: Got a 2010 MBP with 4 GB of RAM. Wanted some more. The best upgrade (money per GB) is adding a single 8 GB chip which gives you a total of 10 GB (buying 2x4 GB only gives you 8 GB, and is a waste if you decide to get even more RAM later). I looked everywhere, and it seems that OWC is the only company willing to sell a single 8 GB chip. (And it works just fine).

Everyone else either tries to sell you 2x4 GB when you search for "8 GB" or 2x8 GB which was more than I wanted / needed.

 

[tech4all]

People go with G-Tech because they've been led to think that it is a good drive. And they do give the appearance of that. It may be better than some but it is no where near what it's price would suggest. Mostly what they are selling is commodity parts wrapped in a whole lot of metal.

The best portable and desktop drives by a long shot, Glyph Technologies.
glyphtech.com
Internal power supplies on the desktop models. Everything else is just swimming in the kiddie pool.

Gonna have to be a bit more convincing than that. Could you please provide some reasoning behind your claims?

You say G-Tech's cost doesn't match their quality. Looking at BH photo, Glyph seem to cost considerably more for similar specs and capacity. So if G-Tech aren't quite as good as Glyph, then perhaps they are priced appropriately.

 

[chabig]

I just don't get it.

They sell the same parts other people do at crazy markups. Their service and shipping isn't that great from the 2 experiences I've had. Their "custom" products are literally the exact same ones (looking at you, data doubler) that you can get on Amazon for 10 bucks.

It sounds like you ARE the target market for Android.

 

[Cubytus]

Gonna have to be a bit more convincing than that. Could you please provide some reasoning behind your claims?

You say G-Tech's cost doesn't match their quality. Looking at BH photo, Glyph seem to cost considerably more for similar specs and capacity. So if G-Tech aren't quite as good as Glyph, then perhaps they are priced appropriately.

My experience with G-Tech hasn't been stellar, but their products, while buggy, are ok.

I have my doubts about Glyph, mainly from their claim of an "outrageous" warranty. How is 3 years outrageous? This is the standard warranty for consumer drives, while above-average are 5 years (see Western Digital).

 

[thats all folks]

My experience with G-Tech hasn't been stellar, but their products, while buggy, are ok.

I have my doubts about Glyph, mainly from their claim of an "outrageous" warranty. How is 3 years outrageous? This is the standard warranty for consumer drives, while above-average are 5 years (see Western Digital).

Are you are comparing the warranty on bare drives against what we are actually talking about here, self contained external drives? The Glyph warranty is good. They actually try to get you your data back. G-Tech states explicitly they just replace your drive with a refurbished similar unit. I tried to find out how long the G-Tech warranty was on some of their products, the search just kept sending me in circles where I find find the same vague info in a new place.

You can doubt anything you want. I have my doubts about the bulk of humanity. And I doubt any piece if hardware over $100 that uses a commodity wall wart power supply.

 

[Cubytus]

Self contained external drives, of course. I read the part about getting your data back, but to me makes no real sense it wouldn't extend to the full warranty duration. Better than nothing I guess.

Found that for G-Drive: http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive-mini. Just a reasonable warranty.

Then I get you'd pretty much doubt any external hard drive? If nobody ever seen a Glyph device in operation, there may be a reason. They don't look exceptional on paper, side for the data recovery part. I mean, a single rotating HDD in an external, bus-powered enclosure? What's new here?

 

[Rupp]

Just my 2¢

I've been purchasing drives, enclosures, and memory from OWC for 15 years. I have always found them to be responsive. This comment adds little to others in this topic, but I figured the company deserved my support.

 

[thats all folks]

Self contained external drives, of course. I read the part about getting your data back, but to me makes no real sense it wouldn't extend to the full warranty duration. Better than nothing I guess.

Found that for G-Drive: http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive-mini. Just a reasonable warranty.

Then I get you'd pretty much doubt any external hard drive? If nobody ever seen a Glyph device in operation, there may be a reason. They don't look exceptional on paper, side for the data recovery part. I mean, a single rotating HDD in an external, bus-powered enclosure? What's new here?

I do see Glyphs in action, every time we do a shoot with the Red Epic or Arri Alexa, I have Glyph drives there to copy the camera files to. And I know my vendors are regularly out of stock, so someone is buying them (not just me).

