Can I fit a DVD+-RW into an R31?

[Keithj]

The original CDROM drive in my trusty R31 is ill and probably not long for this earth. It often fails to read CDs, and generally misbehaves.

I've bought an Ultrabay DVD+-RW on Ebay - from the sales particulars it seems to be the same size as the CDROM. It's now in the post to me from the USA.

There was no DVDRW option on the R31 when it was in production, but was that purely because the drives weren't around then? If I fit the DVD+-RW into mine, will it work, or is there more I need to know or do?

I thought the R31 itself was dying, but a firm blow-out of the fan area solved the temperature problem - it's now loping along around 71/46/43 when working, and settles at 50/43/43 when it's idle.

[schen]

It should accept it no problem. You'll just need the burning software to do the work. I fitted both our computers at that time (T23 & A30) which were both originally offer w/o DVD burners with NEC DVD burners and they both operated just fine. Now they have been moved to our current machines (T30 & A31) and continue to operate well.

[Keithj]

Great - thanks. That's how I thought it would be, but it's good to be sure.

I've got Nero on the desktop, and it works well there. I don't suppose I'll be burning many DVDs on the laptop, but the price difference from a plain CDROM to a DVD+-RW was so small it made sense to go for the DVD.

[rkawakami]

As long as the replacement Ultrabay DVD burner is designated as Ultrabay 2000 or Ultrabay Plus, then it will physically fit. It is also possible in some cases to take drives meant for other systems (HP, Dell, Panasonic, etc.) and simply use your old Ultrabay 2000/Plus drive rails (aka caddy). Since the Ultrabay 2000 has the "notch" on the right hand side, you might also have to perform some surgery on those faceplates. I've done this with several UJ820 and UJ840 drives for my T23 systems.