Dell Slot Loader Drive

There have been various threads over the years on slot loaders versus trad loading optical drives - A google search for the terms slot loader problem, slot loader jammed, and slot loader stuck will get you about 10 million web pages, most of them about Mac computers with slot loading CD drives because Macs have had them for ages. But now other computers are using them and there are hundreds of thousands of web pages listed on Google from other people who bought a Dell with a slot loader – There are even videos for various home remedies for fixing jammed slot loaders (most of which don’t work). One Dell tech comments that they are a constant source of problems “but it’s what the buyers want.”

Not only are slot loaders prone to jams and read-write failure, they are very hard to replace. A normal tray loader replaces in minutes and anyone can do it. The slot loader in the Dell laptops require the dis-assembly of the entire computer – and I mean take it completely to pieces – just to change the drive.

So I, for one, intend to be certain that my next laptop does NOT have a slot loading optical drive (My XPS swallowed a rental DVD movie and it’s still in there – nothing will get it out and the Dell tech says it can only be removed after replacing it with a new one and then disassembling the old one.)

So beware slot loaders - they look nice until you need to deal with the inevitable failure.

 

Random Post.

But I do agree with you. I always warn against a slot loading drive if given the choice. Course, they look sleeker, but try and get out a stuck disc.

As you said, unlike tray loading drives, slot loading drives usually are flush to the inside of the chassis, and cannot be easily removed which presents a serious issue should you get something stuck.

 

My acer 5672 has a slot loader that has been problem free for about 4 years now. So I will continue to prefer slot to flimsy tray loaders.