Well, I would expect SB to at least honor waranties. After that, I am pretty confident that David, Hugo, Patrick and the gang will repair their babies as long a it will be humany possible (e.g. as long as some spare part or its equivalent is available). For some things - like fascia - a cottage industry is developing. So I would not worry too much.
That said, I *did* go and buy a 60GB unit (I rationalized this as doing both disk upgrade and procuring a backup unit at once). I am using the new unit - it doesn't make sense not to take advantage of the warranty period; the old 18GB one is in storage (I will perhaps lend it to a friend).
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Q#5196
MkII #080000376, 18GB green
MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue