R40e third party DVD writer

[shadowmoses]

Hey guys,

I currently have the stock CD-RW/DVD in my Thinkpad R40e and wuld like to upgrade to a DVD writer so basically I wanted to know if any 3rd party DVD writers will fit in the bay?

If so what models would they be?

Thanks,

ShadoW

[shadowmoses]

Does nobody have any idea about this??? I would be very grateful for some help its not the most complicated of questions,

SHadoW

[doppelfish]

Does nobody have any idea about this???

Ideas? Yes.

There's a few companies that make these drives. Sony, for one, plays. So does Toshiba. TEAC comes to mind. However, they don't really sell the bare drives on the market (although these drives, just like many other goods, sometimes fall off the truck, if you know what I mean), so you'll have to aquire a drive that was intended as an upgrade to a particular laptop.
Are there third-party upgrades for Thinkpads? Dunno.
Can you scavenge a suitable drive from an other laptop? Possibly.
If you can, read on:

Basically, all CD-ROM/CD-RW/CD,DVD-etc. drives have the same form factor, and even the same connectors at the back. What changes between the drives from different (laptop) manufacturers is the front bezel, which matches the design of the particular laptop, and the mounting frame, including the adapter between the standard connector of the drive to the connector inside of the laptop.

You should be able to take an arbitrary drive, and mount the IBM-specific mounting frame (the black plastic parts on the drive), including the connector adaptor - I did this with a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive salvaged from a dysfunctional Sony laptop. Note: The IBM frame, in particular the two plastic straps that run alongside the drive, are fixed to the drive not only with screws, but also with double-sided sticky tape. Wiggle, pry, use a box-cutter, but be careful and pack enough patience - don't force it!
Making the bezel fit is quite another matter. Maybe you'll be able to reuse the bezel of the drive you have in your TP now, but chances are that the new drive doesn't have the eject button and the emergency ejection hole at the same place. What I did was to carefully take the bezel off the Sony drive, and give it a, well, mostly careful treatment with a rasp and a small saw. Even though some of the studs that hold the bezel to the slide of the drive got lost in the process - the Sony drive is much spacier than the IBM - the bezel still holds to the slide just fine (or rather, it has been holding on to it so far). It does project over the laptop case by some 4 or 5 millimeters, and, worst of all, it still has the original Sony pink(?) color.

But I can burn CDs now! Whoo-hooo! Can you? Let me know how this works for you!

cheers, also to the board member(s) who explained this to me and whose postings I'm too lazy to look up right now,
-- fish

[shadowmoses]

Thanks for the post very very useful, I will look into aquiring a drive and transferring my original thinkpad face plate,

SHadoW

[masterus]

Hi

You can always buy DVD writer(12,7mm) from any company..I suggest LG, it's really good..and just change caddy..link

Regards

[rjenovai]

I am using a NEC ND-6500A in my R40 (2722), and it works
great. I had to modify the bezel to fit, but otherwise is was
a seamless install. Hope this helps

Randy

[tbartold]

I'm using a UJ-850S in my UltraBay that I got on eBay with the proper bezel/caddy already attached. PnP!