Thinkpads Forum

Who knows where I can find a CD-RW for a Thinkpad 770E? I been lookin for WEEKS!!!! Can someone help?

As far as I know there is no CD-RW for 770E. You can get an external IBM Portable Device Bay (with PC Card connectivity) or IBM Portable Device Bay 2000 (with both PC Card and USB connectivity) from Ebay.

http://search.ebay.com/ibm-portable-bay ... 1QQfromZR8

The Ultrabay CD-RW devices are pretty expensive:
http://search.ebay.com/ultrabay-cd-rw_W ... ayQ20cd-rw

Regards,
G-Man

I know there is one out there. I saw it on eBay!!! Can't someone help me????

In most cases you can get a barebones laptop cdrw and put it into the caddy your cdrom drive is in. Ususally the front bezel won't match the Thinkpad exactly, and in some cases may need to be trimmed (corner notch for Thinkpad A or T series).

I just recently put a dvd-rw drive in a Thinkpad 390x and it works fine. It takes a little higher amperage than the cdrom did but doesn't appear to be a problem.

firetrumpet wrote:I know there is one out there. I saw it on eBay!!! Can't someone help me????

The correct answer is that IBM never made a CD-RW drive for the 770. But then again, IBM never made one for the 600 series and they are everywhere. The trick is to retrofit the optical drive caddy that fits your Thinkpad with a raw CDRW drive that has the correct faceplate. Unfortunately, the 770 came out in a period of rapidly changing standards for laptop optical drives and therefore this is not that simple.

[I researched this a while ago and don't remember all the details...]
The first problem has to do with the optical drive form factors. This is usually identified as drive height but it also affects connector placement (the real issue). The 770 uses a 17mm(?) height drive; most newer drives are 12.7 mm (or smaller). I could not find a CD-RW drive ever made in the taller height and it would be a major PITA to create a cable to fit the 12.7mm drive into the taller caddy.

I then stumbled upon the "solution". IBM did offer a DVD drive for the 770 that was actually a 12.7mm drive in a 770 caddy... FRU P/N 05K9066 using a Matsuhita/Panasonic DVD drive. (This was not an ideal solution since you have to give up a DVD drive for a CD-RW drive... the 600 series solution retrofits the CD-ROM drive and therefore loses no functionality.) I got my hands on one and swapped in a Matsuhita/Panasonic CD-RW drive that supposedly fit newer Thinkpads. The connector and case lined up but the faceplate was not a good fit for the 770. I tried it in my 770 and it was a no-go. I later tested the CD-RW drive in a newer Thinkpad and the drive was bad. I am not sure if the drive was bad to start with or if the 770 caused it. (I suspect the former more than the latter though.) I got busy with other projects (and family things) and haven't got back to it.

My "partner in crime" did get one (a retrofitted 770 CD-RW drive) off Ebay but I have not been to contact him for a while to see how it works

(The "ideal" solution would be to use a combo CD-ROM/-RW/DVD drive in the 770 12.7 mm caddy but these drives cost almost as much as a used 770. I haven't been able to justify that kind of expense and risk lately, so someone else will have to pick up the ball and run with it.)

Rodger

There back on ebay again.....expensive...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 73667&rd=1


Greg St.L

I my have found a way to get a CD-RW / DVD Rom into a 770. My DVD-ROM drive is a PANASONIC. So I did some research (Google is a great tool) and found the following Combo drives manufacture by Panasonic.

On E-bay
UJDA710
UJDA720
UJDA740

Haven't fond for sale yet
UJDA750
UJDA760

Each model gets faster as the model number go up and can read more type of Disks (i.e. DVD-R etc….)

The drive should fit into the existing caddy for my old DVD-ROM.

I’ll let everyone know if it works once I get the drive.

There going for about $70 on eBay.

1.) Buy a cheap CD-ROM for the 770. Ebay should have one for $20 or less.

