Does an internal DVD drive have compatible issue?

[coody]

Is there any compatible issue when buying an internal laptop DVD RW drive? For example, my original optical drive has write max 8X and read max 8X. Do I have to match the speed or I can install an internal DVD burner with the speed of 16X? Can I buy any laptop internal DVD RW drive to install on the laptop computer? If no, what DVD drive specifications should I pay attention before buying a new DVD RW drive?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Laptop writers are expensive and hard to find, if it's under warranty then take it in.
I bought an external writer for $60USD when mine died and it's much faster.
BTW: this should be in the DVD writers forum.

[orsetto]

Assuming you can disassemble the laptop yourself, and its out of warranty, you can usually install any burner you like. The most common restrictions would be more in the line of physical than electronic: the burner has to be the same form factor to fit the laptop internal mounting bracket, if the original burner was EIDE or SATA the replacement must have the same connection, and its usually a good idea to stick with the same loading style the laptop came with (slot or tray). If disassembly is reasonably easy, open the laptop and take out the optical drive so you can measure the thickness and verify the connector before ordering a replacement.

Last month I replaced the optical drives in an Apple TiBook G4 and a Dell Inspiron, both circa 2002. I wanted to upgrade the PowerBook from combo drive to full DVD burning ability, and the Dell had a dead drive that I needed to replace just for loading software on it. The Apple was a bitch to disassemble but accepted a new Panasonic drive without incident. The Dell was a snap to disassemble but strangely would not acknowledge any of three compatible tray-load drives I tried in it. In desperation I finally tried installing the old slot-load combo drive I had just removed from the Powerbook, and was astonished to discover the Dell recognized it immediately and used it perfectly! It looks ugly, because the Dell was designed for a tray-load drive, but otherwise the Apple-ROM Panny combo drive works flawlessly in the Dell under Windows. Go figure!