Upgrade DVD to BluRay on Studio XPS 1640 ?

Is this an easy thing to do ?

I managed to find this drive on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-studio-X...C_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item5ad188bfc0

Is this the only drive thats confirmed to work ?

Thanks in advance for any advice

mark

 

Hi there,

I'm also in the process of planning to do thise. I have purchased the player below which arrived today hopefully!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HL-DATA-CA10N...C_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3355873dd0

If you go to the driver page for the xps you will see a list of firware updates for variuous drives which I presume is a good indication of which ones are suitable. That HLDS drive (above) is listed there.

I've searched the forum and it has been done before:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=372382&highlight=blue+ray

Although the guide is a little confusing I think I should be able to do it without a problem. I could try and take some photos while I'm doing it if you and others would like?

Mark (also!)

 

thanks & sounds good !

 

Has anyone else on the forums done this and got any advice for me before I tackle it this weekend? (probably!)

Thanks in advance.

M

 

did you manage to do this successfully? I'm looking into this also.

 

That would be a GREAT! help if you dont mind

 

Completely forgot about posting this or doing photos when I did but I have done it and it is easy as pie!!!

First off purchase the blue ray drive that I did via the link above or purchase one of those listed on the Dell website. the serial number of the compatible drives are listed in the firmware update section for cd/dvd drives on the driver update page for the studio xps laptops. While you're there you will want to download the firmware for your chosen drive but obviously don't install it yet!

Once your drive arrives these are the steps you need to take to install it:

1) Make sure you have a small magnetic phillips head screwdriver and somewhere to keep the screws...and earth yourself first!!

2) Unplug your battery

3) Turnover your laptop and unscrew the large back plate to expose the internal components

4) Now remove the two plastic sleeves over each hinge mechanism. this is fiddly but try sliding inwards and outwards at the same time.

5) By removing the back plate you will have exposed many more screws. The aim here is to remove all of the screws securing the keyboard and palm rest on the opposite side to where you are working. The keyboard forms one piece and will be removed shortly. A lot of these exposed screws (mostly around the edge of the chassis) are labelled 'p' (for 'palm' I presume). Unscrew all of these.

6) There are also a number of deeper seated screws in the middle of the chassis which weren't labelled 'p' on mine but also secure the keyboard. The only exception to this is 2 screws which partly secure the hard drive which also secure the keyboard. Unscrew the deep seated screws and those around the hard drive.

7) Now turn the laptop over and lift screen. You will see 2 screws have been exposed where the battery has been removed. Unscrew these screws.

8) The keyboard should now be 'free' but you will need to gently unclip around the edge of bezel. I found this needed 'some' force to free it at each clip but if you feel it isn't moving as you think it should then check you have removed all the relevant screws. Take this slowly and don't lift fully until part (9)!

9) There are two ribbon connectors underneath the trackpad which need to be carefully removed. Lift the ribbon connector securing clips carefully to release the ribbons. The whole keyboard section should now be free.

10) You will now have exposed the optical drive and from here it is straight forward!!! Unscrew the drive and carefully lift and slide the drive out of its housing. Careful doing this or you may damage the SATA connection.

11) Remove the metal plate around around the old drive and secure it to the new one. Carefully reposition your new drive back into position inside the housing.

12) Now it's time to reverse the process I've gone through above and no....I'm not going to go through all of that!!

13) Once you're laptop is all back together boot it up and install the firmware which you downloaded before starting.

14) You should now be up and running!! Power DVD which came with my DVD laptop didn't support BluRay so i downloaded power DVD 9 trial as a stop gap.

15) make sure you buy yourself a slim USB enclosure for your 'old' drive and you will have your self a nice new external DVD drive for use with your netbook!!!

Hope that helps!! Any questions just let me know.

 

Awesome!!! Thanks for this. Now all I need is the laptop!

 

And the steady hand to perform the surgery lol. I think I would break it.

 

Honestly, it's not as difficult as it sounds!! I've tried to go into detail so its as straight forward to follow as possible but I'm probably making most people suck eggs to be honest!! The trick is knowing that the aim is to remove the keyboard from the opposite side to which you are working! took me ages to work that out!!

 

Does that particular drive write Bluray?

 

I have a copy of dells power dvd with BD support if anyone wants it i can upload it to rapidshare or somthin

 

Nope, it only reads, although that's all I wanted to be honest.

Check the other firmware on the dell support page. I'm sure one of the other listed drives does writing too!

That would be great winks! (any copyright issues tho?)

 

OK..................


BTW, would adding an aftermarket drive like this void the warranty?

 

Most deffinatly!

 

Good job magt1000!

 

* Removing the palm rest
On the base of the computer, remove ten screws that are marked with a small P.


Remove two screws that are maked with a K.


Remove two flat-head screws in the battery compartment. Then flip the system over.


Remove the two screws at the top of the palm rest.


Pry the palm rest loose with your fingertips, starting at one edge.


Ease the palm rest slightly toward the top of the system.


I could post the whole procedure but the board is limiting me to 6 images in total. However After the palm rest is free you will have to disconnect the keyboard and touch pad cables before you can remove it completely. The rest you have 3 screws on that side and 1 on the other. Total of 4 screws are securing the optical drive, take them out and you can pull the drive out.

 

Wow, great pictures. Thanks alot for that. It should help a ton.

Any idea what usb enclosure I could pick up for the extra DVD drive I will have? It seems like there are not very many slot drive enclosures that are SATA.

 

think this would work with the XPS 1340?

 

for 1340
1. Remove 10 screws from the backcover
2. Remove 15 screws from the base of the laptop then turn over
3. Starting at the back center of the palm rest, use your fingers to gently ease the palm rest from the computer base by lifting the inside of the palm rest while pulling on the outside.
4. Shift the palm rest slightly toward the back to reveal the cable connectors.
5. Disconnect keyboard and daughter-board cables, then remove the palm-rest
6. There are 2 screws securing the optical drive on that side(right next to the connector), and there is one more screw on the other side of the system. Total of 3 screws are holding the drive in place, remove them and pull it out.

 

Thank you

I'll have to stay on the lookout for blu ray drive now

 

Just picked up a Sony optiarc 5600S last night. $95 shipped. Got the usb slim enclosrue for $25, and a front slot bezel for $9. Total of $130 and I have a new bluray drive and an external slot DVDRW. Not too shabby. I can't wait till it gets here to install it.