Laptop with non-working CD drive

[ZowieHowie]

My friend's laptop works fine, but the CD/DVD drive has stopped working. Since he would normally use it to play CDs and DVDs, the laptop is of no use to him. I told him I would try to sell it for him, but since the CD drive does not work, I believe that its value will probably be very little.

The laptop is an AMD 400mhz (Compaq 1685). 4 gig HDD, 64 megs RAM, 12 inch screen. By looking on E-bay, I see that these laptops go for over $200, but that is considering that they are working fine. What should I expect to get for a laptop with a non-working CD drive?

 

[Matthias99]

Do you know how much a replacement CD drive would be for it (if one is even available?) Or is it not in a swappable bay?

 

[ZowieHowie]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
Do you know how much a replacement CD drive would be for it (if one is even available?) Or is it not in a swappable bay?

Its a non-swappable bay. It is also very hard to find a drive compatible with this laptop. I found some online, but they are going for $100+

 

[PCHPlayer]

An ancient laptop without the ability to load new software or reload the OS.... hmmm. Maybe $50-$100. If it has a USB port you may get a little more since you can hook up an external drive to it.

 

[boshuter]

You can pick up a drive on Ebay for next to nothing. If the front faceplate will match the case, all laptop drives are interchangable. You can get a cdrom or dvdrom for around $20 shipped, and a cdrw for less than $50.

 

[ZowieHowie]

Originally posted by: boshuter
You can pick up a drive on Ebay for next to nothing. If the front faceplate will match the case, all laptop drives are interchangable. You can get a cdrom or dvdrom for around $20 shipped, and a cdrw for less than $50.

You sure that they are all interchangable? I thought that they were unique to certain brands/series of laptops

 

[boshuter]

No, they are are interchangable. They all have the same interface in the same place. The different OEM's will use an adapter to mate to their interface. This is usually a small pcb held to the back of the drive with 2 or 3 small screws. In addition, they may have "sides" screwed on to the drive to make it fit the bay. The main problem finding the right drive is the laptops with "strange" shaped front panels. If the drive has a flat front panel it's very easy to find one that works.

 

[jagec]

Are you sure it isn't fixable? I fixed the CDROM in my laptop. Obviously some problems aren't fixable...but it's worth giving it a try.

Or does it not even spin up?

 

[ZowieHowie]

Originally posted by: jagec
Are you sure it isn't fixable? I fixed the CDROM in my laptop. Obviously some problems aren't fixable...but it's worth giving it a try.

Or does it not even spin up?

It does spin, but the laser will not read. The head that moves the laser moves, but the laser itself does not seem to work

 

[montag451]

could you take the laser out of another drive???????

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: montag451
could you take the laser out of another drive???????

Ever seen the inside of a CD drive? The laser diode is a little cylinder, maybe a centimeter long, if even that much, inside of a head assembly that uses more glue than screws to hold itself together. The diode is also soldered in place to a tiny film circuitboard.
Nope, probably can't be done.

Check eBay; and maybe Google for the part number of the laptop. You might be able to find a compatible replacement part number that way.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: ZowieHowie

Originally posted by: jagec
Are you sure it isn't fixable? I fixed the CDROM in my laptop. Obviously some problems aren't fixable...but it's worth giving it a try.

Or does it not even spin up?

It does spin, but the laser will not read. The head that moves the laser moves, but the laser itself does not seem to work

Did you try cleaning it?

 

[Kashim]

of course... a friend of mine sold a pentuim II vaio laptop about a year back to a japanese exchange student (the laptop had a japanese version of XP on it) for about $500...
the machine had its share of problems.... (like a dead battery)
he stated all the problems and stuff clearly and upfront...
you can always find someone on e-bay who will pay way more than they should