Where to get a Blu-ray Drive for VPCZ1?

Hi All,

I have just purchased a 10 month old VPCZ12Z9E/X after having dropped my much loved VGN-Z620D and was wondering if/where/how people have upgraded the DVD drive to Blu-ray and where they got them from.

Thanks
PS paid £1300 for it - reasonable?
i7, 8GB, Mobile BB sim, 256GB SSD (4x64), HD Screen, Backlight keyboard

 

About that Blu-Ray drive: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/606598-blu-ray-drive-official-sony-wanted.html
(unfortunately it doesn't actually answer your question)

 

Thanks very much

 

I actually purchased an external blu-ray drive (and recorder) for when you actually need to use it.

Sony BDX-S500U - Sony BDX-S500U Slim External Tray Blu-ray Writer BDX-S500U B&H

Disadvantages are it requires a seperate power supply and is not the fastest (USB 2.0) blu-ray recorder but it does the job.

 

Is it the one off eBay that still has warranty on it? £1300 is a bargain considering it was selling for around £2700 1 year ago...

 

yes it is. I was considering the New Z but due to the fact that I do a fair amount of work in the back of Broadcast Truck where there is no internet connection, often get stuff (images, video) on DVD and inevitably have to edit it as it's in the wrong aspect so need the Nvidia, thought I'd try and get that model.

 

Be very careful about the ones off ebay.I bought one that was supposed to be a perfect fit, but I had to mod it to fit in the laptop. I had to remove the cover, with a dremel and then it was only held in by a couple of screws. It worked fine including the eject but not a pretty site before it got into the case.

 

Get any UJ-242A... well you need the Lenovo Branded ones or Panasonic i believe for the Z11 to recognze the eject button (or get any other one and use Pyr0's tool to map the eject button to eject) or just carry around a paper clip with you.

remapping keys here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/538942-how-use-all-your-vpc-zs-s-buttons-your-purposes.html

UJ-242 here w/o being able to use eject button: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/518005-vaio-vpc-z128gg-blu-ray-drive-uj-242-result.html

edit: another thread saying the uj-242a is good : http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/473466-replacing-dvd-drive-bluray-new-z-3.html

in any case it's gunna cost you >$150 last time i checked...

 

I don't know about in UK, but that configuration, in a refurb from the US Sony Outlet, would cost $1,500 - $1,700. From a few things I have seen, the price of most consumer electronics in UK - and same for Euro countries, which have about the same $ exchange rate as Sterling - after adding VAT, and some other mysterious costs to make everything more expensive on your side of the pond, lol, the price seems to be the same regardless of the currency so, anything under L1,400 sounds like an excellent deal. Congratulations!