Lacie vs The World. Reason for failures?

Yesterday I left my mobile phone on the desk while another editor came in to do some work with her LaCie external firewire drive attached.

When my phone rang, she swore, and her Lacie shut down.

Apparently she has been told by Lacie that mobile phones will interfere with the the drive - and she has had text messages come in and knock her drive offline.

I didn't get a chance to retest this, but I've never heard of it before, and I thought it might help in the ongoing LaCies suck vs LaCies rock debate. Next time someone has one of these fail - was there a mobile phone nearby? Did it ring or get an sms?

Also - possibly mobile phone towers nearby would be a problem?

Anyone want to test this?

my sony ericsson 637 makes any tv or radio within 4 feet make grinding and ticking sounds when getting a call or a text mesage, and mages many cheaper CRT monitors "wiggle".

maybe there is some crazy internal sheilding issue in lacies???

Are you friggin' kiddin' me!?!?

I'm firmly in the "Lacies suck" camp, but even I have a hard time believing the cell-phone scenario. Wouldn't rule it out, though. I'm not about to spend my own money to find out. Suffice to say that my cell phone's never had any effect on my Promax drives.

ROTFLMAO



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

That wouldn't surprise me. Do you know how much energy you need to make a cell phone vibrate? I've seen cell phones throw themselves off the table when they rang. That's certainly enough energy to get into magnetic heads or distort the field on drive platters--especially if they happen to be seeking or writing at the time.

Same with glass picture monitors. Those are really sensitive to magnetic fields. If you do it just right, you can get a semi-permanent purple blotch on your screen. (Permanent if you use the built-in demagnitizer, not permanent for the servicing people. We have weapons grade demagnitizers).

All that over and above the electrical radiation of the electronics.

I don't know of any LaCie cases that are anything other than pretty plastic. Whatever drive they put inside carries the only shielding--and remember, there's still the FireWire electronics in there. Nobody shields that.

Cell Phones are little Phasers. Remember Star Trek Phasers? They only had two modes, stun and overload. If left on overload too long, they would destroy two time zones. Lots of evergy is packed into those things.

Koz

If I'm not mistaken, Star Trek phasers could be set to kill. So that makes three serttings.

That is correct! Overload was always an option-- unless that was a special hack.

Really, I wouldn't allow *any* phone device which activates a magnetic field near *any* media drive. Old landline phones were famous for obliterating nearby floppies and ZIPS when they rang, and that certainly happened to me.

All my LaCie's have stayed up so far, even with clients with cels near them. Knock on formica.

- Loren
Today's FCP 4.5 keytip:
Set your custom layouts by pressing
Option>Windows>Arrange>Set Custom Layout.
Access your custom layouts 1 & 2 with Shift & Option-U!

The FCP HD KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

and were putting these little devices next to our brains????
im certain all our great grandchildren will have webbed feet - growing out of their necks

" Do you know how much energy you need to make a cell phone vibrate? I've seen cell phones throw themselves off the table when they rang"

Yeah, they would need a car sized battery to cause a magnetic interference pattern. Since cell phones use microwaves, they are just that - micro.

But, I think I will start wearing a tinfoil headpiece to save my brain from microwave cooking.

And not too long ago we had someone complain about a LaCie crashing after putting it in the refrigerator to cool it down.

It's all right there in black and white in the warranty and safety precautions; keep external drives away from radiators, direct sunlight, monitors, decks, amps, speakers or anything else that create heat, condensation or electronic interference. Things like microwave ovens, refrigerators and most certainly cell phones fall into the same category.

that guy made me laugh hysterically! whats next? maybe dunking the drive in the pool??? hey, that always leaves ME feeling refreshed...

A sauna for all our G5s. They work so hard, they deserve relaxation.

Maybe start feeding them buffalo wings.

i give mine daily aromatherapy and a weekly colonic, and we do pilates together twice a week

<<<Since cell phones use microwaves, they are just that - micro.>>>

As is the head structure and the signals being lifted from and written to the platters. Those things are little antennas in there and yes, I would certainly pay attention to those instructions.

Mine enjoy an occasional trip to the beach.

Koz

[im certain all our great grandchildren will have webbed feet - growing out of their necks]

There may be evolutional advantages to walking on your neck. It's worth a study. So keep blabbing away on them bluetooth jabbers...

- Loren
Today's FCP 4.5 keytip:
Set your custom layouts by pressing
Option>Windows>Arrange>Set Custom Layout.
Access your custom layouts 1 & 2 with Shift & Option-U!

The FCP HD KeyGuide?: your power placemat.
Now available at KeyGuide Central
www.neotrondesign.com

>>keep external drives away from radiators, direct sunlight, monitors, decks, amps, speakers or anything else that create heat, condensation or electronic interference<<

lol. As if! There's not a square centimetre of my suite that doesn't have one of those things in it. What are we supposed to do - mount them in another room? And what constitutes "away from" anyway?

Has anyone tried the mobile phone thing yet?