dmoldovan you're in Romania you should be able to talk to them (ACELAB) in Rostov on don directly.

Hi,
Thanks for your suggestion.
I indeed can talk to them directly. And I already did that (by mail).
BUT the reason why I ask this here is that I want info from real-world users and gurus.
If I contact ONLY acelab, all I can find out is their marketing approach to potential customers. And that is something I already know (from their e-mails and from their sites)


Dan

Well, you have that now, don't you?

Well, I realy did receive a lot of info regarding PC3KUDMA, and SD's HD-Doctors.
However, as I wanted as much info as I could gather, I am asking everyone about their personal with both SD and ACE.

And also, how's the support and/or FTP acces for users that are buying the products directly from ACELABORATORIES RUSSIA ?

DAN

I appreciate everyones English is not great and we all come from different contries but 50 years ago!!!!

I think your information is a bit out of sync there. Seagate was founded as disc drive manufacturer in 1979, 29 years ago.

I don't know where the 50 has come from.

_________________
The last I heard of God he was worshiping me

@dmoldovan,

if you are starting from zero, don't expect anyone at SD or ACE will train you for free or do your job (it's YOUR revenue so you have to do the job).
If I were you, I'll start from basic repair, then go into more complex works.
Maybe working as apprentice in a local DR company is a good starting point, just to get in confidence with equipments and procedures...
Also, consider the option of buying used equipment when starting.
Still now, when money is no longer #1 problem, I buy used CERTIFIED RECALIBRATED equipment and save big bucks (especially on RF instruments or signal analyzers etc.), there is a great world inside the surplus equipment.
Just an example : if you need a precision frequency reference, you can buy the NEW or, for a fraction of the cost, get a used, perfect equipment (and choose between atomic clock, GPS-based clock reference, TCXO and so on....), the choice on scopes, frequency meters and benchtop multimeters is even better.

Hi, BlackST
Thanks again for giving such complete advice.
I did think about the apprentice stuff, but, in my city there is no such DR company that uses proffessional equipment like PC3K or even SD's products.
So, even if I want I do not have such a choice.
Nevertheless, as I used to be a programmer, and I did plenty of logical type recoveries (from deleted partitions, formated drives, etc up to changing PCBs), I honestly do hope I will be able to make it on my own.
However, at the beginning I am sure I will have to ask those gurus like you about some things that are not very clear to me yet.
Still, I do promise I will try not to abuse of your time.

Your ideea abour used, recertified equipment is very good; thank you for that. Do you know where I could find such used SD or PC3K equipment ?

Thak you all again,

Dan

dmoldovan,

By "recertified" you mean "cracked"? I do not advise even to think of it - you'll just waste your money. they have more bugs than possibilities. you will see some functions necessary for you, but they won't work. If you want to make a good start and earn $$$, choose real PC-3000. I also agree, that better product is better than only good support. Ecpesialy if you have a long experience! ACE Lab has vast ftp for users. I'm satisfied with it

_________________
This user was found to be affiliated with Ace Lab/PC-3000. See this topic for details.

@Money fan

By "recertified" BlackST didn't mean "cracked". He meant some kind of "original factory refurbished". Probably the manufacturer got the product back from the first buyer, and did a very thorough revision of it, even repaired it if it had any damage at all, and thus "recertified" it. And then , the manufacturer re-sells this "used but recertified" equipment.

At least that's my humble opinion.

Dan

What about Atola Insight? There are the first version of Atola Inside available now.

Yes, I mean factory refurbished or buyback from user. I bought a HiLo Systems used (yet almost new) professional universal programmer & tester for a fraction of the retail price (and the cost was VERY high). The original buyer sold it because he bought another model. The same for professional tools like oscilloscopes/frequency meter/multimeters/solder/desolder.
Don't know where exactly find used PC3000 or SD equipment, by the way SD are too new for being sold as used, but I have seen advertisement on the net for such used equipment some time ago. Try surfing / googling / Ebay. Many people tried to start a DR business and then decided it was not their cup of tea, so it's obvious to ask : where did their tools go ?

Yes, I never heard of PC-3000 being refurbished. I just heard about clones of PC-3000, that's why I was confused a bit. I prefer originals.

_________________
This user was found to be affiliated with Ace Lab/PC-3000. See this topic for details.

Neither did I find used PC3K equipment. That is why I asked for it. I thought someone might know something.

Dan

Well, used can be older versions. If you want the latest version, you'd better go for PC3k UDMA. It is the best!

_________________
This user was found to be affiliated with Ace Lab/PC-3000. See this topic for details.

True.
Indeed, of what I heard so far, PC3K UDMA is the best.
But I was thinking about the same product but sold by someone who tried to do DR and finally decided that he/she was not prepared for this task.
And after that, I think you obviously decide to sell the very expensive equipment in order to minimise the loss.

Dan

Hello Dmoldovan, i posted a topic not too long ago : "Salvation vs Ace which one to buy...".

I ended up purchasing the full Salvation Data Suite, and I am happy with the tools. I was able to recover data from my Maxtor N40P hard drive as well as other test drives.

Ace labs (or Deepspar as they are called here in Ottawa Canada) never bothered to return my phone calls/emails, so that gave me an idea of what support I'd expect from them if I went with Ace.

In my opinion, if you don't mind spending alot more money on data recovery Tools (and I mean ALOT more), Ace labs is much more expensive, and perhaps there tools mat be of better quality as compared to Salvation data, but at the end, a true data recovery expert will rely on his/her skills/experience to recover data using which ever equipment is readily availale.

Hope this information helps.

Really? Hasn't happened to me once for the years I have been with them... What have others experienced?

Anyhow, the bottom line is that if you are serious (DR services is how you make the majority of your money) then you don't really have any options other than the PC-3000.

your wrong with your answer the company that founded the disk drive was

IBM had invented the first disk drive

then seagate
http://www.duxcw.com/digest/guides/hd/hd2.htm

end of the day the pc 3000 is ok but the service is crap and tech support
will cost you a arm and a leg.

we got a recondition card but they wont support it as it was not bought from them

companys like salvation data sell the same products which cost cheaper
and they do work.

you have to buy and test the products.

deepspar is soo soo the ninja can do a lot better imaging

An interesting read:

In 1956 IBM invented the first computer disk storage system, the 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control). This system could store five MBytes. It had fifty, 24-inch diameter disks!


In 1980, Seagate Technology introduced the first hard disk drive for microcomputers, the ST506. It was a full height (twice as high as most current 5 1/4" drives) 5 1/4" drive, with a stepper motor, and held 5 Mbytes. My first hard disk drive was an ST506. I cannot remember exactly how much it cost, but it plus its enclosure, etc. was well over a thousand dollars. It took me three years to fill the drive. Also, in 1980 Phillips introduced the first optical laser drive. In the early 80's, the first 5 1/4" hard disks with voice coil actuators (more on this later) started shipping in volume, but stepper motor drives continued in production into the early 1990's. In 1981, Sony shipped the first 3 1/2" floppy drives.

http://www.duxcw.com/digest/guides/hd/hd2.htm

_________________
Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.