Thinkpad T42p DVD Writer

The DVD writer in my T42p, a 39T2507, has been iffy in reading discs. It still seems to burn fine, but occasionally it won't read a disc and I'll have to eject and reinsert. I've cleaned the laser lens to no avail.

I'm debating on what course to take. I could order an identical part number online, but the ones I've seen that are even close to reasonably priced are used. This particular part reads DVD Multi + on the top. I'm aware there is a newer drive, the DVD Multi Burner III, which is in the T6x series. Some sites say this model is compatible with the T42, but the cut of the front face plate is different. Is it that the drive will plug in, but it will just fit strangely? In any case, that's a second option.

A third option would be to just buy an external USB DVD writer.

I'm interested in opinions on what people might think is the best course to take.

If anyone is curious why I'm hanging on to this old system, it's the screen. I don't want to part with my 1600x1200 IPS display. I've considered buying a T60p with a similar display, but those are all used/refurbished and one just never knows what they'll get.

Cheers,
ww

 

The T6x burners are indeed compatible with the T4x machine. The bezel doesn't quite line up, but they work fine otherwise. They are also better burners. The T4x burners all were terrible.

If you want a used ThinkPad, probably the best place to get one is the marketplace forum on ThinkPads.com. You might pay a little more over there, but they tend to be much more honest about what they're selling than say eBay or CL. That has a lot of value, especially on a used machine.

If you want the UXGA with a newer machine, I might suggest what I did and throw a UXGA display in a R60 or R60e. It's a straight swap and they run cooler. The V52x0 cards in the T60p are known to run hot and it's been four years, so I'm guessing you're not doing any gaming on this machine.

Good luck and welcome to NBR. Feel free to hang out and contribute where you can.

 

For less than $20 you could probably get a T4x combo drive so you could at least burn CDs. I don't know why you'd want to pay $32 for a DVD reader.

 

For the sake of completion, I might spend $30 on a DVD-ROM if I couldn't get a writer for a few bucks more. But I'm sure if I waited long enough, a ROM drive would pop up on craigslist for $10.

I've been thinking an external might be the best route for writing.

 

I saw this on ebay:

IBM THINKPAD T60p T7800 2.6G 15"UXGA IPS FLEXVIEW T61p - eBay (item 220643136429 end time Jul-30-10 06:55:30 PDT)

Looks like someone upgraded a T60p about as much as they could. Not sure it's worth $1500, though.

 

I found this multi-burner on ebay:

IBM ThinkPad Multi Burner Ultrabay Slim Drive 39T2507 - eBay (item 220639686884 end time Aug-17-10 13:29:18 PDT)

That is the exact model that I currently have. Too bad it won't write DL discs.

 

ZaZ: How did you get a blu-ray drive in your R60?

Did you use something like this: Amazon.com: Panasonic UJ-120 Blu-ray BD-ROM/8x DVD±RW DL Notebook IDE Drive (Black):…

 

The drive that you linked to is not an IBM ultrabay drive, this is used in HP laptops. The PATA connection used on the Ultrabay slim and enhanced drive is a proprietary format only used in Thinkpads.

Also in order to run Blu-ray movies you would need a good GPU and/or CPU, the T4x GPU/CPU even in the 'p' guise would not keep up with the demand for on the fly decoding of FHD movies in Blu-ray format.

 

It's the Blu-ray burner from the R61, part number 39T2853. It won't fit the T series.

 

Thanks, ZaZ. I wasn't going to put a blu-ray in my T. I was weighing the possibilities of getting an R60, like you suggested, and doing the screen swap. I found a nice R60 on craigslist for about $300.

 

What's the specs on the one at CL if you don't mind my asking?

 

T7200 Processor, 15" 1400x1050 display, ATI X1400 512MB Video, 3GB RAM, 80GB HD, DVD Burner, new battery, original recovery discs

 

that is not too bad, it should have original IPS LCD. But most IPS LCD of that age, would have dimmed quite significantly. I recently tried to procure a second hand R60 with IPS, but the condition was atrocious and the LCD's CCFL backlight is already nearing the end of its life.

 

The backlight in my T42p still shines bright, thank goodness.

Are the CCFL's replaceable?

 

Yes they are, but it's a pain in the rear job. Though it costs more you're better off doing the whole LCD.

How would one acquire a IPS R60 since they were never sold with them?

 

Oh yeah they don't have factory installed IPS monitor... the R60 i tried to get had them with the 15 inch SXGA+ from a T60.

OP don't worry what i said about the IPS monitor, R60 did NOT come stock standard with IPS.... sorry for the confusion.... i am just thinking too much about the whole IPS versus TN thing recently.

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At OP 300 dollars for a R60 is slightly expensive. There is some offering a mint condition T60p for around 500 USD on the notebookreview marketplace, which already has the IPS UXGA LCD in place.

 

True, but they have the V52x0 GPU, which runs hot.

 

very true, this is one problem that constantly ires me on mine T60p. It is almost bad as mine first gen Macbook Pro... they are more desktop bound type of notebooks.

 

I definitely prefer a large hot notebook (as long as the palmrest isn't hot) over a desktop, though. My last desktop was almost like a space heater in my bedroom.

 

That is useful in winter, which is coming for the people in the northern hemisphere.

T60p runs hot but not that bad.