Adding/Replacing optical drive for Precision M4400

I am considering buying a Precision M4400 (see my post) notebook by dell. One inhibiting factor however is the optical drive, The online order form does not provide the opportunity for a blu-ray drive. Yet, oddly enough, the technical specifications at the Dell website show a blu-ray drive as an option. Would it be possible to take a lightscribe blu-ray drive from hp and use it in the dell? Also, would the lightscribe capabilities still be functional?

Any knowledge regarding this is appreciated.

 

It looks like it uses a standard 12.5mm thick MINI SATA based optical drive.
If you can find a Blu-Ray mini-SATA optical drive than you can install it and it will work. The faceplate of an aftermarket may not match the current styling of the M4400, but it is always possible to swap faceplates.

K-TRON

 

Ok, I'm no technology expert here, but I read standard, so that must mean most any drive that's 9.5mm thick would work, right? Do you know anything about lightscribe technology and if that would be a viable option? I think it's pretty nifty.

Thanks for your response.

 

Yes most will work
There are two standards now
12.5mm ATAPI and 12.5mm mini-SATA
Your M4400 uses mini-SATA based optical drives, so you need that type

Please note that as they are standard, some have different thicknesses. Sony for example has some 9.5mm thick drives, while most are 12.5mm thick drives.

Just measure the thickness of the faceplate and you can determine which drive to buy

I edited the dimension in the above post. Sorry I made a mistake, I had very little sleep this week

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the clarification, that would have been nasty had I bought an incompatible drive. It's late where I am now, and it's even later in New York, you should get some sleep Thanks for your help. I'll be sure to post when (not if) I have more questions.

-LW

 

Hold on!

I think it is a 9.5mm thick drive. My Dell E6400 downloads include a firmware update for:

I suspect that while Dell list a Blu-Ray burner option, it wont be available until one or more optical drive manufacturers actually delivers the product. If I recall correctly, one was announced early last year.

John

 

Thanks, John, I suppose I'll have to wait until I purchase a laptop, to be sure. I'm surprised I couldn't find the blu-ray drive from dell as a stand-alone product, I think I'll be forced to buy from a third party vendor. So far, the cheapest vendor I've found is hp (+$15 for lightscribe!), would anyone know any other good places?

 

Your M4400 is a 9.5mm slim drive, I have these computers at work. Basically you can replace the optical drive with any SATA (important!) 9.5mms, although these aren't that easy to find at the moment as most are still PATA. They are the same 9.5mm that Thinkpads have been using for quite some time.

The GPUs on those M4400s (Mine have the Quadro FX 570m) run really hot!!! I get around 70C even just on the desktop (not running CAD or 3d apps), good thing the CPU is the P model, as they share the same heatsink assembly and share the single fan.

 

Since optical drives are currently in a state of transition (blu-ray/lightscribe etc.), manufactures need to be more future thinking in their offerings to consumers: the ability to upgrade/change components without major technical ability/issues.

I basically think the first manufacturer that figures this out and adjusts their machines for easy plug and play modular upgrades, will be the first company that succeeds the most.

Gone are the days of designing wired-in/locked down laptops. The 21st century of fast changing components can no longer sustain it.

 

channelv, both the configuration I chose online and the refurbished model i found online have T model CPUs. I realize that these generate a little more heat, are you suggesting this excess heat might become problematic?

 

The T series will generate a decent amount of heat more than the P series only when stressed. At idle or low usage (most users are at this stage for at least 95% of the time), then the power consumption difference is relatively small and won't contribute any significant heat difference.

 

Also read the undervolting guide. You can most likely reduce the maximum CPU heat by at least 10W. However, RMClock cannot handle the half multipliers of some recent CPUs.

John

 

Righto, I'm familiar with overclocking hardware. I'd thought about undervolting as well, though I'd never tried. I'm surprised to learn that the process is software-based instead of hardware-based like overclocking. Who knows, maybe while I'm waiting for a laptop, they'll add the P9600 as an option.

 

I looked at HP's dv5tse notebook, they have the lightscribe blu-ray drive for an additional $85 (lightscribe DVD/RW standard). Would this drive be compatible with the M4400? And if so, how would one go about getting the drive? it's not listed anywhere on the website that I can find. I wouldn't imagine finding standalone parts for such a common laptop would be very difficult. (If the standard drive shouldn't cost them over $40, if the blu-ray is an additional $85, then that would be a grand total of $125. Take away the subsidization of buying an entire laptop, and I would expect to be able to pick it up for around $200.)