The drives are solid. Granted, a desktop model from either vendor will smash a guys skull in. But the G-Tech comes across as decorative more than functional. There is something more efficient and rugged about the Glyph design. I can stack them 10 high with worrying about anything falling over. And the built in power supply just kills against any external PS. In a professional environment, having to keep the right power supply and cord with each drive is such a waste of time and is even a bigger waste of time when those items get separated. All desktop Glyphs use the same 3 prong IEC cord as almost all the professional equipment I've ever plugged in my entire career.

maybe this is all my opinion but it's an opinion built on experience. Any you are right, I'm not a huge fan of a lot of external drives. For simple tasks, I just go with cheap USB portables. They last almost as long as the more expensive options but it's a lot easier to early retire a cheap drive than to try to squeeze the most out of a much more expensive option. however, when speed, reliability and connectivity are called for, I turn to my stack of Gyphs.

 

[Mac-Mac-McAfee]

I've been purchasing from OWC since the late 90's. Never had an issue with anything I've purchased and spent less than I would have else where.

 

[Oliveg]

It makes me feel relieved when shopping. That's the key point.

 

[kingtj]

OWC and problems ....

Yeah, I'd unfortunately have to agree.

While I can't say I had many problems with the OWC RAM I purchased in the past, I had *horrible* quality problems with the custom 512GB SSD they sell for the Macbook Air! We tried to use it to upgrade a couple of our Mac users at my workplace who kept filling up the 256GB storage in their original Airs -- but the drives kept failing after 6 months or less of use!

Sure, OWC honored the warranty on them, but what good is it when you keep losing your data and productivity from sudden drive failures, and the replacements only last a few months before it happens again?!

Going back further, I had the same kind of hassles with one of the G4 upgrade processors they sold me. I'd buy it, put it in my "Quicksilver" G4 tower, and it would only boot once -- then nothing! Send it back, get a replacement, and it was either D.O.A. or only worked once or twice. I think we went back and forth with that one 3 times before I just begged to pay the difference and try a different model/speed of processor board -- which *finally* worked.

I have respect for the fact they've been trying to support the Mac for 2 decades and put out a nice color catalog of products, do custom things for the Mac, and try to be a part of the Mac community. But it's just that my results buying their products are mixed, at best.

The OP may be over-simplifying the situation but he is not wrong. Their prices are somewhat to dramatically higher on things that are not merely similar, but exactly what others are selling. Things like bare hard drives and graphics cards for example.

Their RAM, probably the reason most of us found them in the first place, I'm done with it. The idea is a great one, RAM specially selected and tested to work with Apple products. The reality, for me I realize, regular troubles out of the box. At some point, no matter how good the service and return policy is, paying extra for RAM that doesn't work, gets old fast. Switched RAM vendors less than two years ago, many thousands of dollars of purchases later, not a single bad stick. And for less than OWC charges.

They do some interesting and even nice custom pieces and they do some mediocre or unimpressive pieces as well. I'll continue to be glad they exist as an option but I'll never go back to them being a primary vendor on anything.

 

[IlikeMacsSoMuch]

OWC tend to sell their merchandise at a higher price tag then elsewhere but for the less knowledgeable customer, it is one of the few places where you have a way to be sure to buy a compatible piece or component for your Apple product. They even have free guides that even tells you which tool to use.

Soo for the less tech savvy, OWC is the right place to go, considering the high price of Apple products, if you break something because you put the bad piece the wrong way, it might cost you more in the long term.

A thousand years ago back when I was studying in electronics, there was a store named something ABA electronics, or something close, that used to sell measurement equipment, like oscilloscope. You could buy it fully assembled or in a kit ready to assemble. The kit was price almost the same as assembled but they had a warranty in which if you had any trouble assembling it, you could go to the store for free help. I learned a lot about my trade with these, so the higher price was worth it. For some people, so does OWC.

 

[FrankHahn]

I made my first purchase of a Mac Pro memory kit of 16 GB from OWC about three years ago. Although I initially had KPs, eventually KPs were eliminated after two RMAs.

Just yesterday I bought a Promise Pegasus J4 enclosure from OWC.

I like their swift shipment, low shipping cost, and excellent customer service.