Samsung Series 7, Possible to Add Blu-Ray Burner?

Hey guys,


I'm in the market for a new laptop and I've kind of got my eye on the Series 7 (the high end model). I've been reading about it lately and love what I'm hearing/seeing.

When I was reading reviews for it on another site, a reviewer casually mentioned that if one was "brave enough" and had the correct parts, one could upgrade the DVD drive to a blu-ray drive.

Has anybody tried/accomplished this? And if so, which blu-ray drive did you use? If I bought the laptop, I would be interested in adding a blu-ray burner, but I don't have much experience with computer mods.

This question would be rendered moot if the new 17" model comes out and includes a blu-ray burner, but I have no idea when the release date or spec sheet will be released for that model.


PS I did try using the search function but found no results.

 

If you are talking about the 13-15.6" models, you need to wait for the 9.5mm slot-load Bluray drive to appear. Likewise if the 17.3" uses 9.5mm drives.

 

Like this?

ThinkPad Blu-ray Burner Ultrabay Slim 9.5mm Drive II (SATA) - Overview

I just googled 9.5mm blu-ray burner and this popped up lol.

 

No, this one is a tray drive. You need a 9.5mm slot-load drive for the Series 7.

 

Gotcha. Guess I'll have to go with an external blu-ray burner.


What is the concensus on this laptop now that its been out for a while, with new drivers and everything? Any lingering issues?

 

Look at some of the issues mentioned in these threads
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...-9-laptops-we-paying-beta-testers-thread.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...a-push-samsung-implement-fixed-mode-bios.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/637065-series-7-chronos-day-1-problems.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...onos-np700z5a-mine-has-died-lemon-thread.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...ness-driving-me-nuts-unable-disable-help.html

If you can live with them, you can consider buying.

 

Also remember that the majority of the owners are happy with their Samsungs. It's only a minority that comes to forums complaining.

I am very happy with mine, and the only issue that I feel really should be fixed is the non switching GPU issue, but even if that isn't fixed, I'm still very happy with it and would keep it and use it.

 

Hmmm I thought you indicated in both poll that you may consider returning the Series 7. Suspicious...

 

Yes, I choose that because it might help on what you (and some others) seem to think is extremely important for you. To me it's not a big deal. Sure, a fix for those problems would be nice, but it's not really needed for me atleast. And most likely most others are fine with it aswell.

The other post I made here is just to try to balance out all the negativity you write in a lot of the threads, since most users are still very happy with their machine and you might scare people away making them think its worse than it really is...

And no, I will not be returning my 700Z5A unless it breaks someway.

 

I've been looking into getting a Series 7 Chronos NP700Z5A-S04US. Few of the issues I've read about were deal-breakers to me, but the ODD drive, which is only a DVD reader, made me have second thoughts. I'm not sure if I would want a Blu-ray drive badly enough to get an internal one, but I did find a website which sells internal DVD-RW drives as well as Blu-ray drives for almost every laptop model imaginable. Keep in mind that I have no idea how the service or products are. This is the internal Blu-ray drive for the model I have been looking at, but its price is a little steep for my taste.

Samsung NP700Z5A-S04US BD-RE Blu-ray Drive Writer - SATA Slot

 

The specs for the UJ235A say that it is 12.7mm (1/2") thick but a post further up this thread indicates that the Series 7 uses a 9.5mm (3/8") optical bay.

John

 

You will definitely need a 9.5mm optical drive. I just tried installing a bluray drive but it was a few mm thicker. Plus with this extra thickness the plug sits a few mm higher than the stock drive and won't plug into the motherboard.

Stock on top, Blu-ray on bottom.


Blu-ray on left, stock on right


Blu-ray plug a little bit higher than stock plug and was not able to plug into motherboard.


Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi forum-- I have been browsing for a Blu-ray drive upgrade myself recently, and I just found this model-
9 5mm SATA UJ267 Blu Ray Player Burner Slot in Load Drive Apple MacBook Pro Dell | eBay
I can't find a lot of information about it, and it's still not officially listed on Panasonic's website, but it seem legit- there are several brief mentions of this exact seller on tech websites. Does anyone know anything about it or if it will work?