That’s really a bummer that you got two bad units. I just ran mine for 3 hours without a hitch. You usually get the “restore” message when a card goes in and out–wondering if the card/cable was not allowing itself to be seated properly. But 2 units sure makes you wonder about Sony QC.
In case other ex3 owners want to know their firmware, you check it by pressing the cancel/select/and menu buttons all at once–but NOT the ones on the handle, just the ones next to the menu button. Scroll down to IF. Latest build is 1.02_0078.