Well, the fact that the unit came new out of the factory box and *didn't even boot* would seem to me to be a pretty good indicator that it hadn't been tested. Also, as far as I'm aware all late-production units did have hot-glued drive cables so the cables shouldn't just pull loose of their own accord.

However, David Moss of SonicBlue has already responded to my initial email and we've arranged to get my new player fixed. Evidently a small number of players had badly crimped IDE cables which may themselves pull apart if the unit is really roughly shipped.

For what it's worth, this unit was *terribly* packed compared to my first two Empegs (Mark I, Mark II shipped from England). It was packed nicely in a small box that was packed with *no filler material at all* into a larger cardboard box, basically guaranteeing that the inner box would fly around the outer box and get a succession of violent bumps during shipment. A friend bought a spare player at the same time as I did (about a week ago) and had the same experience.

Given that the problem may be related to a dodgy cable, and may show up only after the unit's been shipped -- okay, I was probably off base saying the player had never been tested, but I'll reemphasize my advice to test your player ASAP after receiving it if you've ordered a "spare" player lately!