The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    blu-ray drives for the xps 16

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Cornetto, Oct 7, 2010.

  1. Cornetto

    Cornetto Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    77
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Does anyone know of any blu-ray drives that can be put into an xps 1645? I have just received my replacement for my faulty system (all good so far) and as they didn't have the part, I had to lose the blu-ray for some extra ram instead.

    Anyone know which slot loading models would fit? Preferably a writeable drive, although if I can find one cheap then a reader will do for the moment. I am in the UK, so any potential shop links here preferably.

    Also, will it affect the warranty if I replace the DVD drive?
     
    Cornetto, Oct 7, 2010
    #1
  2. css_jay99

    css_jay99 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    i dont know about the warranty aspect but Im sure you can find exact replacements on ebay.
     
    css_jay99, Oct 7, 2010
    #2
  3. seeker_moc

    seeker_moc Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    354
    Messages:
    2,141
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I won't affect your warranty, but the new Blu-Ray drive itself will, of course, not be covered.
     
    seeker_moc, Oct 7, 2010
    #3
  4. magt1000

    magt1000 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    magt1000, Oct 7, 2010
    #4
  5. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Ebay is your friend. Go to ebay and search for "CA10N" and there ya go. It's about $50 + shipping.
    Your warranty will not be affected as seeker mentioned.
     
    anodize, Oct 7, 2010
    #5
  6. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    $50!? I got mine for $70! Argh...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 7, 2010
    #6
  7. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    For $30 more you could've gotten a BD burner. :D
     
    anodize, Oct 7, 2010
    #7
  8. Cornetto

    Cornetto Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    77
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Thanks everyone for the replies. So putting it all together, and following those leads, it sounds like there are 2 blu-ray readers available:
    Hitachi or LG CA10N; and Sony BC 5600s.
    1 blu-ray burner available: Panasonic UJ-235.

    Going by UK ebay prices, it looks like the CA10N will cost about £50 second hand and £60 new (delivered), all coming over from Hong Kong or China. The Sony being about £10 more expensive.
    The burner looks like about £125 second hand and £150 new. Plus of course there is the risk of import tax on top.

    A difficult decision to make.
     
    Cornetto, Oct 8, 2010
    #8
  9. magt1000

    magt1000 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    66
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I plumped for the CA10N and I've had no isuues whatsoever....
     
    magt1000, Oct 8, 2010
    #9
  10. Tony_Pony

    Tony_Pony Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Not that it makes any difference, but the original Blu Ray burner that my 1645 came with is MATS HITA UJ235A. It's been working well so far.

    The software to play Blu Rays that was shipped with my machine, on the other hand, has been a pain in the butt.
     
    Tony_Pony, Oct 8, 2010
    #10
  11. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    UJ235 is the burner and it costs a lot more than the reader(CA10N). Both are compatible so it's your choice. :)
     
    anodize, Oct 8, 2010
    #11
  12. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    But the question is, who needs to burn Blu-ray? I think a lot of consumers don't have to do so right now...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 8, 2010
    #12
  13. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    For bragging sakes, duhh.. Really, it doesn't hurt to have such an option. ;)
     
    anodize, Oct 8, 2010
    #13
  14. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    If the cost of BR burner is the same as the BR reader, of cox it doesn't hurt...but to people poor like me, a BR reader is very good already...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 8, 2010
    #14
  15. Cornetto

    Cornetto Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    77
    Messages:
    46
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I was pretty set on it, but now I am trying to decide if it is worthwhile or not, especially if it is going to cost me about £150 for the internal burner. I do a fair bit of video editing, and am just about to upgrade to an HD camcorder. I am seeing blu-ray as the logical output format to be able to share edited videos. The problem is as long as a fair proportion of the people I want to share my videos with don't have a blu-ray player on either computer or TV, it still isn't ideal. I may start exploring using youtube or similar instead. I just can't decide.
     
    Cornetto, Oct 10, 2010
    #15
  16. somms

    somms Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    219
    Messages:
    482
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Been burning quite a few BD-R's lately from the blu-ray rips created by makemkv! ;)
     
    somms, Oct 10, 2010
    #16
  17. peterf

    peterf Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    8
    Messages:
    171
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Is there a dimensional difference between the SXPS 16 and the SXPS 13 optical drives? I don't understand why the SXPS 13 was never sold with a blu-ray drive. Would it be possible to install one of those CA10Ns in a SXPS 13? They're both slot loading, and aren't optical drive dimensions standard?
     
    peterf, Oct 10, 2010
    #17
  18. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    It is standardized so I think it's OK to do so...only if your optical drive is already using SATA interface but not IDE...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 11, 2010
    #18
  19. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I'm trying to make my CA10N external. Can anyone point me to where I can find a faceplate for it? Thx!
     
    anodize, Oct 11, 2010
    #19
  20. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I second for this! I asked an eBay seller and he said it needs to be made specifically and he wanna charge me for $22...I turned down the offer of course...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 12, 2010
    #20
  21. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    anodize, Oct 12, 2010
    #21
  22. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    alexzeon, Oct 12, 2010
    #22
  23. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Madness.. I wonder if UJ235 has the same layout as our CA10N. I'm not about to spend $22 on a tiny piece of plastic. :rolleyes:
     
    anodize, Oct 12, 2010
    #23
  24. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Base on my observation the answer is NO...otherwise he won't charge me for that piece of plastic...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 12, 2010
    #24
  25. Shawnm2

    Shawnm2 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    28
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    ive delt with this guy before he is verry good to deal with but i know he dosent have the drives to send out he lists them on ebay and then they are sent out from the suplyer in tiwan it could be the suplier that is asking a lot for the pice i hav the sony optera br drive that i got from him witch i had to get replaced he replaced it for me even though my warenty had been expired for it was 3 months after the 1 year warenty i would try the face plate listed for the other drive from the pic it looks the same as the one for my sony i think they are a standerd format
     
    Shawnm2, Oct 13, 2010
    #25
  26. faiz23

    faiz23 Macbook FTW

    Reputations:
    1,012
    Messages:
    1,493
    Likes Received:
    213
    Trophy Points:
    81
    faiz23, Oct 13, 2010
    #26
  27. alexzeon

    alexzeon Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    17
    Messages:
    358
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Dude my English is bad enough but yours is even...Can you do a spelling check at least? It's hard for people to understand this...
     
    alexzeon, Oct 13, 2010
    #27
  28. anodize

    anodize Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    1,478
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Cybernglish? :confused: :D :)
     
    anodize, Oct 13, 2010
    #28