Want to upgrade Sony Vaio Notebook CD burner to DVD burner

[seb]

Wonder if anyone here can help me out...

A friend has got a Sony Vaio GRX316MP notebook, which has a built in DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. More recent models, like the GRT series, have a DVD+-RW drive fitted. It's easily removable - just slide a tab under the computer and out it comes. I've noticed that the GRT range seems to be the same size and layout as the GRX.

He wants to start DVD authoring and would prefer not to have to get an external burner. The Sony dealer says he can't upgrade to an internal DVD writer. I'm hoping that he's not right - hence the query here. A lengthy web-search hasn't really helped us either.

If anyone knows whether the DVD burner from a GRT series will fit a GRX, or whether there's another option, I'd be very interested to hear about it, and learn the part number of the internal DVD+-RW burner that would fit. Any information about where I might be able to get hold of one (UK preferably) would be a real bonus!

Cheers

[enigma47]

Slimline optical drives are hard to find on the market because most of them get sold to computer makers and not to consumers.

Slimline optical drives should all be interchangeable. Just like the H/H optical drives that fit into a standard 5.25 inch bay, slimline drives all have the same dimensions and interface (in the case of Dell, for example, their optical drive upgrades are sold in the form of their media bay module, so it would seem as if they're incompatible, but if you ever unscrew the module and open it up, you'll see that a standard slimline drive is sitting inside the casing), so you should be able to just purchase a drive from any manufacturer.

I would suggest searching around. In the US, it took some searching to find a place that would sell them. Froogle might be a good place to start looking.

As a final note, Sony's slimline combo drives are actually re-branded versions of the LiteOn slim combo drives. I have no idea whether Sony makes their own slim DVD burners or if they rebrand some other company's (most likely LiteOn, as they have a strategic partnership). Oh, and something else: slimline DVD burners are expeeeeeeeeeensive!

[seb]

Thanks for the reply! Will carry on searching

[seb]

Re: Sony Vaio CD to DVD Writer Upgrade

Enigma47 - I just thought I'd post a follow up in case anyone else is trying to do the same thing.

The advice that you gave was very helpful. I'd been told by the Sony dealer - and some other computer parts sellers - that it wasn't possible to swap the DVD/CDRW combo for a DVD writer, so it was encouraging to learn that slimline writers have standard dimensions when you get them out of their modules.

You were right about them being hard to find and expensive! After much searching that turned up several in the £150+ range, it actually seemed to be cheapest to buy an external slimline DVDRW (a Liteon SDW-431SX) and remove the drive from that. (I've subsequently found another UK supplier that is selling the bare drive SDW-431S for just under £80 http://www.dcsplc.co.uk/xq/ASP/pn.SDW-431S/manid.94/qx/product.htm)

After getting the drive apart the transfer was pretty straightforward. The only hurdle came when I realised that the front bezel from the Sony drive didn't fit properly to the front of the Lite-On drive's tray. I decided against modifying the Sony bezel in case we had to put the original drive back in for any reason, and trimmed down the bezel that had come with the Lite-On and which was shaped to fit the casing of the external USB box. A quick spray with paint to match the colour of the VAIO made the job look much less obvious.

Everything worked fine and my mate is very happy. The Sony drive is now sitting in the Lite-On USB box. The front bezel looks different but not too wierd and that drive is now being used as an extra DVD-reader and convenient means of transferring stuff between work and home.

Hope this info might be useful to someone else. When I get a minute i'll have to mention it to the guy in the Sony shop who told me that Sony didn't offer an internal upgrade solution because "DVD writers are bigger and extend a lot further back inside the computer".

[code65536]

bare drive SDW-431S for just under £80

Wow! That's a great price! If I could find something in that price range in the US, I'd get it in a heartbeat and replace my laptop's LiteOn combo with a LiteOn DVDRW.

[RAAGAAman]

Wow! That's a great price!

It should be its a Liteon SLim drive. Liteon does not have much of a market in Slim. They make a good HH drive but they have a ways to go in slim. I have two Liteon Slim Combos and they cannot consistently hit the max write speed and when they do the read back is not good. Just because you can make a HH does not automatically make you a good slim drive MFG.

RG

[handyguy]

I saw a plextor 8x external from meritline.com for $159.00 You could always ask them if it works with your computer.

[code65536]

Huh? I've had a great time with my LiteOn slim drive... burns okay & reads okay. Actually, I find the LiteOn slims to be a bit expensive compared to LG and Samsung ones. After my past experiences with slim drives from those companies, I decided to pay a bit of premium for a Litey. ~$80 for a slim Litey combo...

BTW, the Plex external is a H/H drive, not a slimline drive that can be slid into a laptop.