Since we were discussing it the other day --

after talking with Intel support, it turns out that 8860 is different from 8850 only because the drives are made in different locations. For some reason, Intel FW gets a new designation when the drive is made at a different factory, so 8860 and 8850 are the same thing.

That's probably not the most elegant way to put it. Oh, and my dead E is out of warranty by a month.