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Thread ID: 92857 2008-08-25 22:37:00 External USB Optical Drives tuiruru (12277) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
700287 2008-08-25 22:37:00 Hi

I've got a Toshiba M 30 Laptop - 4 yrs old and counting. A while back the NVIDEA graphics bit failed and I had some very useful input from this forum. I've worked my way round that. Now the optical drive seems to be on it's way out ( you know that Chug chug chug you get when a hard drive is failing? it's doing that. I've tried various cd's and dvd's that work on the other laptop, the stereo and the dvd player all to no avail). I've been in touch with one of the service agents who say it wil cost between $300-400 to replace. I know I should buy a new laptop but at the moment can't afford it so I was wondering about an external optical drive. The current on board is a -R/RW DVD/CD drive so it maybe that I should think about gettin a full multidrive (+ Blue Ray??) USB if it is a viable option.

Any opinions about this situation would be appreceiated - favoured suppliers, barands/models to go for or, more importantly, avoid, possible technical issues etc.

Please treat me as someone who knows nothing!!

Thanks
tuiruru (12277)
700288 2008-08-25 22:57:00 Are you looking for a burner that reads blu-ray or burns to blu-ray??

The 2nd would probably cost a lot more, than the blu-ray reader
Speedy Gonzales (78)
700289 2008-08-25 23:10:00 Don't bother with blu-ray unless you've got a top of the line machine. joshjnz (7844)
700290 2008-08-26 00:29:00 I think there was an external dvd drive made by Lite-on(good brand) in this months pc world Blam (54)
700291 2008-08-26 05:13:00 Thanks for the replys folks

I'm really just looking for an optical drive that will read audio cds video dvds any discs that come with new software/hardware and being able to burn to CDs and DVds. Forget about the Blue Ray aspect
tuiruru (12277)
700292 2008-08-26 05:13:00 Why don't you get a new internal optical drive?

$130 last time I checked.

www.trademe.co.nz

There's one.
wratterus (105)
700293 2008-08-26 06:51:00 Hi Again

Blam 6: Was that Aug PC World or Sept PC World (just out) - ?

Wratterus: a) Haven't got the expertise to install it, b) the one you referenced is +R and I've got a stack of -R's 'cos of the one that went wrong c) plus I've had a quote from another "approved" Toshiba service person saying that a mullti optical drive for my model could be as much as $700!! which, unfortunately makes that price in your reference look a bit suspect, but thanks for your input
tuiruru (12277)
700294 2008-08-26 06:54:00 Doesnt matter if you have + or - blanks. Most burners support both Speedy Gonzales (78)
700295 2008-08-26 06:55:00 August Blam (54)
700296 2008-08-26 06:58:00 I wonder... Is there such thing as an external case for internal optical disc drives? If yes, it might be cheaper to get an unwanted ODD and "externalise" it for your own purposes.

Cheer sand good luck :)
Renmoo (66)
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