DVD drive replacement

Hi, guys:

The DVD drive on my 5610Z is starting to go a bit squiffy- it's always burned poor-quality CDs (DVDs seem okay), and now it's starting to be finicky about reading certain discs.

I'd like to replace it, but I read somewhere that you need to buy the right kind of drive, either cable-select or jumper select.

Does anyone know which type of drive is in this notebook? Even the service manual doesn't say anything about this. The drive in the machine is a LiteOn SSM-8515S.

If someone knows the answer, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

-Pink

 

kinda true...
most drive manufactures have a tool to change the device's master slave settings.... but i have yet to need to use them..

http://www.sonynec-optiarc.eu/en/support-service/downloads/master-slave-changing.html

BTW geeks.com did have an NEC 6550A refurb that comes with a 1 yr warranty for only $50.... i bought 2 of them and have had 0 bad burns and no problems... and it just plugged in my Acer and worked from the start...

later,
bigO

 

Awesome, thank you!

-Pink

 

no problem

 

Looks like they don't have the 6550A any more, but they do have AD-7530B's in stock. Will check reviews, but it looks like that may be the ticket.

-Pink

 

look for a good warranty,, that's the main thing,,,, most NEW drives only come w/ 90 days...

the 6550 comes new w/ 90 day,, but refurb gets a year

 

The AD-7530B has a 1-year warranty, but I think I'll keep looking. Seems to be some kind of phantom. No firmware anywhere for it, even that famous Liggy person doesn't seem to be able to do anything with it. I wouldn't care much, but there isn't even anything on that drive on the absolutely PATHETIC Sony/NEC Optiarc website, and I would want to be able to add media as time goes on.

Any other drive suggestions? Or would you stick with the 6550A? No offense is meant here, but that drive seems a bit long in the tooth. Then again, I know zilch about these itty-bitty drives, which is why I started this thread!

-Pink

 

any newer sony/nec should be fine,,, that 7530B sounds pretty new,,, let me look around a bit and i'll get back to ya later in the morning

later,
bigO

 

there are a few links below,, the first is the highest rated NEC/sony/optiarc at cdfreaks,,, the second is all nec drives they have reviewed,, third is all manufacturers,,, i personally would stick with the NEC/SONY/OPTIARC drives,, the one on sale at geeks.com is just NEW as heck,,,, the link i posted earlier has an email link where you request the program for your DRIVE and laptop model i do believe,,

but i'm very happy with the results of my 6550A but would love to have that new one at geeks,,, i have not needed to change my firmware to burn any disks but i tend to buy Sony disks since the drive is associated w/ sony,, i'm using 16x disks in an 8x drive w/ no probs and the drive came with correct MASTER setting from the factory,,, so i'd suspect that most come with this setting..

http://www.cdfreaks.com/devices/DVD__RW/NEC/ND-6750A.html

http://www.cdfreaks.com/devices/DVD__RW/NEC/

http://www.cdfreaks.com/devices/DVD__RW/

hope that helps a bit,

bigO

 

Well, since I am less interested in modding than I am in a drive that simply works well, I am going to go with your good feeling about the drive. It being so new would explain there being nothing on the mfgr's website. I've added that link to my birthday list. Hopefully some kind soul will get it!

-Pink

 

i hope you get it for your B-Day,,

i noticed my drive only has a 50% positive user rating despite having high 95%plus burn success with every media tested

but i don't forsee you having any problems as long as you stick to quality dvds... that warranty is hard to beat

and the current firmware is going to be better as far as burn compatiblity than the success you will get with older models IMO

later,
bigO

 

Sorry to tag on to your post here, but I am having very difficult time determining the right optical drive to buy.

THe DVD/CD RW drive in my laptop died recently. Have been scouring all the forums and websites that I can find to confirm appropriate replacement drive as this model is now 3 years old (SONY DW-D56A). Apparently, this drive has an abyssmal performance history, so I don't want to buy a refurb from Dell (which was the only solution their Support people offered).

Can you suggest a replacement drive with a decent warranty/ not too expensive? Obviously, I need a slim-line with a 50 bit IDE connector. Problem is - all of the current models (SONY/NEC Optiarc, Samsung, Phillips) that I am seeing on the web have the connector on the right side (back) of the drive and mine is on the left. Appreciate any suggestions you can offer. Thanks, E

 

If your optical drive appears to have a connector on the side then I suspect it has an adaptor which you will need to remove (and transfer to a replacement drive). The info here states the connector is on the back (the standard location).

See this thread for some tips on changing optical drives.

John

 

Thanks for the thread - very useful! Will definitely refer back when my drive arrives. Much appreciated - E

 

Well, I would avoid buying this drive, if I could do it over again. It seems to work okay, except that there have been odd compatibility problems on the audio-CD burning side of things (discs play fine in most players, but in some cases can't be recognized or have TOC read in others). Very strange.

But the annoying thing is that it seems to be a generic drive made for OEMs with no firmware support whatsoever. What it comes with is what you get, forever. Not so good. Different vendors include the drive with their laptops, and there are a number of firmware versions (not sure why). It looks like Compaq, MSI and Packard Bell use my version (NX02), but there's no upgrade path from any of them.

Blah.

-Pink