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can you replace a laptop dvdrw???

OBLAMA2009

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
i bought an hp laptop a few months ago and the dvdrw always acted a little funny. today when burning a dvd it got a bad death click and i think its broken. so im wondering if it is possible to replace the dvdrw. obviously the bezel is particular to the model, but is the player itself a standard design that i could replace myself, i.e. could i go out and buy SONY/NEC AD-7700S 8X Slim DVD+/-RW SATA Drive Blac and put it in my laptop or is it likely that it uses a proprietary design

for some reason i couldnt post a link here so the dvdrw im interested is the nec/sony slim line drive on the centralcomputer.com front page
 
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yeah all modern hp business laptops is an ejectable sata - you can even remove it and put a 2.5" drive 1TB in place. iirc they use the same drive on some servers at one point. but dvd-rw on servers is kinda old-skool and unwanted (ilo3 ftw).

they are mostly all interchangable if you check out parts-surfer or ebay you can find something to suit your needs. bd-re/dvd-rw/dvd-rom etc.
 
You can call them up for warranty service and ask that they ship you the replacement part with a return shipping label. Who knows - they might do it! I know someone who's HDD in a Gateway died, and they just shipped him a new bare HDD after he told them he could do the swap himself.

Usually other drives with the same interface will fit, but the problem is that the faceplate might differ.
 
thanks everyone. i was hoping the faceplate was something that would screw or snap onto a generic drive but apparently not?
 
Lanyap said:
The faceplate can normally be removed/replaced on tray loading laptop opticals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CpOL8y2B9Q

Not all brands of laptops use standard PATA/SATA connectors. I've had several Lenovo ThinkPads that used special connectors so I could not use generic opticals.
Click to expand...

You usually just pop the special connector off the drive. Just like how in the 2.5" IDE days there was often a piece over the pins that would have to be removed in order to replace the drive.
 
TheStu said:
You usually just pop the special connector off the drive. Just like how in the 2.5" IDE days there was often a piece over the pins that would have to be removed in order to replace the drive.
Click to expand...

Some laptops use converters/adapters and some don't. The ThinkPads I had did not use them. Can't remember what they called their native connector but it was super something.

EDIT: They call it UltraBay
 
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As for Lenovo, they make it easier. These are the opticals out of my T60 and T510. They are similar but different. Removal is a simple spring loaded release and push or pull.

Ultrabays.jpg
 
Unless you use the optical drive a lot, consider an external USB drive. That will free up your drive bay, and you can put a 40 or 60Gb SSD in there. Install your OS and programs on the SSD to give your laptop a substantial speed boost. You will still have the normal HDD for storage.
 
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