Upgrading to a bluray player on my new Alienware laptop? (ALW14-2814SLV)

Hello all.

This is my first thread as well as my first post.

I recently bought an Alienware laptop. (model: ALW14-2814SLV)
I got a wicked deal on Ebay and im pretty excited.

The model I purchased comes with a DVD player, and not a bluray player. Can this laptop be upgraded to a bluray player?

If so, what bluray player model would be most recommended for this machine and would it be a fairly simple switchout?

I have intermediate to expert experience with desktop hardware. Not so much with laptops. I have built desktops from the ground up.

Any help would be great.

Sincerely,

Luo01

 

Also, if I was to get an external bluray player/burner on USB 3.0, would this laptop be compatible. I would very much assume yes but I would like to make sure before buying one.

 

I had the same question on my M17xR4. You have 2 options, both are really good, so it is up to you.

Option 1 (If you know how to take your laptop apart)....

Take the laptop apart and buy either the Teac or the Panasonic Blu Ray burner from here:

• http://www.digistor.com/Optical-Drives/Slot-Load-Drives

***You have to use the slot load drives because a tray load drive will not work with Alienware Laptops.​

Option 2 , If you want to do the external route, make 100% sure it is the USB 3.0 route (which is what i did before learning how to take apart my Alienware Laptop),

This is the route I went...

• For the Blu Ray burner, I stand behind Pioneer.... Purchase the Pioneer BDR-2209. Link: Amazon
• 
  
• For the drive enclosure I went with the Vantec USA NexStar DX External 5.25-Inch Optical Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 External Interface Optical Drives 14700365 (NST-530S3-BK)

When I did this, I bought 4 drives and 4 enclosures and the drives were great, but 1 of the 4 enclosures had issues and Amazon let me return that one and order another one.

Aside from that 1 enclosure having issues, All the drives and enclosures work great and I would order more if I need them, nice thing about going the external route, is when a faster blu ray burner comes out, I can just take it out of the enclosure and put the new one in as long as it is SATA.​

I looked up the code you provided for that laptop and it should have 3 x USB 3.0 ports, so that is fine. Avoid USB 2.x enclosures.

 

Hello,

Thanks very much for all your help. Very informative and helpful post.

I just have one further question. I will likely go the external route, but why go through the trouble of putting an internal bluray player into an enclosure myself? Can't I just simply buy one already setup and ready to plugin?

Im guessing the reason you say do it this way is the quality of the bluray player and enclosure id be getting. Maybe Ill give your way a shot. I havent fiddled with computer hardware much in quite sometime. Ill probably have some fun doing it too, even with it being a fairly simple task lol.

Thanks so much again.

 

Hello,

Thanks very much for all your help. Very informative and helpful post.

I just have one further question. I will likely go the external route, but why go through the trouble of putting an internal bluray player into an enclosure myself? Can't I just simply buy one already setup and ready to plugin?

Im guessing the reason you say do it this way is the quality of the bluray player and enclosure id be getting. Maybe Ill give your way a shot. I havent fiddled with computer hardware much in quite sometime. Ill probably have some fun doing it too, even with it being a fairly simple task lol.

Thanks so much again.

 

Another issue is the weight. Id have to carry around more than a Kilo with going that route.

 

There are small more portable bluray drives and burners on 3.0USB. Pioneer makes one.

BDR-XD05B

Its a lightweight small bluray burner using 3.0. Do you recommend not getting something like that?

 

So, right, the weight is the trade off. I did see that Pioneer has some newer portable Blu ray drives now, they were not available when I bought mine. I figured I would deal with the weight issue if I really needed to travel with it because the internal drive specs are faster than the portable drive, particularly when writing blu ray disc's.

If you are just watching blu ray movies that you bought at the store, then the write speeds may not be an issue, the bottle neck with external blu ray is with USB...... make sure what ever you do if it is external, that it is USB 3.0

 

If all you are doing is watching blu ray movies, then USB 2.0 is fine. I personally own a Samsung SE-506CB, which uses USB 2.0, and blu ray play-back is fine. It, like the Pioneer the OP linked, is a 6X drive, which is fine for watching movies, and just barely saturates USB 2.0, so stepping up to USB 3.0 only results in marginal improvements in burn/rip times. Getting a faster drive will require a USB 3.0 connection, but that is only beneficial if you intend to use if for ripping or burning disks. A 16X drive is completely unnecessary for simply watching movies, and is much more inconvenient to carry around, so if the OP only wants to watch Blu Ray movies, I would highly recommend sticking to a 6X drive, in which case it doesn't matter if it USB 2.0 or 3.0.

But if the OP intends to rip or burn a lot of Blu Ray disks, then a 16X drive would definitely be beneficial.

 

Great input guys. Super helpful!

I would mostly be watching blurays. I think I will consider that pioneer model BDR-XD05B. Seems to have pretty solid reviews and is very compact which is what im looking for.

Luo01

 

If you want portability, that Pioneer or the Samsung are probably the best picks. The Pioneer will be a little faster when ripping and burning, but the Samsung is quieter, which can be nice when you are watching movies (unless you use headphones, in which case it isn't as relevant). The Pioneer is a clamshell design, while the Samsung uses a tray. It looks like the Pioneer is about $90, while the Samsung is around $72. When I bought my Samsung, the Pioneer was almost $120, which made the Samsung the more attractive option. If the difference is only $20, it is really a toss-up as to what you prefer (speed vs. noise, loading mechanism, etc.).

 

Do you have the model # for the samsung one. Ill take a look into that. Thanks.

 

luongo01, if you really want portability, replace the optical disk drive in your notebook. It's one of the easiest maintentance tasks, there's nothing to be afraid of.

 

I just went with the external Pioneer bluray burner using USB 3.0.

Thanks for all your help with it.