Repeated clicking within 3 years of mfg usually will get an RMA replacement, at least that's how its gone on any of the 6 desktop HD's I've ever RMA'd

Yes, but the drives in the empeg are OEM drives, sold specifically to a company for inclusion in another product, and that usually means that they won't deal with end users for warranty work. In fact, I believe that I've seen someone say the same thing on this board before about the drives in the empeg.

But I could be wrong. It might be worth it to check and see, if all other easier avenues fail.