So yesterday my Lacie Big Disk Extreme 500 arrived. The power plug was a bit confusing, so I called LaCie to check on the proper orientation.

Rob, the nice tech support guy, said that there was no way I should be able to plug the power cord in more ways than one. Obviously a defect. He gave me what should be the proper orientation, and I plugged it in. No dice. Drive was dead, and I’d have to RMA it.

I forgot to unplug it after trying to hook the drive up…. FIRE! Smoke and the smell of burning circuits started pouring out the back of the aluminum case. There was enough of a burnt smell to tell that there was obviously a small fire inside the hard drive.

Anyway, LaCie is issuing a repair number and I’ll finally have my new drive in about two weeks. I’m just glad that I didn’t have 500 gigs of video on the drive yet.