Any problems with slot-load DVD in P-6860/6831?

Greetings - I'm headed to the land of the big PX in just three days. I will be in Las Vegas for part of my trip and I'm seriously considering buying a P-6860 at BB while I'm there. Given all of the (apparent) problems with the slot-loading DVD drive on the Dell XPS 1530, has anyone had any problems with theirs or heard about someone else having a problem? TIA...

 

The slot DVD on my P-171X FX arrived non-functional. Fortunately, it "ONLY" took several phone calls to GW tech support and just over two months of "SHIPPING" time to get a replacement. Yes, GW tech support is not on par with Dell. I've never suffered through that much anguish with Dell.

Having said that, the replacement slot drive has performed flawlessly. Other that the normal start up "whine", it's actually little quieter than other tray DVD notebook drives I've used.

 

WJL - Thank-you for your reply. On my last Gateway, which was a 15.4" M-505x from 2004 -the slot-load DVD/CDRW was easy to swap out - just remove on screw like with most tray-loaders. Is the P-171X/6860 the same way - or does the case have to be opened (I think, anyway) like with the Dell 1530's?

 

Jelly, thats exactly how to change it, take out one screw from bottom of laptop and cd/dvd drive will slide out. then slide new one in and put screw back. The screw is accessible from the outside of case after removing the little rubber gromet.

My p6860fx I got from best buy had the non working dvd drive issue also. It was a opitarc (which doesnt mean anything really, they are good drives).

The problem was, it wouldn't read any cds or and dvds. It also made a bad grinding noise. The only wierd thing was, my tech at gateway said it was a driver problem. I work on computers for a living and have never heard drivers take care of a grinding noise problem. But, I did what they said, and still no go as I figured, they sent a new one and wholla , it worked.

Still haven't had the brick hissing problem though, fingers crossed.

 

You can't get a slot drive DVD Gateway FX from Bestbuy, only the FX laptops at Gateway from their site have them. One of the reasons why I bought the p6860 at BB, is that I didn't want a slot drive. Slot drives, in general are known to have problems and if you have a problem, getting the dvd out of the drive is allmost allways... not much fun. The normal drives are easier to use and if the drive developes a problem all you need is a pin to get the dvd out.
Seanno

 

Hey, at least you can't break the cupholder off with the slot loads.

 

LOL, now thats funny, I don't care who you are....

 

Is funny cause is true. In Soviet Russia, cupholder breaks you off! Hooray Glasnot and Perestroika!