How to replace DVD drive in M1330

Does anyone know if it's necessary to actually remove the display assembly from an M1330 to replace the DVD/optical drive?

According to the Dell service manual ( http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1330/en/SM/html/optical.htm) it is, but I can't see why this would be necessary... I need to replace the drive because I got a Matsus*ita one, and can't make it region-free.

Thanks.

 

anydvd?....

 

To replace the slot load drive you basically need to dismantle everything. I watched a tech I had over replacing some things on my computer have to rip into it and it's one of the last things you actually are able to take out once everything else is gone.

 

You can't use AnyDVD etc with the Matsh*ita drives, which is the problem.

Bowlerguy92: did the technician have to remove the screen though?

 

Matsu****a drives are the only DVD Drives in the world that will not work with any region free solution, be it AnyDVD, DVD Region Free, DVD Genie, or even RPC1 firmware. It's impossible. This is a known problem
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There are two types of drive that can come withe the m1330, the matsu****a or the HLDS GSA-S10N. Some of us are cured with the former...

 

Dell just sent me a replacement drive (GSA-S10N). My original (Matsu****a) stopped reading DVD-ROMs and can only read DVDs 30% of the time. I'll probably install it tomorrow, I'll let you know how that goes.

 

I replaced mine the other week with one from a MacBook (an LG drive).

Was quite easy, just follow the Dell service manual and don't lose any screws!

Now I have an RPC1 region-free drive. Hurrah.

 

^Wow, could you take a picture of that, or does it look exactly the same?

 

You can't see the drive once it's in, as the disc "cleaner" covers it, but it looks just like the old drive it replaced.

Any 9.5mm slot-load drive will fit the M1330 as far as I know.

 

Great information, do you think it'll be possible to manually update to a bluray reader some time in the future?

 

I'm not sure if there's a 9.5mm blu-ray drive around yet.

Panasonic may do one, but it will be stupidly expensive in the short-term at least.

 

Yeah, I don't think there's one yet, I also don't expect to use bluray any time soon, I just wanted to know if it'd be theoretically possible.

 

Hi, I am just curious for future reference since this has happened to me. For those of you who have exchanged/removed drives, do you think it would be possible, once you have the drive out of the machine, to extract a dvd if there are two dvds stuck in there? It is very easy, too easy, to mistakenly put two discs in the slot load drive and once in there, they are very hard to get out. I had to send my machine back to Dell for them to solve it; I know they got the discs out but I am not sure what they had to do to the drive to do that. Any thoughts? TIA

 

It shouldn't be too difficult. There are screws on the drive to open it, so I assume that's all that's required. (I've just checked, and once it's out of the laptop, you can easily just use tweezers to pull a jammed disk out).

Getting the drive out isn't difficult either, but takes a while as you have to take the screen, keyboard, etc off first.

 

I had exactly the same problem with my Sony Vaio laptop. It had the crappy Matsu UJ-831J burner in it and that stopped reading dvd's and cd's Sony changed it for a decent unit which was able to made region free.
I rerally hate those Matsu drives!

 

here's a pic with everything taken apart. Are the LG drives supposed to be so loud when you put a disc in? Mine makes some clunking sounds, don't know if that's normal or not.

 

Yes, the LG drives are noisy. Mine also makes some clunks when you first put in a disk. The Matsh*itas are quieter.