My XPS 8930 does not have any optical drive. There's no problems adding one internally since power, SATA cables, and room, rails...BUT unlike old towers I've had there's no "punch out" in the front bezel. Dell sells the drive with kit, the service manual does not cover new installs just R+R.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Or just get an external USB drive? Can't find front face plates on Dell, a face plate I could probably find 3rd party. I can pretty much do everything with a bootable usb flash drive, but an optical drive is a nice to have.
Best option is to use a USB connected drive. The Dell hardware (chassis/case) is, in most cases, specifically configured for how it was ordered new. Its why, even though I'm an old Dell customer, I have a home built desktop for my recording studio. Dell's top line XPS model could not be configured, after purchase, to add what I needed.
Inspiron 16 5630 Laptop and WD22TB4 Docking Station
Self-built desktop for recording studio application
I agree with fireberd suggestion to go with the external drive. A standard half-height optical drive would probably have better performance than the quarter-height drive that comes from Dell.
Call Dell Small Business Support (you will reach someone in the US) and you can order the correct front bezel with a cut-out for an optical drive and the optical drive bezel.
fireberd
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Posted October 1st, 2019 03:00
Best option is to use a USB connected drive. The Dell hardware (chassis/case) is, in most cases, specifically configured for how it was ordered new. Its why, even though I'm an old Dell customer, I have a home built desktop for my recording studio. Dell's top line XPS model could not be configured, after purchase, to add what I needed.