Thinkpads Forum

Would anyone know if this will fit a T400 optical drive bay? I found this unit at Computer Geeks and it looks like it might work.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid ... DO&cat=DVD

It is a Hitachi/LG GU10N 8x DVD±RW Ultra Slim Notebook SATA Drive.

thanks for the assistance.

Bruce

It will probably fit, but you've got a couple issues. One is the bezel. The one on geeks.com does not have the notch in the corner for the eject mechanism. It may be possible to cut the bezel or swap it with your old drive, but I'm not familiar with the drive The shipping was $12 for me on geeks.com. For probably less than $10 more you could probably get a T400 drive via ebay.

I did a bit more research. I found a DVD / CDRW FRU 42T2543 for $25 on Ebay. It is a Hitachi LG MU10N and has the nice bezel that should fit. The unit from the Computer Geek's unit is a Hitachi LG GU10N and is also a DVD writer. I agree the bezel would need to be modified or replaced. BTW CG's has an economy shipping now for $5.

A FRU 42T2545 which is a DVD writer for the T400 is $90 on Ebay. So, I guess I need to decide if I need DVD writing capability. I have never done really needed this capability and do have a desktop internal DVD writer that I can connect with a USB interface. It might increase the value of the T400 if I wanted to resell it but not $65.

Bruce

Here's the same drive, but for $45 and it has the Thinkpad bezel. That'd be only an extra $15 as compared to the geeks.com drive, if you don't mind waiting until the end of the month to get it.

Thanks, good eBay searching. I never felt too comfortable about ordering from overseas but the feedback is good so I imagine it is not a problem if you are not in a rush. It looks like it is the same unit as the HL GU10N just with the Lenovo bezel. I will now consider my options.

Thanks again,

Bruce

I decided to splurge and get a DVD burner. After looking around a bit more I did find a used Lenovo 42T2557 aka Panasonic # UJ862A DVD Multi Drive for about $44 shipped. I am not sure if Lenovo consistently uses a different FRU for the different manufactures but I do know that they use both Panasonic and Hitachi for their optical drives. The unit you found me on Ebay is from a Malaysia seller and the unit is a Hitachi LG GU10N equivalent to a a FRU 42T2545.

I read on the forum archives that the Hitachi has the option to be flashed to work with different DVD regions while the Panasonic does not. So, I ordered the unit from the the Ebayer in Malaysia. It does not have a Lenovo label but I am sure it will work fine.

Bruce