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    Blu-ray slot can be ordered seperate?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by daraj, Nov 2, 2009.

  1. daraj

    daraj Notebook Deity

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    Can I upgrade my dvd Rom to the blu-ray/dvd/Rw slot and I should have done it before ordering the the laptop? So I guess my question is: Is the blu-ray slot something I can order as an upgrade?
     
    daraj, Nov 2, 2009
    #1
  2. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    I'm not sure if Dell will sell you a bare BR drive for whatever machine you have, but it is possible to buy and install one after purchase. You'll need to find a compatible drive (probably on eBay or something) and take apart your laptop to install it. Dell provides service manuals for these kinds of things, but if you ultimately want the drive, I think you should save yourself the hassle and just buy it at purchase.
     
    Commander Wolf, Nov 2, 2009
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  3. daraj

    daraj Notebook Deity

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    The reason is: I read a lot of problems with the blu-ray driver on the xps 16. So i figured i can buy off of newegg a better quality slot drive and install it myself.
     
    daraj, Nov 2, 2009
    #3
  4. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    What kind of problems? FYI, the two parts they use are:

    Sony/NEC SATA Slot Load BD-ROM 12.7mm BC-5600S
    Panasonic SATA Slot Load BD-RE 12.7mm UJ-235A
     
    sgogeta4, Nov 3, 2009
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  5. daraj

    daraj Notebook Deity

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    So if I follow the manual, can I buy (3rd party website) any of the above drives and manually replace my regular slot?
     
    daraj, Nov 4, 2009
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  6. MrSpock2002

    MrSpock2002 Notebook Evangelist

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    There are no issues with the BD-RE which I have. Not sure who your getting this info from, but it isn't exactly true... You can order the part easily. The poster above gave you the item numbers.

    Here's the Panasonic drive I have.

    http://cgi.ebay.com/UJ-235-UJ-235A-...temQQimsxZ20091026?IMSfp=TL091026196002r26314

    It's in an enclosure though, which you could pull apart to get the bare drive out of. As you can see they are not cheap and it's better to just go through dell. I got mine as an upgrade from the normal BluRay drive for $35 extra. Though It was a massive sale.. I ended up paying $1300 for my sig rig saved almost $700.


    Edit: Here's the official spec page off Panasonic site. http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/computer/storage/optical/models/UJ-235A.asp
     
    MrSpock2002, Nov 4, 2009
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  7. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    That's a crazy deal, for $35 I'd jump on that too. Too bad it costs +$150 and +$250 (on the Canadian Dell site) to upgrade from DVD-RW to BD-ROM and BD-RE respectively. Both options (Dell upgrade and eBay) are too pricy IMO.
     
    sgogeta4, Nov 4, 2009
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  8. daraj

    daraj Notebook Deity

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    I dunno where that $35 deal comes from. I ordered mine yesterday on the US site and the bluray upgrade is additional $150.
     
    daraj, Nov 4, 2009
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  9. MrSpock2002

    MrSpock2002 Notebook Evangelist

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    I ordered mine during their signature event. It was the package with the free Transformers movie in HD on a 2GB flash drive.

    One day later the event was over and the upgrade to the Blue Ray writer from the reader was $75 more. A couple days later, it all went back to normal pricing.
     
    MrSpock2002, Nov 5, 2009
    #9