Limping along with old notebook while waiting for new models

I have an old Dell 5150. I want to install a DVD burner namely a SONY or some other quality (fast) burner. Can I disassemble the Dell media "sled" thingie that holds the old DVD-ROM and use that case for a new bare DVD-burner. I believe that its all ATA/IDE stuff.

Please recommend a DVD burner: I burn DVD+R, which is standard for my work, using Nero SE. Thats all I need: decent speed for burning a DVD+R. No blue-ray needed, no double layer. Single layer only!

So for now, Ive added RAM, Im getting that fast IDE hard drive that gets rave reviews here (the one thats faster than a 7200 rpm), and doing a fresh install of XP.

With the economy taking a dive, this may have to work for while...

ps: oh, external hard drive : I have firewire and USB ports. Im thinking of getting a 3.5" enclosure and going with firewire>IDE drive in enclosure w/power supply - what do you think of the firewire over USB? I have several 3.5" 7200 rpm Hitachi IDE drives w/16mb cache so I will probably use one of those in the enclosure

PPS: I dont even know what version of USB my ports are - how can I check - or do you know? Dell Ispiron 5150 c

 

What hard drive is faster than a 7200 rpm one for a notebook?

 

well, for us limping-along IDE "old school" throwbacks (you know, the prehisterical age before SATA), there is a 5400 rpm IDE drive that is cheap and it is crazy fast!

let me check my order that just shipped (lol - Im so freaking excited ...it dont take much, let me tell ya lolo..)

okie dokie: here is it
"Samsung HM160HC 160GB UDMA/100 5400RPM 8MB 2.5-Inch NB Hard Drive"

read the test results somewhere on this site. it rocks!

 

- Review/Test on this site

yes, thats the one - faster than the 7200 rpm drives (IDE)! I bought mine for $55 + $8 shipping. lol talk about performance on the CHEEP! lolo

 

Oh, I still need to know about disassembling the Dell optical drive sled and inserting a new DVD-RW. Can I put a SONY DVD-burner in there? What model for IDE?

ps: yes, hard to believe, but my Dell only came with a DVD-ROM!!!

 

why don't you get an external 'desktop' dvd burner? It would be faster and probably cheaper..

Besides this, I am quite sure you can take off the Dell media "sled" thingie(caddy?) if you want to upgrade your internal drive, but the drive bezel(the front thing where the eject button is) from the new one probably won't fit.

link to similar thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=307935

 

I second that. Faster, cheaper and more reliable.

 

Question: Can i put a desktop DVD-burner like a SONY into an external hard drive enclosure like my coolmax USB 3.5" enclosure? If so, I could do that for about $30 for the DVD-burner!

 

for the external burner you will need a 5.25" enclosure. The 5.25" enclosure usually come with an integrated system to support 3.5" harddrives too.

I have an external burner and when used with USB2 it's as fast as if it was blugged directly into the motherboard of a desktop.

The maintenance guide for your laptop is here
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/sm/index.htm

 

Thanks for the maintenance guide (! WOW !) and great info!