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    DVD-ROM replacement on Asus F3

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by fistycuffs, Dec 1, 2007.

  1. fistycuffs

    fistycuffs Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey all.

    I have an Asus F3Jp with a MAT****A DVD-RAM UJ-850S drive. It seems to be quite a troublesome drive, refusing different media, can't burn dual layer. no firmware updates out there either.

    Was wonder how easy it is to find a replacement that will fit? Are there standard sizes for these drives? Or do i have to find one the corresponds to my brand? Plenty of Dell and Compaq dvd drives on ebay... not so many asus.
     
    fistycuffs, Dec 1, 2007
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  2. gjw

    gjw Newbie

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    I'm in the same boat..... different laptop but same DVD drive.
    I was looking to replace it with an NEC Optiarc AD-5540A.
    Sure hope its compatible....
    Anyone like to confirm?
    Thanks
     
    gjw, Dec 10, 2007
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  3. spleemi

    spleemi Newbie

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    Seems to be a common problem, I am also looking for a replacement on my ASUS F8SA. The difficulty in finding a drive is that I believe this is also a SATA drive and I am not sure all vendors implement exactly the same, so another slim sata drive may not work. If others know better or you can recommend a drive, please comment.
     
    spleemi, Dec 16, 2007
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  4. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    Check out Pioneers website, I have two Pioneer DVR-K06's, their slotloading and they are probably the best dvd drives on the market. They make tray loadin ones, I believe it is the DVR-K17. Newegg does not carry a lot of slot loading drives, so just uses google product search and you will find a store which sells it.

    I bought mine from Meritline.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Dec 16, 2007
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  5. spleemi

    spleemi Newbie

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    Nice drives indeed however these are atapi drives and I assume the ASUS has an SATA interface. The uj850s is listed as uj 850S ATA in device manager, so it is not clear that the drives you propose would work.
     
    spleemi, Dec 16, 2007
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  6. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    Wow, I did not know they made sata notebook optical drives, their really is no speed advantage.

    I would double check/email asus, they should know.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Dec 16, 2007
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  7. gjw

    gjw Newbie

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    Pretty sure the UJ-850S in an ATA and not an SATA.
    The "S" is part of the model number.
     
    gjw, Dec 16, 2007
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  8. BlackRussian

    BlackRussian Notebook Deity

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    It indeed is an ATA drive..Other slot drive to go for are Nec, Sony/NEC Optiarc AD-7630A OR AD-7633A. Also the tray loaded drivers from Nec, Pioneer,Sony/NEC Optiarc are the ones to go for. And in most cases very easy to REPLACE the drives.
     
    BlackRussian, Dec 16, 2007
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  9. BlackRussian

    BlackRussian Notebook Deity

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    If you come across the ND-7550A/ND-7551 it more or less the same drive. ;)
     
    BlackRussian, Dec 16, 2007
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  10. spleemi

    spleemi Newbie

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    OK, been away for a couple of days so this reply is a little late. Just for clarification, if this is an ATA drive, then any advertised IDE slim drive should suffice, although some will be better than others?
    Reason is ultimately I want to make the drive region free which is impossible with the UJ-850s. In my desktop I have always used Liteon drives because of their useful ltnrpc utility.
     
    spleemi, Dec 18, 2007
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  11. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    LG's laptop drives are incredibly reliable, as are the desktop ones.
     
    moon angel, Dec 18, 2007
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  12. gjw

    gjw Newbie

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    I got the Optiarc 5540A and it was a direct replacement for my UJ-850S.
    The old drive had a small retaining bracket on the back so I moved it to the new drive (3 tiny philips screws) and it slid right in to my Acer.
    Vista recognized it without problem and I was back in business.

    I went with the Optiarc because of reliability but aftermarket firmware is available for both bitmarking and region-free.
     
    gjw, Dec 27, 2007
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