Modular Bay Compatibility

Question

Hey all,   I have an Inspiron 8200 and the other day I tried to watch a DVD on my computer through the fixed cd/dvd rom drive.  Interestingly, the drive can read cds fine, but is now unable to read dvds (I've tried a few that work for others).  When reading dvds the drive spins for a little while and then finally gives up w/ no disk showing in the drive.  Because my computer is probably out of warranty, I am looking at some cheap slim modular dvd-rom drives at newegg.com and I noticed the port on the back of the drives on the website are smaller than the port on the back of my modular bay floppy and cdrw drives.  I assumed that all modular drives were the same, but now I am wondering if there are compatibility issues?  Does this mean I would have to buy a new modular drive from Dell?  Does dell even still make modular dvd drives for the inspiron 8200?  Or perhaps even better, is it possible to buy replacements for the fixed dvd drive that is broken?   Much Thanks.   Message Edited by Odrade on 05-30-2005 11:23 PM

GreyMack · Answer

The fixed optical drive is replaceable with any slim optical drive, although the original faceplate on the I8200 is somewhat unique in the curve that follows the notebook shape. For the modular bay, any slim optical drive will fit in the optical drive carrier, which then fits in the modular bay.   GM

Odrade · Answer

Thanks so much for the response. Let me make sure I got this correctly. I could buy any slim optical drive and get it to work for either the fixed drive or modular bay? To get it to work in the fixed slot, I would have to take the faceplate off the drive I purchased and then put it in the fixed slot? To get it to work in the modular bay could I just slide in new slim optical drive to the slot much like I do now with my current one? Or do I need to fit it to a drive carrier first and then put that in the modular bay? Does the drive carrier come with new slim optical drive? Thanks for putting up with my ignorance.

- Scott

GreyMack · Answer

For the fixed bay, any bare slim optical drive will work. The faceplate is not readily interchangeable, but a standard flat/straight faceplate is not too bad, as long as the color matches.

For the Dell modular bay, a Dell carrier is required. The modular bay carrier for the I8200 is the same for a number of Dell C-series notebooks. (The new modular bay carriers for the current D-series notebooks isn't compatible with the older models.) There is a carrier for floppy drives, one for optical drives, and one for hard drives. The carriers may be found with drives already installed or empty.

To see what is available, I usually look on e-bay. Pictures, price ranges, manufacturer, model numbers, and specifications are sometimes available for comparison. If you have a specific model in mind, just search for it.

This is a list of various drives for notebooks. You can sort by drive type using the categories to the left, and add keywords to narrow down the list.
http://computers.listings.ebay.com/Laptop-Parts-Accessories_Drives-for-Laptops_W0QQfromZR4QQsacatZ31533QQsocmdZListingItemList

Here's an example of an empty hard drive carrier for the Dell modular bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=74949&item=6773437906&rd=1

I don't see any empty Dell modular bay carriers for optical drives listed just now, but I didn't do an exhaustive search. It's hard to predict what keywords the seller will use.

You can get a bare optical drive from Dell or anywhere. Finding one with the matching faceplate for the fixed bay in the I8x00 series limits the pool of possibilities, but there are some out there.

GM

Skuld · Answer

Hello,   That drive should work fine, as long as it is not set to Master.  If it is, the drive will conflict with your hard drive when installed in the fixed bay, causing your system to stall on boot.   You can leave the covering or faceplate on the bare drive and it will still fit in the fixed bay.  The problem with the SD-R6472 drive is that the curved Dell faceplates fitting previous Toshiba drives (such as the SD-R2102, SD-R2212, SD-R2312, SD-R2412, SD-R2512, SD-R2612, SD-R6012, SD-R6112, and SD-R6372) are no longer compatible.  So you're stuck with the generic flat faceplate.  No big deal since the black color will match your system.   Skuld

Odrade · Answer

Thanks again for the help. Sounds like getting something for the fixed bay is easier, and also in my case more logical since that is the drive that is broken. I noticed you mentioned the optical drive as being "bare". All the ones I've seen listed have some sort of covering. Could I just take that covering off before installing it? For example I am thinking of buying DVD Burner. Should this install fine?

Much thanks.
- Scott

Message Edited by Odrade on 06-01-2005 11:05 PM

GreyMack · Answer

That drive looks fine. That's a bare drive, without a finished exterior. It just needs to be installed in something. At that price, it should be installed in a lot of somethings. I'm not familiar with DVD burner models, but Toshiba is a good brand in most of their product lines.     GM

Odrade · Answer

Thanks for the feedback/info. - Scott

Storage, Drives & Media

Modular Bay Compatibility

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