2.) Buy a Panasonic slotloading combo drive, available at Newegg currently for $71. Here's the link, since they seem to be cool about my linking to this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 003&depa=0

3.) Remove the sacrificial CD-ROM. Save it, because the drive can go into a Mini-ITX case like a Cubid. Via EPIA Mini-ITX systems make really spiffy little servers. (File, print, MP3, whatnot) Then take the bay module parts and attach them to the Panasonic drive.

4.) Slide the module into the 770 bay. Enjoy the speedy CD-R/RW burning, the silky-smooth DVD play, the ability to install from DVD-ROM, and the amazed looks you get from folks when they see you casually slide a CD or a DVD into your Thinkpad. The module will be slightly recessed because of the lack of tray, but it looks right in the drive. Really, IBM should have used these drives on the T4x series.

(Note: I do not work for NewEgg...just a happy customer)

Skip back up a couple of posts and read my previous posting.

I will bet that the combo drive that you are looking at is a 12.7mm tall drive (or less). The 770's use 17mm drives except for the M a t s u s h i t a DVD-ROM drive. (I can't remember the FRU#; if it's not in my post, check the HMM). (The Toshiba DVD-ROM drives are 17mm drives.) I did not find any 12.7mm CD-ROM drives for the 770. (This height form factor also controls connector placement and therefore is not trivial.)

Thinkpads-R-Us on Ebay has retrofitted CDRW and retrofitted newer DVD-ROM drives for about $75 each with shipping, but not combo drives. (I just bought a DVD-ROM and a CDRW drives and will let you know how they are.) Newportbeachwaves on Ebay has the retrofitted combo drives but these cost more than buying a separate DVD-ROM drive and a CDRW drive. The choice is yours, but since I have two 770 laptops, 2 separate drives worked better for me. Also, if one of the drives pukes [why I am buying another DVD-ROM drive], I only have to replace a cheaper drive.

That Panasonic drive Newegg has would be PERFECT if you have the 05K9066 you're willing to gut (even the dimensions are exactly the same).

Too bad I don't have the $75 lying around or I'd buy one.

Found this review of the Panasonic CW-8123 drive (the one MsGeek-CatseyeLabs mentioned)

http://www.pyroport.com/reviews/18.asp

Seems to be pretty good for the money...performance is reasonably good and it sounds like it can read a whole bunch of various media. If I can scrounge up the cash, I might still buy one for my 770X...are there any issues that I might have with it?

My retrofitted upgraded drives from Thinkpads-r-us on Ebay came in the mail today.

- The DVD-ROM drive is a M a t s u s h i t a SR-8175-M in an OEM M a t s u s h i t a DVD-ROM housing FRU 05K9066. It plugged right into my 770X and worked fine will the OEM Mediamatics DVD player software and Windows 98. The only thing was the faceplate is not smooth and flat like the 770's should be. It sticks out and has a camfer at the bottom.

- The CD-RW drive is a Mstsushita UJDA340 in the same OEM M a t s u s h i t a DVD-ROM housing FRU 05K9066. It plugged right into my 770X but came up with errors when hot-swapped in. It works fine when you reboot. I loaded Roxio Easy CD Creator (OEM versionl) and burned an audio CD. Burn speed was between 6x and 8x. The CD played fine. The faceplate is closer to the 770 but is not an exact fit either.

Overall, I am very pleased with the purchase and would recommend them to others... what other choice do we have for a CD-RW for a 770. As far as the DVD drive goes, it works as good as the OEM DVD drive and I needed a replacement drive. I just wish that the face plate fit a little better.

I asked and you can contact them directly at thinkpads_r_us@yahoo.com .

I am in no way affiliated with these folks and recevied no compensation... just a satified customer.

The CD-RWs would not hot-swap in the 600E series, either. This may be a limitation you will have to live with.

sktn77a wrote:The CD-RWs would not hot-swap in the 600E series, either. This may be a limitation you will have to live with.

That pretty much what I figured. I would guess that there is some type of information for that drive needed by the hot swap app but who knows what that is.

Does anyone know if a later model hot-swap app will work with a 770?

(This and the minor cosmetic face plate fit are the only glitches that I have found. I am more than satisfied.)