Think I need a new optical disc drive

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So I think my optical disc drive is going out on my Dell E310 desktop. It will randomly freeze during DVD playback, and then redirect to the DVD menu. At first I thought that it might be a few bad DVDs, but then I tried the DVDs that were having the problems in my laptop, and they work perfectly in there.

So, I think it might be time to pick up a new disc drive. Not looking to spend much (it's an 11 year old computer), but I want to get a decent drive.

The one I have right now is this:
Dell OEM M9753 DVD-R/RW OPTICAL DRIVE DVD8701/96 PHILIPS

But I am wondering if this is a good drive to pick up?
HP 390851-002 Black IDE 16x DVD CDRW 405425-001

Would that HP work well for me as in the same speed and capabilities that my old drive had? I can get that HP much cheaper than another Philips.

Looking for my best option, any ideas welcome. Thanks!
 
You need an IDE/PATA interface drive, you can try to use a SATA interface optical drive but you'll get mixed results. You can use Lite-On, LG, Samsung, Pioneer or Panasonic/Matsushita. They'll all work fine.
 
do you have 4 hard drives hooked up?

I see you only have 2 Sata connections.
You can get a pci Sata card for under 10.00.
 
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Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
No, just 1 hard drive.

Then you can hook up to the other Sata connection or is it dead?

Have you tried uninstalling the driver for the OD and let windows reinstall the driver?

have you tried cleaning the drive with compressed air?

ODs just die sometimes.
Cables just die sometimes as well, tried a new cable?

If you buy a sata drive you will probably have to download a driver for it from asus just so you know.
Do you have XP sp3?
 
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I didn't even think of the other SATA cable!

But, I took the drive out of the computer and put it back in and now it seems to be working perfectly again. Maybe it was something in the cable connection?

I wonder. Oh well, at least it seems to be fixed. Thanks for all the ideas!
 
Originally Posted By: Koz1
Cables come lose as well LoL.
Good for you.
Cheers.

I am thinking that must have been it. I will keep using it and see.
 
I thought I had a bad optical drive in my DVR, but it turned out to be dirt. I found the instructions to clean it on the internet and it's been working perfectly ever since.
 
I would spend any time or money on replacement parts or devices for an 11 yo computer. Next thing that fails replace the entire computer.
 
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This computer has been one of the best computers I have ever had... runs really well, has good specs, and is very fast. Why would I want to spend the money for a new computer when I have one that works so well? Replacing a cheap part is going to cost a lot less than a whole new computer!

I have no plans to replace this computer for a long time.
 
Sata dvd drives were extremely buggy with that generation of computer.

I would go IDE only.

also that replacement drive you linked may be a DVD-ROM CD-BURNER

not a DVD burner..

Ide burners are somewhat rare so they will be quite pricy.

Its quite common for them to fail after years.. of even light use.


That computer comes up as a single core pentium 4 2.8ghz which is about 300cpumark, I just bought a computer with windows 7 that is 5x faster for 99$

included was a dvd drive.

microcenter sells a refurbished dvd-rw for 15$
http://www.microcenter.com/product/420084/Miscellaneous_IDE_DVD-RW_35_Internal_Drive_%E2%80%93_Refurbished
 
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Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
This computer has been one of the best computers I have ever had... runs really well, has good specs, and is very fast. Why would I want to spend the money for a new computer when I have one that works so well? Replacing a cheap part is going to cost a lot less than a whole new computer!

I have no plans to replace this computer for a long time.


The problem will be that getting parts for an 11 year old computer will be increasingly hard and expensive as time goes on. RAM will get hard to find, Dell's proprietary MB will be hard, IDE drives will be harder to get, etc, etc.
 
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