Ninepatch Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 The CD-ROM drive on my computer has decided to go belly up and I'm still at least 6 months away from being ready to buy a new system. I'm thinking it would be pretty stupid not to replace the drive - if my system decides to crash again I'd be up the proverbial creek because the recovery data is on CD. It's a 5 year old HP Pavillion 6468 and the HP site leaves more than a little to be desired when it comes to specs for replacing the drive. I'm not concerned about pulling it - been there, done that. But, I've never actually had to decide what to purchase. I've always had someone tell me exactly what I needed, who to buy it from and proceeded from there. I really appreciate any guidance anyone can offer about a replacement drive, and a good resource for online purchasing. I'm so spoiled by e-commerce - always my first choice. I like when stuff shows up at my front door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplespider Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I'm sorry I can't suggest where to get one from, as I'm in the UK, but I can say that you can't really go wrong choosing a CD-ROM drive, it sounds like the cheapest one you can find will be adequate for yourself. And as they are very simple to install I'd go for an OEM version. Thats basically just the drive in a brown box, without all the retail packaging or cables, which you won't need if you are just replacing your old drive. Hope that help a bit, James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Thomas Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 An idea would be to buy a dvd-burner instead. I have a Lite on SOHW-812S which I am very happy with. With a dvd-burner you can not only read and burn cd roms but also dvd´s which has a larger storage capacity. Might be a little more expensive to buy but in the long run I think its worth it. Here is the system requirements about it (which hopefully someone can explain better than I can ) Pentium III 450 MHz or faster CPU and 128 MB or higher RAM are required 650 MB HDD available capacity; and 5 GB free space for creating a DVD image file Read more here: http://www.liteon.com/prod/getProduct.do?xml_id=4_2&menu_id=4_2_7&cid=1_7_6&pid=63 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Rob Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Nine, I think the last few I have bought were towards the bottom of the price range and I cant recall brand. I have never even looked at a plain cd-rom by brand, I just got the one above the cheapest. Never had issues with them, never even thought, just grabbed. Maybe Mike or Bob has options for ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmanmcp Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Hi ninepatch, as Rob has mentioned a CD is a pretty basic an simple task. Determine how much you wish to spend, then pick a little lower From what you describe I take it the only use you will have for it is "IF" you ever need to use it in the future and this may never happen. So I will suggest that you just get the cheapest replacement you can find, because you don't need anything fancy, just something that will work. As for where to buy, if you have used Ebay try there. Otherwise an Online store like Best Buy or Office Depot will work. Now Thomas has made a good suggestion about the DVD and is what I would normally recomend to folks. The DVD combo drives are fairly cheap now and will do both DVD and CD functions. But I don't think this is what you want. Here is a cheap drive that will do what you want. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?ty...24448584&cmp=++ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Rob Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thanks Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninepatch Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 Thank you, gentlemen, one and all. I do want only to replace the ability to read a CD in case of a crisis between now and March when I expect to replace the entire system. I've actually found a 32X kit, factory sealed, being sold on eBay by a church youth group - online tag sale to raise money for their group, don't you love it? I just have to figure out if my drive is a SCSI or an IDE. Any guesses? The auction drive is an IDE and has all the same speed, access and transfer rate specs as the info from the HP site - but HP doesn't give a clue about IDE or SCSI. I've e-mailed HP support and should get an answer since the question is specific and I am a registered user. You guys are the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Thomas Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Most likely IDE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCH-Bruce Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I agree, most likely IDE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninepatch Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 Yup - you're right Thomas and Bruce, it's an IDE. Guess I'll put a bid in on that one on eBay - opening is only $4.99 and it's still factory sealed. This may all be easier than I could have hoped for. Thanks a million guys - I really appreciate the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninepatch Posted September 8, 2004 Author Share Posted September 8, 2004 This morning I was semi-clueless, tonight I have a solution on its way to me from California! Got that new, factory sealed drive on eBay - $12.94 out the door including shipping! I'm a very happy camper. Thanks again - you guys are the best. Now to figure out where I stashed my old briefcase. I know there's a static strap in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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