looking for dvd writer... (s7010d)

hey, i just bought an s7010d refurbished, and it only came with a dvd/cd-rw combo. i was wondering if there was any way to buy a dvd writer from anywhere else than the shopfujitsu website... they sell it for $350 but i don't think that i want to pay that much... should i just ask around? do people sell them on ebay? is there some other place that sells them cheaper? or is buying it direct from fujitsu my only option? any help would be appreciated.

thanx!
chris

 

I noticed the same thing when I bought my 6231. If I bought it with the notebook it was only $100, but cost an arm and a leg if purchased separately later on. While I thought an external writer might have been sufficient, for only $100 I didn't want to take the chance.

 

What drive is in there now? You might want to look on eBay. You may also want to try something like Ultradrives.com. They specialize in in amongst other things OEM laptop drives. They may know what will fit. Good Luck.

 

I replaced my S7010D's original dvd/cd-rw with an NEC 6500A burner.

The trick is to trim the NEC bezel for the drive eject lever cut-out. The bezel is easily removed from both drives. Use the Fujitsu as a template. I used an exacto knife to trim the NEC bezel. I've heard of others using a dremel tool. Reattach the modified NEC bezel and check for fit. Re-trim accordingly.

The drive burns 8x dvd-r and dvd+r. I re-flashed the NEC drive with a region-free firmware. More info on NEC firmware can obtained here: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934

You can buy the drive from NewEgg for US$102.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152028

Cheers

 

does the standard Mat****a UJ-830S dvd writer (single layer)/super multidrive have a region free firmware?

 

hey thanx for the info aquanaut!

i was wondering now if after you modified the drive if it still works just like the original fujitsu drive as in.... does it still pop in and out with the lever that ejects it? and does it sit as flush as the original fujitsu drive?

also, is it a real pain to get the drive installed properly and then get the firmware installed and get it configured properly? basically...was it worth it to get this cheaper drive rather than pay the huge chunk of money for the fujitsu one? it would be awesome if it is pretty simple to get it working properly because that would be saving me a bunch of money!

thanx so much for the help!
chris

p.s. what else would i need to know about getting this drive to work properly on my s7010D?

 

It's a simple process -- fits flush, dark bezel matches original notebook. Driver is loaded under XP (Sp1 when I did it), nothing to download. Very simple operation and after six-months I'm still very happy with it.

Cheers