replacing a broken cd drive

I have a Dell Inspiron 1100, about 4 yrs old. My CD drive just died and I want to replace it with a new internal CD/DVD drive. What do I need to look for when buying a new drive, and should this be easy enough for me to do?:confused2:

 

Replacing a CD drive is usually a breeze, however it varies from model to model. The Drives on modern notebooks are fairly standard (although that can vary as well.) For example, I have a Toshiba satellite M45, and my boss has a Dell Inspiron 9200, and the drives are completly interchangeable (except the faceplate, the one on the dell is a little thicker.) I would just look at the part number on the drive itself and see if you can order another one. If I can find instructions on replacing the drive in a inspiron 1100, I will post them here.

 

As promised. No pictures, but see if this makes sense to you: http://www.bixnet.com/dein115151op.html

 

ebay is usually a great place to look for a part like this. dell will likely charge a premium if you decided to buy it from them.

edit: i just looked and i saw a cd burner for 30+10 shipping and i found a cd/dvd (no burner) for 30+10 shipping. The others were all 85 and higher but are dvd burners...i would recommend one of the cheaper ones depending on your needs.

 

thanks for the help.

 

In my limited experience the face plates use standard fittings and are inter-changeable. They are normally held in place by some plastic hooks which you can carefully unhook after taking the burner out.

Also most notebook manufacturers use some fixing brackets or rails which you need to remove from the old optical drive and fit on to the new one.

John