Installing a Blu-ray writer on Envy 17

Does anyone know if I could obtain the blu-ray writer drive used in the dv7t and install it on my Envy? I'm not sure I'll do this yet, but I'm interested in the option. I'd miss the look of the slot-load function, but I think I'd get over it. I was looking at some laptop burners on eBay, but I'm not going to make my laptop ugly. I'd rather get something that matches.

 

Not possible to use the DV7 BluRay burner. You need to get a slot drive blu-ray burner and replace the one that you have.

Maybe HP waked up and finally added BluRay burner for the new Envy 17 3D. If that's the case you just order that part and replace yours.

Wait a few days to check it out.

 

digistor has what you are searching for ($370 i believe).
if this is an envy 14, you cannot install a bluray burner because the drive size is thinner than the standard laptop slimline profile size. additionally, i dont think bd burners exist for ultraslim applications yet.
regardless, slotloaders are slower than trayloaders and on average more expensive. i would either go with an external trayloader or wait a while for speeds to get bumped.

 

I was interested in one for the Envy 17. I guess your remarks still apply.

 

So something like this:
Dell X041H XPS Slot-load Blu-ray CA10N SATA ***A*** - eBay (item 250695159505 end time Nov-09-10 18:54:41 PST) would not work?

I've been wondering about blu-ray in the envy 14. I don't own an envy right now but I'm considering buying (I definitely will if Radiance comes back at a reasonable price) and would like to have a bluray reader.

Are these sorts of drives the standard size? And does the envy really use a slimmer size?

Hopefully if the new 17 has bluray we can just order those drives in the future...?

 

If anyone can confirm that Dell this poster has just directed our attention to works, I will buy it now.

Envy 17 already comes with the option for a blu-ray reader, which I have obtained. I am interested in the writing capability. I don't know if Envy14 has either one, because the only other ones I looked at were the dv7t and its 15-inch counterpart.

 

i would say that model will work, but make sure it is a slimline drive. i am somewhat concerned that there's no speed rating for bd-r & re. you should make sure this is actually a bd burner and not just a reader. internal laptop bd burners are still in the 200-300 price mark.

i visually verified that the envy 17 optical drive is sata connection, so any slotloader slimline sata drive can be implanted.

the only brands i know of making bd burners for laptops are panasonic & sony

 

Thanks so much for the details and your observation on the write speed. I have contacted the seller to confirm that it indeed writes.

 

I'm not positive that the drive I posted writes, since it has "N/A" listed as the BD burning speeds. I just did a quick search to see if there were reasonably priced BD drives, read-only or write-capable, for laptops.

Hopefully it works out!

EDIT: a bit more searching and I found a slim BD-writer, the Panasonic UJ235A, that can be found for ~$200 on ebay. Maybe cheaper if you search around. Not sure about slim read-only drives - that's what I'm more interested in...

2nd EDIT: even more searching and I found out that the slim size seems to be 12.7mm, does anyone know if the envys use this size? If so the UJ235A will work, as will the slightly cheaper UJ225 which also has BD-RE write capability.

 

i stated this before. slimline is a standard size, if the drive is not a slimline, then it will not work with the envy 17.

slimline is 12.7 mm (1/2").

remember that the drive in the envy 14 is thinner than slimline profile, for those that have an envy 14, i recommend an external bd-r tray load writer, because there is no ultra slim bd burner coming on the horizon or any time soon ...

i also mentioned the major makers of bd burners are either sony or panasonic. if you plan on a burner upgrade, read up on the technical/service manual for how to disassemble the laptop. should be floating around in a thread around here, i don't remember the thread, maybe it's in the OP of the envy 17 owners lounge thread ?

 

Ohhh, that makes sense now.

So basically a slim drive will work in an Envy 17, but with the 14 we're basically SOL for blu-ray... dang...

 

pretty much. it's because the 14 is a thinner design.

i was looking into doing this for mine, i last had an m1730 that i swapped out the drive to a bd-r, but that was really easy because it was only 1 screw to losen (without taking the laptop apart) ... and the drive slid out.

on the envy, i need to remove at least 15 screws, pull the keyboard and palmrest to get to the drive. i've done this before to swap out the display on a prior envy, somewhat time consuming the first time.

 

I'm not looking forward to removing all those screws. I've honestly thought about just springing for an external burner. I think the read capability will be enough for the road. A slim burner should be just fine.

 

digistor has a decent selection, or you can get one from ebay. i am going to need a bd burner soon myself because ive been shooting in hd with the camcorder and want to preserve the videos on disk.

 

the disassembly isnt too bad. a must would be to buy some plastic pry tools for cell phones. they will let you take off the rubber feet as well as pry away panels without scratching them. all panels on the envy are metal (including the bottom).