Having been one to experience a few problems, I'll say it is (was) a bummer. But I expected it to happen being one of the early adopters, especially running it under "our" conditions. While its expensive, I think its cheap when compared to many of the other classic field devices to come out.. The ad1000 was super expensive when it was first introduced, and how much did the ad2k cost when it came out? $1800 for nothing more than an a/d. This isn't a cheap hobby in case anyone forgot.
Any doubts I had about this gem of a box were erased last night when I packed my bag for the Crowes show in Asheville. I pulled out my smallest MountainSmith bag, The Verve. In case you've not seen it, its tiny. Small like my wife's purse. I was able to put a clamp, a20s, NOS and DIN bars, mk41/mk21/actives/cmc6xt, interconnects, 722, and walk out the door. Getting in the car, Cynthia asked me why I wasn't taping the show. She asked were the gear was when I said that I was taping, she had to open the bag herself to believe that I had everything in there.
Home now, listening to the show, and I can honestly say this box is all that I want. Does it smoke the V3 as an all in one, no. Does it sounds as good, yes. Easily. And not carrying a backpack to show anymore is worth the marginal difference in cash I spent on the new V3 and any DAT recorder and external batteries ($1400 V3, $700+ for first D8 & cables, plus $5 tapes).
The convenience is a really nice thing. And its only going to get better...
I wish some of the haters would have a chance to run it for a show. I think it would be a lot more quiet in this forum