fatlip, I know two more competitiors: BVG Group with HRT and Atola product by Dmitry Postrigan
I'm not using none of them (BVG, AceLab, SalvationData or Atola) to fix drives' firmware, so I cannot tell which one is better to fix SA problems.
As I see Atola has very user-friendly interface and interactive problem detection (non of the competitors has such a feature)
AceLab has good background. They have very experienced engineers (but don't have professional developers and they defenitely have problems with English language in their utilities)
BVG looks dying for me
SalvationData - I would say I wouldn't buy their products - I don't like user interface and capabilities

So far the best data copy utility for me is AceLab DE (it looks very balanced for me)
I would say HRT from BVG has crappy copier
DiskCompass from SD and Atola from Dmitry they use USB boxes and seems like they have some limited capabilities:
1. It's imposssible? to set up waiting time less than 1 second (this one is a big flaw for me)
2. USB box will not give you full speed (especially if you planning to connect your own USB drives )
3. They have one channel (DE has two)
I also used DeepSpare - it's OK but not flexible for sure, kinda not user-friendly, has limited capabilities and one channel also

So, enjoy your "whose is bigger" postings, and your smug announcement to individuals that whilst you know how to restore their data you chose not to disclose it to them. The proud reference to how some of you "researched the problem yourselves" is not something to trumpet. It simply indicates the immature and inneficient nature of your industry. A bunch of secretive backyard tinkerers and individual researchers? is this the "Pro" in your title that you want customers to respect?

If I end up learning how to resolve this error, I promise I will be the first to place it on every forum I can find - and the next time I meet a self-confessed "DR Expert" at an IT function, I think I will politely look for more advanced company.