FWIW, while researching this I also found out why the Optimas can be troublesome: Apparently the cells in the current Optimas are not as well balanced as in the Odyssey. Consequently, if you let an Optima discharge too much, one of the cells may permanently reverse in polarity and your battery is toast. From what I found out this is much less likely to happen with the Odyssey as the cells are more precisely balanced. I buy this explanation since it also explains why some Optima customers never had a problem and other customers ended up with an expensive paper weight. In the end it comes down to manufacturing precision and this is where Optima cut some corners...
