Purchase blu ray drive for Sony Vaio SA3

Hello all,

I'm hoping someone can help me.

I'd like to purchase a Sony Vaio SA3 laptop as a CTO.

Unfortunately, the UK 'custom build' website does not allow you to addin a blu ray player. Instead you can only spec a DVD-RW or Blu Ray Writer at £340!

Therefore, I'm wondering if it is possible to buy a CTO with a DVD-RW and swap it out for a blu ray player bought elsewhere?

If so, does anyone know where I can buy the blu ray player and the type I'd need to make it work in the laptop?

Thanks V.Much!

 

The ODD (optical disk drive) bay is a standard 9.5mm affair, and therefore should fit any 9.5mm drive. Replacing it involves removing 2 screws on the bottom, pulling out the old drive, transfering 2 metal attachements from the sides of the old drive to the new one, and then replacing the faceplate on the new drive with the old one. This is a nasty process, as faceplate on the vaio's drive is an absolute pain to remove intact. I managed it, but it took me half an hour of fiddling and easing. The faceplate is attached by a number of clips, and when it is removed you will probably have to attach it with epoxy to the new drive, as sony uses a non standard clip "configuration". This means of course you cant attach it back to the old one, so sending your vaio back in the future if it breaks may be a problem.
Then there's the issue of finding a 9.5mm laptop drive. Most of the ones you find will be 12.7mm, so watch out! Panasonic UJ232A BLU-RAY 9.5mm Slim Burner Laptop Drive | eBay looks like a good bet.
I would evaluate if you actually need an internal one vs an external one, as it's quite a bit of hassle.

 

You can, as an alternative to messing with the face-plate, purchase a replacement face-plate direct from sony for $20 USD. Also, someone here in this forum may be willing to sell you their Blu ray read only drive. (I sold mine a few months back from my SA)

 

CyberWalrus - Wow! Thank you for being so detailed

lazybee - Thank you for your advice - do you know who I contact at Sony to order that part?

It seems an easy task swapping out the drive itself but the faceplate attachment worries me slightly. Especially if it voids warranty

I'd like the option to swap back in the original drive in case an issue occurs. As lazybee states, buying a second faceplate would allow me to leave the original untouched and then it's a case of slotting out/in.

I have had another thought though.... I'll create a new thread to explore this idea. If not, I'd really like to buy the faceplate first.

Thanks

 

I believe the VAIO SA is using the "newer" Panasonic UJ2 42A Blu-ray drive instead of the "older" Panasonic UJ2 32A.