no disagreements with anyone here.  the point is with competitors trying harder and harder - and pushing the options - i think the avid boys have to try harder.  it's easier to swap a dead card than a dead mojo - at least in my parts.  avid has become for better or worse - a target for what is not good in editing, much as sony in my parts has become less responsive than say panasonic.  i think the new avid upgrade pricing / assurance plan for $ 995 (that i see on the Media Composer forum) is a good idea and shows that they're trying to respond to where the market is going...

Avid is a superior editing machine because of its track record and legacy but when suites are looking to upgrade and expand big time, the choice is less clear. 

berga:

The conventional visdom says that electronical things like computers and Mojos will fail during the first month they live. This because most problems is due to faulty hardware or bad ensambling. Therefore, it is a good idea to let the Mojo be on during the first cople of month and hope some overheating will crack the fautly hardware.

ditto..Berga

I leave mojo's on all week and off on the weekends. The mojo's power plug is always left pluged in. We have it on a switched Monster Cable power bar along with other electronic devices. No issues

Leave it on and get a good surge protector or better yet a UPS for it. They didn't put a power switch on it for a reason - I'm told told to leave it on! Avid makes the same grade of electronics as everyone else does - even FCP hardware is equal.

Power surges/spikes/bumps are fatal to any electronic gear. Protect it properly the first time

J

 But leaving it on all week ....doesn't that speed the process towards the dead of the hardware.....I thought that you would need to turn it off every night. I have a new SDI and I do turn it off....but I have to admit I have trouble connecting (I always do connect eventually) back the next day. I pull the AC connector from the back of the Mojo....should I unpluge it differently? before or after the PC is off? I never toush the firewire cable. if you can , let me now. Thanks

Edit2007:

But leaving it on all week ....doesn't that speed the process towards the dead of the hardware.

 

That's a popular belief, and it's WRONG.  Every time that you turn on a piece of electronic equipment from cold it is stressed.

When you apply power the impedance the mojo presents to the mains is quite low.  It dynamically rises to operating levels quite quickly, but briefly, it will draw very much more current than its steady-state conditions require.  This "starting surge" stresses the components in the mojo, thus shortening its life.

For example, in the early days of 2" videotape the television station at which I was then working used to turn off the VTRs every night and restart from cold the next day.  Maintenance requirements were high.  We then adopted a partial shutdown regime, putting the VTRs into a stand-by mode overnight.  Maintenance instantly dropped to under 10% of what it was previously.

I don't know about others but we have a HIGH rate of RMA for our Decklink, Multbridge Pro and Extreme (1/3 in fact). Mojo''s failure rate in our experience is much lower than Blackmagic stuff but not as good Adrenaline.

 

 

EditSix:

I've installed and supported a LOT of Analogue Mojos and a handful of SDI Mojos. Of those I've only had 4 DOA and 4 that died a few months down the line and only one DOA Mojo SDI. But then I've installed hundreds of DSR11 and 45s and there have been some DOA or faulty.

Or Macs.

Or xw8200s.

Or... well, I could go on...

The point is, that it happens, it's not a reflection on Avid's build quality.

Most places don't even shut their Mojos down with no problems. My own Mojo has been running for near 2 years, sometimes out on the road or on hire. No problems.

I've not had as much good fortune with Decklink or Kona cards. When they work, they're awesome, when they don't, it's a nightmare. I have more faith in the Mojo, frankly.

 

.-Indisputable truth.

My Mojo has been working perfectly since 2005.

My audio card (E-Mu 1212m) is not approved but works perfectly with my Avid with no special cofigurations, workarounds or else.

I've seen Decklinks, Macs, XW8400s, Digibetas and other equipment DOA.

I've seen Konas failing bad and giving a lot of trouble (audio sync, no edit to tape, etc)

 

And, finally, I HATE when people try to make others believe FCP-Kona-Decklink is the magical solution that never fails.

NO, is not!