Blu-ray query

So I'm forced to ask here as I have exhausted all other possible avenues for a confirmation (well, almost).

I bought a UJ232a blu-ray drive for my VGN-Z, and have installed it successfully without issues. It runs and reads blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs, and burns to DVDs and CDs as well (have yet to burn to blu-ray).

I bought the drive a month ago, and it made a grinding sound (I asked some members here and only one person was able to confirm it was possibly an issue). Alas, I asked for a replacement for another new drive and got one last week. It too makes a grinding sound. For a listen, the recording attached file below should help. The grinding sound is near the end of that audio file. In that recording, an empty drive was pushed back in.

It seems to read blu-ray movies and all other media without issues (and burn to DVDs and CDs as mentioned, without issues too). However, I'm not too sure whether that grinding is normal? Could I just be extremely unlucky and have gotten two lemon drives in a row?

The thing is, a friend of mine who has a VGN-FW which came with a blu-ray drive from factory (though a different model drive altogther, a 12.7mm drive), also makes a slight 'grind', though much muted in sound.

Anyways, I can confirm that the laser positioning module is unusually stiff compared to DVD drives (see photo attached). It's as if the thing is ungreased. I can confirm the positioning module is what's causing the grinding sounds, when the laser is returning to a rest radius from another position. For reference, my UJ862as DVD writer has a smooth laser positioning module and makes no grinding sounds whatsoever.

My only explanation is that the module is stiff as blu-ray media are more dense, so the lasers need to move with more precision. But not too sure why the sound is there in the first place, let alone know whether the sound is normal. So...

... can anyone who owns a UJ232a confirm that this grinding sound is normal?

 

That sounds normal to me.

 

^Me as well. All my past optical drives have sounded like that. With the notable exception of a Pioneer model in my old Apple iBook. That thing was LOUD.

 

Thanks to Rachel and H.A.L.
In that audio file, from 5 seconds on.
...that 'sounds' normal....?

Heck, that's the first time (well, since I bought the UJ232a at least) I hear an optics drive making such a sound, and my stock DVD writer UJ862as is completely silent.

I guess my first unit wasn't faulty after all. Though I'm still after a verdict on the laser positioning module's stiffness compared to DVD writers.

Regardless, thanks again. Finally some peace...